The Cluster Falk:StarshipRules

These are homebrew rules for Star Wars starships in Raiders of the Rim, based on Starblazer, Fate of the Stars, Tachyon Squadron, and other sources.

Size

A ship can attack or defend against another ship ten levels of Size above or below it without special benefits or penalties. After that, the difference in Size confers an extra +10% for Guns and Shields, and most other offensive and defensive rolls. This represents the far superior power and toughness of a larger ship. The same applies in reverse for defensive evasion moves.

Ships of Size 10 or above gain a -2 penalty to Handling tests on engagement, no matter how high their Speed rating.

Ship Skills and Crew Skills

Most ships have AI automation with a skill of 50% for every function that needs a skill. If a character has a higher skill rating, they can take over.

The exception is Pilot. The Pilot Skill always trumps Ship Skills for almost any test or contest beyond a straight flat-out contest of Speed vs. Speed, although it does not remove the effects of penalties.

To actually use their Skill, a crew member has to be at an appropriate station in the ship. A pilot can't use their Pilot Skill unless they're actually in the cockpit or on the command deck; a gunner can't use their Military Training (Navy) Skill if there is no turret to shoot from, etc. However, actions undertaken within the ship, such as Craft (Engineering) rolls, take the crew Skills.

Starship Navigation

Aside from the special cases detailed below, many of the skills and especially stunts of starship construction don't apply when it comes to ship navigation. This is assumed to proceed relatively smoothly, except when the GM rules otherwise and requires rolls.

A Jump always requires a Navigate roll, though.

Asteroid Fields

An asteroid field adds +10% to +20% to a ship's chances of evading detection while in the field, but periodic Pilot rolls need to be made to avoid damage to the ship. The difficulty of these rolls and the resultant damage are up to the GM. Miners may also elect to scour through asteroid fields for their riches. All kinds of exotic asteroid fields abound in the galaxy, including ones haunted by or composed of living beings, radioactive or electromagnetic fields, etc.

Hyperspace Jumps

A hyperspace jump requires a starship to be at least 100 diameters distant from a planet, or any object as large as a small planetoid. Calculations for the jump to lightspeed, made with the ship's Navigate skill, take at least one round of calculations.

A standard hyperspace jump can cover roughly 1 parsec (3.26 ly or 1 hex on a subsector map) per Jump drive rating. The relevant roll is dictated by the ship's Drives rating, and other factors. So, a 1-parsec jump requires a +1 success, a 2-parsec jump a +2 success, and so on. This total can be influenced by external environmental factors. For instance, a hyperspace lane typically lowers the Difficulty (increases the range) of a jump by 1, or even 2, while a miscalculated jump or local environmental interference may raise the Difficulty by 1 or far more.

After each jump, a starship needs to stop and recalibrate its hyperdrive, and make the calculations for the next jump, at the new Difficulty. Consequences of a hard failure can include flying into the heart of a star, or other equally unpleasant outcomes.

A hyperspace jump takes an unpredictable but limited amount of time - usually around 1 week - and a lot of fuel. Typically, a Jump consumes half of the ship's entire fuel reserves.

Starship Combat

These are the specialized rules for starship combat.

Detection

Starships have to detect each other to enter combat. Detection is a Sensors vs Sensors contest, modified by crew Science (Comms) or Military Training (Navy) Skills, advanced sensor suites, asteroid fields, stealth suites, etc. Unless a ship has a definite reason, orders, etc. to continue scanning, it cannot keep trying to detect until it finds a target; the first failure is definitive. However, once detected, a target is tagged, and cannot evade unless it can change the situation (e.g. fly into an asteroid field) to allow a fresh test.

Military sensors always have a +20% advantage over civilian sensors. Each level of difference in Tech Level between ships adds another 10% advantage or disadvantage.

Closing to engage

Once detected, ships need to move to within engagement range to enter close quarter battle. If a ship wants to avoid combat, it can do a series of Pilot vs Pilot contests as per a typical chase, adding the ship's Speed rating to the percentage roll for each. The pursuer may also be a torpedo as well as another starship. Depending on the situation, the GM can decide that just a single success is enough to initiate combat, or require a chase with best of 3 wins, or 3 consecutive wins.

Silent running

A ship can elect to initiate silent running, turning off its drives and cutting all non-essential emissions. While in silent running, it cannot maneuver, accelerate or decelerate, except by the effect of gravity wells. In silent running mode, it cuts -60% from sensor acquisition chances, equivalent to Superior Stealth. Size of 10 or above cuts -20% from this.

Engagement

On entering an engagement, the combatants each make a Pilot roll. The result, divided by 10, is their position on the engagement ladder.

The engagement ladder determines the combatants' relative tactical positions and firing sequence in closse quarter battle. This also applies to torpedoes as well as manned craft. The engagement ladder is also closely tied to the possible actions for each combatant in each turn. The Engagement Ladder is not a measure of altitude, but of relative advantage and disadvantage in a combat. It is also a measure of rough practical firing range for beam weapons. Beyond these distances, beam divergence and attentuation and relative velocities make close quarter battle impracticable.

Once in CQB, Handling rather than Speed is the main factor in ship maneuvering; a ship entering CQB may have a low Speed but have built up high velocity through days or weeks of acceleration.

At the end of each turn, combatants move 1 level down the engagement ladder, unless the turn's outcome determines otherwise.

Once a ship has exited the bottom of the engagement ladder, it has moved out of engagement range. Combatants are then assumed to be beyond engagement range, and if an aggressor wants to re-initiate combat, it has to close to engage as before, with the same Pilot vs Pilot tests.

Engagement Actions

The following are some of the standard engagement actions available to combatants. Others may be available depending on Guns and Systems types, and other factors.

Actions basically take half or all of each turn; 2 half actions can both be done in a single turn.

Attack actions can normally be made only against targets at the same level or below, unless otherwise indicated in the action's details.

Attack and defensive actions require a roll of the relevant Skill to succeed, with crew Skill modifying ship Skill if it is higher. For the majority of actions, the skill is Pilot. For pure gunnery actions (e.g. Snap shot), the crew Skill is Military Training (Navy). Crew manning turrets and other installations cannot do Pilot actions, but can do other actions separately. An unnmanned turret or weapon will fire at a standard AI rating of 50%.

Some full turn actions are essentially two actions combined, e.g. Desperate attack, which combines Pilot and shooting. Each crew member or installation can only make one type of action per turn, or two compatible half actions: a Pilot cannot make a Targeted Attack and a Push in the same turn.

A full turn action is assumed to take effect in the second half of the exchange.

For each type of action, the relevant Skill roll or installation needed to make the action is indicated.

Attack Actions

• Desperate attack (Pilot, full turn, max 10 Size): Climb 2 levels on the engagement ladder, then attack a ship at or below your new level. Add Handling as a percentage to success chances.
• On their tail (Pilot, full turn): Position yourself in the level directly above your target on the engagement ladder. Take one turn to get on your target's tail. Attack your target with a +20% bonus to your attack next turn, increasing by +10% each turn. Add Handling as a percentage to success chances.
• Targeted attack (Pilot or Turret, full turn): Target a specific hit location at -20% success chance. Add Handling as a percentage to success chances.
• Snap shot (Pilot or Turret, half turn): Attack a ship at your level or below on the engagement ladder. For Pilot, add Handling as a percentage to success chances.
• Return fire (Turret, second half): Return fire against an attacking ship above you on the engagement ladder at -20%.
• Target lock (Turret, full turn): Lock onto any target on your level or below on the engagement ladder. Attack your target with a +20% bonus to your roll next turn, increasing by +10% each turn.
• Special weapon (Pilot or Turret, full turn): Fire any installed special weapon (tractor beam, hyperdrive inhibitor, etc.) at target at the same level or below you on the engagement ladder.
• Spinal weapon (Pilot and Military Training (Navy), full turn): Fire a spinal or axial weapon at target at the same level or below you on the engagement ladder. This requires one full turn of preparation to align the weapon and charge it up: no other significant maneuver actions are possible in this time. Both rolls must succeed for the weapon to fire successfully.
• Grapple and board (Pilot, second half): Initiate a Pilot vs. Pilot contest against target on same level of engagement ladder and equal or lower Handling. If aggressor wins, they can grapple and board the target. Add Handling as a percentage to success chances on both sides.

Non-Attack Actions

• Push (Pilot, second half): Initiate a Pilot vs. Pilot contest. If aggressor wins, they push defender 1 level down the engagement ladder. Add Handling as a percentage to success chances on both sides.
• Evade (Pilot, first half): Maneuver to dodge incoming fire; defend with Pilot vs. Pilot or turrets, resisting the opponent's highest hit chance. This applies to all incoming fire during the turn, but the ship cannot make any attack actions during that turn. Add Handling as a percentage to success.
• Repair (Craft (Engineering), second half): a success with Craft (Engineering) clears 25% of damage received; Critical clears 50%. An Engineer can only work on one hit location per turn.
• Pickup (Pilot, full turn): Pick up a stranded pilot, jettisoned cargo canister, asteroid ore chunk, etc. Target Difficulty is determined by the GM.
• Launch (Technology Use, second half): Launch fighters, shuttles or other subsidiary craft. These enter the engagement at the same level on the engagement ladder.
• Shake off a tail (Pilot, full turn): Initiate a Pilot vs. Pilot contest. If successful, both reposition in next turn. Add Handling as a percentage to success chances on both sides.
• Reposition (Pilot, either half of turn): Position your ship at or below new result on engagement ladder.
• Point defense (Turrets, second half): fire Sandcasters at any target on the same level or the level above (or below).
• Fire decoys (Turrets, either half): fire Sandcasters to release chaff and decoys: success means -20% for all incoming attacks (Pilot, missiles, turrets) for 1 turn only. Advanced Sensor Suites negate this.
• Jam (Craft (Engineering) or Science (Comms), either half): a success jams your opponent's communications, whether ship-to-ship or interplanetary distances; needs success in a Skills vs Skills contest to take effect.
• Full defense (Pilot, full turn, max 3 Scale): +2 defend against any attacks and other opponent actions, no other actions allowed.
• Jump to lightspeed (Navigate, full turn): Calculate and initiate hyperspace jump. Requires no tail and at least 2 levels of separation on engagement ladder.

Damage

Weapons damage is inflicted on hit locations as per M-Space rules, with corresponding effects.

Missiles

Missiles are small (Size 0) guided missiles, usually 50% Pilot and Craft (Engineering), with Speed and Handling both at least 10. They home in on a target designated at launch, and aim to reach the same zone as the target. Once in the same zone, they explode. Damage depends on the payload, but is a standard 3D6 for conventional warheads.

Missiles can be fired both outside and inside an engagement. If fired or entering an engagement, they have to reach the same level on the engagement ladder to successfully detonate. If their target is destroyed or shakes them off before they detonate, they explode, doing damage to all ships, friendly or hostile, at the same level in the engagement ladder.

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