I've taken your version and run with it - I love the quick die rolling resolition to ships escaping and pilots surviving. Right now I've got two die rolls for destroyed ships - one to determine the pilot's survival (Red die - crit is killed, hit is injured, else you're fine), and one to determine whether they escaped the field should the battle be lost (Green die - evade is safe, focus is safe if you're a Unique Character, else you're captured).

What I've really been doing is toying with XP sinks beyond buying PS and upgrade slots, because I get a little uncomfortable with the added paperwork and difficulty in flying when you don't have cardboard for the right values - I mean, VI is one thing, but it could get a bit of a crapshoot

So what I've got is that you earn XP, and can then spend it on a variety of things:

A die roll (1 red die per XP currently banked) to upgrade to a higher PS, including possibly a Unique Pilot if you roll enough hits to bridge the cost gap; crits count double

Elite slots for unique pilots that don't normally have them

Rerolling "Pilot dice" for escape, survival, and fleeing the battlefield

Getting extra dice on a certain roll - fleeing the battlefield, survival, or escaping capture (possibly boarding if we ever get that far too)

And then 'strategic' stuff: Becoming a leutenant (to smoothly replace your Squad Leader if they're indisposed for a couple turns or dead), getting bonus dice on repairing ships or requisitioning supplies, training the recruits, etc.

Because dice are fun, and hopefully I can come up with enough uses for XP that even a generic pilot can make himself valuable. Winged Gundark might not be much of a fighter pilot, but he's proving to be a great logistican these days, you know?...

I'll try to post it up so we can compare notes once I've gotten it intelligble. I'm using your original post as the base, so integration-wise things should still be fairly compatible at this point.

I'll throw it on drive and let people view it. Each sheet should be sized perfectly to fit a regular 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.

Ship Tracker

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7BIOb8oa6SmNDNFY0RyTUNJSDA/view?usp=sharing

Ship Tracker (print friendly)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7BIOb8oa6SmSmFmR2dVdGNqYWs/view?usp=sharing

Pilot Tracker (print friendly)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7BIOb8oa6SmMmZfemZRNmdMOTQ/view?usp=sharing

Hopefully these links work. I included a slot for everything that could be permanently mounted on a ship, while I didn't have a slot for things like crew or turrets (that can be moved). I'd recommend having a list of 'equipable parts' for your faction that you've purchased, and a list of crew you've purchased.

On top of that, for the pilot tracker, I have been using a random star wars name generator to come up with pilot names, and a d20 roll to pick a race (obviously Imperials are all human, but Rebels and Scum should have more variety).

Thoughts?

I, for one, love them.

I just printed out a few sheets of each, and when I get home from work I'll transcribe my notes over to it, and let you know how well they work at conveying the information.

Thank you so much for these!

As I prepare to start a new campaign, using the new rules (from page 1), I have two things on my mind.

Firstly, I think the pilot advancement will be too slow. In the end, my first 'campaign' saw us play five games total. During that, only one pilot ever advanced, and that was my Decimator. To try and speed up advancement, I'm planning to give an advancement roll for each tick of the box. For instance, a pilot gets a roll for surviving a mission, and an extra roll for each kill. It's possible for a pilot to gain multiple ranks after a single mission.

I'm also planning to give each pilot a callsign after three kills or three missions (whichever comes first). Randomly-generated, of course.

The second thing is scenarios. For my first 'campaign', we cobbled together scenarios more as an excuse to blow up each others' ships. The best one was our first, which had ships salvaging old mines (which could explode) and bringing them safely home. The problem was most scenarios ended up in one side wiping out (or almost wiping out) the opposition, which meant pilots rarely survived more than a few missions, and we wound up in a hole of attrition we couldn't pay our way out of. We played the last mission despite the fact that I could only field 78 points since I still had a decimator to go. Between repairs and losing ships, I didn't have enough salvage to buy reinforcements.

On that note, I'm cooking up a few scenarios that offer more options than just "Let's blow up the enemy!". Here's the first one:

Mischief and Mining

Comet 642B-16 has collided with an asteroid, and both have been shattered into hundreds of pieces. Long-range scans have identified a large quantity of valuable minerals. This is a chance to shore up our supplies for repairs. Be wary, however; enemy activity has been detected. Keep your distance and see what they're up to, but our primary concern is to gain salvage.

This is meant to be played on a surface larger than 3x3 feet (though in a pinch, 3x3 will do). Each player takes turns placing asteroids, twelve in all. Each asteroid must be at least range 1 away from the edge of the board, and use the 2 forward template as the minimum distance between asteroids. At least four asteroids must be placed in opposite corners of the board, chosen at the start of the deployment.

All ships have two special 'attacks' they may perform (in place of a regular attack).

Mine - The ship rolls three attack dice. For each hit, it gains two salvage. For each crit, it gains three salvage. Tiny salvage pods are sending the minerals to a refinery ship at a safe range (the ships do not need to escape with the salvage, anything mined is directly collected).

Each time an asteroid is mined, put a stress token on it. At the end of the round, roll an attack die for each stress token on an asteroid. If a crit is rolled, the asteroid crumbles to dust.

Mischief - The ship outfits an asteroid with a maneuver thruster. On subsequent turns, players must use a d6 to choose a maneuver for each of their asteroids:

1 - The asteroid moves 1 along its current trajectory.

2 - The asteroid moves 1 bank to the right.

3 - The asteroid moves 1 bank to the left.

4 - The asteroid moves 2 along its current trajectory.

5 - The asteroid moves 3 along its current trajectory. Add a stress token to the asteroid.

6 - The asteroid explodes, pelting every ship in range one with a 2 dice attack. This occurs immediately upon revealing this maneuver.

Asteroids move on pilot skill 0, and always have initiative. Asteroids do not stop when they hit an obstacle. They move through and end up on the far side of whatever they hit. Everything an asteroid's maneuver template overlapped is subject to a 4 dice attack. Every asteroid hit by a moving asteroid immediately gains three stress tokens.

Ships may fire on asteroids. Every hit adds a stress token to an asteroid. A crit destroys an asteroid immediately. Asteroids may not be target locked.

Meteor Shower - Once two asteroids have been destroyed, the field becomes more dangerous. At the end of each combat phase, roll one attack die against every ship; the ship suffers a hit if a hit or crit result is rolled.

Ships can, as usual, escape off the friendly side of the board. Alternately, they could engage one another. How this plays out is entirely dependent on how aggressive the players are.

I haven't played my mining scenario yet, but I'm making a few changes to it. First off, the mining action and the mischief action are going to replace an attack instead of being an action. That way it allows for barrel rolls and boosts to get in close to asteroids, and it lets you focus (to mine more effectively). Also, I've added a soft time limit; when the second asteroid is destroyed, it becomes more dangerous for ships to hang around. That way, ships are encouraged to retreat, rather than stay and harvest the whole field.

Well, we ran the scenario. It was a lot of fun.

Things were peaceful for the first couple of turns, but things quickly escalated when my buddy brought his decimator around the edge (yes, he brought a decimator to an asteroid field. And a shuttle.)

My A-Wing took down his defender with proton rockets, which was the only ship killed.

The meteor swarm effect (one damage die on every ship at the end of every round) was brutal. Most of my ships took a damage every single round, and they all had one hit point left when they fled the board (except my A-Wing who had two). My buddy's decimator had only three hull left (thanks to my B-Wings), and his shuttle still had shields when it left.

We rolled for resupply. I earned 20, my buddy earned 10. During the scenario, I mined for 42, while my buddy earned 36.

After repairs, I was up by 17 credits (though I still have to replace my missiles). After repairs, my buddy was out 16 credits.

All in all, I think it went rather well.

With our quicker advancement, each pilot received a roll (for surviving the engagement), and my A-Wing pilot earned an extra roll for the kill. He went up two pilot ranks (since he's my named pilot, Jake Farrell, he's now at PS9 (and capped, I believe?)). My PS4 B-Wing pilot earned a 2 point EPT, and chose Wingman. My PS2 B-Wing pilot and my PS1 Z-95 pilot each gained a pilot skill.

I'm so upset at my recent lack of free time. I haven't gotten a game in for a couple of weeks, and we have such nice story rules to play with now!

Right back from a two week hiatus in Canada so campaigning again this week.!