Starship Combat Guide

The rules for starship combat are based on the rules for character combat, as outlined in the Combat Guide. Like character-scale combat, starship battles unfold in a three-dimensional environment. Starship battles play out in rounds. The combat system presented here has the core intention of striking a balance between ease of play and roleplay in and of itself.

## **Starship Types & Subtypes**

Every ship has a type and subtype. It's type represents its relative mass and determines its fighting space in the server. There are three types of starships; light, medium and heavy.

Subtypes are determined by faction affiliation such as New Republic, Freelancer, Pirate, etc. Each offers their own little bonus to combat.

* **New Republic** - Bonus
* **Freelancer** - Bonus
* **Pirate** - Bonus
* **Imperial Remnant** - Bonus
* **New Jedi Order** - Bonus

## **Overview of Combat**

Flight combat is played out in turns. Each turn, the fighters in the field act in a regular cycle. But generally, starship combat runs as follows;

* **Step One (Initiation):** The GM determines which starships are aware of each other at the start of the battle. (Cloaking devices and other devices might hide a ship from another ship’s sensors.) If some but not all of the pilots are aware of their enemies, a surprise round happens before regular turns begin. Consider it a ‘surprise attack’ that plays out as a free turn for the party. Pilots that are aware of enemies can act in the surprise round. Looking to do some sneaky damage? Well, that’s the time to do it!
* **Step Two:** Pilots roll initiative. Everyone is now free to begin their first round.
* **Step Three:** Pilots act in initiative order. All crew aboard a ship act on the starship’s turn. (Includes droids/pilots/crew depending on ship class & size.)
* **Step Four:** At the end of each rotation, the pilot with the highest initiative acts again, and steps three and four repeat until combat ends.

## **Initiative**

Pilots must roll for initiative, which determines the OOC turn order. Each player character will run the command /initiative (which is influenced by Dexterity). The GM determines what order starships act in, counting down from highest initiative result to lowest and each starship acts in turn. NPCs will also get to roll initiative and will be interspersed in the order as well. For transparency, the turn order will be posted to the Discord and the players involved will be pinged so they might reference it too. Staff will announce in /event when turns are over and the next one begins. Once everyone on the list has had their turn, a round of combat is completed.

As the regular combat guide states; *“Combat has no set length, but if it begins to drag on for too many rounds the GM might take action to shorten things so that things will go more quickly.”*

### **Joining a Battle**

If starships enter a ship battle after it has begun, they roll initiative at that time and act whenever their turn comes up in the existing order. Easy, right? Who said you had to get to the party early.

### **Determining Awareness**

The GM determines which pilots are aware of which others at the start of any battle. In most circumstances, the GM may call for a Technology or Perception check to operate shipboard sensors/use one’s eyes to survey the space around the vessel. If a pilot manages to attack an unaware combatant, they gain an advantage to their initial attack roll.

Advantage is determined by /luck. Whatever is rolled out of /luck, and caps at a base roll of +5.

## **Turn Actions**

During their turn, pilots have several actions at their disposal. Characters get the option to make a movement and an attack.

Worried that you’ll need to spec into ranged to alter your piloting capabilities? Well, worry not. In lieu of diversity, the staff team will accommodate pilots to a certain degree.

Weapon systems are determined by the type of ship that is being flown. Staff will create a ‘ship item’ SPECIFICALLY for your character that alters the stats of most ranged combat rolls to fully utilize your ship’s onboard systems such as weapons, targeting arrays and so on. These items will affect **Strength, Accuracy, Perception and Dexterity**. Meaning that your combat build won’t need to be specifically situated around firearms and ranged combat.

*Said items will be named something as simple as ‘Jezza’s X-Wing’ or ‘Aaron’s TIE Interceptor’. Staff will have a ‘dump’ character where this item is stored when Starship Combat isn’t being utilized to avoid buffing players stats on the ground.*

Your Starship item will look similar to this, and its stats will vary depending on ship type and personal upgrades procured in-character.

### **Ranged Attacks**

An attack action represents one pilot’s attempt to strike another during their turn. Most starships are armed with ranged weapons and are capable of being free-fired by pilots (depending on class & size.) Unlike their character counterparts, most ships have an array of weapons at their disposal. With that in mind, they gain access to a slew of commands that would otherwise be weapon specific.

* **/firearms** (Saved for larger weapons that are only fired once such as torpedos/missiles/etc. Can only be used once every three turns.)
* **/firearmsburst** (Your go-to combat roll for most offensive actions. Main weapon systems firing and so on.)
* **/firearmsaimed** (Requires a round of setup + spending your movement turn to fire)

/firearms salvo has the capacity to deal upwards of 2 points of damage on your target, but due to their limited supply, it’s unlikely that you’ll be using it consistently. Dry limit of one usage per three turns.

These rolls are affected by the class traits you chose during Character Creation & are influenced by attributes. Where your shots hit is up to chance unless you are rolling an aimed attack. With Respite’s limited customization options when it comes to mirroring the firearms systems, we’ll be utilizing the basic body part system for most starships;

* **Head (Cockpit)**
* **Neck (Fission Engines)**
* Weapon (Main Weapons Platform)
* Left Shoulder (Wing)
	+ Left Upper Arm (Wing Pylon)
	+ Left Forearm (Wing Brace)
	+ Left Hand

* Right Shoulder (Wing)
	+ Right Upper Arm (Wing Pylon)
	+ Right Forearm (Wing Brace)
	+ Right Hand

* Chest
	+ **Heart (Wep. Targeting Computers)(Forces Retreat)**
	+ **Left Lung (Fuel Reserve(s))**
	+ **Right Lung (Fuel Reserve(s))**

* Torso (Main Chassis)
	+ **Spine (Power Line)**
	+ Stomach (Sensor Packages)
	+ Liver (Exhaust Nozzle)

* Pelvis (Main Chassis)
	+ Left Hip (Chassis)
	+ Right Hip (Chassis)
	+ Groin (Chassis)

* Left Leg (L Thruster)
	+ Left Knee (Chassis)
	+ Left Shin (Chassis)
	+ Left Foot (Chassis)

* Right Leg (R Thruster)
	+ Right Knee (Chassis)
	+ Right Shin (Chassis)
	+ Right Foot (Chassis)

Some locations are more desirable than others. If you hit a hostile ship in any of the bolded locations, they will immediately be killed, disabled, or otherwise out of combat, as the shot is considered instantly fatal or crippling. Something worth nothing; this rule only applies to NPCs. You have a much lower chance of hitting those locations randomly. If you hit a nonfatal location, it will deduct 1HP as normal.

Hitting an enemy weapons system renders them ‘disarmed’ for one turn, giving them time to divert power to the systems in the meantime. They don’t lose any HP.

### **Aimed Attacks & Precision Shots**

Aimed attacks are made with far more degree and care than blindly shooting down the range at your foes. Thus, they require special attention in combat and roleplay to complete. In order to make an aimed ranged attack, you must spend a turn setting up your shot, being able to fire on your turn in the subsequent round. Then, on your turn to fire, you must spend your movement as well as your action to do so, essentially grounding you in place for that turn, and if you do decide to move, the process is reset and you must spend another turn preparing. Aimed attacks, like other firearm rolls, have randomized locations.

A Precise Shot (also known as a 'Precision Shot') is a check that can be made twice per encounter by a PC in flight combat. By making a Precision Shot, you are able to override the randomized bodypart roll with instead a target specified in your RP or by yourself in LOOC/OOC. However, you must *also* pass a DC 5 Perception check in order to successfully target an enemy bodypart, which is done after rolling your desired firearms roll. If you fail the Perception check, you hit the randomized target specified in your initial roll.

### **Locking In**

Both players and NPCs may attempt to lock onto their adversaries if they are directly behind them using (/piloting). Both NPCs and player pilots must make a piloting check to resist, and if either fails to beat the number that either has rolled, then they are successfully locked into their combatants’ sights. While locked, and on their turn, the pilot is free to make a /firearmsaimed check as if it were a /firearmsburst. Meaning that they can also take an additional movement if they so desire.

During the next turn rotation, you may attempt another piloting check, and if you successfully beat their counter roll, you’re considered free of the lock and may take an action as breaking out of their line of sight counts as a movement for that turn.

### **Movement**

You’re really floatin’ up there! In addition to taking an attack/action, pilots are entitled to move during combat to a reasonable degree. With how fast-paced aerial combat can be, the range in which users can move per turn is up to the GM overseeing the scenario. If they believe you can’t exceed a specific measured distance, you must adhere to their judgment.

## Threshold, Hitting Enemies & Health Points

In order to hit an enemy starship, you must beat their threshold. Threshold is determined by a few OOC factors and NPC threshold is not publicly known, though you can certainly deduce it over time.

In order to be hit by an enemy, they must beat your threshold. At the beginning of the server, Starships have a static threshold of 5 and has the capacity to be improved in the future, by general maintenance, or otherwise. If an NPC beats your threshold, you are hit for damage. If an NPC rolls a number 1 below your threshold, you can use the /dodge command to dodge the incoming fire. This will determine whether you are able to avoid the hit, or are hit for a graze. A graze is exactly that, a graze, and it only deals half damage. Piloting is determined by **Perception** and **Accuracy.**

If you are grazed in a dodge attempt, you take .5 damage. Critical hits, when rolled, deal x2 the damage and always hit. Failures mean you or the enemy wildly miss and nothing happens, with no HP deducted.

Each standard attack, if rolled above the threshold, will deal 1 damage to your HP. NPCs and Characters alike have HP. NPC HP is not publicly revealed though can be figured out pretty quickly in the midst of combat. Starships begin with a static HP of 6. A starship’s hit points represent how much punishment it can take before being disabled or destroyed. A starship’s hit points are based on its type and bonuses applied in-character via ship maintenance through bought upgrades and IC tinkering.

A ship’s hit points decrease when it takes damage. Damage doesn’t have any direct impact on a ship’s combat ability until its current hit points reach 0 or lower. At 0 hit points, a ship is disabled. At negative hit points, a ship begins breaking apart. When it's hit points drop to a certain negative hit point total, the ship is destroyed. The point at which a ship is destroyed varies depending on its type as shown in Table: Destruction Threshold.

Table: Destruction Threshold

**Disabled**

When a starship’s current hit points drop to exactly 0, it’s disabled. The ship can only take a single move or attack action each turn (not both); it cannot jump to cruising speed or take any other full-round actions. If it attacks, attempts to escape, go on the offensive, or performs any other actions that would strain its systems, it takes 1 point of damage after completing the act.

Onboard droids can do surface-level repairs that raise a starship above 0 hit points to make it fully functional again if they pass a /technology check. It can only be used once per-scenario, and can only increase the static HP if it is at 0 or below when the check is made. Stabilized systems cap at 1 HP.

**Breaking Apart (*Negative HP*)**

When a starship’s current hit points drop below 0, the ship begins to break apart. At this point the ship is somewhat immobile and helpless. Any attempt to repair it without onboard droids automatically fails. As a ship breaks apart, its pilot can attempt to retreat and land safely nearby, or force a crash landing into the planet below which hits the player with 3 points of physical damage that they can’t resist regardless of how safely they land.
Pilots that crash must seek immediate medical attention regardless of wound severity.
A ship that is breaking apart can take no actions and loses 1 hit point every round. This continues until the ship is destroyed, or the vessel is landed.

**Destroyed**

When a starship’s current hit points reach its destruction threshold (as shown above), it explodes. Any occupants still aboard the ship at this time take 15 points of damage and are jettisoned into the void of space or.. Out into whatever space they’re occupying depending on the setting of the aerial battle.

**Combat Conclusion:** When combat concludes and all hostiles are either disabled or killed, the turn order ends and ships will remain at whatever HP they left off at. You’re capable of making full moves; however, see Disabled/Breaking apart. Damage sustained will remain the same regardless.

### Starship Condition Summary

A number of adverse conditions that can affect the way a starship or its crew operates, as defined here.

**Blinded:** The starship’s sensors are inoperable. Reduced threshold to perception and piloting checks unless repaired.

**Breaking Apart:** Negative hit points. IT can take no actions, and needs immediate repair. Loses 1 hit point each round until it is either destroyed or successfully lands.

**Locked In:** A ‘Locked In’ combatant gains the /firearmsaimed roll for free for every action that the enemy is within their sights.

## Notes

Some talents increase flight effectiveness, such as the following:

* I’ll Try Spinning - That's a good trick! Gain a 1.3x to piloting checks and have a reduced threshold to completing aerial maneuvers.
* Squadron Pilot - You work better together than alone. Gain a 1.2x bonus to Piloting and Technology checks, and have a lower threshold to piloting checks around other characters with the Squadron Pilot or Jedi Ace specialization.
* Jedi Ace - To the skies! Aided by the Force, a Jedi Ace can perform (and survive) even the most daring of aerial maneuvers. Gain a 1.3x to piloting checks and a 1.2x to technology checks, and have a lower threshold to Piloting checks around other characters with the Jedi Ace or Squadron Pilot specializations. Take the Mechanic trait for free if you don't already have it.
* Smuggler - You could be caught slipping past Imperial lines or doing the Kessel Run with your eyes closed, except you wouldn't get caught. Gain a 1.3x bonus to Piloting and Technology checks and a 1.2x bonus to Stealth, Perception and Slicing checks. Also, gain the ability to utilize your underworld contacts in order to source contraband items, limited at GM's discretion.