Starship Hazards
Source Tech Core pg. 246
From hull breaches and glitching consoles to asteroids, black holes, and stellar anomalies, the vast reaches of space hold many dangers for starships and their crews. GMs can use these hazards during tactical starship combat to ramp up the tension and make every encounter unique!
Running Starship Hazards
Source Tech Core pg. 246
The hazards in this chapter are intended for use during tactical starship combat, whether as a direct threat to the players’ starship on the sensor map or as something on the starship itself that threatens the PCs. These hazards function much like other hazards found in Starfinder adventures and in the Hazards chapter of GM Core. They have a trigger of some kind, a reaction or free action that occurs when they trigger, actions or routines to represent the dangers they present, and they might have a way to be reset so they can trigger again. They always indicate what methods the PCs can use to disable or destroy them, and characters earn XP for interacting with them, just like other hazards.
Some key differences between typical hazards and starship hazards are as follows.
Some key differences between typical hazards and starship hazards are as follows.
Detecting A Starship Hazard
Source Tech Core pg. 246
Like other hazards, starship hazards have a trigger that sets its dangers in motion, and PCs have the opportunity to notice the trigger area or triggering mechanism before setting off the hazard. Starship hazards on the players’ starship can be run just like other hazards. For hazards on the sensor map, during exploration, determine whether the party detects a hazard when their starship first enters the general area in which it appears. If the hazard doesn’t list a minimum proficiency rank, roll a secret Perception check against the hazard’s Stealth DC for each PC. For hazards with a minimum proficiency rank, roll only if someone is actively using Seek Starships and only if they have the listed proficiency rank or higher. Anyone who succeeds becomes aware of the hazard, and you can describe what they notice. Magical hazards on the sensor map can be found using the magic conduit to Scan for Magic.
Disabling A Starship Hazard
Source Tech Core pg. 246
Although disabling starship hazards follows the same rules as disabling other hazards, some starship hazards—especially those on the sensor map—require players to use their battle stations to disable them, such as by hacking them with their scanners. If a skill check to disable a hazard lists a battle station, that skill check can only be attempted as a station action at the listed battle station (requiring two actions as normal unless otherwise stated).
Hazards With The Starship Trait
Source Tech Core pg. 246
Some starship hazards have the starship trait, which indicates that the hazard is meant to be used on the sensor map and can generally be damaged or interacted with by only other starships or other effects with the starship trait. Hazards without the starship trait function as normal hazards, meaning they’re intended for use on the players’ starship map, as are any other hazards that the GM finds suitable for their game.