I've been ignoring the starship combat rules as we got up to speed on the system as a whole. Based on what I've read, starship combat is really no different than personal combat - initiative is calculated the same, difficulty is based on silhouette, and every PC still gets a turn.
is this right? Anyone have any wisdom they'd like to share?
Thanks much
B
Well, there are some key things to keep in mind:
1) Movement between range bands is different than in character scale. Mostly this depends on the ship's speed, as listed in the book. Also, if not otherwise specified, you can always spend two maneuvers to move between range bands.
2) Difficulty for attacks is based on silhouette difference, not on range. This is a key difference as well, so make sure to reference the chart in the book.
3) If a ship takes two Pilot Only maneuvers in a turn, it suffers two System Strain; if the pilot also takes two maneuvers to accomplish these and still takes an action, he also suffers two Strain, just like in character-scale combat.
4) The Gain the Advantage action, along with the Evasive Maneuvers and Stay on Target maneuvers, have no real character-scale equivalent, so be sure to read up on these so you know how they work.,
never have a starship battle in a featureless vacuum. make sure the environment has something to add some spice to the mix. an asteroid field, a busy space lane, a ship graveyard from a massive space battle.
if you fail to provide this then the pilot can end up with very little to do.
never have a starship battle in a featureless vacuum. make sure the environment has something to add some spice to the mix. an asteroid field, a busy space lane, a ship graveyard from a massive space battle.
if you fail to provide this then the pilot can end up with very little to do.
One of the bigger differences is different parts of the ship's "body" have different defense scores (from deflector shields) and these can be altered by the crew to shore up defenses on certain parts of the ship under continuous attack.
Well, the pilot can always leave the cockpit and climb into a turret. It worked for Han Solo...never have a starship battle in a featureless vacuum. make sure the environment has something to add some spice to the mix. an asteroid field, a busy space lane, a ship graveyard from a massive space battle.
if you fail to provide this then the pilot can end up with very little to do.
Chewie was still flying the ship.
Make sure you, and at least a few other players know what maneuvers and actions they can take and what effects they have.
Understand the narrative style of space combat, there's some weird parts that only makes sense when you understand how its supposed to be described.
Start simple. Everyone in a freighter vs some ties is a little easier to manage then everyone in their own z-95.
One of the bigger differences is different parts of the ship's "body" have different defense scores (from deflector shields) and these can be altered by the crew to shore up defenses on certain parts of the ship under continuous attack.
Chewie was still flying the ship.Well, the pilot can always leave the cockpit and climb into a turret. It worked for Han Solo...never have a starship battle in a featureless vacuum. make sure the environment has something to add some spice to the mix. an asteroid field, a busy space lane, a ship graveyard from a massive space battle.
if you fail to provide this then the pilot can end up with very little to do.
If the PCs really want a bigass ship and are in that situation, I'd just houserule that they could do the Silhouette 1-4 maneuvers with an upgraded Difficulty die and/or incurring System Strain (Setback die are way too easy for a Pilot to remove). But Silhouette 5 doing that ****, max.