Operating a starship is similar to how characters act and interact. The rules for tasks and challenges equally apply to a character aboard a starship or space station, and many of the activities a character engages in aboard ship are resolved the same way they would be if in a large city on a colony world.
Actions taken aboard a starship are no different from actions taken anywhere else. A starship is a location within which the action takes place, rather than an active element of that action. The tools and resources available to the crew can provide a significant benefit they wouldn’t have elsewhere. For actions taken aboard a ship, there are no innate or inherent benefits, though there may be some depending on where aboard the ship the actions are attempted and what facilities the ship has available.
Actions taken with a starship always benefit from the ship’s presence and nature, because the ship is how the actions are taken. These activities involve the use of control systems within the ship to make the ship do something, such as moving between planets, firing missiles, or docking with a station. These actions usually influence something external to the ship, rather than something inside it.
Like characters, starships are represented using several mechanical elements, such as traits, systems, departments, specialties, and talents.
A starship typically has one or more traits, which help define what the ship is and what it can do, and they can be employed in the same way as traits for a location or situation, such as to increase or reduce the Difficulty of tasks.
Different cultures manufacture their ships in myriad different ways, and a cultural trait can encapsulate those many little differences. A ship may have additional traits reflecting other definitive elements of its construction or purpose—such as the ship’s class—or even the influence of events the ship encountered.
Traits are neutral and may be applied both positively and negatively. There is no fixed number of traits a ship may have. Traits and their effects upon play are detailed here.
Example: The Erebus-class LXS Rokkr, SDN-48, has four traits:
League Starship, Erebus class, League Flagship, and *Super Dreadnaught.
- The first trait is the ship’s origin—it is a League starship, and anything affecting League technology in a certain way is impacted by this trait.
- The second trait is the ship’s class, which may impact the perceived prestige of the vessel or indicate some practical realities, such as the ship’s dimensions and general capabilities.
- The third trait reflects the fact that the Rokkr is assigned to an admiral, and thus may impact how others perceive her and her crew, or the assignments she's given.
- The fourth trait notes the Rokkr is a super dreadnaught, meaning it has a very specific role and capabilites in the fleet, as well as political implications to sending such a large, powerful ship to a particular system.
Each starship is defined by six systems, which are similar to a character’s attributes. They embody the ship’s intrinsic capabilities compared to other vessels and the ways in which those capabilities are best employed. The systems are:
Each system has a rating which determines its measure, with higher numbers reflecting greater utility.
Characters may encounter situations in which more than one of their ship’s systems apply. In these cases, it is important to consider the context of the situation and how the character chooses to approach the problem. The gamemaster may choose which system is most applicable to a situation if more than one could be used.
The following matrix defines each system and offers suggestions on how each system might be used.
This system encompasses the transmission, encryption, decryption, and retrieval of subspace signals on a range of frequencies, as well as a range of other forms of signal transmission and reception. Any task that involves or relies upon communications systems should use Communications (Comms).
A character might use a ship’s Communications when:
This system represents the ship’s library and operational computer systems, from traditional binary systems, to neural networks and even quantum computing. Any task that relies on the processing power and data storage of the ship’s computers uses Computers.
A character might use a ship’s Computers when:
This system covers the propulsion and power generation systems of the vessel, and its ability to move and maneuver through space. This includes thrusters, impulse engines, and warp drive, as well as reactors, generators, and related systems such as the navigational deflector. Any task that relies on moving the vessel under its own power uses Engines.
A character might use a ship’s Engines when:
This system covers the vessel’s sensor suites and probes, allowing it to scan and monitor its surroundings, and the scientific systems that interpret that data. It also relates to transporters, as they are tied into a ship’s sensors. Any task that involves scanning and analysis using the vessel’s sensor arrays should use Sensors.
A character might use a ship’s Sensors when:
This system covers the physical construction of the vessel, from its hull and superstructure to the structural integrity field and inertial dampeners, as well as thermal and radiation shielding, and all aspects of the ship’s basic operational infrastructure, including life support systems, and artificial gravity. Any task that involves the physical construction of the vessel or its protective systems uses Structure.
A character might use the ship’s Structure when:
This system covers the tactical and offensive systems of the vessel, normally phasers or disruptors, plus torpedo launchers, and maybe even other weapons besides. Any task that involves attacking a target uses Weapons.
A character might use the ship’s Weapons when:
In addition to the six ship systems, each ship is equipped to support six departments, which encompass the various mission profiles, specialties, and personnel each ship carries. Each department is rated from 0 to 5, with each rating representing resource allocation, technology, and crew proficiency within that field. It is rare for a starship not to have at least a value of 1 in every department—vessels are expected to fulfill a variety of roles and carry out a wide range of missions.
The six departments are:
Each department’s rating represents how much support those fields receive aboard the ship. Each department covers a wide range of activities, and some activities may fit under more than one department, so which one is most applicable to a given task depends on the circumstances in a given scene more than anything else.
Command is the professionalism and organization of the ship’s crew and its chain of command. It also represents how well the ship represents the virtues and nature of its culture and conveys those things to both allies and outsiders.
Conn is the quality of the ship’s flight control and astro-navigation systems, as well as the expertise of its flight crews and the maintenance personnel responsible for maintaining those systems.
Engineering represents the quality and quantity of the ship’s engineering and other technical personnel, as well as the tools and facilities they work with.
Security represents the skill, training, and numbers of the ship’s security personnel, as well as other on-board security systems such as containment fields, and the refinement and calibration of tactical systems.
Medicine represents the ship’s medical facilities (sickbay, and laboratories), as well as the personnel—doctors, nurses, lab technicians, orderlies—who work there. Most of the uses of Medicine are internal to the ship—making use of the facilities in the ship’s sickbay—rather than being able to be projected outwards.
Science represents the scientific personnel aboard the ship, their laboratories, their analytical facilities, and the other tools and systems available for analyzing data and studying the unknown.
Due to their size, advanced technology, and competent crews, starships can be adapted to a wide range of activities and operations. Unlike a character, a starship does not have specialties, but instead treats every task it attempts or assists with as if it had an applicable specialty. As a result, any d20 rolled on behalf of the ship rolling equal to or less than the relevant ship’s department rating scores 2 successes.
Example: Riley Aimes attempts to maneuver the Chilkoot around an asteroid while evading enemy weapons fire. They uses Agility + Piloting to determine their target number, and is assisted by the ship’s Engines + Conn. For the ship’s assist die, any result equal to or less than the Chilkoot’s Conn rating scores 2 successes.
Starships have talents, usually representing areas of design and equipment focus. Ship talents provide similar benefits as character talents, but the context is determined by the starship rather than by character behaviors. Starbases and some small craft also have talents. For more detail see Starship Talents.
Vessels come in a wide range of sizes, from tiny shuttlecraft to stately yachts and giant battleships. However, a vessel’s Scale is a representation of not its size, but a combination of its size and its resilliance to damage, and it influences several other starship ratings. Scale is a number, typically between 2 and 6 for most vessels, with larger numbers representing bigger, more dangerous ships. Most vessels fall into this range, though some exceptional craft—such as Super Dreadnaughts—may be larger, while Scale 1 and 2 are exclusively used for small craft and civilian ships. Space stations tend to have a much higher Scale rating.
A starship’s Scale is used to determine several game mechanics elements, but it relates most importantly to the ship’s Resistance—a ship with a greater Scale can resist attacks more easily and withstand greater amounts of damage before systems are damaged or destroyed.
This is a table of all the hull classes and their scale. Please see the Hull Classification page to see more about these hull classes.
| Scale | Hull Classification. |
|---|---|
| 1 | Utility, Shuttle, Fighter, Transport, Freighter (Light/Heavy) |
| 2 | Merchantman, Armed Merchant Cruiser, Auxiliary Cruiser, Yacht, Super Yacht |
| 3 | LCS, Frigate, Corvette, Interdictor |
| 4 | Destroyer (Light/Heavy), Light Carrier, Logistic Cruiser, Carrier |
| 5 | Advanced Research Destroyer, Cruiser, Heavy Carrier |
| 6 | Battlecruiser, Heavy Battlecruiser, Heavy Interdictor |
| 7 | Advanced Battlecruiser, Battleship, Super Carrier, Dreadnaught, most space stations |
| 8+ | Super Dreadnaught, and some other space stations |
Note: Some specific craft (such as hero ships) may be a scale size larger, depending on the modifications they've had.
Starships are designed to be resilient, for the rigors of space exploration are considerable, and a vessel may have to survive with little or no support for months or even years at a time. This durability—a mixture of the ship’s hull and spaceframe composition, the effectiveness of the point defense systems and gavitic defenses, and redundancies built into vital systems—is expressed as Resistance, which reduces incoming damage.
| Ship’s Structure | Resistance |
|---|---|
| 6 or lower | +0 |
| 7–8 | +1 |
| 9–10 | +2 |
| 11–12 | +3 |
| 13+ | +4 |
A ship’s Resistance is equal to half its Scale (round up), plus a bonus based on the ship’s Structure rating, as shown on the Structure and Resistance table.
Example: The ??? has Structure 10 and is Scale 6. Thus, its Resistance is 5 (half of Scale 6 rounded up is 3, +2 for Structure 10).
Early starships (or anything that can dive into subspace) are able to use their large graviton emitters (colloquially "grav vanes" or "subspace engines") to generate low-power gravity shears as defensive screens from harmful radiation or incoming weapons fire. (All subspace capable ships can generate at least a basic defensive screen this way.)
As ships became more complicated and subspace engines more advanced, the ability to create defensive screens also increased. Now it's a standard feature of all ships, with military vessels having secondary (or tertiary) emitters for making more and more complex graviton geometry.
It is important to understand that these 'gravitic defense screens' are less like a 'force field' and instead more like a mirror. They can reflect or bend incoming particles, em energy, or even missiles away from the ship.
These screens are not impervious to damage; higher output weapons, or missiles designed to bypass these screens with penitration aids can all deal damage, reducing the screen's effectiveness.
A starship or station has a defenses rating, which is reduced when the ship suffers damage, and which can be replenished through the actions of the crew and with time. If a vessel suffers too much damage from a single attack or hazard, it also suffers serious damage, which impairs the ship’s functionality until repaired.
A ship has defenses equal to its Engines plus its Scale and Security, though other factors may modify this.
Defenses have two breakthrough points similar to an extended task: one at halfway along the track’s length, and one at three-quarters of the way along the track. Defense breakthroughs are explained in more detail here.
Many vessels (and almost all space stations) have point defense systems, small energy weapon turrets that operates independently from the main weapons systems. These systems are designed to work in tandem with the gravitic defense screens, providing additional support for vessels and stations.
For ships built with point defenses in mind, see the special rules for details.
Starships require a significant number of personnel to function, and a skilled officer knows best when to assign those personnel to different problems. Characters often have the advantage of Crew Support, in the form of these personnel.
The total amount of Crew Support available is determined by the ship—each vessel has a finite amount of crew on hand, most of whom will be busy on routine duties to keep the ship running, and form part of the background of the ship’s standard activities. Spending Crew Support brings members of the crew from that mass of background activity into the forefront, putting focus on them and making them an active and significant part of a mission. Spending Crew Support to bring supporting characters into play is described here.
A ship’s standard allotment of Crew Support per mission is equal to the ship’s Scale, but may be modified by other factors, such as talents or spaceframe.
A starship contains several smaller craft for moving personnel and cargo and for performing activities outside the ship (such as making repairs on the hull). Since not all ships can dock or land there is always a need for tenders or smaller craft that can do those things. The most common is shuttles, but larger capital ships might even have smaller capital ships that, themselves, have shuttle craft. (Some ships designers in particular like this 'matroska nesting doll' approach to ship design.) For most purposes, however, we simply this down simply into a concept called Small Craft Readiness.
A starship can support a finite number of active small craft missions: launch bays have a finite amount of space for operational craft, and a starship contains many more small craft than can be operational at once. The total number of small craft that may be active in a scene is represented by the ship’s Small Craft Readiness rating, which is equal to the ship’s Scale minus 1. A ship’s Small Craft Readiness may be modified by other factors, such as talents.
Example: The CS Chilkoot is Scale 3, so has a Small Craft Readiness rating of 2. The vessel can support two active small craft in any given scene. The ship may carry more shuttlecraft, but it can support only two active small craft at a time.
One common question players may have is just how many shuttlecraft are stored aboard their starship or station. While in RFI we tend to have this sort of information available, those are the kinds of details that the stories we tell tend to gloss over.
With the technologies and engineering know-how so ubiquitous, gathering resources and fabricating replacement shuttlecrafts as a commodity are straightforward enough tasks that military vessels can simply requisition more, while independent operators can simply buy older military surplus in bluk. The answer should usually be "as many as we need."
That being said, note that a ship’s capacity—the number of small craft it can carry—is different than the ship’s Small Craft Readiness—the number of small craft the ship can have activated in a scene.
While, in theory, a starship could be commanded from a pad or phone while walking down a corridor, doing so would be complicated in practice. For the efficient running of a vessel, personnel should operate the ship from their duty stations. Where you are on a starship matters when it comes to what you’re trying to accomplish.
Each station is operated by a different officer, who all work together to control the ship. Specific actions characters can take at each station during a starship conflict are detailed in the Starship Conflict section.
Different ship classes often have different station configurations, but there are several common stations found on most ships.
Note: On military vessels, the official term is 'Combat Information Center' or 'CIC'. However, centuries of science fiction and naval traditions mean that many officers still call it a 'bridge'. It doesn't help that civilian ships follow the Maritime tradition and call it a bridge.
A ship is commanded from its bridge; nearly all aspects of starship operations can be directed from there, controlled by a selection of bridge officers. The bridge is home to several stations set up to control different starship functions.
Central to any bridge is the Command station, often a captain’s station. More than merely a centralized seat from which to oversee the bridge crew, most captain’s stations serve as a central hub for information and decisions during critical moments. They almost always can be configured to take over for any other station in a pinch and are almost always customized to the preferences of the ship's captain.
While communications functions can be accessed from almost any station, some ships have a dedicated comms station; this is especially the case with older Terran miltiary vessels. This station controls all internal and external communications systems.
Note: On smaller ships (or League ships), communications is often handled by the ops station.
The communications officer is responsible for:
These actions are usually assisted by the ship’s Communications + Engineering. The specialized nature of the controls at this station are designed to enable complex tasks, so any Communications-related tasks performed at this station reduce their Difficulty by 1.
The helm console—often referred to as the conn—provides control over the ship’s propulsion and maneuvering systems, and it is from here an officer pilots the ship. This console often also provides access to astro-navigation and sensor systems, but some bridges have a separate navigation console, with a two-person helm and navigator team. This is especially common on larger military vessels where they may even have four officers dedicated, with each of conn and navigation having their own backup station and officer.
Characters at the helm can pilot the ship, directing where the ship goes and maneuvering it around hazards and dangers. These actions are usually assisted by the ship’s Engines + Conn. If the helm also includes navigation, it allows a character to operate sensors and access star charts to plan a course to a specific destination.
The operations management station—often simply called Ops—controls many of the ship’s internal systems, including managing the allocation of power and computing resources to different departments aboard the ship, as well as coordinating with shuttles or fighters. It also incorporates communications systems and the ship’s sensors, allowing the officer stationed at Ops to monitor the ship’s situation.
Ops is often the 'miscellaneous' station that takes on whatever jobs the other stations don't cover.
Characters at the operations console can operate internal ship functions, such as:
These actions are usually assisted by the ship’s Computers + Engineering.
On the bridge, the science station serves to provide detailed information about all manner of phenomena, both those detected by the ship’s sensors and those recorded within the ship’s library computers. Most military vessels don't have this station, assigning relevant duties to either tactical or ops.
Characters at the science station have full access to and control of the ship’s sensor arrays, and detailed controls and displays to analyze the information received. These actions are usually assisted by the ship’s Sensors + Science. They also allow full access to the ship’s library computers, enabling detailed research, which can be assisted by the ship’s Computers + Science.
The specialized tools and controls available here are ideal for this kind of work, reducing the Difficulty of these tasks by 1.
Almost every console on a modern ship is designed to be able to serve as any other console, with the exception of the customized physical controls required by helm consols. While most bridges have 'standard' layouts, ship captains can change that layout to suit their needs. Terran Bridges in particular are incredibly generic, taking their traditional modularity design philosophy and applying it to their bridge layouts.
Setting up a multi-role console to a specific purpose is accomplished by creating a trait, which reduces the Difficulty of tasks attempted that relate to that console’s purpose by 1. Typically bridge consoles will already be set up, not requiring this to happen ever time, only when a console is changed or customized.
Example: ???
The tactical console operates the ship’s offensive and defensive systems: the weapons and defenses, as well as related systems such as electronic countermeasures or electronic warefare (ewar) gear. Many tactical stations also allow the officer to monitor and coordinate the ship’s internal security, including operation of communications—information security, handling of encrypted signals, and intercepting enemy transmissions—as well as coordinating security teams, internal doors, etc. These actions are usually assisted by the ship’s Weapons + Security.
All ships have resources the crew needs during their operations, and these are stored within a cargo bay, cargo hold, or cargo deck. Some resources may be intended for delivery to a specific destination, while others are for consumption by the ship and her crew (commonly referred to as “ship’s stores”).
Cargo bays are often fitted with cargo lifts—large elevators allowing bulky items to be moved from the cargo bay to an actual cargo hold. (The difference being a Cargo bay allows craft to land to unload, while a cargo hold is simply a large room for storing cargo, often attached to a cargo bay.)
Most cargo bays or hold can be transformed into other spaces as required:
Cargo bays specifically can also be turned into additional landing space for small craft, and some ships can even have them retrofited to incread the ship's Small Craft Readiness.
Converting a cargo bay to serve another purpose requires spending 2 Momentum (Immediate); the cargo bay is considered converted at the start of the following scene, and it gains an appropriate trait (such as Emergency Medical Bay).
Also called the engine room, engineering is the central point for controlling all engineering systems aboard a ship, especially those related to propulsion and power generation. The ship’s main reactor(s) are controlled from main engineering.
Characters in main engineering can operate internal ship functions, such as:
These actions are usually assisted by the ship’s Computers + Engineering. Operating these systems from main engineering is more efficient than from elsewhere, reducing the Difficulty of associated tasks by 1.
As all systems eventually link to main engineering, main engineering serves as a secondary control center for the ship; most bridge functions can be duplicated from main engineering, though not as efficiently. Increase the complication range of any bridge function task by 1 when performed from engineering.
Also called the medbay, sickbay or the infirmary, medical is the main medical center aboard a starship. Presided over by the chief medical officer or the ship’s doctor (depending on the size of the ship and if a doctor is even present), medbays provide comprehensive medical care for crew and guests alike. This care ranges from routine check-ups and treating injuries suffered during normal duties to complex surgical procedures, disease outbreaks, and major disasters and medical crises. However, the majority of medbays are designed for either routine issues or emergencies; it's always preferred to get to a medical facility on a station.
Tasks for medical procedures performed within sickbay reduce their Difficulty by 1 and can be assisted by the ship’s Sensors or Computers + Medical, or at the gamemaster’s discretion. Additionally, increase the complication range of any medical task by 1 if the ship or station's medical bay wouldn't reasonably be setup for this kind of procedure (such as emergency surgury).
Some vessels are vessels of exploration, and even vessels primarily serving peacekeeping or combat roles often have space set aside for the study and analysis of the unknown. While neither the League, nor the Terrans tend to equip their warships for exploration, they do have some of them converted over for research purposes, or rely on civilian researchers to fill these gaps.
NorAellians, on the other hand, don't make a distinction and typically have whole research labs aboard the same ships they send to deal with skirmishes.
Each laboratory is outfitted to serve one scientific discipline—such as astrophysics, biochemistry, hydroponics, or stellar cartography—with tools and resources dedicated to that specific field of inquiry. These resources are often highly specialized, with a narrow range of applications, but able to provide information more generalized scientific equipment cannot.
While onboard a research ship or any station that would reasonably have labratories, a player may establish the presence of a specialized science lab once per scene; the lab is counted as equipment, with an opportunity cost of 2, which requires naming a trait to describe the kind of laboratory it is, such as Genetics Lab or Plasma Physics Lab. This trait has Potency 2 (see Potent Traits, page 252) because labs are meant to be ultra-specialized places for scientific work that can’t be performed using conventionally available tools.
Players may establish a number of specialized laboratories per mission equal to the ship or stations’s Science rating.
A shuttlebay is where small craft are launched and received, as well as where they are maintained and repaired. Most shuttlebays are divided into two parts:
Only a portion of a ship’s total complement of small craft are active and ready in the launch bay (represented by the ship’s Small Craft Readiness rating), able to be used right away; the rest are stored in hangars and take more time and effort to prepare for use. Larger ships may have several shuttlebays.
Shuttlebays can also be refitted to serve other purposes in the same way as a cargo bay (see Cargo Bay). Doing so prevents the refitted shuttlebay from being used for small craft (which is why some larger ships have several shuttlebays).
Characters may operate shuttles and other small craft from a shuttlebay, up to the ship’s Small Craft Readiness rating. Characters can temporarily double a ship’s Small Craft Readiness by creating an appropriate trait, but this takes time to carry out, and the benefit does not take effect until the start of the next scene. Such an increase lasts until the end of the current mission.
When operating a shuttle, the Thrusters minor action is used for takeoff and landing, though this level of detail rarely matters outside of combat and other action scenes.
Typically only found on military craft or pirate vessels, a fighterbay is a specialized form of shuttlebay. Most have some sort of launch system, either launch tubes or a specialized lauching cradle, designed for fast deployment. Most military ships use launch tubes and keep their fighters in an internal hangar until right before lauching them.
Landing fighters typically required the use of a shuttle bay, with the fighters being moved from the shuttlebay to an internal hanger for maintenence and repairs.
Ships equiped with a fighterbay gain the Fighters X trait, specifying how many fighters they may operate at any given time. Fighters ignore the small craft rule.
Increase the complication range of landing a fighter by 1 if the landing area is improvised, or involves re-docking with a launch cradle.