Combat and Ship Combat Walkthrough

This chapter is about how to run fights, not how to participate in them. The Player's Guide covers what players do on their turns. This chapter covers what you are doing in parallel: setting up encounters, making NPC decisions, managing the environment as a tactical element, handling damage and consequences, and running full ship combat from the GM seat.

Both halves of this chapter include fully worked examples. Read through them at least once before your first session. The decision points are the important part, not the specific numbers.

Part One: Personal Combat

Setup: Before the First Roll

Combat begins before Initiative. It begins the moment you decide a conflict is going to happen.

Frame the encounter. Before any dice roll, answer three questions:

1. What does each side want, beyond winning? The crew may want to escape with the cargo. The Irnan checkpoint guards want to detain the crew, not kill them. The pirates want the ship intact and the crew as leverage. Knowing what each side wants beyond a victory condition lets you make NPC decisions that feel intelligent and lets you identify what a “win” actually looks like for each party.

2. What is the physical space? You do not need a map, but you need enough spatial clarity to answer “where is cover?” and “what can someone do besides stand there and shoot?” A docking bay has cargo containers, loading equipment, conduit columns, and at least one exit. A station corridor has recessed equipment bays and pressure doors. An open landing pad has almost no cover. Establish this before Initiative.

3. What happens if combat ends without a clear winner? If the guards call for backup, who comes? If the pirates take one heavy casualty, do they break off? Knowing the exit conditions for each side prevents combats from running until someone rolls a death spiral.

Establish positions. Place characters and enemies at their opening range bands. This does not need to be precise. “Two of the guards are at Short range near the checkpoint. One is behind the heavy door, effectively at Medium. The fourth guard is behind the desk at Short but with heavy cover” is enough.

Decide what the enemies know. If the NPCs had any warning (an alarm, the crew's body language, a contact who tipped them off), they have prepared positions. If they are reacting to something the crew initiated, they are still catching up. This affects where they start, what equipment is drawn, and which Initiative check they roll.

Initiative

Call for Initiative once the conflict is clear and irrevocable. Do not call for it the moment someone draws a weapon; call for it when it is established that this situation is a fight.

Prepared (Savvy + Perception): The crew set up the ambush. They were on watch. The meeting turned but they saw it coming. The crew had time to draw and position.

Surprise (Willpower + Readiness): The ambush landed on them. The friendly contact pulled a weapon. The firefight started from the other side of the room before anyone saw it coming.

Mixed groups: Each character rolls the check appropriate to their individual situation. A character who was watching the door uses Savvy + Perception. Their crewmate who was busy with the contact and never looked up uses Willpower + Readiness. Slot them into the initiative order from their respective results.

Running the slot system:

• Rank all results by net Successes, highest to lowest
• Label each slot “player” or “GM”
• Alternate: highest player slot, highest GM slot, next player slot, next GM slot, and so on
• Ties between a player slot and a GM slot favor the players
• Ties within the same side are resolved freely by that side: the players pick which character acts, the GM picks which NPC acts

Initiative order is fixed for the encounter. Write it down.

Turn Order Management

Keep a visible list of the initiative order. At a physical table, a row of name cards or a piece of paper works. Online, a shared document or initiative tracker.

On each slot, prompt quickly: “It's your turn: what do you do?” Do not wait for players to ask if it is their turn.

Track what has happened this round: Who has acted, who has not. At the end of each round, announce “new round, same order” and start again from the top.

Handling delays: If a player's character deliberately holds their action, note it. They can interrupt later in the round on a trigger they name (“I wait to see if anyone enters through the main door”). If the trigger does not occur before the end of the round, the held action is lost. This is intentionally simple; do not complicate it.

Running NPC Turns

This is where most new GMs struggle. NPC decision-making should feel intelligent and purposeful without making enemies seem like they have perfect information or optimal tactical AI.

The “what would this character actually do” test: Before announcing an NPC's action, ask what that character's goal is, what they know, and what their training or instinct tells them. A pirate crew does not have military discipline; they go for the weakest-looking target. Irnan guards follow protocols: one calls for backup while the others maintain positions. A Funtari enforcer advances; they do not hide behind cover and wait.

Vary behavior by adversary tier:

• Minion groups do the obvious thing: move toward the enemy and attack, or hold a position and fire. They do not execute flanking maneuvers or make clever tactical choices. They are numerous, not smart.
• Elites have training. They use cover. They target isolated characters. They break off when badly injured. They may try to disarm, capture, or delay rather than kill if that serves their goal. Give each Elite one clear tactical preference: always fires from cover, always goes for the medic, always tries to flank.
• Nemeses adapt. They read the situation and change their approach mid-fight. They spend Peril Points. They make the players feel like they are fighting someone who is trying to win, not just rolling attacks.

Making NPC choices fast: You do not have time to deliberate on every NPC turn. Have a default action ready for each NPC at the start of the encounter (“this guard fires from behind the desk; this one advances”). Change from the default only when something significant happened. This keeps NPC turns snappy and the table moving.

Telegraphing intent: When an NPC does something with a setup to it (an Elite taking cover to line up a better shot next turn, a guard moving toward the comm terminal), say what they are doing out loud. “The guard falls back toward the emergency comm. She is not attacking this turn.” Players should be able to read what is happening and react. Hidden intentions make for unpleasant surprises; telegraphed intentions make for interesting decisions.

Environment and Terrain in VD

The environment is a free resource. Use it.

Zero-gravity corridors: Movement between bands requires a Reflexes or Athletics check for characters without magnetic boots or handholds. On failure, the character moves in an uncontrolled direction. Add this as a Bane spend on failed checks: “You reach the next band but have no stable footing: add 1 Bane Die to your next attack.”

Ranged weapons create drift problems. A character who fires a heavy weapon without bracing against a wall or handhold may be pushed back one band (spend 2 Boons on the attack to represent this). Use it when it creates interesting decisions, not every single time.

Vacuum and hull sections: Suit integrity is a soft countdown. Establish the current state of the environment at the start of the encounter (“this section was breached six hours ago; suits required”). Every time a significant negative result lands on a player character, consider whether it includes a suit complication: a Calamity on an attack could tear a suit seal. Track this narratively, not with a formal track.

Tight ship corridors: Restrict bands to Engaged and Short in most corridor fights. Medium is a long corridor straight shot. Long and Extreme are effectively impossible without line-of-sight to an open area. This makes melee and close-range weapons more viable and changes which characters are effective. A Dhoran crew member with a mono-blade becomes dangerous in a corridor where the enemy's carbines are cramped and difficult to aim.

Active ship decks during ship combat: When the personal fight is happening while the ship is taking hits, treat significant ship combat results as environmental events that interrupt personal combat. The ship takes a critical hit on the hull; the pressure door between the crew and the pirates slams shut (bulkhead seals automatically). A weapon impact knocks out the artificial gravity in the port cargo section for two rounds. Use these as Bane spends or Calamity consequences to blur the two scales into one coherent chaos.

Damage, Wounds, and the Critical Injury Decision

Damage application:

• Attack succeeds: deal weapon base damage plus 1 per additional Success
• Apply target's Resistance: Wounds = Damage minus Resistance (minimum 0)
• Apply Wounds to the character's Wound track

When to trigger Critical Injuries:

A Critical Injury is triggered in three ways:

1. The target is already incapacitated by Wounds and takes another hit
2. The attacker spends a Breakthrough on the attack
3. The attacker spends net Boons equal to or exceeding the weapon's Crit rating

The third option is the one with the most GM discretion. When a player announces they are spending Boons for a Critical Injury, verify the Boon count meets the weapon's Crit rating and apply it. Do not invent reasons to deny it; that is what the Crit rating is there for.

How to make Critical Injuries matter without killing the session: Roll the d100 promptly, add the applicable bonus, announce the result. The injury is a complication, not an execution. Most entries give the table time to respond before the consequence fully lands: Deep Wound says the character is Bleeding for 2 Wounds at the start of each turn, and the character can still act. Flatlining says the character dies at the start of their next turn without immediate aid: their allies have exactly one turn and a reason to move fast.

Frame Critical Injuries as urgency, not as verdicts. “Kael's leg is torn open; she can still act, but she is Bleeding for 2 Wounds at the start of each turn. Someone is going to need to deal with that Deep Wound before it puts her down.”

The incapacitation decision: When a character goes to zero Wounds (or over Wound Points), they are out of the encounter. They do not die automatically from Wounds alone. After the encounter ends, they stabilize unless a Critical Injury says otherwise (Failing, or an untreated Bleeding injury such as Deep Wound). This is intentional: Void Drifters combat is designed to be costly and consequential rather than lethal by math alone.

Closing the Encounter

Structured play ends when the conflict resolves. Make this clean and deliberate.

Announce the end: “The last guard goes down. The bay is quiet. You have about three minutes before whatever called that patrol checks in.” Giving a time pressure at the end of a fight transitions directly into the next scene and prevents the table from treating the aftermath as a pause.

Track what changes:

• Wounded characters: Who is at what Wound level? Who has Critical Injuries? This is the fuel for the next scene.
• Consumed resources: Ammunition for Limited Ammo weapons, charges on special equipment, Strain (which recovers), Fortune Points spent.
• Noise: A firefight in a station is loud. Even with suppressors, dead guards, a wrecked cargo loader, and a bloodstained floor tell a story to whoever finds it next.
• Faction observation: Who saw this happen? A station camera, a bystander, a contact watching from across the bay. Combat in Void Drifters has political consequences, not just physical ones.
• Scene-level changes: If the crew accessed something (a terminal, a cargo container, a prisoner), what did they get? This is the moment to resolve the reason the fight happened, not the combat result itself.

Recovery at end of encounter:

• Characters recover Strain equal to Willpower
• Critical Injuries persist and still add +10 to future injury rolls
• Medicine checks to treat injuries can happen in the post-combat scene

Worked Example: The Cargo Container Clearance

The situation: Three crew members are assigned to clear a hijacked cargo container in Station Docking Bay 7. The hijackers, a small gang of independent operators who grabbed an Antaean League cargo in transit, have locked the container and are using it as a defensive position. Four hostiles are inside and around the container: two are Minions (hired hands), one is an Elite (the gang's lieutenant), and one is an observer who has not drawn a weapon yet and is positioned near the bay's secondary exit.

The crew: Senna (Felina scout, Might 3, Agility 4, Savvy 3, Ranged 2, Stealth 2, Perception 3); Davan Kel (human engineer, Intellect 3, Agility 2, Craft 2, Electronics 2, Ranged 1); Yessica Morn (Ssarathi medic, Might 3, Agility 2, Willpower 3, Medicine 3, Unarmed 2).

The enemies:

• Two Minions (group, 2 wounds each): MIG 2 / AGI 2. Ranged 1. Sidearms, no armor. Resistance 1. 4 Wounds total.
• Elite — Gang Lieutenant “Brek”: MIG 3 / AGI 3 / INT 2 / SAV 2 / WIL 2 / CHA 2. Resistance 3, Wound Points 14. Ranged Defense 1. Skills: Ranged 2, Intimidation 2, Streetwise 2. Abilities: once per encounter, add 1 Boon Die to the Minion group's first action by shouting orders. Equipment: carbine, leather work coat.
• Observer: Not engaging unless attacked or unless Brek is incapacitated. Rolls Willpower + Readiness for Initiative (they were watching); treat as a Minion with Savvy 3 if the crew tries to apprehend them.

Opening setup (GM pre-fight decisions):

• Minion group is at Short range from the bay entrance, using a cargo loader for light cover (+1 Ranged Defense)
• Brek is at Short range but behind the container edge: heavy cover (+2 Ranged Defense, total Ranged Defense 1 from stats + 2 from cover = 3, capped at 3 per the rules)
• Observer is at Medium range near the secondary exit, unarmed and watching
• Crew enters from the bay's main access point

What does each side want? The crew wants the container cleared and the hijackers detained or neutralized. The gang wants the cargo and to avoid losing people to a fight that was not supposed to go violent. Brek wants to intimidate the crew into leaving or delay them until a contact with transport arrives.

INITIATIVE

Senna was told about the situation in advance and came in ready: Savvy + Perception (2 net Successes). Davan did not fully brief on the threat level and was still working out the logistics: Willpower + Readiness (1 net Success). Yessica was watching the door: Savvy + Perception (1 net Success, ties favor players over GM slots).

Minion group (watching the entrance): Willpower + Readiness: GM rolls 1 net Success. Brek (behind the container): Willpower + Readiness: GM rolls 2 net Successes. Observer: Willpower + Readiness: GM rolls 0 net Successes.

Ranked initiative slots:

1. Senna (player, 2 successes), tied with Brek (GM, 2 successes); player wins ties on player/GM ties
2. Brek (GM, 2 successes)
3. Yessica (player, 1 success), tied with Davan (player, 1 success) and Minion group (GM, 1 success); player wins, players choose order
4. Davan (player, 1 success): players choose this second after Yessica
5. Minion group (GM, 1 success)
6. Observer (GM, 0 successes)

ROUND ONE

Senna's turn (player slot 1): Senna's player uses a Maneuver to step to the right behind a structural pillar: heavy cover (+2 Ranged Defense). Action: fire at the Minion group at Short range.

Pool: Agility 4 + Ranged 2. Higher is Agility 4, so 4 dice total; upgrade 2 (Ranged rank). Final pool: 2 Mastery Dice + 2 Ability Dice. Difficulty: Easy (Short range) = 1 Trial Die. Minion group has +1 Ranged Defense from the cargo loader = 1 Bane Die.

Total pool: vs + .

Roll result: 2 net Successes, 2 net Boons.

The first Success hits. The second adds +1 damage. Senna's carbine deals Damage 6 + 1 = 7. Minion Resistance 1: the group suffers 6 Wounds. Minion group had 4 total Wounds; they are eliminated (6 > 4). Both Minions are down.

Senna's player proposes spending 2 Boons: she spots a gap in Brek's cover where his left side is exposed. GM approves: Brek's Ranged Defense is reduced to 2 for the rest of the round (one side of the cover is partially broken by Senna's position).

GM internal note: The Minion group is gone. Brek still has Ranged Defense 2 this round (reduced from 3). The observer has not moved.

Brek's turn (GM slot 1): Brek has Ranged Defense 2 now instead of 3. He was going to take cover and command the Minions, but the Minions are gone. His ability to boost them is now worthless. The GM adjusts: Brek fires at Senna, who has heavy cover (+2 Ranged Defense) and is behind a pillar.

Pool: AGI 3 + Ranged 2. 3 dice, upgrade 2: 2 Mastery Dice + 1 Ability Die. Difficulty for Short range: Easy (1 Trial Die). Senna's Ranged Defense: 2 (from heavy cover). Add 2 Bane Dice.

Roll result: 1 net Success, 1 net Bane.

The shot hits. Carbine damage 6. Senna's Resistance: half Might rounded up = 2 (Senna has no armor). Senna suffers 4 Wounds (out of Wound Points 12).

GM spends the Bane: Brek's shot cracks part of the pillar; Senna's cover is now light cover (+1 Ranged Defense) instead of heavy cover.

Yessica's turn (player slot 2): Yessica's player wants to close distance and get behind the container. Action: move from Short to Engaged (1 Maneuver). Second Maneuver: costs 2 Strain (or her Action). She pays 2 Strain and takes a second Maneuver to move again but cannot: she is already at Engaged after one Maneuver. She has her Action free. She pulls a hold-out stun baton (already drawn as Quick Action when she moved) and prepares to engage Brek if he moves from cover, but he has not moved yet and she is now Engaged with the container, not directly with Brek.

Yessica's player reconsiders and uses the Action to aid Davan: she shouts the position of the gap in the container's left panel. GM accepts this as an assist. Davan's next attack adds 1 Boon Die (Yessica's Perception rank is 2, higher than Davan's 0, so this would be an Ability Die, but wait: Yessica is assisting a Ranged check for Davan. Her Perception rank 2 is not the relevant skill; she does not have more Ranged ranks than Davan. So this is a 1 Boon Die assist).

Davan's turn (player slot 3): Davan is still at Short range. He has a sidearm and 1 net Boon Die from Yessica's assist. He fires at Brek.

Pool: AGI 2 + Ranged 1. 2 dice, upgrade 1: 1 Mastery Die + 1 Ability Die, plus 1 Boon Die from assist. Difficulty: Easy at Short range (1 Trial Die). Brek has Ranged Defense 2 (2 Bane Dice).

Total pool: vs .

Roll result: 1 net Success, 0 net Boons or Banes.

The shot hits Brek for base damage: Davan's sidearm deals Damage 5. Brek's Resistance 3: Brek suffers 2 Wounds (out of 14).

Minion group turn: The Minion group was eliminated in Round 1. No action.

Observer's turn: The observer has not drawn a weapon and did not initiate anything. The GM decides: the observer has watched the Minion group go down in one shot and Brek take two hits. The observer moves toward the secondary exit as a Maneuver (no action taken). They are now at the exit.

End of Round 1: Senna at 4 Wounds, light cover. Brek at 2 Wounds, behind heavy cover, Ranged Defense 3 restored (no longer partially broken; the gap was a moment-to-moment positioning thing). Yessica at Engaged range near the container. Davan at Short. Observer at the exit.

ROUND TWO

Senna's turn: Senna's cover is now light (+1 Ranged Defense). She uses a Maneuver to advance from Short to Engaged with the container, reaching Brek's side. At Engaged range, Brek's cover no longer helps him against Senna; she is beside him. His Ranged Defense from cover drops to 0 (only his stat-based Defense applies, and he has 0 there). His total Ranged Defense at Engaged is 0 for attacks from Senna's direction.

Senna fires at Engaged range. Difficulty: Easy + 1 Bane Die (ranged at Engaged).

Pool: 2 Mastery + 2 Ability. Difficulty: 1 Trial Die + 1 Bane Die.

Roll result: 3 net Successes, 1 net Bane.

First Success hits. Two additional Successes add +2 damage. Carbine Damage 6 + 2 = 8. Brek's Resistance 3: Brek suffers 5 Wounds. Total Wounds: 7 out of 14.

GM spends the Bane: Senna's close-range fire draws the attention of a station security camera that had been in power-save mode. This will surface later.

Brek's turn: Brek is at 7 Wounds. He is not incapacitated but he is hurting and has an Ssarathi at close range behind him and an armed engineer at Short. The GM asks: what would Brek actually do? He is not suicidal. He has the cargo but losing his crew does not serve him. The GM has Brek do something surprising: he shouts “Enough. Take the cargo. Take it.” He holsters the carbine (Maneuver) and raises his hands (Quick Action).

He is not surrendering formally. He is buying time. The observer has the secondary exit; Brek is hoping for a negotiated exit.

This is the GM making an NPC decision based on that character's goal (keeping the cargo or at least getting out alive) rather than running combat math to the end.

Yessica's turn: Yessica is at Engaged range near the container. The situation has suddenly become non-combat. Yessica's player wants to cover Brek and prevent him from moving. The GM accepts this as a Maneuver to take a ready position (Yessica readies her stun baton), and Yessica uses her Action to make an Intimidation check: she is holding Brek at Engaged range with a weapon.

Pool: WIL 3 + Intimidation (Yessica has rank 1): 3 dice, upgrade 1 (Intimidation is the lower rating): 1 Mastery + 2 Ability Dice. Opposed by Brek's Willpower + Readiness (2 + 0 untrained).

Yessica: 2 net Successes. Brek: 1 net Success. Yessica wins. Brek is rattled; he stays put.

Davan's turn: Davan assesses the observer at the exit. The observer is clearly considering running. Davan uses his Action to make a Perception check at Medium range to get a better read on what the observer is carrying or doing.

Hard difficulty (Medium range, quick assessment). Pool: SAV 2 + Perception 1: 2 dice, upgrade 1: 1 Mastery + 1 Ability. Roll: 2 net Successes, 1 Boon.

Davan can see the observer has no visible weapon and is carrying a data-chip in their left hand. Player spends the Boon: Davan recognizes the chip's size and markings as a Slipstream nav-code card.

That nav-code is now a scene objective. The observer has the route data: probably the dropoff coordinates for the hijacked cargo.

Observer's turn: The GM had the observer watching events unfold. With Brek standing down and the crew clearly in control, the observer makes a break for the secondary exit. As a full turn Action: run to the exit and try to open it (Electronics check at Average to override the lock from inside).

Roll: INT 2 + Electronics 1 = 1 Mastery + 1 Ability. Average difficulty (2 Trial Dice). 1 net Success. The door opens. The observer is at the threshold.

End of Round 2: Brek is standing down but not formally captured. The observer is about to escape with a nav-code. Two rounds of clear consequence.

GM NOTES ON THE EXAMPLE:

• Senna's single volley eliminating the Minion group is intended. A skilled character with a good pool against low-tier opponents should produce dramatic early results. It compressed the encounter toward the more interesting Elite confrontation.
• Brek's de-escalation mid-fight is a legitimate NPC decision. It creates a more interesting scene than running combat math to the end.
• The observer's nav-code emergence from a Perception Boon spend is how Boon economy creates story hooks mid-encounter.
• The “station camera noticed the fight” Bane spend is a consequence that has no mechanical effect right now but will surface later as a social or logistical complication.

Part Two: Ship Combat

Setup: Transitioning to Ship Combat

Personal combat and ship combat use the same structured play frame (rounds, turns, Actions and Maneuvers) but track different resources and involve different characters.

The transition from personal combat to ship combat is usually:

1. The crew reaches the helm
2. An external threat is detected or engages
3. The pilot calls stations

Calling stations: When ship combat starts, each player should identify where their character is. The station a character is at determines what they can contribute. A character who cannot reach their station in time (fighting off boarders, treating a critical injury in the sick bay) is not out of the fight; they take personal combat actions in parallel to the ship combat.

Initial positions: Establish the range band and facing at the start of ship combat. “The patrol cutter is at Medium range, forward arc. You are in a fuel depot lane; there is a large collector array at Short range to port.” This gives the pilot meaningful choices immediately.

What the crew needs to know immediately:

• Range and facing of each enemy ship
• Whether the crew is already in their ship or running to it
• Whether the enemy is actively engaging or tracking

Range Bands and Facing

Ship combat uses the same range band names as personal combat. The functional difference is scale: a “Short” range in ship combat is much larger than a Short range in a corridor fight, but the mechanics are identical.

Tracking without miniatures:

Maintain a simple verbal map. “You are at Medium range from the cutter, forward arc. There is a debris cloud at Short range to starboard.” Update it when movement happens: “The pilot closed to Short range and shifted to the cutter's port side; you are now in their left arc.”

When elevation matters: Track vertical position only when it creates meaningful choices. Introduce elevation when:

• A ship is diving on another
• A dorsal or ventral weapon matters
• A pilot is trying to break a firing arc by going over or under
• The encounter involves terrain that has a vertical component (an orbital structure, a station's docking arm, a canyon on a low-gravity moon)

Ignore elevation when both ships are in open space at a similar altitude. It adds nothing.

Facing and firing arcs: Every ship has a facing. Weapons mounted in fixed or limited-arc mounts can only fire at targets within their arc. Changing facing requires a Maneuver (or a dedicated piloting ability).

At the start of each enemy ship's round, confirm which crew arcs the enemy is in. “The cutter is still in your forward arc, Short range.” If the pilot's last action changed facing, update this: “After the pilot's hard turn, the cutter is now in your port arc.”

Turret-mounted weapons can fire in any permitted arc. Fixed-forward weapons require the pilot to bring the target in front of the ship. This distinction creates the pilot's most consistent tactical pressure: keep the right weapons pointed at the right targets.

Initiative in Ship Combat

Ship combat uses the same Initiative system as personal combat. Each crew member rolls their appropriate check; the ship acts through individual crew roles.

Practical note: Most ship combats have fewer distinct initiative participants than personal combats. The pilot's slot covers ship positioning. The gunner's slot covers attacking. Other crew act on their own slots. If the enemy ship has one NPC crew entry, it acts once per round on its slot.

Pilot-based initiative for ships: Some tables prefer to have one Initiative roll per ship (using the pilot's check) rather than individual rolls for each crew member. This is a valid simplification. If you do this, alternate player ship slots and enemy ship slots. Crew members act on the ship's slot in the order the players choose.

Crew Action Economy

Each crew station has different common Actions and Maneuvers.

Shorthanded crew: A ship with fewer crew than ideal stations works at a disadvantage, not an impossibility.

When a crew member must cover two stations (they jump between piloting and engineering, for example), they can cover one station per turn as normal. To cover both, they spend 2 Strain and take both sets of actions, or they accept that one station goes unmanned that round.

An unmanned station may still have a ship AI handling baseline functions: the AI can maintain screens, maintain a target lock, or monitor damage control systems within its installed package. It cannot execute complex decisions or creative responses. The engineer still needs to make the hard calls.

A solo or two-person crew running a ship designed for three or four people is genuinely difficult, and deliberately so.

Attacking: Fire Control and Arcs

Building the attack pool:

• Positive dice: Agility + Gunnery (the gunner's stats)
• Difficulty: based on range band (same table as personal combat)
• Modifiers: enemy ship's Defense adds Bane Dice (1 per point, from arc), firing arc restrictions, weapon qualities, Heat-related Bane Dice

Arc restrictions: If the target is not in a weapon's arc, the weapon cannot fire. The gunner declares which weapon they are using and which target they are firing at. If the target is outside that weapon's arc, the GM should flag this immediately rather than letting the roll happen.

If the target is in a weapon's arc but the GM is not certain, use the pilot's position declaration from the previous movement.

Weapon Heat: Each time an energy weapon fires, it generates Heat on the ship's Heat track per its profile. The engineer tracks this. The GM tracks it for enemy ships. At the end of each round, ships remove Heat equal to their Heat Dissipation.

Defending: Layers of Protection

Defense value: Each point of a ship's Defense rating adds 1 Bane Die to attacks made against it from the relevant arc (Fore defense applies against forward attacks; Aft defense against rear attacks). Defense from screens, Cover from terrain, and evasion Banes all stack.

Deflection Screens: Active energy defense. When screens absorb a hit, they reduce incoming damage (specific values defined by the screen system installed). Each absorbed hit also generates Heat on the ship's track. When Heat builds up from screens, the engineer must manage it or the screens themselves become a heat problem.

Screens may be oriented directionally. A Defensive Control Officer who uses the Reinforce Arc action can focus screen output toward one arc, improving protection from that direction at the cost of other arcs.

Point Defense: Reacts to incoming missiles, torpedoes, and drones. Point defense intercepts a limited number of threats per round. When enemy missiles are fired, the Defensive Control Officer or an automated system makes an Electronics or Gunnery check to intercept. Success stops the missile; failure means it reaches the hull.

ECM: Electronic Countermeasures add Bane Dice to incoming guided weapon attacks (missiles, torpedoes, anything requiring a target lock). An active ECM suite makes guided weapons less reliable. It also burns Power Load and may create its own signature bloom.

Evasion: The pilot's maneuvering decisions are defense. Evasive Burn (spending a Maneuver to add Bane Dice to incoming attacks) works against everything but costs the pilot's positioning options. A pilot who is constantly evading is not creating firing solutions for the gunner.

When to use each defense: Screens against beam weapons and plasma. Point defense against missiles. ECM against anything guided. Evasion against everything, at cost. Armor against kinetics and when everything else fails.

Damage to Ships: Hull Points and System Points

Hull Damage: Structural harm. Apply Armor reduction before adding to the Hull Damage track. When Hull Damage equals Hull Points, the ship is disabled and cannot move or act until repaired.

System Damage: Operational harm from electronics attacks, power disruptions, and disruption weapons. When System Damage equals System Points, the ship loses control and enters Uncontrolled Drift.

Choosing the system hit: When System Damage is applied and a specific rule does not dictate which system is affected, the GM chooses or the worst current condition applies. Aim for systems that create interesting choices for the crew: damage the engines and the pilot has a problem; damage the weapons and the gunner has a problem; damage life support and everyone has a problem that is separate from the tactical fight.

Cascading effects: Hull Damage at high levels implies physical breaches. The GM may add environmental complications: “The kinetic round hit the port cargo section. It is not breached yet but atmosphere is venting slowly. Someone needs to deal with that.” This is a scene complication, not a tracked stat; it resolves through crew action.

Power and Heat

Power Load: Every active system that draws power contributes to the ship's current Power Load. When that load exceeds Power Capacity, the engineer must act immediately.

Heat Threshold Escalation:

As a GM running enemy ships: Do not track full Heat escalation for minor enemy ships. Track a simplified version: note the enemy's Heat Threshold and current Heat. When Heat reaches Threshold + 3, add 1 Bane Die to their attacks. When it reaches Threshold + 6, they are in trouble and may make irrational decisions (push harder, try to disengage) rather than continuing to fight optimally.

For a Nemesis ship or a ship that is a major encounter focus, run the full escalation. The players should be able to see the enemy's heat problem building.

Critical Hits on Ships

A ship suffers a Critical Hit when:

• It is already disabled or at max System Damage and takes a hit
• The attacker spends Boons equal to the weapon's Crit rating
• The attacker spends a Breakthrough on the attack

Roll d100, add +10 per existing Critical Hit. Apply result to the Default Vehicle Critical Hit table in the Exodus NDS Core Rules.

Using ship crits as complications, not just damage: The best ship Critical Hits create decisions rather than just reduce numbers. When a result comes up:

• “Weapon Disrupted”: a crew member must spend an Action to clear it or accept fighting without that weapon.
• “Steering Damage”: all pilot checks add 1 Bane Die. The pilot now has to decide whether aggressive maneuvers are worth the extra Banes.
• “Sensor Glitch”: someone needs to spend an Action on Electronics to restore targeting quality, or all attacks add 1 Bane Die. That crew member was probably doing something else.

Frame crits as “the next problem” not as penalties absorbed in silence.

Boarding and Personal Combat Aboard Ships

When hostile crew boards, or the crew boards a hostile ship, the two scales merge.

Personal combat inside ships: Range bands inside a ship are limited: Engaged and Short in corridors, Medium in large open cargo bays or engineering sections. Extreme is effectively impossible below decks.

Cover is abundant: bulkheads, equipment racks, pressure doors. Melee weapons and short-range arms become more valuable than long-range weapons. A Dhoran crew member with a heavy baton is extremely dangerous in a corridor where the opponent's carbine cannot be aimed efficiently.

Simultaneous scales: When boarding is happening and ship combat is continuing, run both in parallel within the same round structure. On the ship combat initiative order, crew members at stations take ship combat actions. Crew members engaged in boarding take personal combat actions. These do not conflict; they are just happening at the same time.

The complication: every crew member is either at a station or in a personal fight. A ship under boarding attack and still in ship combat has a crew that cannot cover both.

Managing this at the table: Name the split explicitly. “The pilot and gunner are on the bridge handling the cutter. Yessica and Davan are in the port access corridor holding off the boarding party. We'll resolve both on the same initiative order.” Let the tactical tension of the split drive the scene.

Disengagement and Pursuit

Not every ship fight ends with one ship destroyed or disabled.

When to break off:

• One ship reaches a tactical position where continuing means destruction
• A ship achieves its goal (disabled the target, forced a distress signal, extracted the person they came for) and no longer needs to fight
• A ship runs out of a key resource (ammunition, Power, crew to man stations) and cannot sustain the fight

Breaking off: A ship that wants to disengage uses pilot actions to open distance (Open Distance maneuvers, successive rounds). The pursuing ship can close distance with their pilot actions. This becomes a chase: an opposed Pilot vs. Pilot contest each round.

Slipstream escape: A ship that calculates a Slipstream jump can escape any chase, but calculating a jump takes time and the ship is vulnerable while doing it. Astrogation checks are required; the difficulty depends on how safe and prepared the exit is. An interdiction weapon or a well-placed missile at the wrong moment can abort the calculation and force it to start over.

Pursuit mechanics: Each round of a chase, both sides declare and roll:

• Close: Pilot check to reduce separation by 1 band
• Break Away: Pilot check to increase separation by 1 band
• Cut Across: Pilot check to gain a favorable arc
• Use Terrain: Add Boon Dice from debris, structures, or gravity effects

The chase ends when separation reaches Extreme (the fleeing ship has escaped), when the fleeing ship makes a successful Slipstream jump, or when the pursuer reaches Engaged range (capture or boarding is now possible).

Worked Example: The Freighter vs. the Patrol Cutter

The situation: The crew's freighter, the Wayward Margin (Model 20), is transiting a disputed corridor in the Meridian Verge when they are intercepted by an Irnan patrol cutter. The cutter identifies themselves as IRNS Ardent and orders the Margin to heave to for inspection. The crew has illegal cargo. They attempt to bluff their way through; the bluff fails. The Ardent moves to block their route.

The ships:

Wayward Margin (Model 20, player ship):

• Scale 4, Speed 3, Handling +0, Armor 1, Defense 0/0
• Hull Points 18, System Points 13
• Power Capacity 8, Heat Dissipation 2, Heat Threshold 10
• Model Trait: Adaptive Mounting (weapon hardpoints can be reconfigured between voyages)
• Installed weapons: Forward Railgun Battery (Damage 7, Range Medium-Long, Heat 1/firing, Kinetic); Port/Starboard Laser Turret (Damage 5, Range Short-Medium, Heat 2/firing, Beam, Accurate 1)
• Deflection Screens installed (power draw 2, reduces energy damage by 3 per hit, generates 1 Heat per hit absorbed)
• AI: Standard directive AI (piloting and sensor packages)

Crew stations: Senna at Helm (Pilot); Davan Kel at Engineering (Craft, Electronics); Yessica Morn at Gunnery (Gunnery 1). Brekkan (an NPC passenger) is secured in cargo; not a crew asset.

IRNS Ardent (CM-440, Irnan customs variant):

• Scale 4, Speed 4, Handling +0, Armor 3, Defense 0/0 (standard, base)
• Hull Points 22, System Points 14
• Power Capacity 9, Heat Dissipation 2, Heat Threshold 11
• Weapons: Forward Kinetic Battery (Damage 8, Range Medium-Long, Kinetic, Forward arc only); Point Defense Laser Grid (intercepts up to 2 incoming missiles/torpedoes per round, always active within power)
• Model Trait: Reinforced Compartments (once per encounter, reduce System Damage from one source by 1)
• Deflection Screens (power draw 2, reduces energy damage by 2 per hit, generates 1 Heat per hit absorbed)
• 6 crew total; NPC crew for our purposes: Pilot (AGI 3, Pilot 2), Gunner (AGI 3, Gunnery 2), Engineer (INT 3, Craft 2)

Opening positions: Medium range, forward-to-forward (both ships facing each other). Senna's railgun and the Ardent's forward battery are both in forward arcs. The Margin's laser turret can fire from any arc.

Active systems at start:

Margin: Screens active (Power 2), railgun ready (Power 1 while targeting), life support (Power 1 assumed). Current Power Load: 4 of 8. Heat: 0.

Ardent: Screens active (Power 2), kinetic battery ready (kinetics draw minimal power during targeting), point defense (Power 1). Current Power Load: 3 of 9. Heat: 0.

INITIATIVE

Senna (On Watch): Savvy 3 + Perception 3 = 3 dice, upgrade 3: all Mastery. The Margin was already on alert. Roll: 3 net Successes.

Ardent Pilot (Surprise: the Ardent initiated but the confrontation escalated suddenly): Willpower + Readiness. GM rolls: 2 net Successes.

Yessica (On Watch): Savvy 2 + Perception 0 = 2 Ability Dice only. Roll: 1 net Success.

Ardent Gunner (On Watch): AGI 3 + Gunnery 0 (untrained at coordinating, the Gunner just fires): 3 dice. Roll: 1 net Success. Tie with Yessica: player wins.

Davan (On Watch): AGI 2 + Readiness 0 = 2 Ability Dice. Roll: 1 net Success. Tie with Yessica and Ardent Gunner: players choose order.

Ardent Engineer (reactive): Willpower + Readiness. Roll: 0 net Successes.

Initiative order:

1. Senna (player, 3 successes)
2. Ardent Pilot (GM, 2 successes)
3. Yessica (player, 1 success, players chose first among ties)
4. Davan (player, 1 success)
5. Ardent Gunner (GM, 1 success)
6. Ardent Engineer (GM, 0 successes)

ROUND ONE

Current Heat: Margin 0, Ardent 0. Current Power: Margin 4/8, Ardent 3/9.

Senna's turn (Helm): Senna wants to break the head-to-head confrontation and use the Margin's laser turret more effectively. She uses her Maneuver to shift facing and Close Distance (two maneuvers; the second costs her Action or 2 Strain). She pays 2 Strain: one Maneuver to Close Distance (Medium to Short) and one to shift port-side of the Ardent. The Margin is now at Short range, positioned to the Ardent's port arc.

GM note: The Ardent's Forward Kinetic Battery cannot fire into its own port arc. They need to reorient to bring the Margin into their forward arc again. Senna's positioning robbed the Ardent of their primary weapon for this round.

Ardent Pilot's turn: The Ardent pilot recognizes the problem. They spend their Maneuver to change facing (reorient). The Margin is now back in the Ardent's forward arc. The pilot also has to close or hold; they choose to Hold Course (steady the ship, remove a situational Bane).

The Ardent Gunner still needs to wait for their slot.

Yessica's turn (Gunnery): Yessica fires the Laser Turret at the Ardent, which is now at Short range. The laser turret is omnidirectional so arc does not matter.

Pool: AGI 2 + Gunnery 1 = 2 dice, upgrade 1: 1 Mastery Die + 1 Ability Die. Difficulty: Short range = Easy (1 Trial Die). Ardent Defense 0 in this arc, so no Bane Dice from Defense. Laser Turret has Accurate 1: add 1 Boon Die.

Total pool: vs .

Roll result: 2 net Successes, 1 net Boon.

First Success hits. Second adds +1 damage. Laser Turret Damage 5 + 1 = 6. Ardent Screens: reduce by 2 = 4 damage to Hull. Ardent Armor 3: Hull Damage = 4 − 3 = 1. Ardent takes 1 Hull Damage (Hull Points 22; Hull Damage now 1).

The Ardent screens absorb the hit: generate 1 Heat (Heat Dissipation later). Ardent Heat: 1.

Firing the Laser Turret generates 2 Heat on the Margin's track (Heat 2/firing). Margin Heat: 2.

Player spends the Boon: Yessica identifies the Ardent's screen orientation. It's Fore-heavy (they were expecting a head-on engagement). She relays this to Senna: the Margin gets 1 Boon Die on its next attack from a side arc.

Davan's turn (Engineering): Davan checks the Power Load and Heat. The Margin is at 4/8 Power, Heat 0. No immediate crisis. Davan uses his Action to run an active scan (Electronics check, Average difficulty) to assess the Ardent's damage state.

Pool: INT 3 + Electronics 2 = 3 dice, upgrade 2: 2 Mastery + 1 Ability. Average difficulty (2 Trial Dice).

Roll: 2 net Successes. Success. Davan reports: the Ardent has taken 1 Hull Damage, screens active, no System Damage, point defense grid online.

Ardent Gunner's turn: The Ardent Gunner fires the Forward Kinetic Battery at the Margin, which is back in the forward arc at Short range.

Pool: AGI 3 + Gunnery 2 = 3 dice, upgrade 2: 2 Mastery + 1 Ability. Difficulty: Short range = Easy (1 Trial Die). Margin has Defense 0 so no Bane Dice.

Roll: 2 net Successes, 2 net Banes.

First Success hits. Second adds +1 damage. Kinetic Battery Damage 8 + 1 = 9. Margin Armor 1: Hull Damage = 9 − 1 = 8. Margin takes 8 Hull Damage (Hull Points 18; Hull Damage now 8).

Kinetic weapons generate Heat 1 (listed in the weapon profile). Margin Heat: 1. Ardent Kinetic generates minimal heat: Ardent Heat: 1 + kinetic (low heat): Ardent Heat: 1.

Note: The Margin has no screens active against a kinetic weapon. The screens reduce energy damage; kinetics bypass them. This is the design working as intended.

GM spends 2 Banes: the kinetic hit shook the crew. Senna adds 1 Bane Die to her next Pilot check. Davan needs to check for a fire suppression alert (cosmetic, but the board lit up with warnings).

Ardent Engineer's turn: The Ardent Engineer checks power and heat. Heat at 1, Threshold 11: well within tolerance. Power at 3/9. No action needed. The GM has the Ardent Engineer use an Action to cycle the point defense targeting (readying for any missiles on the next round; preemptive, no dice required, this is just scene-setting).

End of Round 1:

• Margin: Hull Damage 8/18, Heat 1, +1 Bane on Senna's next Pilot check, no System Damage
• Ardent: Hull Damage 1/22, Heat 1, screens took one hit, screens heavy Fore
• Both ships at Short range, facing each other (Ardent reoriented this round)
• Margin used 2 Strain on Senna to execute the positioning maneuver

ROUND TWO

Start of round: Margin Heat dissipation removes 2, but Heat is only 1: Heat drops to 0. Ardent Heat dissipation removes 2: Heat drops to 0.

Senna's turn (Helm): Senna has a Bane Die on her next Pilot check from the kinetic hit. She uses her Maneuver to shift position again, angling the Margin to present their armored bow to the Ardent (the kinetic battery hits harder with clean sight lines; presenting the bow does not increase armor but the position may reduce the Ardent's firing angle). She uses her Action to activate Evasive Burn: the Margin jinks in a jagged pattern. The Ardent's next attack against the Margin adds 1 Bane Die.

Evasive Burn costs: Heat +1 (engine overburn). Margin Heat: 1. Power Load unchanged.

Senna rolls her Pilot check for the maneuver (Average difficulty for a combined evasive maneuver). Pool: AGI 4 + Pilot 2 = 4 dice, upgrade 2: 2 Mastery + 2 Ability. Average difficulty: 2 Trial Dice. Plus the Bane Die from the kinetic hit.

Roll: 2 net Successes, 1 net Boon. The maneuver succeeds. Player spends the Boon (from Yessica's earlier intelligence about the Fore-heavy screens): the Margin is positioned to fire from the Ardent's port quarter, where the screens are thinner. The Margin's next attack against the Ardent's hull ignores 1 point of the Ardent's screen reduction (the screens there are just weaker).

Ardent Pilot's turn: The Ardent pilot sees the Margin jinking and repositioning. They attempt to match position and maintain the forward arc, spending a Maneuver to reorient again. This is becoming a positioning contest. They succeed (GM does not call for a roll on a standard reorientation in unobstructed space).

Yessica's turn (Gunnery): Yessica fires the Laser Turret again, but this time with the accumulated advantages: the Ardent is in a weak-screen arc, and the Margin is positioned for it (from Senna's Boon spend). Yessica has 1 Boon Die on this attack from Senna's positioning.

Pool: 1 Mastery + 1 Ability + 1 Boon Die. Difficulty: Short range (1 Trial Die). Ardent Defense 0. Accurate 1 adds another Boon Die (Accurate always applies).

Total pool: vs .

Roll: 3 net Successes, 2 net Boons.

First Success hits. Two additional Successes add +2 damage. Laser Turret Damage 5 + 2 = 7. Ardent Screens from the port quarter: only 1 point of reduction (Senna's positioning used the Boon to establish this). Hull damage = 7 − 1 = 6. Ardent Armor 3: Hull Damage = 6 − 3 = 3. Ardent takes 3 Hull Damage. Ardent Hull Damage total: 4/22.

Ardent screens absorb this hit: generate 1 Heat. Ardent Heat: 1 (started at 0 this round).

Player spends 2 Boons: Yessica flags a subsystem fluctuation in the Ardent's sensor array; the GM notes this gives the crew an advantage if they try electronic warfare next turn. Add 1 Boon Die to Davan's next Electronics check against the Ardent.

Davan's turn (Engineering): Davan's player sees an opportunity. Rather than managing heat (still fine), they try electronic warfare: jam the Ardent's targeting systems to add Bane Dice to their next attack.

Action: Electronic Warfare (Electronics check, Opposed by the Ardent's systems; GM uses the Ardent Engineer's INT 3 + Electronics 0 = 3 Ability Dice as the opposed pool). Davan's pool: INT 3 + Electronics 2 = 3 dice, upgrade 2: 2 Mastery + 1 Ability + 1 Boon Die from the sensor fluctuation Yessica identified.

Davan: 3 net Successes. Ardent Engineer opposed: 1 net Success. Davan wins.

Success on electronic warfare: add 1 Bane Die to the Ardent Gunner's next attack. Davan uses the Boon on the extra Boon Die roll: also reduce the Ardent's effective scanner range by 1 band this round (no immediate mechanical effect but useful for Astrogation planning).

Power Load check: ECM draws Power 2. Davan activates ECM: Power Load = 4 + 2 = 6 of 8. Still within capacity.

Ardent Gunner's turn: Ardent Gunner fires again. They have: 1 Bane Die from the Margin's Evasive Burn, 1 Bane Die from Davan's jamming. Total: 2 Bane Dice added to their normal pool.

Pool: 2 Mastery + 1 Ability − 2 Bane Dice. Difficulty: Short range (1 Trial Die).

Roll: 1 net Success, 1 net Bane.

Hit. Kinetic Battery Damage 8. Margin Armor 1: Hull Damage = 8 − 1 = 7. Margin takes 7 Hull Damage. Total Margin Hull Damage: 15/18.

GM spends the Bane: the kinetic hit rattled the cargo section. Brekkan (the NPC passenger) is injured: 2 Wounds (no mechanical impact on the fight, but the crew knows about it through the intercom alarm). Scene pressure from a narrative angle.

Ardent Engineer's turn: The Ardent is at Hull Damage 4/22, Heat 1, Power 5/9 with ECM active on their side. The Ardent Engineer activates Manage Heat: Craft check (Average). Roll: 2 net Successes. Beyond normal Dissipation (which will clear the 1 Heat at end of round), the Ardent is already fine. The Engineer instead uses the Action to reroute power defensively: increase effective Power Capacity for screens by 1 for one round. This is a creative player action; GM allows it as a Craft check, Average difficulty. Success. Ardent screens can sustain one additional hit without generating Heat this round.

End of Round 2:

• Margin: Hull Damage 15/18, Heat 1 (will drop to 0 at end of round after dissipation), no System Damage, ECM active (Power 6/8)
• Ardent: Hull Damage 4/22, Heat 1 (will drop to 0 at end of round), screens still active and now buffered for one extra hit this round
• Both ships still at Short range
• Margin has only 3 Hull Points remaining before disabled

ROUND THREE

End of Round 2 Heat dissipation: Margin Heat 1 − 2 dissipation = 0. Ardent Heat 1 − 2 dissipation = 0.

The Margin is in trouble. 15 Hull Damage of 18 means another solid kinetic hit will disable them.

Senna's turn (Helm): Senna's player sees the math. They cannot win a sustained slugging match against the Ardent's kinetics. The Margin needs to either end this quickly or run.

Senna's player announces: she is activating Overburn to push for distance on their next turn, but this round she is going to execute a hard maneuver to get around the Ardent and position for a shot at their engines (Ardent's aft arc, where Defense may be lower).

Maneuver: shift to Ardent's aft arc (requires changing their relative position). Pilot check, Hard difficulty (getting fully behind a ship in one turn is ambitious). Pool: AGI 4 + Pilot 2 = 4 dice, upgrade 2 = 2 Mastery + 2 Ability. Hard difficulty: 3 Trial Dice.

Roll: 3 net Successes vs difficulty. Success. The Margin is now at Short range, positioned behind the Ardent.

GM note: The Ardent's forward kinetic battery cannot fire into its own aft arc. The Ardent's aft Defense may be different; checking the hull profile: Defense 0/0 (Fore/Aft both 0 for the CM-440 standard). No change in Defense, but the kinetic battery is cut off.

Action: Senna uses her Action to begin Slipstream calculations. She signals Davan: “Begin jump calc.”

Ardent Pilot's turn: The Ardent pilot has to deal with the Margin behind them. They spend their Maneuver to hard-reorient (changing facing back to put the Margin in their forward arc). Pilot check, Average difficulty. GM rolls: 2 net Successes. The Ardent faces the Margin again.

GM note: This is a positioning contest and the Ardent pilot succeeded. The kinetic battery is back in arc, but the Ardent used their turn on repositioning and cannot attack this round. The Ardent Engineer will have to provide the pressure.

Yessica's turn (Gunnery): The Ardent is now facing the Margin again, but they just used their turn to reorient. Yessica fires the Laser Turret: same pool, same conditions, Accurate 1 bonus.

Roll: 2 net Successes, 0 Boons or Banes.

Laser Turret Damage 5 + 1 = 6. Ardent Screens reduce by 2 = 4 damage. Ardent Armor 3: Hull Damage = 4 − 3 = 1. Ardent takes 1 Hull Damage. Ardent Hull Damage total: 5/22.

Ardent screens absorb hit: 1 Heat. Ardent Heat: 1.

Davan's turn (Engineering): Davan is starting Slipstream calculations per Senna's order. This is an Extended Check: Difficulty Hard, Threshold 4 net Successes required, each roll represents 1 round of work.

First roll: INT 3 + Astrogation 2 = 3 dice, upgrade 2: 2 Mastery + 1 Ability. Hard difficulty: 3 Trial Dice.

Roll: 2 net Successes. Accumulated toward threshold: 2/4. They need at least 2 more successes.

Also: the ECM is still running (Power 2). Davan checks power: currently at 6/8 with ECM. Normal operations at 4 without ECM. Still fine.

Ardent Gunner's turn: No restrictions this round (no jamming, Evasive Burn was last round). Fires the Forward Kinetic Battery.

Pool: 2 Mastery + 1 Ability. Difficulty: Short range (1 Trial Die). Margin Defense 0.

Roll: 2 net Successes, 1 Bane.

Kinetic Battery Damage 8 + 1 = 9. Margin Armor 1: Hull Damage = 9 − 1 = 8. Margin takes 8 Hull Damage.

Margin Hull Damage total: 23, past its 18 Hull Points. The Margin is disabled.

GM spends the Bane: the hit also damages the Slipstream drive housing. Davan's next Astrogation check to complete the jump adds 1 Bane Die.

Ardent Engineer's turn: The Margin is disabled. The Ardent Engineer moves to broadcast a formal boarding request on an official Irnan frequency.

END OF ROUND 3: The Margin is disabled, its Hull Damage past 18 of 18.

What happens next: The ship is disabled, not destroyed. The crew can still act personally, the Slipstream calculation is at 2/4 (but requires the ship's drive systems, which are offline). The Ardent is hailing on official frequencies. The crew has a decision: stand down and face an Irnan inspection (and explain the illegal cargo), or attempt something drastic while the ship is dead in space.

GM NOTES ON THE SHIP COMBAT EXAMPLE:

• The laser turret's lower damage but consistent output versus the railgun's higher damage but more restrictive arc demonstrates how weapon choice and arc management create distinct tactical identities. Yessica's turret was the consistent contributor; the railgun was never brought to bear because the crew prioritized positioning over direct fire.
• The positioning contest (Senna spending turns on maneuvers, the Ardent pilot reorienting to maintain forward arc) shows how piloting is genuine labor, not just background color.
• Heat never became critical in this fight because the battle ended in 3 rounds. In a longer fight, the laser turret's cumulative heat (2 per firing) would start mattering around round 5-6.
• The Slipstream calculation failure is a narrative beat, not an outcome the dice decided randomly. The GM used the Bane from the final hit to make the escape plan a meaningful cost.
• The crew lost. That is fine. What happens next is more interesting than a clean victory.

Running the Scales Together

When a session has both personal combat and ship combat, one technique keeps things clear:

Name the scale explicitly when transitioning. “We are in ship combat now” and “boarding has started; we are running personal combat in the port airlock” prevents confusion about which rules apply to which check.

Let the two scales create pressure on each other. A ship that takes a critical hit while the crew is fighting off boarders has to decide: does the engineer leave the boarding fight to deal with the critical? Does the pilot try to maneuver while their usual assistant is unavailable? These decisions are the texture of Void Drifters.

End scenes cleanly. When ship combat ends, say so and take a breath before transitioning to personal consequences. When personal combat ends on a ship mid-fight, acknowledge that and move immediately back to the ship combat frame. Keep the two scales distinct even when they are running in parallel.