These rules are entirely optional. They’re designed for groups who will get enjoyment out of this kind of play; that may not be your group. If you want to, you can skip space combat entirely, and the ship’s just another set piece. Or, if you want something lighter, you can reduce it to a skill challenge. Find what works best with your group.
Adventures in SSRPG can take place not just on a single planet, but anywhere in the known universe. While it’s perfectly fine to play an entirely planet-bound campaign, one of the more exciting options available to you is to hop planets and explore the SSRPG universe. In order to do that, though, players are going to need a ship. And what’s the point of owning a ship if you can’t have ridiculously close encounters with it?
A starship in SSRPG is a large investment. It costs more than a single player can afford at level 1, which means that there’s always a story to how players got their ship. SSRPG treats ships as a group resource; the entire group’s expected to contribute to maintaining and equiping it. Or, put another way, it’s a campfire around with the party can gather, as well as a stage on which they can play (think of the Serentity from the Firefly series).
Players should not be expected to provide their own ship; instead the GM should give them the ship through some means. This could be the focus of the first arc of the campaign, or it could be in one of the character’s backstories that they own a ship. How the players get one will be up to the story you’re trying to tell.
A good anaology is a modern car vs a Semi. Cars cost, on average, $30,000 - $50,000, and an individual is expected to be able to buy one (with a loan). Semi trucks, on the other hand, cost $150,000 - $300,000. You pretty much need a small business loan to afford one. In SSRPG, personal craft (3 - 5 people, no cargo space, no weapons, limited range) cost an equivalent amount as a car. Larger craft, like frieghters, cost 3 to 5 times as much, and are really the only possible choice for an adventuring group.
Of course, you can get used or stolen ships for much cheaper, but they come with their own problems. Military craft likewise are considerably more expensive (10x - 100x), and are illegal for civilian ownership.
Ships share the same type of stats as a Monster, only simplified and flavorized:
The biggest difference is that we’ve rolled abilities and defenses into one, simplified, and renamed Wisdom to ECM. Wounds, Threshold and Speed work just like Monsters with the exception that players can spend the ship’s stamina to repair wounds.
When a ship is at maximum wounds, it’s considered disabled.
Every large ship has 4 stations, which can be manned by players. (Some stations can be manned by multiple people, depending on the specific ship.) These stations all have a list of powers that can be performed there, and how many ‘power points’ are available to boost those abilities. (Each ship will have slightly different powers, and a differing number of power points per station.) Below is a list of ‘universal’ powers for each station. (Ships should add only a few additional ship-specific powers on top of this.)
Each station has an occupancy limit; this is the number of people who can effectively use the station. Stations are first come, first serve; so if you have more people at a station than can use it, the last ones there simply can’t use the station.
It’s an action to move from one station to another.
Power points work like a station’s stamina. They regenerate after a short rest (assuming the ship isn’t disabled). Each station has it’s own pool, to help prevent long discussions about how to spend these points. In general, you can spend as many of your station’s power points as you wish on your turn, but once you’re out, you’re out.
This is often considered the most important station. The pilot is in charge of dodging incoming fire, and positioning the ship so that the most weapons can be brought to bear. A highly skilled pilot can make all the difference between escaping those pirates with your ship intact, or turning into space dust.
Power Point 1: Spend a power point to gain an automatic success on the Starship check.
Target: One ship
Attack: Starship vs Reflex
Gunners gain a
Power Point 1: Spend a power point to gain an additional
Not finished yet.
Every ship larger than a fighter uses turrets instead of fixed point guns. While these guns can be fired automatically, it’s no replacement for a real person sitting behind the controls.
Target: One ship
Attack: Vigilance vs Reflex
Power Point 1: Spend a powerpoint and the target ship is dazed till the start of your next turn.
Target: One ship
Attack: Software vs ECM
Starship Weapon +
Special: This attack can be fired on the pilot’s turn, as an Action. It uses the station’s rated skill value.
Not finished yet.
Operations is a little bit of everything. They coordinate with Engineering, they scan targets for Gunnery, and can even assist the pilot.
Target: One ship
Attack: Vigilance vs ECM
The next character to use the Sensor Guided power gets a
Power Point 1: Spend a power point to gain an automatic success on the Starship check.
Engineering is often less of a station, and more of several people running through the bowls of the ship. It’s critical when you’re taking damage, but it’s still useful when you’re pressing the attack, as they can help boost every station.
Effect: Roll Mechanics vs
Effect: Roll Mechanics vs your ship’s Vitality. On success, the character(s) at pilot station(s) get a
A
A
Effect: Roll Software vs your ship’s ECM. On success, the character at Ops station gets a
A
A
Effect: Roll Mechanics vs your ship’s Vitality. On success, the character(s) at gunnery station(s) get a
A
A
Pulling out every engineering trick you know you somehow manage to keep the ship from flying apart at the seams.
Trigger: Your ship is disabled.
Effect: Roll Mechanics vs
Space combat is intended to be very cinematic, fast, and more light-weight than combat between players and monsters. The main reason for this is because in depth, super tactical combat isn’t fun when the entire party’s stuck moving as a whole unit. That being said, it’s a direct simplification of SSRPG’s normal combat, so it should be incredibly familiar.
The pilot rolls their Vigilance. If there is no pilot, the player at Ops can roll instead, with a
Every player has only one action on thier turn; speaking is, as always, an Incidental. This simplified structure helps to keep things moving quickly.
Once your ship has been disabled, it takes an extended rest’s worth of repairs to get it moving again (it heals one wound). During this time, your ship is free to be borded or towed, as the GM sees fit.
Note: It’s assumed that destroying a ship is much harder than disabling it. Ship destruction should be a cinematic choice by the GM; there are no rules for it, intentionally.
