Hey All,

Recently, the players were in their YT-1000 and were being pursued by two group of TIE fighters. With the hyperdrive almost ready, the human pilot wanted to get ahead of the enemy, all the while protecting the ship. It was his turn, and here is what he wanted to do, remembering that the ship was travelling at speed 4 at this time:

"I want to move the ship as fast as I can, and move one shield to the rear."

I ruled that the ship was effectively doing 2 maneuvers (move from close to medium range of the TIEs), while he was performing the Fly/Drive maneuver and the Angle Deflector Shields maneuver. I get the feeling I totally botched this up as you can't perform more than two maneuvers in a round right?

The pilot doesn't have to angle the deflectors. Pretty much anyone on the ship can do it, as it requires no skill check. It would be like Han telling Chewie to change the deflectors as he's doing some fancy maneuver.

Also, if by attachments or talents, you can get the ship to speed 5, then you can move from close to medium in just one maneuver

And it wasn't a botch. The narrative should always win out over mechanics, and it sounds like the players were really into it and having fun. So, it sounds like a big success to me. Next time, though, just say that PC Bob changes the shields as Mr. Awesome human pilot does what he needs to do in two maneuvers and one action

It was a case that the players had just stolen an Imperial Shuttle, so two of the players were on that ship while the other three were on the player's main ship - the pilot was piloting, and the other 2 were firing the top and bottom guns. So unfortunately it was the pilot doing all the ship type stuff, and decided on his own that he and the ship would suffer 2 strain a piece. I didn't want to stop the flow by stopping to look at rules, so I ran with it.

I guess I was just wondering how it should be handled properly.

Yeah, you've technically allowed him to take 3 Manouvres (2x Fly/Drive to change range band, and one for Angle Deflectors), but it if works, go with it.

However, RAW: IT doesnt matter if the enemy is narrativly behind you, they Choose where they hit unless you have Gained the Advantage, so angling the deflectors would (RAW), have no effect except to expose a defensive arc, wherethe TIEs would then (logically) choose to hit.

Yes, it makes zero sense, but thats RAW. (So i would throw the RAW out in cases like this)

End of the day.. if it works, go with it, use the rules to support your story, not control it.

However, RAW: IT doesnt matter if the enemy is narrativly behind you, they Choose where they hit unless you have Gained the Advantage, so angling the deflectors would (RAW), have no effect except to expose a defensive arc, where the TIEs would then (logically) choose to hit.

Actually no. When someone fires at you, you chose which arc the attacker is firing at UNLESS they have successfully taken the Gain the Advantage action. If they have taken the action successfully, the decision of where they hit is moved to them.

My Bad! Been a while since i ran any space combat, and my group cant GtA (As their ship cannot go fast enough!).

My apologise, I had it backwards!

Your ruling may not be supported by RAW (2 maneuvers to move from medium to close range, and another maneuver to angle the deflector shields), but it didn't seem to break your game and it was good, cinematic, fun. At the beginning of your next session, just point out your goof and agree to be more mindful in the future.

You don't have to take all the fly maneuvers in the same turn. So one maneuver could be to angle the deflector shields and the second would be the first of two fly maneuvers to get you to the next ranged band. Then, on the next turn, take the second of two to expand the distance.

-EF

Food for thought: who says that the only way to get from Point A to Point B is by use of Move maneuvers? Here's some things you can do in situations like this to stay completely within the rules as how they're intended to work, which can be combined at will:

• "Upgrade" the Move to an action and require a skill check. He's not just moving somewhere tactically, he is booking and trying to get away from pursuing TIE fighters (which are faster!). Now it's not broken by taking 3 maneuvers, you've just had him perform an action for how far he could get from the TIEs instead of performing maneuvers.
• Use the chase rules (my favorite option). Now you just make contested pilot checks at the top of the round, and modify for relative speed.
• In any case, throw some terrain at them. An asteroid field is a classic option, or perhaps the empty hulk of a gigantic warship.

Food for thought: who says that the only way to get from Point A to Point B is by use of Move maneuvers? Here's some things you can do in situations like this to stay completely within the rules as how they're intended to work, which can be combined at will:

• "Upgrade" the Move to an action and require a skill check. He's not just moving somewhere tactically, he is booking and trying to get away from pursuing TIE fighters (which are faster!). Now it's not broken by taking 3 maneuvers, you've just had him perform an action for how far he could get from the TIEs instead of performing maneuvers.
• Use the chase rules (my favorite option). Now you just make contested pilot checks at the top of the round, and modify for relative speed.
• In any case, throw some terrain at them. An asteroid field is a classic option, or perhaps the empty hulk of a gigantic warship.

One more thing to add: you can always spend two threat for an out-of-turn maneuver. So if the TIEs roll dice at all against you—say, shooting you or trying to gain the advantage—two threat gives you a free maneuver to get farther away.

If you somehow get the opportunity to roll dice on their turn you can also spend two advantages from your own roll to get a free maneuver.

-EF

"Upgrade" the Move to an action and require a skill check. He's not just moving somewhere tactically, he is booking and trying to get away from pursuing TIE fighters (which are faster!). Now it's not broken by taking 3 maneuvers, you've just had him perform an action for how far he could get from the TIEs instead of performing maneuvers.

Nice. I had not thought of that.

Use the chase rules (my favorite option). Now you just make contested pilot checks at the top of the round, and modify for relative speed.

I thought about that, but in this case there was a ruddy great Imperial Customs Gontazi cruiser in the way with several freighters already docked with in. There was also the Shuttle that they were running point defence for (with a great bluff from the Twi-lek mechanic). Either way, this was what I was using:

In any case, throw some terrain at them. An asteroid field is a classic option, or perhaps the empty hulk of a gigantic warship

Having listened to enough Order 66 to sink a battleship, if there is one thing I have learned is that you put "crap in the way". There was the customs frigate and all of the incoming and outgoing traffic, so plenty of stuff to go "wrong".

I don't think you did anything "wrong" - if the rules get in the way, you set them aside for the occasion and get on with things. If that means someone takes 3 manoeuvres that round, so be it. But my preferred option would have been to have someone else take the Angle Deflector Shields manoeuvre - anyone can do that one.

And for the record, the Chase rules are God's gift to a GM. All those pesky relative-range issues just go away once you start a chase.

Use the chase rules (my favorite option). Now you just make contested pilot checks at the top of the round, and modify for relative speed.

I thought about that, but in this case there was a ruddy great Imperial Customs Gontazi cruiser in the way with several freighters already docked with in. There was also the Shuttle that they were running point defence for (with a great bluff from the Twi-lek mechanic).

I would still consider the chase rules. You could have them be x number of successes away, and then add their own successes plus the PCs successes to gain. Alternatively, you could just have them make contact in x rounds. Do that until they reach the party (or the party reaches them), and then it becomes a more traditional chase.

Either way works, but making it a chase gives it more of a "we have to get away" feel than the standard combat rules.