So last night my players encountered a villain that they've been working towards for a while. He was a legendary pirate, feared across most of the Outer Rim. He had a highly modified, tricked-out Marauder -class as his flagship. When my players finally encountered him, they got close to his ship and proceeded to try and slice into his systems. The slicer succeeded after one roll and got a Triumph, and then said that she wanted to shut down their gunnery systems. So... then they just sort of took pot shots at him while the slicer switched back and forth from shutting off his engines and shutting off his turbolasers. It was no challenge for them at all.

How does slicing work, really? And how do I stop it from being so powerful? I ruled that my players have to be in close range to slice, but that isn't really a problem for their modified YT-2400. All I know is that there's never an instance in the Star Wars movies of a dogfight being won by hacking, and yet every single space battle my players start slicing everything. It's gotten very anti-climactic and uninteresting. So what am I doing wrong?

The Slice Enemy's System action is detailed on page 237 of the Core Rulebook. Generally, Successes are used to temporarily strip shields (reducing defense) and Advantages can be used to inflict system strain (which can eventually disable to vessel). A Triumph will let you disable a weapon system for one round - but that's one turbolaser (or a set of Linked guns) on a Triumph, not all of them. Each of the double turbolasers on the Marauder is weapon system, so eight Triumphs would be needed to disable them all for one round.

I agree that I don't like Slicing as a combat option, but the RAW of it is such that it's not likely to have a drastic effect on vessels with multiple weapon systems. I will point out though that, per the game rules, a bunch of good Slicers should have been able to consistently keep the Death Star from ever firing on Alderaan.

My big worry for slicing (and playing a slicer) would be that I might trivialize space encounters in the way that a hacker/decker in Shadowrun can trivialize some combat situations if set up properly. I'm glad to see the rules don't support a full shutdown situation and mostly allow for short-term rebuffs (even if they're bad for the enemy while applied).

It's good they gave them something to do also though. Easier to incorporate everyone into space combat and make it more than just fly/shoot.

I'm fine with the Slice Enemy System option for space combat. You need a Triumph to shut down a weapon system, and those aren't all that common. And remember, if you feel your players have too easy a time of it, just have the computer guy on the other ship have a couple of ranks in Defensive Slicing, or even the improved version. Keeping someone out of your own ship's computer systems definitely counts as "defending a system" as per the slicing rules.

I'm fine with the Slice Enemy System option for space combat. You need a Triumph to shut down a weapon system, and those aren't all that common. And remember, if you feel your players have too easy a time of it, just have the computer guy on the other ship have a couple of ranks in Defensive Slicing, or even the improved version. Keeping someone out of your own ship's computer systems definitely counts as "defending a system" as per the slicing rules.

A ship of war will have a dedicated EW crew for just those occasions. Plus what's good for the goose is good for the gander and I see no reason an enemy ship wouldn't launch counter EW attacks.

I will point out though that, per the game rules, a bunch of good Slicers should have been able to consistently keep the Death Star from ever firing on Alderaan.

Depends on how one defines "a bunch" and "good," I suppose, but the Death Star and its superlaser are more in the moon-sized-plot-device category. As a GM, I'd say that it's too big to slice from the outside; you'd need to be station-side to do any slicing of the superlaser. Doesn't count as a single "weapon system" for the purposes of space combat rules.

I'd let a Y-Wing slicer gunner shut down a Death Star turbolaser turret or something. Maybe ONE of the super laser component beams. But probably not that, and even so, there'd definitely be EW operatives there to protect those systems.

Also the question of range comes up here. There isn't one defined, but I don't think it should be something you can do from across the star system.

Also the question of range comes up here. There isn't one defined, but I don't think it should be something you can do from across the star system.

Slicing requires the comms. The comms have a range based on the ship's sensor range. Presumably you need to get signals back from the target, so it's likely that the shorter comms range of the two vessels involved is the limit. This should also mean that a ship with its comms offline should be immune to tele-slicing.

Unless you can somehow backthread through a sensor scan back to the source. Don't really like the idea that just "hanging up the phone" invalidates the stuff a slicer specifically can do in space combat.

A slicer need not only be hacking into a computer system, spoofing missiles is one example, using target obscurants, they could also be broadcasting phantom target signatures, lots of things that don't require them to get into another ship's systems directly.

In my game I require a special equipment for the electronic warfare installed on the ship, so the characters can use this Slicing action. Instead I have created Jamm Sensors action that works like Spoofing Missiles action, but it is used against laser cannons and similar. I think the latter was already introduced in SWd20.

In my game I require a special equipment for the electronic warfare installed on the ship, so the characters can use this Slicing action. Instead I have created Jamm Sensors action that works like Spoofing Missiles action, but it is used against laser cannons and similar. I think the latter was already introduced in SWd20.

Oh absolutely, I think an equipment/transmitter pod mounted on a HP for a full spectrum of EW options is very appropriate.

This thread was pointed out to me in another thread regarding slicing .

This rule just doesn't make any sense to me. I've never seen, in any Star Wars movie an example of ship to ship hacking/slicing. Not to be facetious but they are usually shooting at each other. It seems like a hastily drafted rule to give slicers something to do while in a starship battle. Whats to prevent the highly trained crew of a star destroyer from slicing the Millennium Falcon or any ship doing this for that matter.

Its also implied that since a ship can do this, whats to prevent it from doing it to anything else that has sensors/comms. With a rule like this I would think that every imperial ship above silhouette 4 or 5 would carry a detachment of slicers to disable enemy ships and end battles before they can escalate.

I'll be house ruling this one out, it just doesn't fit the canon in my opinion. Can anyone give me an example of ship to ship slicing in any of the lore?

Naleax

I don't think there are any lore examples. I think this is a mechanic FFG thought up so that more players would have something to do in a space battle other than "fly" or "shoot", and make skills other than Piloting and Gunnery relevant in space battle. I don't think there's anything "hastily drafted" about it. My EotE campaign has been running for one year now, with a slicer in the group the whole time, and this ability has never unbalanced an encounter for me.

Personally, as I've stated before in this thread, I have no issues with this. Large warships would have, as 2P51 stated, dedicated crews to counter this with Slicing talents. Not to mention that as far as I interpret the rules you can only make one Slice Enemy Systems action per round, and shutting down one turbolaser battery on a Star Destroyer isn't really going to matter much.