Hello fellow GMs!

My player group is leaning into starship and vehicle combat. I know the rules say that NPC ships of Sil 3 and below (that are not plot-valuable) explode instantly. And that all ships Sil 4 and higher become drifting hulks.

(1) How would you handle PC snub fighters that exceed Hull Trauma - IN SPACE? (and are not insta-blown up by the over-HT crit roll)

(2) How would you handle PC ships (of any size) that exceed Hull Trauma IN ATMOSPHERE or that are in a gravitational pull of a planet when they go over? Assuming the over-HT crit roll does not have them blowing up, I kinda would like to give them a desperation roll to make a controlled / crash landing and avoid a fiery death... ala Luke in Ep V, or even Mando on the ice planet... so should that roll be based on Piloting (whichever), using the usual Silhouette / Speed mechanics? Upgraded for unresponsive controls?

(3) How much damage should PCs take in a crash landing? Should they take the equivalent of "falling" damage based on a successful or unsuccessful attempt to crash land? Perhaps modified by whether they are "strapped in" to the cockpit vs. somewhere in a corridor, etc?

Thx in advance,

GM Khyrith

I always play that the PCs are the exception to the rules.

1) PCs eject and have minimal lifesupport systems to keep them alive for emergency recovery

2) Get ready to describe a turbulent crash landing. The PCs go black after and wake up at their wound threshold and have suffered a critical injury

3) see #2

1 hour ago, Khyrith said:

(1) How would you handle PC snub fighters that exceed Hull Trauma - IN SPACE? (and are not insta-blown up by the over-HT crit roll)

I've got a player playing a starfighter pilot, and this was the topic of some discussion. We eventually decided that if he gets put over HTT, he has to make an Average Coordination check to bail out before going "kablooie!"
All of this is up to GM discretion, but as a rule of thumb:
If the damage is light enough (up to light laser cannons, basically), the fighter might be recovered but he certainly can't get it functional again without extensive repairs, not something he can do out in the vacuum of space with a multi-tool.
If the damage is heavy enough (just got wacked by a turbolaser), the fighter is gonzo and you may not get the chance to bail out.

1 hour ago, Khyrith said:

(2) How would you handle PC ships (of any size) that exceed Hull Trauma IN ATMOSPHERE or that are in a gravitational pull of a planet when they go over? Assuming the over-HT crit roll does not have them blowing up, I kinda would like to give them a desperation roll to make a controlled / crash landing and avoid a fiery death... ala Luke in Ep V, or even Mando on the ice planet... so should that roll be based on Piloting (whichever), using the usual Silhouette / Speed mechanics? Upgraded for unresponsive controls?

(3) How much damage should PCs take in a crash landing? Should they take the equivalent of "falling" damage based on a successful or unsuccessful attempt to crash land? Perhaps modified by whether they are "strapped in" to the cockpit vs. somewhere in a corridor, etc?

Here's what I use (well, would if my players ever got knocked out of the sky):

Falling/Collisions:

Speed 1-2/Short: Dmg 10/Strain 10
Speed 3-4/Medium: Dmg 30/Strain 20
Speed 5-6/Long: All WP (Incapacitated)/Strain 30/Critical Injury +50
Extreme: All Incapacitated/Strain 40/Critical Injury +75

Collisions:
1. Characters that are strapped in reduce Range category by 1. Everyone else makes an Average Coordination check. Each success reduces the Wounds taken by 1 and each Advantage reduces the Strain taken by 1. Triumph reduces the Range category by 1.
2. When the ship impacts follow these rules for Collisions:
Minor Collision: Roll a Starship Critical and subtract any ship defense*10 to a minimum of 1. If the ship suffers a Critical Hit, the Crew and Passengers each suffer a Critical Injury and subtract any ship defense*10 to a minimum of 1.
Major Collision: As above except ship defense*5.
A Major Collision is a head-on collision.

Crash Landings:
If the Pilot has time to land the ship before impact, they can make a Simple Piloting check, unless circumstance dictate a more difficult landing. Each success reduces 1 Wound*skill ranks and each Advantage reduces 1 Strain*skill ranks to self and all passengers. Triumph reduces the Range category before modifiers.

Depending on altitude, they may have time to effect repairs and get the ship flying again (barely).

2 hours ago, kaosoe said:

I always play that the PCs are the exception to the rules.

1) PCs eject and have minimal lifesupport systems to keep them alive for emergency recovery

2) Get ready to describe a turbulent crash landing. The PCs go black after and wake up at their wound threshold and have suffered a critical injury

3) see #2

I tend to take a similar approach as well. PCs typically survive the crash/explosion "with complications". Crashed ships are usually a wreck (unable to flying again) and the PCs survive again "with complications". Gravity makes ships crash, the further the fall, the greater the damage. I'm happy to give players checks to "crash safely" but ultimately, it's still a crash, and all that that implies.

3 hours ago, Khyrith said:

Hello fellow GMs!

My player group is leaning into starship and vehicle combat. I know the rules say that NPC ships of Sil 3 and below (that are not plot-valuable) explode instantly. And that all ships Sil 4 and higher become drifting hulks.

(1) How would you handle PC snub fighters that exceed Hull Trauma - IN SPACE? (and are not insta-blown up by the over-HT crit roll)

(2) How would you handle PC ships (of any size) that exceed Hull Trauma IN ATMOSPHERE or that are in a gravitational pull of a planet when they go over? Assuming the over-HT crit roll does not have them blowing up, I kinda would like to give them a desperation roll to make a controlled / crash landing and avoid a fiery death... ala Luke in Ep V, or even Mando on the ice planet... so should that roll be based on Piloting (whichever), using the usual Silhouette / Speed mechanics? Upgraded for unresponsive controls?

(3) How much damage should PCs take in a crash landing? Should they take the equivalent of "falling" damage based on a successful or unsuccessful attempt to crash land? Perhaps modified by whether they are "strapped in" to the cockpit vs. somewhere in a corridor, etc?

Thx in advance,

GM Khyrith

1: The ship has holes blown all over it, it's largely inoperative if not entirely inoperative. The players may be able to cling to it, it's all very much "It depends" on the specifics of the situation and what I need to do to drive the game forward and create tension, and what the players are doing to resolve it.

2: Gravity makes ships fall. A Planetary Piloting check to slow the crash or make it a more reasonable crash. Speed mechanics definitely come into play. If the controls don't respond that definitely makes things harder or eliminates some checks. Maybe Mechanics instead of piloting to control the engines in a direct-input sort of way rather than via a control wheel.

3: I think those are reasonable modifiers to how to handle it, fall damage is surprisingly harsh in this game, and normal people (ie: not PCs) would probably get mushed by any sort of actual crash landing. But seriously injured characters now stranded somewhere with few supplies is much more interesting than TPK.

On anything of Silhouette 4+, when/if possible, get to an escape pod. They exist for a reason. There are also grav chutes for bailing out in an atmosphere, and it should be safer than riding a plummeting (and possibly burning) rock to the ground.

Over HTT = ship is disabled unless it's a minion, perhaps a rival. For PCs and Nemeses, Kablooih only if critical hit says kablooih.

If ship is disabled, then escape pods, and other life support gear is sufficient, if in space. In atmosphere, then it depends a bit how high they were flying... But they're going doooown. So, some frantic rounds of attempts to fix repuslors or fun piloting checks to crash land without going explodo is always fun.

If they crash, then it depends where and how. But falling damage is a good guide. If they crash land, then consider a crit or low distance fall.

A bunch of wounds and strain for certain, and most likely a crit with no or a positive modifier for crashes, and no or negative modifier for crash landings. Ish.