Post by Zyraen on May 29, 2019 1:17:39 GMT 8
Note that the combat herein is assumed to be two dimensional for simplicity. The term "ship" below refers to the starship. In principle below skill checks may change and mechanics maybe applied to seaborne ship or aircraft combat.
For any of the Skill checks below, after rolling you may expend a Signature (and only one) as a free action to gain Sec Trait bonus.
SHIP STATS
A ship has base AC equal to the average AC of all the present PCs, rounded down. It has a Shield with HP equal to that of the PC with highest max HP, multiply by 2. The ship itself has HP equal to twice the HP of all the remaining PCs.
While the ship has a Shield active, the ship has Resistance to damage equal to the Pri Trait of the character whose HP the Shield is based on, and this resisted damage is applied to, ie deducted from, the Shield's HP. If a character is in the Tank role, the Resistance is that of the Tank's Pri Trait, if it is higher.
TAKING HITS
When the ship takes a hit from an enemy, roll 1dX to see which section the attack hits (if using facing, only choose from the sections facing the attacker). If the attack roll beats the ship's normal AC by 5 or more, the attacker can choose from available sections to target, and when choosing can see which sections are reinforced by a Tank. Targeting a section with a Tank likely means you can damage the Tank directly and put pressure on him to not boost Shields, but poses some risk if missing because it uses the actual Tank's AC which the attacker does not know, and actions such as total defense and interrupts may further increase the Tank's AC turning even a precise hit into a miss.
Each character in that section takes damage equal to that dealt to the ship (with the Resistance from the Shield reducing the damage accordingly). At some point, Healers have to be move about the ship to heal other characters, or characters may switch to Healer role to keep themselves conscious as the ship takes a battering.
If that section has a System, the natural number of the attack roll determines the impact to the System. If a section has more than one System, randomise which one is affected.
An active Shield treats the required roll as 3 higher, as below
18-19 with Shield / 15-16 without : Glitch, the System users take a -2 penalty to their roll and also damage rolls (if any) until ENT. This has no effects on engines. Multiple Glitches do not stack and do not stack with Malfunctions.
20 with Shield / 17-18 without : Malfunction, the System's users take a -4 penalty to their rolls and deal half damage (if any). The system must be repaired with the relevant skill check to remove this penalty. Multiple Malfunctions do not stack.
19-20 without Shield: Failure, the System cannot be used and if it is the Bridge, the ship either stops or is locked into its previous navigation command (although the ship can be brought to a halt by cutting the Engines). There is a 50% chance that the system explodes, causing the ship as well as characters in that section to take extra damage equal to the 50% of the damage dealt to that section. The system cannot be used, and must be repaired once to reduce it to Malfunction status. If a failed system is struck again with a Malfunction or worse result, it is disabled for the rest of the encounter and cannot be repaired.
If due to some special reason a natural roll of that high value doesn't beat the AC of the target ship, note it is resolved normally as a Miss or a normal Crit with no impact on Systems.
TANKS AND SHIELDS
If the PCs have a character in Tank role who is occupying a section of the ship that is hit by an enemy attack, and the ship's Shield is still active, the Tank may use his AC in place of the ship's usual AC, possibly resulting in the hit turning into a miss against reinforced shields. Instead of gaining his usual Tank Resistance THP, a Tank may choose to boost the Shield, causing it to regain HP equal to his Pri Trait (but not exceeding the starting Max HP of the Shield). If there is more than one character in the Tank role, the Shield regains HP from a Tank as long as he starts his turn at least two sections away from another Tank who has already contributed to boosting the Shield, ie he must not be in the same section or an adjacent section to the previous Tank. A Shield reduced to 0 HP deactivates and cannot be boosted by any Tanks.
Note that while Tanks can help to boost the ship's Shield, the ship itself cannot be healed and might eventually drop to 0 HP if enemies are not taken care of. In such case, the GM can assume the ship has a nigh full systems failure, and typically the characters have to surrender or be destroyed, eject in emergency space pods, or the ship crashes on a nearby foreign body. The GM may also at his discretion decide the ship explodes with all the player characters on board, but this is not encouraged.
LAYOUT
The layout of the ship is decided by the GM, based on the ship provided. Typically a ship has 5-7 sections, each of which is adjacent to 2-3 other sections. No section should be adjacent to all other sections, unless there is a hold or hub section, which must not have any system in it.
SYSTEMS
Each section typically has one of the following Systems, and a character can only interact with a System if he is in that section. The GM may at his discretion have more than one System in a section, but it is not generally advisable unless one of the Systems is an Optional Weapon / Back Up Engine.
A) Weapon : It houses a weapon that may be used to fire on enemy ships.
B) Bridge : In most ships, this is where the captain is. The bridge controls the navigation of the ship, direction and turning.
C) Engine : The engine determines the base speed of the ship. A ship has two Engines on two sides of the ship, and each engine contributes half the speed of the ship. A malfunctioned engine is reduced by half its usual speed but does not affect Vehicle Control DC. A failed engine contributes no speed and increases the Vehicle Control DC of navigation at the Bridge by 4, and a ship may not turn away from the direction of the engine, ie if the left/port engine has failed, the ship may not turn right/starboard.
D) Optional Weapon / Back Up Engine : An spare System may be activated in the section. Back Up Engines typically only last for a few rounds (if in doubt, it operates for Sec Trait rounds based on the activator, then has a 50% chance of Malfunction every round thereafter, after it then has 50% chance of Failure). Optional Weapon Systems may provide additional fire power but uses up consumables. An Optional System is not normally in operation, thus cannot glitch/malfunction/fail until activated. It requires a move action to make a medium DC 12 check to activate it, but it remains operational until deactivated (or it malfunctions / fails)
A) Weapon System
The GM provides the stats of a Weapon System, notably its range and weapon size. Most Weapon Systems are ranged, unless otherwise stated, which would normally provoke OAs but does not as most ships do not have melee capabilities, unless facing a gigantic space monster capable of melee attacks.
A weapon may have a facing depending on which section of the ship it is in, and what is its nature. Most weapons typically cover 180 degree arc along the ship, usually the side they are mounted on and the front arc, and very few weapons have access to the back arc.
A character firing with a Weapon System spends his standard action to fire the weapon, using his usual attack roll. If the weapon targets AC, it is Proficiency 2. If the weapon targets FRW, it never has any superior implement bonuses, including Imperious/Swift/Weakening. If the character has at least 4 sp in Vehicle Control, he adds a +1 to his attack roll. The damage is same as what the character would deal in the role.
Most Weapon Systems have a Signature Attack. A character firing the weapon may as a free action expend one of his Signature abilities (SA or SM) to use the weapon's SA instead, which must be done before making the attack roll. A character who is not firing the weapon may use a move action to expend one of his the Signature abilities (SA or SM) to allow the next creature who fires the weapon to use the weapon's SA instead.
Certain Weapon Systems may be fired only once per round (typically those that have access to multiple arcs), ie two characters occupying that section may not both fire it. Weapon Systems that are not restricted to once per round require the user to get into a control position, which only one character can occupy. It takes a move action to enter/leave a control position, although it can be part of movement from/into a different section.
B) Bridge
The Bridge requires the character use his standard action and make Vehicle Control checks to navigate the ship. Typically, leaving the Bridge setting unaltered from cruising (moving in a straight line) is an autopass, ie as long as a character spends a standard action.
If the Bridge is left unattended, the speed of a ship has 50% chance to drop to cruising, if it was travelling at higher speed. If it was cruising or slower, it has a 50% chance to reduce to quarter speed, and after that to become stationary.
Note that references to the ship's speed is dependent on the engines, and the actual "speed" may vary from turn to turn depending on the engine's state. The term "full speed" requires both engines be working at maximum capacity for reference.
Vehicle Control DCs and checks are as follows
- Easy DC 8 : The ship can be set to cruising or slower, and continues in a straight line from previous.
- Medium DC 12 : The ship can be set up to its speed, and once during this motion it may make a 45 degree turn.
- MH DC 16 : The ship can be set up to its speed, and during this motion it may make two 45 degree turns. Alternatively, the ship may move half its speed and make up to four 45 degree turns. The ship may also travel flat-out, which must be at 150% of its full speed in a straight line, to gain +2 bonus to all its defenses until ENT but -2 penalty to all its attack rolls.*
- Hard DC 20 or better: The ship moves and orientates as freely as if it were a player character. Alternatively, the ship may travel in a straight line while engaging in evasive manuevers, between 50% to 150% of its full speed, gaining a +2 bonus to all defenses, and the navigator may opt to add an additional +2 bonus to all defenses until ENT in return for -2 penalty to all its attack rolls.*
* - the penalty to attack rolls lasts until ENT, or until the next time each weapon is fired, whichever comes later.
Note that the ship moves during the character's standard action. Up to two characters may use their standard action to move the ship, ie max double move. An unattended Bridge (ie no one occupying the Bridge) causes the ship to move at the end of the previous user's turn, and this counts as one of the two allowed ship movements.
OOC : For most foes, the GM can typically roll a 1d3 to determine if it belongs to either Easy, Medium or MH DC.
C) Engine
The engine is typically unattended, but defaults to cruising speed (ie half speed) at the start of a battle, ie is run at half of the ship's full speed. If there is a character in the section with an Engine when combat starts, as a free action at the start of the first combat that the character in that section can act, the engine can be set to full speed, typically by pushing a combat activation button.
Altering the engine's speed after the first turn requires a standard action and medium DC 12 Survival or Vehicle Control check.
REPAIR CHECK
Repairing a System requires either Investigation or Vehicle Control to reach MH DC 16. A character may also use Hacking or Legerdemain at -4 penalty to his roll.
Attempting to Repair always takes a standard action. However if a character can use Legerdemain or Hacking as a move or swift action due to an ability, he may do so, applying the usual -4 as above.
A failed Repair check never worsens a System's condition.
CHARACTER POSITIONS
Characters act in usual initiative with usual ways of readying and delaying.
Characters take a move action to move from one section to an adjacent section.
A character only has line of effect to a character in the same section as him, which is assumed to be 2-3 squares away unless specifically adjacent.
Characters may use their abilities as usual and are assumed to be able to see all enemy ships at all sections. However, abilities cannot be used on enemy ships. If they alter attack rolls or damage rolls, they can be used in conjunction with offensive weapon systems of the current ship.
Any ability that has a distance requirement towards an enemy always has that condition fulfilled.
If an attack hits a section of the ship that a character is in, it is considered an attack against that character, especially for purposes of triggers, and when a personal trigger is activated, it uses that character's defense. Thus an attack vs AC of 21 vs character with AC 19 can be negated by a personal interrupt that ups his AC to 22 or more. Note while this may cause the character to take no damage, the ship is still hit and takes damage accordingly. (Unless the character is a Tank and uses his Defense for that section)
If a character sets up a zone (typically a beneficial one), that zone occupies only one section.
Effects that provide any sort of cover and concealment have no effect.
A feat or item that causes a target to be unguarded under specific target conditions (eg Single Out) has no effect unless the target is within 5 (ship) squares of the attacker's ship.
A feat or item that causes a target to be unguarded under specific attacker conditions (eg Hidden Striker) has no effect unless the attacker's ship somehow has that condition.
For any of the Skill checks below, after rolling you may expend a Signature (and only one) as a free action to gain Sec Trait bonus.
SHIP STATS
A ship has base AC equal to the average AC of all the present PCs, rounded down. It has a Shield with HP equal to that of the PC with highest max HP, multiply by 2. The ship itself has HP equal to twice the HP of all the remaining PCs.
While the ship has a Shield active, the ship has Resistance to damage equal to the Pri Trait of the character whose HP the Shield is based on, and this resisted damage is applied to, ie deducted from, the Shield's HP. If a character is in the Tank role, the Resistance is that of the Tank's Pri Trait, if it is higher.
TAKING HITS
When the ship takes a hit from an enemy, roll 1dX to see which section the attack hits (if using facing, only choose from the sections facing the attacker). If the attack roll beats the ship's normal AC by 5 or more, the attacker can choose from available sections to target, and when choosing can see which sections are reinforced by a Tank. Targeting a section with a Tank likely means you can damage the Tank directly and put pressure on him to not boost Shields, but poses some risk if missing because it uses the actual Tank's AC which the attacker does not know, and actions such as total defense and interrupts may further increase the Tank's AC turning even a precise hit into a miss.
Each character in that section takes damage equal to that dealt to the ship (with the Resistance from the Shield reducing the damage accordingly). At some point, Healers have to be move about the ship to heal other characters, or characters may switch to Healer role to keep themselves conscious as the ship takes a battering.
If that section has a System, the natural number of the attack roll determines the impact to the System. If a section has more than one System, randomise which one is affected.
An active Shield treats the required roll as 3 higher, as below
18-19 with Shield / 15-16 without : Glitch, the System users take a -2 penalty to their roll and also damage rolls (if any) until ENT. This has no effects on engines. Multiple Glitches do not stack and do not stack with Malfunctions.
20 with Shield / 17-18 without : Malfunction, the System's users take a -4 penalty to their rolls and deal half damage (if any). The system must be repaired with the relevant skill check to remove this penalty. Multiple Malfunctions do not stack.
19-20 without Shield: Failure, the System cannot be used and if it is the Bridge, the ship either stops or is locked into its previous navigation command (although the ship can be brought to a halt by cutting the Engines). There is a 50% chance that the system explodes, causing the ship as well as characters in that section to take extra damage equal to the 50% of the damage dealt to that section. The system cannot be used, and must be repaired once to reduce it to Malfunction status. If a failed system is struck again with a Malfunction or worse result, it is disabled for the rest of the encounter and cannot be repaired.
If due to some special reason a natural roll of that high value doesn't beat the AC of the target ship, note it is resolved normally as a Miss or a normal Crit with no impact on Systems.
PREVIOUS FOR REFERENCE
If that section has a System, then roll a 1d6 to determine if the hit causes a System issue, adding +1 to the result if the Shield is still active when the hit occurred. If there is more than 1 System in that section, roll separately for each System.
3 : Glitch, the System users take a -2 penalty to their roll and also damage rolls (if any) until ENT. This has no effects on engines. Multiple Glitches do not stack and do not stack with Malfunctions.
2 : Malfunction, the System's users take a -4 penalty to their rolls and deal half damage (if any). The system must be repaired with the relevant skill check to remove this penalty. Multiple Malfunctions do not stack.
1 : Failure, the System cannot be used and if it is the Bridge, is locked into its previous navigation command (although the ship can be brought to a halt by cutting the Engines). There is a 50% chance that the system explodes, causing the ship as well as characters in that section to take extra damage equal to the 50% of the damage dealt to that section. The system cannot be used, and must be repaired once to reduce it to Malfunction status. If a failed system is struck again with a Malfunction or worse result, it is disabled for the rest of the encounter and cannot be repaired.
If that section has a System, then roll a 1d6 to determine if the hit causes a System issue, adding +1 to the result if the Shield is still active when the hit occurred. If there is more than 1 System in that section, roll separately for each System.
3 : Glitch, the System users take a -2 penalty to their roll and also damage rolls (if any) until ENT. This has no effects on engines. Multiple Glitches do not stack and do not stack with Malfunctions.
2 : Malfunction, the System's users take a -4 penalty to their rolls and deal half damage (if any). The system must be repaired with the relevant skill check to remove this penalty. Multiple Malfunctions do not stack.
1 : Failure, the System cannot be used and if it is the Bridge, is locked into its previous navigation command (although the ship can be brought to a halt by cutting the Engines). There is a 50% chance that the system explodes, causing the ship as well as characters in that section to take extra damage equal to the 50% of the damage dealt to that section. The system cannot be used, and must be repaired once to reduce it to Malfunction status. If a failed system is struck again with a Malfunction or worse result, it is disabled for the rest of the encounter and cannot be repaired.
TANKS AND SHIELDS
If the PCs have a character in Tank role who is occupying a section of the ship that is hit by an enemy attack, and the ship's Shield is still active, the Tank may use his AC in place of the ship's usual AC, possibly resulting in the hit turning into a miss against reinforced shields. Instead of gaining his usual Tank Resistance THP, a Tank may choose to boost the Shield, causing it to regain HP equal to his Pri Trait (but not exceeding the starting Max HP of the Shield). If there is more than one character in the Tank role, the Shield regains HP from a Tank as long as he starts his turn at least two sections away from another Tank who has already contributed to boosting the Shield, ie he must not be in the same section or an adjacent section to the previous Tank. A Shield reduced to 0 HP deactivates and cannot be boosted by any Tanks.
Note that while Tanks can help to boost the ship's Shield, the ship itself cannot be healed and might eventually drop to 0 HP if enemies are not taken care of. In such case, the GM can assume the ship has a nigh full systems failure, and typically the characters have to surrender or be destroyed, eject in emergency space pods, or the ship crashes on a nearby foreign body. The GM may also at his discretion decide the ship explodes with all the player characters on board, but this is not encouraged.
LAYOUT
The layout of the ship is decided by the GM, based on the ship provided. Typically a ship has 5-7 sections, each of which is adjacent to 2-3 other sections. No section should be adjacent to all other sections, unless there is a hold or hub section, which must not have any system in it.
SYSTEMS
Each section typically has one of the following Systems, and a character can only interact with a System if he is in that section. The GM may at his discretion have more than one System in a section, but it is not generally advisable unless one of the Systems is an Optional Weapon / Back Up Engine.
A) Weapon : It houses a weapon that may be used to fire on enemy ships.
B) Bridge : In most ships, this is where the captain is. The bridge controls the navigation of the ship, direction and turning.
C) Engine : The engine determines the base speed of the ship. A ship has two Engines on two sides of the ship, and each engine contributes half the speed of the ship. A malfunctioned engine is reduced by half its usual speed but does not affect Vehicle Control DC. A failed engine contributes no speed and increases the Vehicle Control DC of navigation at the Bridge by 4, and a ship may not turn away from the direction of the engine, ie if the left/port engine has failed, the ship may not turn right/starboard.
D) Optional Weapon / Back Up Engine : An spare System may be activated in the section. Back Up Engines typically only last for a few rounds (if in doubt, it operates for Sec Trait rounds based on the activator, then has a 50% chance of Malfunction every round thereafter, after it then has 50% chance of Failure). Optional Weapon Systems may provide additional fire power but uses up consumables. An Optional System is not normally in operation, thus cannot glitch/malfunction/fail until activated. It requires a move action to make a medium DC 12 check to activate it, but it remains operational until deactivated (or it malfunctions / fails)
A) Weapon System
The GM provides the stats of a Weapon System, notably its range and weapon size. Most Weapon Systems are ranged, unless otherwise stated, which would normally provoke OAs but does not as most ships do not have melee capabilities, unless facing a gigantic space monster capable of melee attacks.
A weapon may have a facing depending on which section of the ship it is in, and what is its nature. Most weapons typically cover 180 degree arc along the ship, usually the side they are mounted on and the front arc, and very few weapons have access to the back arc.
A character firing with a Weapon System spends his standard action to fire the weapon, using his usual attack roll. If the weapon targets AC, it is Proficiency 2. If the weapon targets FRW, it never has any superior implement bonuses, including Imperious/Swift/Weakening. If the character has at least 4 sp in Vehicle Control, he adds a +1 to his attack roll. The damage is same as what the character would deal in the role.
Most Weapon Systems have a Signature Attack. A character firing the weapon may as a free action expend one of his Signature abilities (SA or SM) to use the weapon's SA instead, which must be done before making the attack roll. A character who is not firing the weapon may use a move action to expend one of his the Signature abilities (SA or SM) to allow the next creature who fires the weapon to use the weapon's SA instead.
Certain Weapon Systems may be fired only once per round (typically those that have access to multiple arcs), ie two characters occupying that section may not both fire it. Weapon Systems that are not restricted to once per round require the user to get into a control position, which only one character can occupy. It takes a move action to enter/leave a control position, although it can be part of movement from/into a different section.
B) Bridge
The Bridge requires the character use his standard action and make Vehicle Control checks to navigate the ship. Typically, leaving the Bridge setting unaltered from cruising (moving in a straight line) is an autopass, ie as long as a character spends a standard action.
If the Bridge is left unattended, the speed of a ship has 50% chance to drop to cruising, if it was travelling at higher speed. If it was cruising or slower, it has a 50% chance to reduce to quarter speed, and after that to become stationary.
Note that references to the ship's speed is dependent on the engines, and the actual "speed" may vary from turn to turn depending on the engine's state. The term "full speed" requires both engines be working at maximum capacity for reference.
Vehicle Control DCs and checks are as follows
- Easy DC 8 : The ship can be set to cruising or slower, and continues in a straight line from previous.
- Medium DC 12 : The ship can be set up to its speed, and once during this motion it may make a 45 degree turn.
- MH DC 16 : The ship can be set up to its speed, and during this motion it may make two 45 degree turns. Alternatively, the ship may move half its speed and make up to four 45 degree turns. The ship may also travel flat-out, which must be at 150% of its full speed in a straight line, to gain +2 bonus to all its defenses until ENT but -2 penalty to all its attack rolls.*
- Hard DC 20 or better: The ship moves and orientates as freely as if it were a player character. Alternatively, the ship may travel in a straight line while engaging in evasive manuevers, between 50% to 150% of its full speed, gaining a +2 bonus to all defenses, and the navigator may opt to add an additional +2 bonus to all defenses until ENT in return for -2 penalty to all its attack rolls.*
* - the penalty to attack rolls lasts until ENT, or until the next time each weapon is fired, whichever comes later.
Note that the ship moves during the character's standard action. Up to two characters may use their standard action to move the ship, ie max double move. An unattended Bridge (ie no one occupying the Bridge) causes the ship to move at the end of the previous user's turn, and this counts as one of the two allowed ship movements.
OOC : For most foes, the GM can typically roll a 1d3 to determine if it belongs to either Easy, Medium or MH DC.
C) Engine
The engine is typically unattended, but defaults to cruising speed (ie half speed) at the start of a battle, ie is run at half of the ship's full speed. If there is a character in the section with an Engine when combat starts, as a free action at the start of the first combat that the character in that section can act, the engine can be set to full speed, typically by pushing a combat activation button.
Altering the engine's speed after the first turn requires a standard action and medium DC 12 Survival or Vehicle Control check.
REPAIR CHECK
Repairing a System requires either Investigation or Vehicle Control to reach MH DC 16. A character may also use Hacking or Legerdemain at -4 penalty to his roll.
Attempting to Repair always takes a standard action. However if a character can use Legerdemain or Hacking as a move or swift action due to an ability, he may do so, applying the usual -4 as above.
A failed Repair check never worsens a System's condition.
CHARACTER POSITIONS
Characters act in usual initiative with usual ways of readying and delaying.
Characters take a move action to move from one section to an adjacent section.
A character only has line of effect to a character in the same section as him, which is assumed to be 2-3 squares away unless specifically adjacent.
Characters may use their abilities as usual and are assumed to be able to see all enemy ships at all sections. However, abilities cannot be used on enemy ships. If they alter attack rolls or damage rolls, they can be used in conjunction with offensive weapon systems of the current ship.
Any ability that has a distance requirement towards an enemy always has that condition fulfilled.
If an attack hits a section of the ship that a character is in, it is considered an attack against that character, especially for purposes of triggers, and when a personal trigger is activated, it uses that character's defense. Thus an attack vs AC of 21 vs character with AC 19 can be negated by a personal interrupt that ups his AC to 22 or more. Note while this may cause the character to take no damage, the ship is still hit and takes damage accordingly. (Unless the character is a Tank and uses his Defense for that section)
If a character sets up a zone (typically a beneficial one), that zone occupies only one section.
Effects that provide any sort of cover and concealment have no effect.
A feat or item that causes a target to be unguarded under specific target conditions (eg Single Out) has no effect unless the target is within 5 (ship) squares of the attacker's ship.
A feat or item that causes a target to be unguarded under specific attacker conditions (eg Hidden Striker) has no effect unless the attacker's ship somehow has that condition.