Class Roles In Starship Combat

A PC's class is one of their most defining qualities, and it's important to consider each crew member's class when designing a starship for your campaign. The following guidelines can help, but every character is unique and different choices in skills and feats can radically alter their ideal play style and best roles as part of a starship crew. Archetypes and higher-level skill feats can especially change a crew member's preferred role, and the crew might decide to change their starship's battle stations, equipment, or layout to accommodate character progression.

Any class can helm any battle station, and most excel at helming more than one. It's not uncommon for a character to switch stations as battlefields evolve and enemies begin using unforeseen tactics. This is especially true when confronting starship hazards like boarding pods that can completely change the dynamics of an encounter. Crew members can find new and exciting ways to utilize their class abilities while fighting a tactical starship battle. For example, an envoy who leads from the front can use Into Position! to rush the crew to their battle stations when the starship is unexpectedly ambushed.

Naturally, any spellcaster excels when helming the magic conduit station, and when upgrading the crew's starship, they should install upgrades that are built for their class. Spellcasters should familiarize themselves with the starship's spell repository. The spells give options for dealing damage as well as for restoring Hull Points and Shield Points. Even if a spellcaster runs out of spell slots, they're likely to be as competent as any other character at most battle stations.