Hey guys,

So, this is kind of a "Please check my work." topic, with the caveat of "I'm pretty sure it's wrong, but hey!"

In one of the first adventures long ago, my crew decided to get their ship hit by lightning and took 5 Hull Points of damage. Since then we've been cruising the galaxy in style . . . that is to say the same style of ripped jeans in the 90's.

Well finally we hired a mechanic on our crew, and he was more than happy to spend a few days in a docking port repairing the damage.

That being said, he has 3 Talents that allow him to fix 1 additional Hull Point per attempt. So, with 3 of these Talents, for 500 Credits he can repair 4 Hull Points. A couple things . . .

Since we had 5 Hull Points of damage, is it still 1,000 credits to repair all 5? How do you justify that in game? Sure, you just spend 500 credits to fix a TON of the work, and now you need 500 more for that little dab? This had my players very confused.

Additionally, am I missing anything else? Do you just spend the credits and days at port and everything is good? Is there a roll? Is there something else?

Okay, I guess this post wasn't just a "Please check my work." How quickly my train of thought diverts.

No, not quite. The talents that lets you fix extra damage only comes into play when you're making combat repairs, which is an action you can undertake once per (combat) encounter. Those hull points are fixed for free, as are the ones "repaired" with the Hold Together talent.

The kind of repairs that cost money is the kind that you set down in a starport or other suitable location to carry out. This is typically handled out-of-play and just involves the PCs paying 500 credits per hull point. No skill checks or anything are required, at least not per the rules as written.

Now, of course you can houserule some repair mechanics of your own, like letting the players reduce the cost by rolling, but RAW are pretty much what I've written above.

So . . . now I'm totally lost. You're saying it's actually easier, nay . . . BETTER . . . to "get into combat to use a Skill to repair Hull Points"?

That seems unreasonable . . . at best.

In a way, yes. Just keep in mind that you can only do a repair once per encounter. You stand a significant chance of taking more damage than you manage to repair if you go get into combat. Also note that just running off to get into a combat isn't exactly always a possibility...at least without angering whomever you intend to attack.

Also, you can't necessarily repair every bit of damage from the inside of the ship during combat. It's possible for their to be an upper limit to the amount you repair in that way.

Of course, it's always up to the GM to find the proper balance point between RAW and common sense. For example, I wouldn't allow combat repairs to cause a ship to come out of a battle in better shape than it went in.

Keep in mind some more permanent repairs might mean the cost of purchasing new Armor plates. The cost is intended to show port costs of paying someone to do it for you. Combat repairs are holding it together with spit and duct tape, but in port repairs at minimum include the materials to do a competent repair... Perhaps even with Bondo and new paint

The talent "Solid Repairs" allows for repairing above-and-beyond the successes of a Mechanics roll. Nowhere does it specify that this must be in combat.

CRB p. 244 also says that repairs may be performed by PCs, outside of the guidlines on cost at a starport.

For my group, when they get into dock, I let them roll Mechanics to fix the ship, which allows them to heal Hull Trauma for a cheaper rate (they need only parts, not labor).

As a house-rule, i allow my players to do "Combat Repairs" once after a combat encounter aswell, instead of allowing the action only during the encounter.

So . . . now I'm totally lost. You're saying it's actually easier, nay . . . BETTER . . . to "get into combat to use a Skill to repair Hull Points"?

That seems unreasonable . . . at best.

Let me share how i told my mechanic in our group how this works. I had this exact situation arise.

IN COMBAT

Ship just took a 6 points of Hull damage...

Holy crap that tie just blew a hole in the left cargo hold! Mechanic Grabs the Dejaric table and uses the table top as a Patch welding it over the hole, thus repairing 2 Hull points in his case. Whew! Hull sealed Captain!

AFTER COMBAT

Now Mechanic Lands and assess the Damage, remaining 4 points. Total cost to fix the Hull and supporting electronics and pipes and armor, 2000 credits.

You can duct-tape damage until you cant see it.. but its still damaged until FIXED. Mechanics don't miraculously fix **** in the middle of combat as a permanent repair.

So . . . now I'm totally lost. You're saying it's actually easier, nay . . . BETTER . . . to "get into combat to use a Skill to repair Hull Points"?

That seems unreasonable . . . at best.

Let me share how i told my mechanic in our group how this works. I had this exact situation arise.

IN COMBAT

Ship just took a 6 points of Hull damage...

Holy crap that tie just blew a hole in the left cargo hold! Mechanic Grabs the Dejaric table and uses the table top as a Patch welding it over the hole, thus repairing 2 Hull points in his case. Whew! Hull sealed Captain!

AFTER COMBAT

Now Mechanic Lands and assess the Damage, remaining 4 points. Total cost to fix the Hull and supporting electronics and pipes and armor, 2000 credits.

You can duct-tape damage until you cant see it.. but its still damaged until FIXED. Mechanics don't miraculously fix **** in the middle of combat as a permanent repair.

There are also some excelent house rules in the sticky with resources for repairing at a spaceport that would go great with that.

If there are any questions about "solid repairs" and what it says it has a full description on page 143 of the CRB. If all you want is the short answer cvtheoman is correct there are no restrictions on when the repairs can be done.

My reading of this talent is that the original poster is mostly correct in his cost assumptions.