Starship Combat
Starship combat is intense, tactical, and crew-dependent. Unlike personal combat, you're not fighting alone — you're part of a bridge crew, each person controlling a critical system. Victory requires coordination, resource management, and smart use of your ship's strengths.
The Battlefield
Starship combat takes place across zones — areas of space defined by physical features like planets, asteroids, nebulae, or debris fields. A simple battlefield has 3–5 zones; complex ones may have many more.
Distances
Range between zones is measured in four categories:
| Distance | Range |
|---|---|
| Close | Your current zone (0 zones) |
| Medium | Adjacent zone (1 zone) |
| Long | 2 zones away |
| Extreme | 3+ zones away |
Terrain
Difficult terrain requires more effort to cross. Moving through it costs Momentum (1–3 depending on severity). If you can't pay, attempt a Maneuver action (Difficulty 0 Control + Conn) to generate Momentum for the crossing.
Hazardous terrain is both difficult and damaging. Crossing by adding Threat instead of Momentum inflicts immediate damage.
Turn Structure
Each character gets one turn per round. On your turn, you may take:
- 1 Major Action (a task or attack)
- 1 Minor Action (positioning, preparing, interacting)
You can gain a second major action by spending 2 Momentum (the second action's task increases in Difficulty by 1). A commander can also grant an extra action via the Direct action.
NPC Ships
NPC vessels don't track individual crew — they use Crew Quality instead:
| Quality | Attribute | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 8 | 1 |
| Proficient | 9 | 2 |
| Talented | 10 | 3 |
| Exceptional | 11 | 4 |
Each NPC ship takes one turn per point of Scale per round. Each turn, it may attempt one task assisted by each system (one Weapons task, one Engines task, etc.). Extra tasks using the same system cost 1 Threat each.
Bridge Positions
Each character operates a station. You cannot take actions from a station someone else occupies.
Command
The commanding officer coordinates the crew and makes strategic decisions.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Assist | Assist two allies instead of one |
| Direct | Spend 1 Momentum — one ally immediately takes a major action; you assist them |
| Rally | Presence + Command, Difficulty 0 — generate Momentum for the group |
Helm
The pilot controls the ship's movement.
| Minor | Description |
|---|---|
| Impulse | Move up to 2 zones (within Long range) |
| Thrusters | Fine positioning within your zone; move into Contact safely |
| Major | Description |
|---|---|
| Attack Pattern | Assist allied attacks until your next turn, but attacks against your ship reduce Difficulty by 1 |
| Evasive Action | Attacks against your ship become opposed (Daring + Conn); if you win, move 1 zone. Your attacks gain +1 Difficulty |
| Maneuver | Control + Conn, Difficulty 0 — generate Momentum for terrain crossing |
| Ram | Daring + Conn, Difficulty 2 — collide with a target at Contact range |
| Warp | Requires Reserve Power + Prepare. Control + Conn, Difficulty 1 — move Engines zones or leave the battlefield |
Navigator
Plots courses and studies terrain. Typically assists the helm.
Operations / Engineering
Manages power, repairs, and internal systems.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Damage Control | Patch a breach: Presence + Engineering, Difficulty 2 (increases per additional breach) |
| Regain Power | Control + Engineering, Difficulty 1 — restore Reserve Power |
| Regenerate Shields | Requires Reserve Power. Control + Engineering, Difficulty 2 — restore shields equal to Engineering department + 2 per Momentum spent |
| Reroute Power | Requires Reserve Power — boost a specific system's next action |
Sensor Operations
The ship's eyes and ears.
| Minor | Description |
|---|---|
| Calibrate Sensors | On your next sensor action, ignore one trait or re-roll 1d20 |
| Launch Probe | Place a probe in any zone within Long range |
| Major | Description |
|---|---|
| Scan | Reason + Science, Difficulty 1 — gather information about a zone |
| Scan for Weakness | Control + Science, Difficulty 2 — next attack against that target gains +2 damage or Piercing |
| Reveal | Reason + Science, Difficulty 3 — detect a cloaked vessel within Long range |
Tactical
Operates weapons and shields.
| Minor | Description |
|---|---|
| Prepare | Raise/lower shields, arm/disarm weapons |
| Targeting Solution | Lock onto a target — on the next attack, re-roll 1d20 or choose which system is hit |
| Calibrate Weapons | On your next attack, +1 damage |
| Major | Description |
|---|---|
| Fire | Select a weapon and attack. Energy weapons: Difficulty 2. Torpedoes: Difficulty 3 (+1 Threat) |
| Defensive Fire | Until your next turn, enemy attacks become opposed (Daring + Security). Spend 2 Momentum to counterattack |
| Modulate Shields | Until your next turn, +2 Resistance |
| Tractor Beam | Control + Security, Difficulty 2 — immobilize a target at Close range |
Making an Attack
- Select weapon and target. Choose energy or torpedo, and a viable target within range.
- Roll the attack. Control + Security (assisted by the ship's Weapons + Security). Energy weapons: Difficulty 2. Torpedoes: Difficulty 3.
- Determine damage. If successful, deal the weapon's damage rating.
- Apply Resistance. Reduce damage by the target's Resistance (minimum 1).
- Reduce shields. Each point of damage reduces shields by 1. If shields are 0, the ship suffers a breach instead.
Shield Thresholds
When damage reduces shields past certain thresholds, the ship is shaken:
- Below 50% max shields: Shaken — choose: Brace for Impact (lose next major action) or Losing Power (lose Reserve Power).
- Below 25% max shields: Shaken again, and if already shaken, suffer a breach.
- Shields at 0: Shields down — suffer a breach.
Random System Hit
When a breach occurs, roll d20 to determine which system is hit:
| D20 | System |
|---|---|
| 1 | Communications |
| 2 | Computers |
| 3–6 | Engines |
| 7–9 | Sensors |
| 10–17 | Structure |
| 18–20 | Weapons |
Targeting Solutions let you choose instead of rolling.
Breaches and Damage
A breach is a trait representing serious damage. It increases the Difficulty of tasks using that system, or makes them impossible.
Critical Damage
- If a single system suffers breaches equal to half the ship's Scale (rounded up), that system is destroyed — tasks assisted by it automatically fail.
- If the ship suffers breaches greater than its Scale, it has suffered critical damage and can no longer function.
Warp Core Breach
If critical damage destroys the Engines, the reactor may explode. At the end of each round, roll d20 — if the result exceeds the ship's Engineering rating, the ship is destroyed.
Options to prevent this:
- Stabilize the Reactor: Extended task (Progress = Engines, Difficulty 3).
- Eject the Reactor: Daring + Engineering, Difficulty 2. The reactor still explodes but doesn't destroy the ship.
Momentum Spends in Starship Combat
| Spend | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Added Damage | 2 (Repeatable) | +1 damage per 2 Momentum |
| Devastating Attack | 2 | Roll a second system hit for half damage |
| Buy d20s | 1/2/3 | Add bonus dice (same as personal combat) |
| Keep the Initiative | 2 | Pass the next turn to an ally |
Going to Warp
To flee, reroute Reserve Power to engines and take the Prepare minor action. Then attempt Control + Conn, Difficulty 1 (assisted by Engines + Conn). If successful, you move a number of zones equal to your Engines score, or leave the battlefield entirely.
Pursuing ships must also go to warp and score more successes than the fleeing ship to catch up.
Repairing Damage
In combat: The Damage Control action patches a breach, removing its penalties. Patched breaches return if the system takes another hit.
After combat: A single breach takes 6 hours to repair (no roll needed if undisturbed, or Difficulty 3 Control + Engineering). A starbase reduces this by half. A ship can handle simultaneous repairs equal to its Engineering rating.
Tips for Players
- Coordinate your station. Know what your role can do and play to it. A helm officer generating Momentum for the group is more valuable than one trying to fire weapons.
- Manage Reserve Power. It's finite. Spend it on shields, weapons, or warp — not all three.
- Target systems wisely. Hitting Engines slows enemies. Hitting Weapons disarms them. Hitting Structure causes breaches directly.
- Support your crewmates. The Assist action and the Commander's Direct action keep the whole bridge running.