Additional Considerations
Source GM Core pg. 227
There are a few situations that might occur in cinematic starship scenes that are different from normal encounters.
Balancing for More Crew: Most encounters, including those in printed adventures, assume a baseline number of four PCs acting onboard a starship. Sometimes a scene might include a friendly NPC and their presence is balanced for in the encounter. When accounting for additional PCs beyond four, it's important to look at the number of successes required for any associated Victory Points system at play as well as the potential output of enemy starships. Generally, the number of gunners available on the PCs' starship accounts for damage output, so adding more PCs won't necessarily increase damage output, but instead provide the PCs with more options on how to complete the encounter or better their chances with other checks.
Character Abilities: Some characters might have special abilities, such as feats or spells, they can use during a cinematic starship scene. Core class abilities, like Aim for an operative or Suppressing Fire for a soldier, aren't intended for cinematic starship scenes. Most applications for feats and spells are left up to the GM's discretion for what's appropriate to the specific encounter but generally should veer on the more permissive side when it makes sense. Spells might be usable on a PC's turn, with some single-action enhancement spells like guidance fitting exceptionally well into the action economy a character receives during their turn. Similarly, a GM might provide a bonus or reward for casting particularly powerful spells, like phantasmal fleet, instead of taking a bespoke starship action on their turn. Remember, the goal is for every player to have fun playing the characters they created.
Conditions on Starships: Sometimes, the PCs' starship might gain a condition or similar negative effect that has a timing element. In most cases, these conditions last for a specified duration; however, persistent damage requires a slight adjustment as it shouldn't trigger on each player's turn, as the damage affects the starship and not the PCs. Instead, resolve persistent damage on a starship at the end of each round, having one PC roll the flat check to recover. A PC occupying the engineer role can spend 2 actions on their turn to perform Assisted Recovery on their starship, reducing the flat check's DC to 10. This allows the engineer to attempt an extra flat check to end the persistent damage immediately, but only once per round. This is a replacement for the normal Assisted Recovery rules.
Weapon Ranges: For simplicity of running these encounters, there are no range increments for starship attacks in cinematic starship scenes. This keeps things simple and avoids the need for the encounter to have a tactical map. There might be a special action that allows a pilot to line up a better shot or move the starship further out of range to make hitting it more difficult. When accounting for the effects of character actions, such as spells, the distance between starships is up to the GM's discretion but generally should be assumed to be at least several hundred feet apart unless the pilot takes a special action to safely maneuver close to the other starship.
Balancing for More Crew: Most encounters, including those in printed adventures, assume a baseline number of four PCs acting onboard a starship. Sometimes a scene might include a friendly NPC and their presence is balanced for in the encounter. When accounting for additional PCs beyond four, it's important to look at the number of successes required for any associated Victory Points system at play as well as the potential output of enemy starships. Generally, the number of gunners available on the PCs' starship accounts for damage output, so adding more PCs won't necessarily increase damage output, but instead provide the PCs with more options on how to complete the encounter or better their chances with other checks.
Character Abilities: Some characters might have special abilities, such as feats or spells, they can use during a cinematic starship scene. Core class abilities, like Aim for an operative or Suppressing Fire for a soldier, aren't intended for cinematic starship scenes. Most applications for feats and spells are left up to the GM's discretion for what's appropriate to the specific encounter but generally should veer on the more permissive side when it makes sense. Spells might be usable on a PC's turn, with some single-action enhancement spells like guidance fitting exceptionally well into the action economy a character receives during their turn. Similarly, a GM might provide a bonus or reward for casting particularly powerful spells, like phantasmal fleet, instead of taking a bespoke starship action on their turn. Remember, the goal is for every player to have fun playing the characters they created.
Conditions on Starships: Sometimes, the PCs' starship might gain a condition or similar negative effect that has a timing element. In most cases, these conditions last for a specified duration; however, persistent damage requires a slight adjustment as it shouldn't trigger on each player's turn, as the damage affects the starship and not the PCs. Instead, resolve persistent damage on a starship at the end of each round, having one PC roll the flat check to recover. A PC occupying the engineer role can spend 2 actions on their turn to perform Assisted Recovery on their starship, reducing the flat check's DC to 10. This allows the engineer to attempt an extra flat check to end the persistent damage immediately, but only once per round. This is a replacement for the normal Assisted Recovery rules.
Weapon Ranges: For simplicity of running these encounters, there are no range increments for starship attacks in cinematic starship scenes. This keeps things simple and avoids the need for the encounter to have a tactical map. There might be a special action that allows a pilot to line up a better shot or move the starship further out of range to make hitting it more difficult. When accounting for the effects of character actions, such as spells, the distance between starships is up to the GM's discretion but generally should be assumed to be at least several hundred feet apart unless the pilot takes a special action to safely maneuver close to the other starship.