How To Use This Chapter
Source Tech Core pg. 165
The new rules presented in this section show GMs and players how to use tactical starship encounters: how players can customize their battle stations and helm them during encounters, how the action plays out, what characters can do on their turns, what happens when starships take damage, and so on. These rules are divided into the following sections.
Tactical Starship Rules
Source Tech Core pg. 165
Each round of a tactical starship encounter plays out much like a round of any other combat encounter, with the addition of enemy starships and space hazards represented on a sensor map. PCs move around their starship and helm battle stations to overcome these challenges. This section contains the new rules and tools that players and GMs need to run these encounters. It also includes tips for how each class can approach tactical starship combat, from their choice of actions to the upgrades they select to customize their battle stations. Finally, it includes an example of play to show how a typical tactical starship combat might play out at your table.
Battle Stations
Source Tech Core pg. 165
This section describes the different battle stations present on most starships, such as the pilot’s console, gunnery, and generator. The location of a battle station is indicated on the map you use to represent the players’ starship. Using a battle station is as simple as moving to it (or beginning in its square) and using its station actions. Any character can helm any battle station.
Starship Equipment
Source Tech Core pg. 165
Battle stations grant a core set of actions and benefits, and players can customize their battle stations to suit their characters’ needs. For example, a crew might install upgrades in a gunnery empowering the solarian to blast enemy starships with their solar flare. A different crew might select an upgrade for their starship’s magic conduit that allows a witchwarper to Warp Reality in space. The gunnery can be equipped with a wide variety of weapons. Starship expansion bays add to a starship’s capabilities during exploration and downtime.
Advancing Starships
Source Tech Core pg. 165
As the party advances in level, so does the crew’s starship. This section provides three base frames for player starships. The frame determines their starship’s Speed, Hit Points, Armor Class, and so on, just like a character’s class determines many of their statistics. As characters level up, their starship’s statistics improve based on its frame. Any two player starships might have similar default statistics based on their frame, but the selection of upgrades makes each ship unique!