Ship Combat and Chases

This chapter is the authoritative reference for structured ship combat and chase sequences in Void Drifters. Everything here reflects the complete rule as written. Cross-references to other chapters point to gear, statistics, and optional rules. When in doubt, this chapter governs.

Entering Ship Combat

Ship combat begins when at least two parties with ships make hostile intent clear and are within range of one another.

Transition from Open Play

The GM calls for structured ship combat when:

• A ship fires on another ship or makes a clear attack approach
• A ship is caught by an attacker in weapon range
• A ship is commanded to heave to or face hostile action and the crew refuses

At this moment:

1. The GM establishes the starting Range Band between all parties.
2. All crew members declare their stations (or "unassigned" if they have no station).
3. The GM notes facing for any ships where arc matters.
4. Initiative is rolled.
5. Structured play begins.

Stations

Each crew member on a ship can operate from one station at a time. A station provides access to the actions listed under that role. Switching stations costs the crew member their action for the round.

A single crew member may only act at their declared station. If the ship has more stations than crew (the most common situation), some stations are uncrewed. Uncrewed stations cannot take actions unless a crew member moves to them.

Solo Crews and Understaffed Ships: A crew member who is the only person aboard may attempt actions from multiple stations in a single round by splitting their attention. Each action beyond the first increases the difficulty of all actions that round by 1 step. This is not sustainable: solo combat is always a losing proposition unless the opposition is weak or the situation is extremely brief.

AI Assistance

A ship with AI Assistance (from a Viridian navigation suite, a dedicated AI module, or similar) may substitute the AI for one missing crew member at one station per round. The AI operator acts at the lowest standard difficulty (not reduced by skill bonuses) and cannot take Crisis-state actions. AI assistance is detailed in the Void Drifters AI rules canon.

Range Bands

Ship combat range is abstract. Ships are not on a grid. Range Bands represent the tactical relationship between ships: how long weapons take to arrive, how much maneuvering room exists, and what options are available to each party.

Moving Between Bands

A ship that performs a movement action (Advance, Break) moves one Range Band toward or away from the target ship. If multiple ships are present, the Pilot declares which ship they are adjusting range to. Range to all other ships may shift as a consequence, at the GM's discretion.

Weapon Range Restrictions

Facing and Arcs

Facing matters when ships have directional weapon mounts. Turreted weapons ignore facing; fixed and limited traverse mounts do not.

Facing Positions

Ships have four facings in combat:

• Fore: The forward 90-degree arc
• Port: The left 90-degree arc
• Starboard: The right 90-degree arc
• Aft: The rear 90-degree arc

When a target ship is in a specific arc relative to the attacking ship, only weapons that cover that arc can fire on it.

Weapon Arc Types

Changing Facing

A ship can change its facing as part of a Helm action (specifically Hard Turn or Evasive Maneuver). Facing cannot be changed independently without a Helm action. A ship that has not taken a Helm action this round cannot change facing.

Targeting Arc Resolution: When firing, the Gunner and the GM agree which arc the target occupies relative to the firing ship. If the target is between arcs (at a diagonal), the GM determines which arc is primary. In ambiguous cases, the GM may allow a Pilot to attempt a free realignment (no action cost) on an Easy Craft Trial.

Initiative and Turn Order

Rolling Initiative

At the start of ship combat, each ship rolls for Initiative. The roll uses the Pilot's base Initiative attribute or the ship's AI Reaction rating if uncrewed or AI-piloted.

Initiative is rolled once per ship, not once per crew member. A ship acts as a unit.

Ships go in descending Initiative order. On a tie, the ship with the higher Scale acts first. If Scale is identical, resolve ties simultaneously.

Adjusting Initiative

A Pilot may delay their ship's action to later in the round. Delaying is declared at the start of the ship's turn. A delayed ship may interrupt another ship's action at any point later in the round. Delaying does not carry over: if unused, the ship's action is lost.

Multiple Ships Per Side

In fleet or multi-ship encounters, each ship has its own Initiative. Ships on the same side do not share actions. Coordination between allied ships is a free action (communication) but takes no game time; coordinated actions still happen within Initiative order.

Round Structure

Each round of ship combat follows this sequence:

1. GM Describes the Situation. The GM briefly states current range bands, significant facing, and any ongoing effects (fires, cascades, active guidance).

2. Ships Act in Initiative Order. Each ship takes its turn. On a ship's turn, each crew member at a station takes one action. All station actions on a ship happen simultaneously (the Gunner fires while the Pilot maneuvers; they do not resolve in sequence).

3. Resolve All Actions. The GM resolves all declared actions, applying effects in logical order: movement first, then weapons (checking arcs after movement), then defensive actions.

4. Apply Damage and Effects. All damage and conditions from this round take effect. Update HP, SP, Heat values.

5. Heat Dissipation. Each ship dissipates Heat equal to its Heat Dissipation rating. Remove this from the ship's current Heat total. Heat cannot go below 0.

6. Check Conditions. Check for ongoing effects: guidance locks (do they still have target in acquisition?), damage cascades (are they spreading?), maintenance faults triggered by combat damage.

7. Advance Round Counter. Begin the next round.

Helm Actions

The Pilot operates the ship itself. Helm Actions determine positioning, evasion, and special maneuvers.

Advance

Check: None required (standard movement) Effect: Move one Range Band closer to the declared target ship. Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: Also change facing without a Hard Turn action

Break

Check: None required Effect: Move one Range Band away from the declared target ship. Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: Move two bands away (requires two consecutive Break actions at the GM's discretion; or a single result with 2+ Boons)

Hard Turn

Check: Pilot Trial, Average under normal conditions Effect: Change the ship's facing up to 180 degrees. Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: Change facing and also move half a band (does not trigger weapon recalculations)
• 2 Boons: Change facing and do not reveal the new facing to opponents until their next action (sensor delay)

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: The ship's speed drops; cannot advance or break until next round
• 2 Banes: The hard turn strains the drives; add 1 Heat

Evasive Maneuver

Check: Pilot Trial, Hard under combat stress Effect: Add 1 Bane Die to all attacks targeting this ship until the start of the ship's next turn. Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: Add 2 Bane Dice instead
• 1 Boon: Also change facing
• 2 Boons: The evasion disrupts guidance locks (any guided ordnance currently tracking this ship must reacquire next round)

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: The maneuver is predictable; no Bane Die granted to attackers
• 2 Banes: The maneuver strains the drives; add 2 Heat
• 3 Banes: The ship loses attitude control; it begins Uncontrolled Drift (see below)

Disengage

Check: Pilot Trial, difficulty set by the opposition (see Chase rules below) Effect: The ship attempts to leave the combat zone entirely. If the Trial succeeds, the ship escapes and combat ends for that ship (it may rejoin later). If it fails, the ship remains at whatever range it reached and opponents may fire on it at that range during their action. Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: Disengage without revealing which Slipstream seam or heading the ship took (if applicable)
• 2 Boons: Disengage and slip tracking (pursuers cannot immediately begin a Chase)

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: The escape route takes the ship through a Short range band from an opponent
• 2 Banes: The ship takes 1 Hull Damage from a parting shot
• 3 Banes: The ship fails to escape; remains at current range

Ramming

Check: Pilot Trial, difficulty set by the size difference between ships and the target's evasion (see Ramming rules below) Effect: The attacking ship drives itself into the target ship. Both ships take damage. See Ramming below for full rules.

Planetary Approach

Check: Pilot Trial, difficulty set by the atmosphere and landing conditions Effect: The ship transitions from space combat to atmospheric entry or landing approach. This ends the ship's participation in space combat for that round and begins the approach sequence (see Chapter 9 for landing difficulty rules). Note: A ship in Planetary Approach is not out of combat. Other ships may still fire on it at applicable penalties (the target is a large, predictable shape on a committed vector).

Gunnery Actions

The Gunner operates the ship's weapons. Gunnery Actions resolve attacks.

Aimed Fire

Check: Gunnery Trial using the attacking crew member's skill Effect: The gunner attacks one target with one weapon or weapon package.

Attack procedure:

1. Declare the weapon, the target, and the arc.
2. Check range: is the target in weapon range? If not, the attack cannot proceed.
3. Check arc: is the weapon capable of firing in the target's arc? If not, it cannot fire.
4. Roll the Gunnery Trial.
5. On success, roll the weapon's damage and apply it minus the target's applicable defense.

Base difficulty by range:

Boon uses on attack:

• 1 Boon: +1 damage
• 1 Boon: Hit a specific system (treat as a targeted strike; GM determines system affected)
• 2 Boons: The hit bypasses 1 point of Armor Rating
• 2 Boons: The attack generates 2 extra Heat on the target (for beam/plasma weapons, consistent with their properties)
• 3 Boons: Critical hit (roll on the Critical Hit table)

Bane costs on attack:

• 1 Bane: Miss
• 1 Bane: Weapon jams; requires 1 Engineering action to clear before it can fire again
• 2 Banes: Miss and the weapon overheats; add 2 Heat to own ship
• 3 Banes: Calamity; GM determines consequence (weapon damage, targeting malfunction, friendly fire consideration)

Suppressing Fire

Check: Gunnery Trial, Average Effect: The gunner fires on a volume of space rather than a precise target. The primary purpose is to prevent an opponent from taking a specific action (approaching, boarding, or taking a particular maneuver).

Suppressing fire does not deal damage on a miss. On a success, the suppressed ship must make a Pilot Trial (difficulty matching the attack roll's success) or cannot take the suppressed action this round.

Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: Suppress two ships simultaneously
• 2 Boons: Suppress a ship's action and deal 1 Hull Damage to it

Target Systems

Check: Gunnery Trial, Hard Effect: The gunner makes a precise attack aimed at a specific named system on the target ship. Success deals normal damage and applies 1 System Damage to the targeted system. Boons may add additional System Damage.

On a Calamity result, the targeting system on the attacking ship may itself malfunction (GM discretion).

Point Defense Active

Check: Gunnery Trial, difficulty set by the ordnance being intercepted Effect: The gunner activates the ship's Point Defense systems to intercept incoming guided ordnance.

Each success on the Point Defense check intercepts one unit of incoming ordnance. Boons intercept additional units. The weapon's Magazine is consumed for each interception.

Fire Missile

Check: Gunnery Trial, Average (guidance handles most of the work) Effect: The gunner launches guided ordnance at a target.

Guided ordnance works differently from direct-fire weapons:

• At launch, the Gunnery Trial determines acquisition quality.
• The missile or torpedo is now in transit. It arrives at the beginning of the next round unless the range band is Engaged or Short (arrival same round).
• On arrival, it attacks automatically unless intercepted by Point Defense or defeated by an ECM check.
• The target may attempt one defensive action (ECM or Evasive Maneuver) before the ordnance hits.

Boon uses on launch:

• 1 Boon: The ordnance is harder to detect; Point Defense checks against it increase by 1 difficulty step
• 2 Boons: Launch multiple projectiles (if the weapon type supports it; torpedoes do not; swarmers do)
• 2 Boons: The ordnance gains a Guidance Lock that persists even if the target evades

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: Poor acquisition; the ordnance must roll again next round to acquire the target
• 2 Banes: Misfire; ordnance does not launch but Magazine is consumed
• 3 Banes: Calamity; ordnance malfunction (GM determines: detonation at launch, acquiring own ship, etc.)

Engineering Actions

The Engineer manages the ship's power, heat, and damage state from the engineering console.

Emergency Repair

Check: Craft Trial, difficulty by damage severity (see Chapter 11) Effect: Remove 1 System Damage from one named system. Boons remove additional System Damage. Note: Does not restore Hull Points.

Boost Power

Check: Craft Trial, Average Effect: The engineer diverts power from other systems to boost one specific system for this round.

A successful Boost Power provides the following, as declared:

• Boost Weapons: One weapon attack this round deals +2 damage
• Boost Shields: One defensive active system (screens, point defense) adds +1 Boon Die to its check this round
• Boost Drives: The Pilot may move one additional Range Band this round (does not require a separate Advance action)
• Boost Sensors: One Sensor Trial this round reduces difficulty by 1 step

Cost of Boost: The boosted system adds 2 Heat regardless of its normal Heat value. The source system (whichever is being drawn from) adds 1 Bane Die to any checks using it this round.

Bane costs on Boost Power:

• 1 Bane: Boost delivers no benefit; the draw failed
• 2 Banes: Boost causes a surge; the target system takes 1 System Damage
• 3 Banes: Calamity; the power redistribution causes a cascade; add 3 Heat and the GM determines which system faults

Reroute Systems

Check: Craft Trial, Hard Effect: The engineer bypasses a damaged or failing system by routing its function through an alternate path.

A successful Reroute allows one of:

• Restore partial function to a system at 1 System Damage (it works but with 1 Bane Die on all checks)
• Transfer a weapon's power demand to a different power node (reduce Power Load by the weapon's Power cost for one round)
• Isolate a failing system before its cascade spreads (prevent cascade from generating new System Damage this round)

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: Reroute fails; system remains as is
• 2 Banes: Reroute partially works but creates a new problem (GM introduces a connected system fault)
• 3 Banes: Calamity; the reroute makes the problem worse

Damage Control

Check: Craft Trial, Average (increases with severity) Effect: The engineer suppresses or contains ongoing damage effects: compartment fires, atmosphere loss, spreading cascades, or unstable ammunition.

Success stops one ongoing effect. Boons extend control (multiple contained effects, or the control lasts additional rounds without requiring another check).

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: Containment is only partial; the effect is reduced but not stopped
• 2 Banes: The containment fails; the effect continues
• 3 Banes: Calamity; while attempting control, a new problem develops

Vent Heat

Check: No Trial required under normal conditions; Craft Trial (Average) if heat is at Critical band or higher Effect: The engineer performs emergency heat venting: dumping heat to the environment at the cost of a detectable signature.

Vent Heat removes Heat equal to twice the ship's base Heat Dissipation rating in one action, but:

• The ship's signature blooms visibly (all Stealth-related checks this round automatically fail; ECM that relies on signature masking is defeated for 1 round)
• If weapons are firing during the same round, they cannot use Vent Heat's dissipation; Heat generated by weapons this round is applied after the vent

At Critical band or higher Heat, the Craft Trial requirement exists because venting at high heat is dangerous: improper venting can damage the dissipation system itself.

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: The vent only removes Heat equal to the base Dissipation rating (no bonus)
• 2 Banes: The vent damages the dissipation system; Dissipation rate reduced by 1 until repaired
• 3 Banes: Calamity; the venting mechanism malfunctions; Heat is not removed and the system requires an Emergency Repair

Sensor/Comms Actions

The Sensor Operator manages information and electronic warfare.

Active Scan

Check: Craft Trial using the appropriate sensor suite skill, difficulty by distance and target signature Effect: The operator actively probes a target to gather tactical information.

Active scans are detectable. A ship that is actively scanned may know it (the Sensor Operator or GM makes a passive sensor check).

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: Scan fails; no information returned; signature bloom generated
• 2 Banes: The active ping is detectable and reveals the scanning ship's position clearly

Jam

Check: Craft Trial using the ECM system, opposing check from the target's own sensor suite Effect: The operator attempts to suppress the target ship's guidance systems, comms, or sensor feeds.

Jamming is active and visible: the jamming ship's own signature increases while the ECM is operating at full power.

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: Jam fails; no effect; ECM Power Load still applies
• 2 Banes: Jam creates feedback; the operating ship takes 1 System Damage to the ECM suite

Counter-Jam

Check: Craft Trial, difficulty matching the opponent's jam strength Effect: The operator attempts to defeat an active jam against own ship or an allied ship.

Success removes the jam effect. Boons can identify the jamming ship's position with precision.

Relay Contact

Check: Average Craft Trial if comms are functional Effect: The operator shares tactical data with an ally: current scan results, targeting solutions, or confirmed enemy positions.

An allied ship that receives a Relay Contact may use the shared information to remove 1 Bane Die from their next relevant Trial (the data reduces uncertainty).

Note: A jammed ship cannot use Relay Contact until the jam is defeated.

Sensor Ghost

Check: Craft Trial, Hard Effect: The operator uses ECM and signature masking to create false sensor contacts or hide the ship's true position from opponents.

Success creates one false sensor contact (the GM places it at a location the operator declares; it looks like a real ship contact to sensors). Maintaining a Sensor Ghost costs 1 Power per round; the Ghost checks against observer sensor suites once per round.

If the opposing ship has time to actively scan the Ghost, they may make a Craft Trial to identify it as false. The difficulty of this identification matches the quality of the Ghost's creation roll.

Damage Resolution

When an attack succeeds and deals damage, resolve it in this sequence:

Step 1: Determine Damage Type

Each weapon family deals a primary damage type: Kinetic, Energy, Plasma, Disruption, or Phase. Some weapons deal mixed types or have special tags (Penetrating, Blast, etc.).

Step 2: Apply Armor

Subtract the target ship's Armor Rating from the incoming damage. Armor is passive and always applies. It does not cost Power or Heat.

Armor type affects what it resists:

• Light Plating: Reduces Kinetic damage; no effect on Energy, Plasma, or Phase
• Composite Armor: Reduces Kinetic and partial Energy (not Plasma or Phase)
• Military Composite: Reduces all physical; partial reduction to energy
• Ablative Coating: Reduces Energy (especially beam) more effectively than kinetic
• Reactive Armor: Reduces the first hit more effectively; each subsequent hit in the same round is less effective

Step 3: Apply Deflection Screens

If the target's Deflection Screens are active and powered, apply Damage Reduction (DR) to the remaining damage after Armor.

Screens only apply to energy-type damage (Beam, Plasma, Phase). Kinetic weapons bypass screens entirely. Disruption weapons bypass screens by design.

Each hit against an active screen generates Heat on the defending ship equal to the screen's Heat/Hit value (from the defense catalog).

Step 4: Assess Remaining Damage

Remaining damage after Armor and Screen reduction is applied:

• Hull damage comes off Hull Points
• System damage (from targeted attacks) comes off System Points or named systems
• Area or Blast effects may hit multiple sections simultaneously (GM determines distribution)

Step 5: Check Thresholds

After damage is applied, check:

• Has the ship crossed a Hull Point damage state threshold? If so, apply the new condition.
• Has Heat exceeded the Threshold? If so, apply Heat Threshold effects (see below).
• Has any named system taken enough System Damage to be disabled? If so, it is offline.

Heat Threshold Effects (in Combat)

The five Heat Threshold bands apply during combat whenever the ship's accumulated Heat equals or exceeds its Heat Threshold value.

Heat Threshold effects stack: a ship at +5 over Threshold is in Critical Heat AND System Strain (both sets of effects apply).

Critical Hits

A critical hit occurs when an attack generates 3 or more Boons beyond the base success, or when a Boon is explicitly spent to trigger a critical.

Roll 1d10 on the Critical Hit table:

Chases

A chase begins when one ship attempts to flee and another pursues. Chases use an Extended Check rather than single rounds.

Starting a Chase

A chase begins when:

• A ship successfully uses Disengage to break combat (the pursuer begins the chase)
• A ship commits to flight at the start of combat before weapons engage
• The GM determines the scenario is a pursuit (escape from authority, pirate chase, etc.)

Chase Mechanics

A chase is an Extended Check with the following parameters:

Skill: Pilot for both the fleeing ship and the pursuer.

Base difficulty: Set by the relative Scale of the ships, the environment, and any active advantages.

Extended Check structure: Each round of the chase, both ships roll. The leading total for the fleeing ship's side is compared against the pursuing ship's leading total. The chase resolves when one side achieves a target number of net Boons over the other.

What Can Happen During a Chase

Each round of a chase is a scene, not just a roll. The GM and players describe what is happening: obstacles, terrain, risks, and opportunities. During each chase round:

• The fleeing ship may attempt a Disengage action (a higher-stakes version that ends the chase outright if it fully succeeds)
• The pursuing ship may fire weapons at the fleeing ship (resolves as a normal attack but both ships are at Long or greater range unless the pursuer is gaining)
• Either ship may use Sensor/Comms actions to jam, scan, or relay information

Boon uses in a chase:

• 1 Boon: Gain a terrain advantage (the leading ship positions relative to cover, debris field, asteroid cluster)
• 2 Boons: Force a Pilot Trial on the opponent to maintain safe flight through the hazard
• 2 Boons: Discover a Slipstream seam mid-chase; can commit to transit immediately (opponent must also follow or lose contact)

Bane costs in a chase:

• 1 Bane: Lose distance; the gap closes by one increment
• 2 Banes: A terrain hazard; the GM introduces a complication
• 3 Banes: Calamity; the ship makes a serious error; collision risk, system damage, or complete loss of position

Chase Scale Types

Ending a Chase

Fleeing ship wins: The fleeing ship reaches a Slipstream seam and transits, creates enough distance to be beyond pursuit range, or the pursuer loses sight of them entirely. The chase is over.

Pursuing ship wins: The fleeing ship is forced to stop (damaged, cornered, out of fuel, blocked), or the pursuer closes to Engaged range. The chase transitions back to structured combat.

Draw: After a very long chase with no resolution, the GM may call a draw: the ships have pushed to the edge of the region and either both commit to escalation or both disengage. A draw result typically means the pursuing ship knows which direction the fleeing ship went but cannot catch it now.

Large-Scale Engagement Abstraction

When the party's ship is one of many ships in a fleet action or large battle, tracking individual ship-to-ship combat for every vessel is not practical. Instead, use the following abstraction.

The Battle Pool

Establish a Battle Pool for each side. The Battle Pool is a number representing that side's overall strength. A quick way to set this is to count the Scale of every ship on each side and total it.

Each round of the large battle, both sides roll a Battle Check: a Pilot Trial made by the commander or most senior crew member. The Battle Check difficulty reflects the relative strength of the opposing force.

Net result: compare the two sides' Battle Check results. The side with more net Boons applies one effect from the Battle Outcomes table.

Party Ship in a Large Battle

The party's ship is not abstracted. It still acts on its Initiative and resolves combat normally. However, the large battle affects the environment:

• Stray fire: each round, there is a GM-determined chance (based on how hot the battle is) that the party's ship takes 1 Hull Damage from cross-fire.
• Opportunity: if the party's side is winning, they may be directed to specific targets of tactical importance.
• Retreat pressure: if the party's side is losing, the GM may apply social or narrative pressure to disengage.

Ending a Large Battle

A large battle ends when one side's Battle Pool drops to zero (all ships disabled or fled) or when a key objective is destroyed or captured. The party ship can influence this by targeting specific high-value ships during the abstracted battle.

Ramming

Ramming is the act of driving one ship into another. It is a last resort for desperate crews, a weapon for heavily armored bruisers, and occasionally the only option left.

Ramming Procedure

1. The ramming ship must be at Engaged or Short range of the target.
2. The Pilot declares a Ramming action and makes a Pilot Trial.
3. Difficulty: Average plus 1 step for each Size category the target is larger than the attacker.
4. The target's Pilot may make a Pilot Trial to attempt to avoid the ram (opposed check).

Ramming Damage

If the ram connects:

Damage to the target:

• Base damage = Ramming Ship Scale × 4
• Add the Pilot's Boon successes as bonus damage
• Target's Armor reduces damage normally

Damage to the ramming ship:

• Base damage = Target Ship Scale × 3
• Add Bane costs as additional damage
• The ramming ship's own Armor reduces damage normally

Example: A Scale 3 ship rams a Scale 4 target. The ram connects with 1 Boon.

• Target takes: (3 × 4) + 1 = 13 Hull Damage (reduced by target Armor)
• Ramming ship takes: (4 × 3) = 12 Hull Damage (reduced by own Armor)

Ramming Results by Boons and Banes

Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: +4 damage to target
• 2 Boons: The ram catches the target in a vulnerable arc; bypasses 2 Armor
• 3 Boons: The ram drives through critical systems; add 3 System Damage to target in addition to Hull Damage

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: Glancing blow; halve the damage to the target; full damage to the ramming ship
• 2 Banes: The ramming ship loses drive coherence; it cannot take Helm actions next round
• 3 Banes: Calamity; the ram misses entirely or locks the ships together (boarding becomes mandatory)

Ramming vs. Different Scale Targets

A small ship ramming a vastly larger one is likely more dangerous to the attacker. The GM may apply a Calamity condition automatically to any ram where the attacker is 3 or more Scale below the target: the ram still deals damage, but the attacker's ship is likely disabled in the process.

A large ship ramming a much smaller one is extremely effective. A Capital ship that deliberately rams a Scale 1 fighter is not making a tactical decision; it is making an execution.

Carried Craft

Ships carry fighters, shuttles, and boarding craft in internal bays or on external cradles. The modules and their capacities are in Chapter Ten. Getting craft out and getting them back is a deck operation, and in combat it costs actions and exposes both ships.

Rate: One craft per bay or cradle per round, launching or recovering. A hull with three bays moves three craft a round, not its whole complement at once.

Launch

Check: None required from an internal bay under ordinary conditions. Pilot Trial, Average, to launch from an external cradle while the parent ship is maneuvering, or from any bay while the parent is at Heat Threshold or above. Effect: One carried craft leaves the parent ship and enters combat at the parent's Range Band. It rolls initiative and acts from the following round. Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: The craft launches on a vector of the pilot's choosing and may begin one Range Band from the parent
• 2 Boons: Launch a second craft from the same bay this round

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: The craft launches but acts last in the following round
• 2 Banes: The launch is fouled; that bay launches nothing next round
• 3 Banes: Calamity; the craft takes 1 Hull Damage clearing the bay, or the cradle fails to release

Recover

Check: Pilot Trial, Average under ordinary conditions, Hard while either ship is under fire or maneuvering. Effect: One carried craft docks with the parent ship. The craft must be at Engaged range with the parent and must not have acted this round. Boon uses:

• 1 Boon: Recover without spending the parent's Helm action
• 2 Boons: Recover, and the craft's crew reach their stations aboard the parent immediately

Bane costs:

• 1 Bane: The craft does not dock; try again next round
• 2 Banes: A hard dock; the craft takes 1 Hull Damage
• 3 Banes: Calamity; the craft misses the approach and the bay or cradle takes 1 System Damage

Carried Craft Under Fire

A craft on an external cradle is part of the parent's target profile. It may be attacked in its own right at the parent's Range Band, and a Critical Hit against the parent's exterior may destroy it outright.

A craft in an internal bay cannot be targeted while the parent hull is intact. When the parent is destroyed, everything still in a bay goes with it.

Craft that cannot get home. A small craft carries hours of Endurance, no Slipstream drive, and nowhere else to go. A parent ship that disengages while its craft are out has abandoned them, and both sides know it. Play that as the decision it is.

Boarding

Boarding occurs when one ship wants to get people onto another ship while both ships are in (or adjacent to) combat.

Preconditions for Boarding

• Ships must be at Engaged range.
• The boarding ship must have at least one crew member willing to board.
• The target ship must not be in complete hull integrity (or the boarding ship must have a cutting torch team or breach charges).

Boarding Methods

Boarding Transition

Once the boarding team crosses, resolve the interior conflict as personal-scale combat using standard Exodus NDS rules. The ship's crew is now in two simultaneous conflicts: the boarding team inside, and the rest of the crew continuing ship combat outside.

Ship combat continues: The exterior ship combat does not pause. Each round, the Helm and Weapons stations on both ships continue to act normally. A ship that is being boarded and has lost most of its exterior crew is at a severe disadvantage in ship combat.

Interior crew: The defenders may use interior systems that are still accessible: compartment seals (to isolate the boarding team), fire suppression (can be used as a crowd control weapon), artificial gravity manipulation (if controlled from engineering), and personal weapons.

Resolution: Boarding ends when:

• The boarding team controls the bridge and engineering
• The defenders repel the boarding team entirely
• Both sides agree to stop (surrender or truce)
• One side is entirely incapacitated or dead

Ship state after boarding: If the boarding team wins and controls the ship, they now have a prize. What to do with it is a session question. If the defenders win, the ship is intact but damaged; the boarding team's ship may have continued to take fire while the boarding took place.