Generating Encounters

Creating interesting starship encounters can be a challenging task. Unlike in character-based encounters, DMs are limited by the more constrained nature of space combat: The heroes are confied to an environment that might limit their abilities, and coming up with encounters that do more than just pit two squads of starfighters against one another takes more work. Despite this, creating an exciting starship combat encounter can make an adventure much more memorable, encouraging players to become just as involved as they would be in ground-based encounters.

One of the most important elements of a good starship encounter is giving each player something to do. Gunners should have plenty of targets, a goal that is relatively easy to accomplish. Pilots should have obstacles to maneuver around and ships to fly past, making the environment of the encounter very important. Character combat holds players' interests because each player has something to do in every round. Engaging players in the same manner during a starship combat encounter requires the Gamemaster to design aspects of the encounter that give every player something to do in every round.

Designing a starship encounter that keeps several players active on every turn can be daunting. An alternative solution is to create encounters that encourage players to fly their own starships. For example, in a party of four characters, one character might serve as the pilot of the party's freighter, one character might serve as the gunner aboard that freighter, and the other two would pilot starfighters in the same encounter. This gives three players -- the three pilots -- the ability to move and attack in each round, just as they would in character combat. Even characters untrained in the Piloting skill can perform basic movement and actions, and trained pilots can help protect those untrained pilots during starship combat.

Give Objectives Other Than Destruction#

One of the best ways to make a starship combat encounter more engaging is to give players an objective other than simply eradicating the opposition. Although destroying one's opponents can certainly be a key component in accomplishing that objective, it doesn't necessarily have to be all of it (and, in fact, it rarely is). When designing an encounter, try to pick an objective that allows the heroes to engage their enemy in combat while giving them some other goal to focus on. A goal other than all-out destruction also encourages the players to be more cautious and think tactically rather than just going in guns ablaze. Just as you might not have character combat just for combat's sake, starship combat encounters should serve the purpose of moving the plot forward.

Escort Missions#

One option for an alternative objective is an encounter in which the players are required to protect something or someone. Escort missions are common among starship pilots in the Star Wars setting, and providing the players with the goal of protecting something from coming to harm means that the players will have to do more than just unleashing their weapons. Protecting something requires more tactical awareness while still allowing for high action and dogfighting that makes space combat exciting. The players might be escorting a ship through hostile territory, defending a transport as it's being loaded, or keeping enemy vessels from detecting a secret base.

Blockade Run#

Alternatively, not all encounters can be won by destroying your enemies; the players might simply be trying to get from one place through another through a series of encounters. The players might be trying to maneuver through a large scale battle toward a specific target, attempting to penetrate the core of a space station, or simply trying to avoid being captured or destroyed.

Base Assault#

Furthermore, you could have your players use their starship to assault a planetary base. Rather than just dogfighting, they might assault a compound featuring turbolaser batteries and walkers.

Retrieval Mission#

Finally, the players might have to task of obtaining something during a starship encounter. This could be a job as simple as using a tractor beam to drag away a derelict ship, or it might involve the heroes actually landing somewhere, obtaining an item, and rejoining the fight. In some cases, the object in question might be a hostile starship, requiring the heroes to disable rather than destroy.

Build Interesting Battlefields#

Another key element of good space combat encounters is creating combat arenas that are interesting. Certainly, encounters involving two groups of ships engaging one another in open space can be fun, but adding a certain element of environmental challenge to the encounter makes it much more memorable. Perhaps while fleeing, the characters must fly through an asteroid belt wrought with peril, their pursuit detonating asteroids in an attempt to disable them. Just as in character-scale combat, adding terrain features to space battles creates more lively combat sequences that require creativity and tactical thinking on the part of the players.

The presence of environmental obstacles also creates a more dynamic battlefield, adding another dimension to the placement and movement of starships. Terrain challenges in space combat necessitate movement and encourage players to be more creative in their actions. The following terrain hazards can be part of any space combat sequence.

Asteroids, Debris, and Enclosed Terrain#

Space is a lot less empty than one might think, and an environment that contains asteroids, debris, or enclosure is difficult to move through and can potentially damage a starship. Moving through the space of an object hazard requires an Intelligence (Piloting) check, with a DC equal to the size of the obstacle, as shown in the DC column below. On a failure, the ship takes kinetic damage equal to the Damage column.

Damaging Environment#

Though most combat takes place in a vacuum, some battle might take place in thick dust clouds, the upper atmosphere of a corrosive gas giant, electromagnetically charged nebulae, or even in close proximity to a star--and any of these features can damage a ship. Each hazard functions differently.

Corrosive Gases#

Occasionally encountered in planetary atmospheres and some nebulae, corrosive gases can also be the result of massive industrial accident. If a starship enters a corrosive gas field or starts its turn there, the crewmember at the helm must make a DC 12 Intelligence (Piloting) check. A starship takes 1d6 kinetic damage on a failed check, or half as much on a successful one.

Dust Clouds#

Usually encountered as a part of an asteroid field, or as a part of a planetary ring system, light and moderate dust clouds provide very poor visibility. While in a dust cloud, a starship is considered heavily obscured.

Ionic Discharges#

Some nebulae and planetary atmospheres produce nearly continuous discharges of ionic particles. If a starship enters an ionic discharged area or starts its turn there, the starship takes pulse damage equal to half the maximum value of the ship's Hit Die.

Radiation#

In close proximity to a star or other source of intense electromagnetic radiation, a starship can take substantial damage. Generally, these hazards will cover a large radius, but you might designate some areas as being in the shadow of a planet or moon, negating the effects of the radiation. If a starship enters a radiation proximity or starts its turn there, the starship takes 1 energy damage.

Create Exciting Scenarios with Complications#

One of the best ways to create tension in a space combat sequence is to present complications that affect the way combat takes place. Although battles in which starships simply square off agains one another are fine, a battle with some larger complication can increase the level of tension and excitement. Complications are factions that affect combat without affecting the battlefield itself.

One of the most often-used complications is a time constraint. Placing a limit on the amount of time--in rounds or otherwise-- that the players have to complete their tasks creates a sense of urgency that makes space combat more exciting. For instance, attacking a superweapon before its weapon fires, or attempting to incapacitate an enemy ship before it makes the jump to hyperspace.

Similarly, limiting the perception or communication of combatants can add an air of the unknown to an encounter. In addition to terrain that impairs visibility, you might include a jamming field that prohibits ships from communicating with each other, or a sensor scrambler that imposes disadvantage on Piloting checks as the ship's onboard computers struggle to clear out the interference.

NPC INITIATIVE#

At the beginning of every combat, PC ships typically role group initiative. NPC ships may be large in number and/or have huge numbers of NPCs manning them, so a GM should generally determine NPC initiative by rolling for each ship individually as follws. Roll initiative by making a ship Dexterity check modified by the number given in the Initiative Size Modifier table below.

Initiative Size Modifier#

Encounter Creation and Ship Rating (analogous to Challenge Rating for creatures) needs to be rewritten. It will require a decent amount of maff on my end, so it's not ready yet. For the time being, have your GM use common sense to dictate what is an appropriate encounter.