Rewards & Consequences

Depending on the circumstances of a cinematic starship scene, there should always be some type of reward the PCs can earn. They might acquire salvage from defeated threats or obtain vital intelligence on their missions. In scenes where success is measured using Victory Points, the number of points the PCs collect might affect the rewards they receive, adding a bit of “risk versus reward” in encounters where the PCs could easily escape after hitting the necessary threshold but could remain longer to get more successes. This works especially well in scenes like intelligence gathering or asteroid mining, where the PCs might feel the need to push themselves to leave with more. Additional objectives also provide a means for PCs to earn additional rewards through their actions.

Failure in a starship scene should rarely end with the party dying. A PC starship brought to 0 Hit Points becomes disabled, meaning it can be boarded or left adrift for the PCs to enact emergency repairs on. Some encounters, such as a sun about to go nova, might necessitate PC death, but you should always ensure that the PCs have ample time to escape. Instead of death, consider consequences such as the losing of vital intelligence, entering the next encounter at a disadvantage, or facing enemy forces that have had more time to prepare.