On page 241 of the Core Rulebook is the ruleset to make a chase encounter. I know it's not in the Beta book, but I guess it will be added to the final version. Unfortunately, I'm at a loss regarding one aspect of the chase mechanic.

When doing a starship chase, the difficulty is based on the silhouette of the ship and it's speed. So a ship of silhouette 4 going at speed 3 would have 2 red dices and 1 purple dice has difficulty while a ship of silhouette 4 going at speed 1 would have 1 red and 1 purple dice.

Now... if these 2 ships are engagned in a chase, with both pilots being equally skilled, the slower ship has the best chances of wining the chase and increasing range bands between its ship and its persuer.

I add the same chase happen in my game session this last saturday inside an asteroid field giving 2 setback dice too... since the persuing ship was going faster, I told my players that if they won the chase roll, they would not increase range bands between them because the other ship was going faster then them.... My players won 2 rolls and the ennemy won the 2 others (im a lucky GM) but my players shot down the ennemy transport. But I found it funny that a ship could outrun another ship going faster...

I know that the faster you move, the more chances you have of hitting an asteroid... and that it could be harder to navigate an asteroid field at high speed... and that you probably had to make wider turns to evade incoming asteroids then if you where moving slower.... but had they been in open space ??? that would have been quite strange....

Am I the only one finding this funny ???

Thanks for the input.

I totally agree. How to chase in wide Space with such rules ? That is precisely why i now use a simple and small tactical grid with 3 squares per range band (like if you were looking a sensor minimap) with Speed giving you movement points and requiring a maneuver to control it.

Free pilot roll during that maneuver to make stunts :

Simple 0d - 45 degree turn, cost 0 sq

Easy 1d - strafe, cost 1 sq

Average 2d - 180 Half turn, cost 2 sq, end on the same square.

Hard 3d - 360 looping, cost 3 sq, end on the same square

+1d when planetary

Failure costs x system strain ( difficulty).

Triumph 1 free maneuver (of course you can't move more)

Despair pilot is disoriented x turns (difficulty)

2 advantages +1 movement square

2 threats -1 system strain

I think chase rules are ok.

A chase is handled as a competitive check, its difficulty Simple (-) Pilot check. Only in the case of the chase occurring in a dangerous media, like an asteroid field, or a dense wood, the difficulty has to be calculated as in page 240; i.e. the difficulty is set by the speed or half the starship silhouette (rounding up ), whichever is higher. The lower of the two indicates how many times the difficulty is upgraded.

So, in open enough space, the fastest the better. That is because if you win the check you open /close one extra range band by being the faster ship. On a crowded media you have to compromise speed due to the hazards.

I think Yepesnopes has it. It seems to me that a chase with no obstacles wouldn't need a piloting check. Speed Is speed. Unless the pilot had a way to juice the engines to keep up with the fleeing ship, there would be no roll. (Save for the maneuver or talent roll to boost your speed to keep up.)

Sometimes the other ship is just plain faster. The rules as written seem more apt to describe a chase where piloting around terrain, traffic and obstacles matters more than pure speed.

I think Yepesnopes has it. It seems to me that a chase with no obstacles wouldn't need a piloting check.

So in open space the chase check is just a straight comparison of successes and advantages, meaning unless you totally stink at piloting or the guy helming that star destroyer is Darth Pilot, the Sith Lord Pilot King of the planet Pilot, its a good bet you'll be able to at the very least keep the star destroyer in your rear view mirror...

Though if Darth Pilot is back there....well thats another story...