Unfinished Rules. These rules are currently unfinished. Translating them takes a good deal of porting to keep them consistent and this is an ongoing effort.
"There is old saying: 'Fortune favors bold'. Nyet. Fortune is fickle mistress. Sometimes she gives, sometimes she takes. Never trust her. Make your own fortune. I recommend big gun."
—Major Gregorie Harkov
Large, powerful vessels with strong engines can weather hostile situations, while more nimble ships can maneuver and make themselves difficult to attack. Once a vessel’s defenses are worn down, grievous damage can be inflicted upon hull and systems and may result in the deaths of dozens or hundreds of personnel.
Just as with personal combat, the core of starship combat is the Attack. Successful Attacks against ships are seldom so final as Attacks against individual characters. Ships are, at the end of the day, large flying chunks of metal and it turns out it's much easier to kill the squishy, fragile bags of meat inside the giant chunk of metal.
Ship combat uses the same action order as other conflicts. However, the action order applies to characters rather than ships: each character receives a turn in the action order, during which they take actions to operate their ship.
As with personal combat, ship combat takes place across an environment broken up into numerous zones, allowing gamemasters and players alike to visualize where ships, planets, gas clouds, and asteroid fields are relative to one another.
An environment for ship combat covers a large area—potentially an area many hundreds of thousands of kilometers across, and even this is only a tiny fraction of the area within a star system. This area may be the edge of a nebula, an asteroid belt, the orbit of one or more small planets, or any other region of space, though it is worth remembering that because battles are always fought for a reason, they are often fought somewhere interesting, rather than in the empty void.
The environment is then divided into zones based on physical objects, spatial phenomena, and other details within the area. Ship combat zones can easily be defined in three dimensions if desired (though this isn’t necessary if you want to keep things simple), with zones “above” and “below” one another, and with empty zones to provide sizeable gaps between objects and phenomena. A simple battlefield may consist of three to five significant zones, while complex environments may have many more. More zones are typically more interesting than fewer, as they provide a greater variety of movement options and tactical opportunities, but this can take more planning and may slow down gameplay.
As with personal combat, zones have no fixed size or shape, and these can be varied to accommodate the gamemaster’s preferences and needs, and to represent other factors. Zones within a nebula may be smaller, representing more difficult movement and sensor interference, while open space may have larger zones. By and large, the same advice that applies to personal-scale zones applies to starship combat as well, and gamemasters who desire concrete values rather than abstract ranges are encouraged to set specific sizes and shapes for individual zones, using them as a grid.
To help players visualize their vessel’s place in an encounter, and to manage combat effectively, it’s useful to keep track of which zone each vessel is in at any given moment. As zones are defined by the bodies and phenomena around them, tracking a vessel can be a matter of simple description—an enemy might be ‘behind the moon’ or ‘on the edge of the gas cloud’. This has the advantage of relying on natural language and intuitive concepts, rather than specific game terms, and avoids the tracking of specific distances which can become fiddly where there are many vessels present.
Larger or particularly complex scenes may become tricky to track purely by memory, so the gamemaster may wish to use something to help remind everyone of which vessel is where. If you’re already using a sketched map, then marking vessel positions in pencil (so they can be easily erased and redrawn) is a simple approach, as is using tokens or miniatures.
Movement and ranged attacks need some sense of distance to make them meaningful. In combat, the relative placement of zones determines this distance. To keep things simple and fluid, range is measured in four categories and one state.
| Distance | Description |
|---|---|
| Contact | This state is used mainly for ships docking with one another, or with starbases and other facilities, shuttlecraft on approach to land, and similar situations. Contact isn’t a specific range, but rather is a state a vessel can enter when it moves—that is, when a vessel moves into or within a zone, the pilot may declare the vessel is moving into or out of Contact. Moving into Contact too quickly can be dangerous, as high-speed collisions can cause considerable damage. |
| Close | The zone the vessel is within at the time. Moving within Close range is a trivial affair, often handled purely with maneuvering thrusters and inertia. Close range is a distance of 0 zones. |
| Medium | Any zone adjacent to the vessel’s current zone. Medium range is a distance of 1 zone. |
| Long | Long range is a distance of 2 zones. |
| Extreme | Extreme range is a distance of 3 or more zones. |
Communication during starship combat remains a simple matter; subspace communications work at speeds that far exceed the maximum velocity of a starship, meaning that communicating with anyone else in the same combat occurs near instantaneously, provided their communications systems function. Circumstances can affect this—subspace anomalies or gravitic sheers may interfere with subspace signals, limiting communications range, for example—but such differences are left to the gamemaster to determine.
The rules for starship combat are designed from the perspective of player characters operating a single ship, which will be the normal situation for most groups of player characters. However, this can be impractical for NPC ships, where the gamemaster may be running several ships and doesn’t necessarily want to track a half-dozen NPC bridge officers per bridge.
An NPC ship does not have specific crew at individual positions on the bridge. Instead, each NPC vessel has a Crew Quality, which provides attribute and department ratings needed by the vessel for any given task. NPC crew used in this way are always considered to have an applicable focus.
Because individual NPC crew members are not tracked, each NPC ship takes several turns during each round—one turn for each point of the ship’s Scale—representing the individual actions of that ship’s crew.
However, there is a limit to this; in any round, each NPC ship may only attempt one task assisted by each system—one task assisted by Weapons, one task assisted by Engines, etc.—though the gamemaster may spend 1 Threat when the ship takes a turn to ignore this limit during their current action. That is, if a ship wants to take three tasks using Weapons during a round, the second and third Weapons tasks each cost 1 Threat.
NPC ships do not have Reserve Power.
| Crew Quality | Attribute | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 8 | 1 |
| Proficient | 9 | 2 |
| Talented | 10 | 3 |
| Exceptional | 11 | 4 |
Starships can travel extremely quickly, which means they can leave a battle at a moment's notice.
For a ship to dive to subspace, Reserve Power must be rerouted to engines, and you must take the Prepare minor action if in combat. Once completed, the character at the helm must attempt a Reason + Piloting task with a Difficulty of 1, assisted by the ship's Engines + Piloting; in combat, this is a major action. If this task is successful, the ship may move in one of two ways:
If the enemies wish to pursue, each pursuing ship must also dive to subspace, and must score more successes than the fleeing ship scored; if they do, then they will quickly catch up with the fleeing ship. Once their pursuers have caught them, the crew of the fleeing ship must choose how they will respond.
This task may Succeed at Cost; if the task fails, the ship either does not move, or it moves as above but suffers an additional complication.
Example: Riley Aimes detects three unidentified vessels approaching the Chilkoot at the edge of a nebula. Using the ship's long-range sensors, they attempt to scan the vessels' configuration and armament. Riley makes a Reason + Science task assisted by the ship's Sensors + Science to gather detailed information about the potential threats before they close to weapons range.
In ideal circumstances, a starship can scan and detect objects, vessels, and phenomena over a certain size or magnitude for several light-years in every direction. Long-range sensors are potent in this regard. The closer an object is, the smaller objects and details can be effectively detected, with the greatest clarity and detail available at ranges of a few thousand kilometers (i.e., within Close range).
There are no hard-and-fast rules for this; a starship and its crew will use whatever sensors are most effective at a particular range, though the gamemaster should adjust the amount of detail provided at different ranges.
Example: Riley Aimes detects three unidentified vessels approaching the Chilkoot at the edge of a nebula. Using the ship's long-range sensors, they attempt to scan the vessels' configuration and armament. Riley makes a Reason + Science task assisted by the ship's Sensors + Science to gather detailed information about the potential threats before they close to weapons range.
Moving around in starship combat is controlled at the ship’s helm and takes different actions depending on the nature of the movement. Movement can take a few different forms, from fine maneuvering using thrusters to sublight flight using impulse engines, to faster-than-light flight using warp drive.
This movement may sometimes be hindered by spatial phenomena and effects that are collectively referred to as “terrain.”
Difficult terrain describes any space that requires more effort to cross, either because it hinders the ship’s engines or because it requires slower and more careful maneuvering. A zone may be filled with difficult terrain, slowing anyone attempting to cross it.
When you attempt to move from an area of difficult terrain, or cross an obstacle, you must spend one or more Momentum to do so, depending on how difficult the terrain or obstacle is. This is Immediate. If you do not pay the cost, you cannot leave the zone.
If you do not have sufficient Momentum available (and don’t want to add Threat), then you must find some way to generate the points you need. The simplest way to do this is to attempt the Maneuver major action, generating Momentum with a Difficulty 0 Agility + Piloting task—any successes become Momentum, which can be spent on moving through the terrain. Other tasks can also generate Momentum in this way, but taking the Maneuver major action is intended for this.
Hazardous terrain describes difficult terrain which is also potentially damaging or dangerous to cross. It may be crossed by spending Momentum or adding Threat as normal, but if you choose to add Threat, that Threat is spent immediately to inflict damage on the ship or impose a negative trait. The damage inflicted is determined by the nature of the hazard. This is described more in Gamemastering.
| Difficult Terrain | Momentum Cost |
|---|---|
| Planetary Gravity Well, Dust Cloud, Debris Field | 1 |
| Stellar Gravity Well, Dense Nebula, Comet Tail | 2 |
| Singularity Gravity Well, Strange Space Anomaly | 3 |
As with personal combat, in any given turn a character can attempt a single major action and a single minor action. Unlike personal combat, some roles come with specific ship-specific major and minor actions, a character is likely to perform will vary based on their position on the bridge (or elsewhere on the ship), and different officers will control different systems to befits their positions.
This section lists the common roles found aboard a starship and the minor and major actions they can perform in combat. Some roles may not be present in certain eras of play.
The major actions detailed on the following pages apply to operating a starship in combat. Personal conflict tasks can also be attempted where relevant, such as when repelling boarders.
During starship combat, each character is likely to be operating a specific station on the bridge, or performing actions elsewhere on the ship. The actions a character can perform from the bridge are determined by their position.
The key bridge positions are as follows, though these activities are typically grouped together into a smaller number of stations, as determined by the bridge's configuration —for example, a single station may combine both the helm and navigator positions into a single pilot station. The guidance in the section Ship Stations and Facilities is the basis for this, but this section details specific actions characters can undertake.
Each character may only operate a single station during their turn, and you cannot take actions from a specific station if another character is already at that station.
Command: The commanding officer makes the decisions based on the information available.
Communications: This station covers all incoming and outgoing communications, including encryption and decryption of messages.
Helmsman: The helmsman is the pilot of the ship—responsible for all tasks that require the ship's movement and maneuvering.
Navigator: The navigator oversees plotting the ship's course and determining the spatial conditions that would affect the ship along its course.
Operations: This station covers any miscellaneous monitoring and control of internal systems, such as damage control, transporters, and life support. Also for coordinating with small craft, such as shuttles and fighters, and for coordinating with other ships in a fleet. They often double as Sensor Operations.
Sensor Operations: Sensor operations are used to control the ship's varied external sensor systems, used to scan planetary bodies, spatial phenomena, other vessels, and more. It also covers interpreting and analyzing that information, and the information retrieved from probes.
Tactical: This station covers the operation of weapons and defenses.
The following minor actions can be undertaken by personnel at all stations.
| Minor Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Change Position | The character moves to any other station on the bridge, or to any other location on the ship. If that bridge station is unmanned, the character can take control of that station immediately; otherwise, the character takes control whenever the officer already at that station departs. If the character is moving to somewhere else on the ship, they will arrive in that location at the start of their next turn. |
| Interact | The character interacts with an object in the environment. Particularly complex interactions may require a major action (and a task) instead. This covers basic and routine interactions with ship systems that aren't otherwise done. |
| Prepare | The character prepares for, or spends time setting up, a task. Some tasks require this minor action to be taken before the task can be attempted. |
| Restore | The character performs the minor repairs and adjustments needed to restore a system after disruption or minor damage. Certain circumstances call for the use of this minor action. |
These minor actions are specific to starship operations during combat; a character can perform personal combat minor actions if necessary, such as when being boarded.
The most common starship minor actions are listed in the following sections, divided by position. These are specific starship operations during combat; a character can perform personal combat minor actions if necessary, such as when being boarded.
A character can attempt a single major action (typically to attempt a task) during each turn, though there are two ways a character could attempt a second major action in a turn:
Leadership: The Direct major action allows a character to issue an order to a subordinate, granting them an extra major action.
Momentum: A character may spend 2 Momentum after a successful task to attempt a second major action; however, any task attempted as part of this second major action increases in Difficulty by 1, due to the sub-optimal controls.
Regardless of the method used, a character cannot attempt more than two major actions in a round. The major actions detailed on the following pages apply to operating a starship in combat. Personal conflict tasks can also be attempted where relevant, such as when repelling boarders.
The following major actions can be undertaken by all stations.
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Assist | The character performs some activity that grants an ally an advantage. The character nominates a single ally they can communicate with and assists with one task (see Teamwork and Assistance). If a character attempts a task and you have not yet acted, you can give up your turn this round to assist them immediately. |
| Create Trait | Create or change a trait in the scene, or remove one that's already present. This is a task with a Difficulty of 2 (attribute + department) and focus based on what you are doing. If successful, you create, change, or remove a trait. |
| Other Tasks | Perform a task at the discretion of the gamemaster. Circumstances or objectives may dictate a task, and particularly dangerous situations may require working to overcome an extended task or complete a challenge. |
| Override | The character overrides the controls of another position. The character may attempt a major action from any other position other than commanding officer, but increasing the Difficulty by 1, due to the sub-optimal controls. |
| Pass | The character chooses not to attempt a task. |
| Ready | You choose another major action to take as a reaction to something else. When the trigger event occurs, you temporarily interrupt the current character's turn to resolve your readied major action, then play proceeds as normal. If the triggering event does not occur before your next turn, the action is lost. You can still perform minor actions during your turn. |
The following sections detail the specific actions available to characters operating different bridge stations during starship combat.
A character in a command position oversees the rest of the bridge crew, devising plans, coordinating any complex actions, and maintaining morale.
A ship may have a second command position for the executive officer if the ship has a Command rating of 4+. Each character can use any Command actions freely, though the executive officer cannot give orders that contradict the commanding officer.
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Assist | In addition to the standard Assist action description, if you use the Assist action on your turn within the command position, you may pick two characters to assist, rather than one. |
| Create Trait | In addition to the standard Create Trait action description, note that while not unique to command, this action is useful for characters in command, and usually uses Reason, Cunning, or Reason + Leadership, to perform the task, normally representing battle plans, strategies, and similar. |
| Direct | Spend 1 Momentum and select one ally on the bridge who immediately attempts a single major action, and you assist them by rolling 1d20 with your Presence + Leadership. |
| Rally | You inspire and coordinate the crew, attempting a Presence + Leadership task with a Difficulty of 0; this task is specifically to generate Momentum, either to use immediately or to save for the group. |
A character at communications controls both internal and external communications systems.
Opening internal communications—to speak either to the whole ship, or specific locations within the ship—is a free action that can be done at any time, even during another character's actions.
Sending a hail can be done as a free action, as can responding to a hail received by another vessel or facility. Interference or jamming can prevent external communications, and is normally represented by a trait.
Other communications activities—encrypting and securing transmissions (and receiving them), intercepting hostile signals, and handling priority internal communications (damage reports, security alerts, coordinating repair teams)—can be handled using the normal array of major actions, such as creating a trait or attempting a Difficulty 0 task to generate Momentum.
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create Trait | In addition to the standard Create Trait action description, this action is often useful for creating traits which represent efforts to boost or recalibrate communications to pierce interference, or methods used to encrypt or decrypt messages. It can also be used to create traits that represent coordination personnel aboard the ship or coordinating with other ships. |
| Damage Control | You direct a damage control team to begin stabilizing and repairing damage. Choose a single breach and attempt a Presence + Systems task, with a Difficulty of 2; increase this by 1 per additional degree of Momentum. If successful, the chosen breach is patched, and no longer imposes any penalties or effects. The breach itself is not fully removed, which will require proper repairs outside of combat. |
Flying the ship requires a combination of minor and major actions taken by a character at the helm (may be combined with navigator into a pilot position).
| Minor Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Impulse | Using the ship's impulse engines, you fly the ship. You move up to 2 zones to anywhere within Long range. If you only move 1 zone, you may reduce the Momentum cost of movement through difficult or hazardous terrain by 1. |
| Thrusters | Using the ship's maneuvering thrusters, you make fine adjustments to the ship's position. You may move the ship to anywhere within your current zone, and you may move safely into Contact with another ship, station, or other object (this may include docking with another vessel or landing). |
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Attack Pattern | You fly steadily to make it easier for your shipmates to target the enemy. If you take this action, each time your ship makes an attack before your next turn, you may Assist on that attack, using your Reason + Piloting. However, until your next turn, all attacks against the ship reduce their Difficulty by 1. |
| Create Trait | In addition to the standard Create Trait action description, note that, from the helm, this action is often useful for creating traits that reflect careful positioning or skilled maneuvering. |
| Evasive Action | You maneuver the ship in a quick, unpredictable way to foil enemy targeting. If you take this action, then until your next turn, all attacks against your ship become opposed tasks, opposed using your Agility + Piloting and assisted by the ship's Structure + Piloting. If you win the opposed task, you may move the ship 1 zone. However, until the start of your next turn, all attacks made by your ship suffer +1 Difficulty. You cannot take this action if the ship is currently benefiting from the Defensive Fire action. |
| Maneuver | You focus on carefully controlling the ship's flight. Attempt a Reason + Piloting task with Difficulty 0, assisted by the ship's Engines + Piloting. This is normally used to generate Momentum for crossing difficult terrain. |
| Ram | You choose a single enemy vessel or other target within Close range and move into Contact with them. This is an Attack, requiring a Agility + Piloting task with a Difficulty of 2, assisted by the ship's Engines + Piloting. If successful, the Attack inflicts the ship's collision damage on the target, with the intended quality, but suffers the target ship's collision damage in return. Requires Reserve Power. You must take a Prepare minor action to take this action. |
| Warp | Attempt a Reason + Piloting task with a Difficulty of 1, assisted by the ship's Engines + Piloting. If you succeed, you move the ship a number of zones equal to the ship's Engines score, or you leave the battlefield entirely. See Going to Warp, page 295. |
Where a navigator is present, their actions are typically used to create traits representing plotted courses or charted hazards, or to assist the helm. This position may be combined with helm into a pilot position.
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Assist | When using the standard Assist action detailed, it's common for a navigator to assist the officer at the helm. |
| Create Trait | In addition to the standard Create Trait action description, note that, from the navigator's station, this action is often useful for creating traits that reflect plotting a careful course or studying the terrain. |
A character at operations handles resource management, allocation of power, and technical assets. These actions can also be performed from main engineering. A ship may have a second operations position as a separate station if it has a Systems rating of 4+.
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create Trait | In addition to the standard Create Trait action description, note that, from operations, this action is often useful for creating traits that reflect modifications to ship systems. |
| Damage Control | Choose a single breach and attempt a Presence + Systems task, with a Difficulty of 2; increase this by 1 per additional degree of Momentum. If successful, the breach is patched, and no longer imposes penalties or effects. The breach will require proper repairs outside of combat. |
| Regain Power | You draw energy from another system to replenish the ship's Reserve Power. Attempt a Reason + Systems task, with a Difficulty of 1. This may Succeed at Cost. On success, you restore the ship's Reserve Power, allowing it to be used later during the scene. Complications should reflect subsystems shutdown to use their power. The Difficulty for this task increases by 1 each time it is attempted during a scene. |
| Regenerate Defense Screens | Requires Reserve Power. You reroute Reserve Power to the grav emitters, attempting to restore their strength. This requires a Reason + Systems task with a Difficulty of 2, assisted by the ship's Structure + Systems; the Difficulty increases by 1 if the ship's defense screens are at 0. If successful, the ship regains defense screens equal to your Systems department, plus 2 more by spending 1 Momentum (Repeatable). |
| Reroute Power | Requires Reserve Power. You reroute Reserve Power to a specific system; the chosen system gains power which will apply to the next action using that system. |
A character at sensor operations is the eyes and ears of the ship, and vital for ensuring that the rest of the crew have the information they need to execute their tasks. A ship may have a second sensor operations position as a separate station if it has a Science rating of 4+.
| Minor Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Calibrate Sensors | You work to fine-tune the sensors to get the clearest readings. On your next Sensor Operations action, you may either ignore a single trait affecting the task, or re-roll 1d20. |
| Launch Probe | You launch a sensor probe in order to study a situation or phenomenon in more depth or from a safe distance. Select a single zone anywhere within Long range: you launch a probe which flies to that zone. Sensor Operations major actions may determine range from the probe's location rather than the ship. The probe can be targeted as if a Small Craft, and it is destroyed if it takes any damage. |
The following major actions can be undertaken by characters at sensor operations. The Difficulty of these tasks can be affected by interference, ambient conditions, and other unusual phenomena. They also increase in Difficulty by 1 for each range category beyond Close.
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create Trait | In addition to the standard Create Trait action description, note that, from sensor operations, this action is often useful for creating traits that reflect important information that has been detected or discovered. |
| Reveal | You scan for the trace signals that may reveal the tell-tale presence of a cloaked vessel, or a vessel concealed by some other phenomenon. Attempt a Reason + Science task, assisted by the ship's Sensors + Science, with a Difficulty of 1. If you succeed, and there is a hidden vessel within Long range, you reveal which zone it is in (if there are multiple, this only reveals one such vessel, chosen at random). Until that vessel moves, your ship may attack that hidden vessel, but increasing the Difficulty by 2. |
| Scan For Weakness | You scan an enemy vessel, looking for vulnerabilities. Choose a single vessel and attempt a Reason + Science task with a Difficulty of 2, assisted by the ship's Sensors + Security. If this succeeds, the next attack made against that ship increases its damage by 2, or gains the Piercing quality. |
| Sensor Sweep | You use the sensors to scan for information. Select a single zone to scan, and attempt a Reason + Science task, assisted by the ship's Sensors + Science, with a Difficulty of 1. If successful, the gamemaster provides basic information on any ships, objects, or other phenomena in that zone; you may spend Momentum to get extra information as normal. |
A character at tactical operates the ship's weapons and defensive systems. A ship may have a second tactical position as a separate station if it has a Security rating of 4+.
| Minor Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Calibrate Weapons | You fine-tune the frequency of energy weapons, and the yield of torpedoes to achieve a desired result. On your next attack with the ship's weapons, increase the weapon's damage by 1. |
| Prepare | The character prepares for, or spends time setting up, a task. Some tasks require this minor action to be taken before the task can be attempted. At tactical, this action can be used to raise or lower the ship's defense screens, or to arm or disarm the ship's weapons. Defense Screens: When the defense screens are lowered, the ship's maximum defense screens are 0. When raised, they are restored to their normal maximum, or to their previous total if the ship has taken any damage this scene. Weapons: The ship may only make Weapons Attacks if the weapons are armed. However, enemy ships can detect whether your ship's weapons are armed. |
| Targeting Solution | You lock targeting sensors onto an enemy vessel. Select a single enemy vessel within Long range. On the next attack against that vessel, either re-roll a d20 on the task, or choose which of the target's systems are hit by the attack, rather than rolling. |
| Major Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create Trait | In addition to the standard Create Trait action description, note that, from tactical, this action is often useful for creating traits that reflect modifications to weapon systems, or useful targeting data. |
| Defensive Fire | Choose a single energy weapon on your ship. Until your next turn, any enemy attack against your ship becomes opposed (Agility + Security and assisted by your ship's Weapons + Security) at the same Difficulty. If you succeed, you may spend 2 Momentum to counterattack, inflicting your weapon's damage against the attacker. You cannot take this action if the ship is currently benefiting from Evasive Action. |
| Fire | You select a single energy weapon or a single torpedo weapon on the ship, choose a target for that weapon, and make an Attack following the process on page 306. If you attempt a torpedo attack, add 1 Threat. |
| Rotate Defense Screens | This cannot be attempted if the defense screens are at 0. You try to tune your defense screens to resist enemy attacks. If you take this action, then until your next turn, increase the Resistance of your ship by 2. |
| Tractor Beam | The character engages a tractor beam at a nearby object or vessel. This requires a Reason + Security task, assisted by the ship's Structure + Security with a Difficulty of 2, and can only be directed at a target within Close range. If successful, the target vessel is immobilized and cannot move unless it can break free. This can be done in a number of ways, but the Difficulty is equal to the tractor beam's strength of your vessel. |
Space is dangerous, full of perils and hazards, not least of which is the risk of conflict with pirates, raiders, and hostile civilizations.
Certain actions—Evasive Action and Defensive Fire—allow the crew to turn an attack against their ship into an opposed task. When you attempt an opposed task, the reactive character first rolls to set the Difficulty. They gather a dice pool, rolling against their own target number as if they were making a task roll. However, they are not rolling against any specific Difficulty; just count how many successes they score. Only one of these actions may be in use at any one time: if you have used Evasive Action, you cannot use Defensive Fire until after the effects of Evasive Action have ended, and vice-versa.
When a vessel is successfully hit by an attack, the hit inflicts damage. Some environmental hazards also come with a risk of damage, such as gravitational stresses, intense radiation, corrosive gasses, micro-meteors, extreme heat, and ionic discharges.
Damage for starships is resolved like an extended task (page 271). However, the full process is described below.
Attacks and other hazards have a damage rating, which is a number, typically between 1 and 6, though some especially powerful weapons have a higher damage rating.
Ships have a quantity of defensive screens, representing the strength of the ship's gravitic defense screens, which are used to protect the ship from damage. These gravitic emitters create a localized field that deflects incoming energy and projectiles by warping spacetime around the vessel. Defensive screens function similarly to the Progress track of an extended task. A ship's normal maximum defensive screens are equal to the ship's Structure plus its Scale and Security.
When you make a starship attack, the Attack action chosen will determine the type of weapon used—typically energy weapons or torpedoes. If your ship has multiple weapons, choose one to Attack with.
Choose a single vessel or another viable target visible to your ship. Some weapons have a limited range; you cannot choose a target beyond this limited range.
Attempt a Reason + Security task, assisted by the ship's Weapons + Security, with a Difficulty determined by the Attack action chosen. For an energy weapon, the Difficulty is 2. For torpedoes, the Difficulty is 3. For a Ram Attack (see page 302), the Difficulty is 2.
If the task is successful, it inflicts damage (see opposite). Roll on the Random System Hit table to determine which system was hit; the Targeting Solutions minor action allows you to select a choice.
| D20 | System |
|---|---|
| 1 | Communications |
| 2 | Computers |
| 3-6 | Engines |
| 7-9 | Sensors |
| 10-17 | Structure |
| 18-20 | Weapons |
The following table provides additional options available to a character when they generate one or more Momentum in combat.
These are in addition to the uses of Momentum (page 293), and any others players or gamemaster create themselves.
| Momentum Spend | Description |
|---|---|
| Added Damage (2 Momentum, Repeatable) | Increase the damage of a successful attack by 1 for every 2 Momentum spent. |
| Devastating Attack (2 Momentum) | Roll an additional system; that system suffers a hit dealing half the attack's damage, rounding up. |
Cover and Concealment are common effects, representing objects that interfere with a vessel's ability to see or attack a target directly. Cover makes direct attacks against a vessel, while concealment makes it more difficult to detect and target a vessel. A zone providing cover or concealment functions as a trait enabling attacks harder or even impossible. It may also provide potential other dangers—a nebula full of volatile gas may be risky to fire through, in addition to providing cover. This can be justification to increase the complication range of attacks.
Cover can often be circumvented by attacking from a different direction or by using some form of indirect fire to displace the cover. Concealment can often be circumvented by finding other ways to detect a target's position and movement.
An environment filled with zones of cover and concealment completely changes the nature of a conflict, as both sides maneuver and attempt to fight or evade.
At the start of a new scene, a ship's defensive screens return to their maximum value. As with some extended task tracks, a ship's defensive screens have two Breakthrough points, one halfway down the track (round down), and one three-quarters of the way along the track (round up).
Example Defensive Screen Track: □□□□□□□□■□□□■□□
Most ships also have a quantity of Resistance which reduces total damage received, allowing them to reduce how much damage they take from attacks. Resistance is derived from the ship's Scale and Structure (page 185), and from talents affecting the hull and defensive screens.
If a ship is shaken, it has suffered minor damage or disruption. The ship's captain or highest-ranking character aboard randomly determines or chooses one option from the following list. NPC ships always choose Brace for Impact!
| D20 | Minor Damage | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1-6 | Brace for Impact! | On the next turn this ship (or a character aboard this ship) takes, they may not take a major action. |
| 7-12 | Losing Power! | If you have Reserve Power, lose the use of Reserve Power. The next time you attempt to Regain Power, the Difficulty is increased by 1. |
| 13-18 | Casualties and Minor Damage | The ship suffers a complication. |
| 19-20 | Roll Again | Roll on this table again. |