In a space combat, if you determine that it will take, for example, 3 rounds to plot the coordinates for a hyperspace jump, does that require constant work by the player plotting the course?

We had a space combat last night and the characters in their freighter were battling fighters fleeting from a planet. The Co-Pilot made an Astrogation check to plot the coordinates for the hyperspace jump and I determined that it would take them 3 rounds for the ship to be ready to jump.

However I wanted the Co-Pilot to be able to take actions after that, to help out with the combat.

Does the Astrogator need to keep working, or can they make their Astrogation check, tell the computer to plot the course, and then the computer works for 3 turns on it?

My instincts now are that it would be more fun if the Co-Pilot is available to take further actions, rather than requiring his every turn to be "I keep working on the navicomputer".

Thanks!

I assumed it cost you your actions for that time. Otherwise it feels like "well, I did my part in 5 seconds, but the **** navicomputer takes so long with the math".

If I was going to run an encounter where I required them to work on it every round, I would probably go with an X number of successes route. Then, whether it's 2 or 5 rounds, it's the character determining how long and not just twiddling their thumbs waiting for a set # of rounds. You could track the # of advantage/threat over the time for a final count.

I'm considering requiring 1 manoeuvre each round after the initial check, but not an entire Action. Requiring an Action each round (whether an actual skill check or not) should at least entail decreasing the default number of rounds required somewhat.

Ahrimon, that was basically the idea. I started with a set number in my mind of something like 4 rounds, and they rolled a couple of successes on the Astrogation check so it became 3 rounds.

In the moment I ruled that the player would need to keep performing the calculations in each turn, but I think in future I'll say "You give the coordinates to the navicomputer and make your Astrogation roll. Based on the success of that roll and any advantages, etc, it will take 3 turns for the computer to finish the calculations. You're now free to take other Co-Pilot actions in order to assist in the battle. After 3 turns the ship will be ready to jump."

I'm considering requiring 1 manoeuvre each round after the initial check, but not an entire Action. Requiring an Action each round (whether an actual skill check or not) should at least entail decreasing the default number of rounds required somewhat.

That's not a bad idea. I definitely wouldn't require an action each round, as the initial Action to roll the Astrogation check is sufficient.

Then they could still exert themselves, take 2 Strain, and perform a second maneuver to help out with the combat.

Well... this is a difficult question to answer because I haven't yet grasped what the skill Astrogation really is... How do you astrogate in the first place???

Usually I just say something like "Siri, how do I get to the Hyperspace Downtime Bar?"

I mean, Han probably has to check off a few options...

"No bouncing into supernova"

"No Imperial Entanglements" (optionally "yes" to go faster)

"Avoid Kashyyyk if it is Life Day"

If you're faced against an imperial pursuit, I'd imagine you'd just jump a short distance, and then jump again when you're out of the storm.

I mean, how complex can astrogation get, and what can a human realistically do about it?

Let's say you want to get to Alderaan. Which of the following steps of this astrogation would be done by a computer, and which by a human?

1. Locate Alderaan on a map.

2. Alderaan has an orbit, so you'll need to make sure you end your trip at the correct position out of orbit.

3. Locate any stellar hazards in the hyperspace route path.

4. Re-plot the course to go around the stellar hazard.

5. Check if the new path has any stellar hazards.

6. Re-plot and repeat 5 as necessary.

7. Jump into hyperspace.

I'd say the computer can pretty much handle all of the steps above, except step #7. To think that a person would manually draw a route around supernovas is pretty ridiculous, even with computer assisted drawing. Note that wookieepedia says that a trip would entail more than one hyperspace jump, so it's probable that you can't actually turn in hyperspace.

Perhaps an astrogator could do this:

4a. Locate any non-stellar entanglements in the path (ie Imperials with Gravity Well Projectors, outdated hyperspace routes)

4b. Plot a course around those entanglements.

4c. Repeat steps 3, 4.

4d. Recheck path, and then go back to 4a if desired.

But I can't seem to justify my 4a step. If the Imperials had Gravity Well Projectors, they could probably set up imperial hyperspace checkpoints where you just get pulled out of hyperspace... but I don't think this is possible. From what I gather, GWPs stop a navicom from initiating a jump because the navicom believes that it is still in gravity's reach.

It's weird. Wookieepedia says that you can use a GWP to pull someone OUT of hyperspace, but I don't see how that's possible. If an astrogation check creates a safe route in the first place, then why would a ship in hyperspace decide to stop, if it came into range of a GWP? We know that a bad plotted course would have a ship fly into a star and be destroyed. A ship would go right through a GWP, the same way it would go through a star, and ignore it.

Maybe we have outdated hyperspace routes... Ideally, don't you always want to have the latest hyperspace updates on your computer? I'd imagine that's the first thing you do when you dock with a spaceport. Install the spaceport's hyperspace update, if newer, or upload your newer version to be cross-referenced with other travellers.

Is there possibly an additional step, where the navigator has to remember stellar hazards, because he heard them in the Cantina, and nobody ever updates their navicoms with the latest routes? That sounds kind of crazy.

...Yeah, if I had things my way, Astrogation would not be a skill. It would be absorbed into Computers, or Knowledge. Using a navicomputer would be as simple as using Google Maps, although complex calculations would slow down the computer to a crawl.

You could consider this: the player plotting the course makes one action to set the computer, well, computing. If it takes 3 rounds the first action to set it up, the player can then do other things while the hourglass icon turns. On the third round the computer will have coordinates figured out and you can jump. This allows the player to do other things.

Now I as a bad person (gm) will spend despair, threat do delay the computation or cause a fire that threatens the navicomp/astromech etc. Forcing one or another player to deal with my karking them around and kicking them in the splaunch.

Sounds good, Samophlange!