Failed Astrogation Check with Advantage or Even Triumph!

By canudig, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

So you can probably guess what this post is about.

What happens when a player fails an astrogation check, but rolls advantage or triumph. Do they:

  • Jump and run into a planet, but in a shorter amount of time than without Advantage/Triumph
  • Not jump at all and the get the time savings passed on to another check
  • Other

Thanks in advance!

What happens is really up to the GM, based on what needs to happen in the story.

"Beyond the Rim" gives examples of using an Astrogation check to determine HOW the PCs get to their destination.

That they will arrive is not really in question, but the check lets you determine how smooth the ride will be. If it succeeds with advantages it goes very smoothly and quickly. If it fails it can take longer and might have complications along the way, such as running into asteroids or rival bounty hunters, etc.

So really, whatever the GM needs to happen can be the result of a failed Astrogation check with Advantages or Triumphs.

Unintended consequences. You arrive in system... Wait a second that's not Dantooine. What system did you jump into?!

With advantage maybe its a friendly system with potential work.

With triumph you just discovered a previously unknown route to Ryloth.

Fiddleback's, Skill Monkey podcast on Order 66, is a really good resource and has covered this skill check.

Depends on the situation. I'd possibly rule that if the ship in question didnt succeed and was being chased, , I would say that you make the jump but to the wrong coordinates. You get there quickly enough to plot another jump and make that, but your pursuer jumps to folloe but has nk way of finding the ship after the second jump.

Success: You jump to your intended destination. Extra successes give higher fidelity to the exit point.

Failure: You jump to somewhere other than your intended destination.

Fail w/Advantage: ...Luckily, that somewhere else isn't that far off - you're still within the same sector as your start point. Recalculate. Extra advantages bring you closer to your original jump point.

Fail w/Triumph: You stumble onto something of tangible (or intangible) value; perhaps the wreck of an old ship (with strippable parts), or a life pod containing someone who could owe you for saving their life...

That helps a lot. Thanks everyone!

Also, depends on plot of the story. If my players need to get to "x" as part of the story arc there is no need to even roll. I have found myself trying hard to avoid players rolling dice like in other games, I feel the more rolls kind of cheapens the story/mechanic.

Failed astrogation check while under attack, you take longer to program the navicomputer and you get a few more hits before you jump.Or you land in an asteroid belt and have to make a few piloting checks before you get into clear space. It takes you longer to get there, and the trip you were making for anybody the hutt is late costing some of your payment. Your ship takes hull damage as you come out of hyperspace too lose to the atmosphere. Failure does not always mean you fail the task, especially if that event has to happen