How to make a dramatic space combat?

[TrippyHippy]

Hi All,

I have a session coming up in a relatively newly started Traveller campaign (about a two sessions old). It’s based upon the Secrets of the Ancients, but I tend to embellish most scenarios as I go along. Currently, the party has spent a good deal of time investigating, but didn’t quite finish off the last segment of the first adventure which has a dramatic end of…………spoilers………..a space station self destructing.

Now, as they’ve spent a long while investigating, I’ve decided to beef out this last bit as a full on action session. I may make up some maps and use miniatures inside the space station so that they can fight off some guards and so on - on a rush to the exit. However, I’m also wanting to beef up the whole spaceship sequence possibly after the escape (and try to jump before the station explodes) and before they get there. The players seem to be chomping at the bit for this sort of thing, so the question is - how to make the whole space combat as dramatic as possible?

Has anybody got some tips, and/or particular stunts or fun bits that I can include to make it something that would put Star Wars to shame?

 

[Beastttt]

TIMING

they should have enough time to do what is NEEDED
If some one goes off and tries doing something truly STUPID
kill them(Darwin always wins)
they are on the clock

If STUPID blocks the exit, have a new exit open up for the NOT Stupid
and let Stupid get himself killed

 

[Sevain]

Yesterday I ran a space combat that turned out pretty nice. My players had decided to install themselves as Space Gods on a low technology world that was a few weeks off a popular trade route. Long story short they wound up trying to chase a medical laboratory ship in orbit without any sensors whatsoever. Once they figured out they would not be able to find their target with the old Mk.1 Eyeball they decided to lure their enemy in by bragging over comms about their "shipment of diamonds". This promptly attracted the planet's previous Space God's (a pirate) attention.

The players made no effort to avoid the confrontation at all, despite facing an armed pirate ship in an unarmed freighter. Although they had 28 Ihatei on board, lured by promises of land, they had only four space suits that would fit an Aslan. The pirates attempt to harpoon their ship with a grappling line, but miss. The pilot aggravates the pirates into firing their lasers at their ship. The players launch their boarding action. However, they have miscalculated the number of lasers on the pirate vessel and get one of their Ihatei zapped during the crossing.

Once across they use their various laser, gauss and plasma weapons to disable the lasers in the ship's turrets. One PC decides to steal the pirate's sensor array, while the party Aslan, two remaining Ihatei and special agent breach the pirate airlock. BLAM! The Ihaei gets the airlock open and promptly takes a rocket straight to the torso. Combat armour and incredible endurance keep that Ihatei and Aslan PC standing, the Ihatei with just a regular space suit gets shredded. Mr. Agent gets knocked unconscious but the suit's medical system pumps him back to full health immediately. The Aslan charge, and the PC Aslan manages to get behind the enemy into a stalemate with him hiding in the avionics while the pirates take aim. Mr. Agent regains consciousness, rushes in, takes control over the rocket launcher and fires it. Everybody on the bridge is either blown to bits or dying, but the suits medical system kicks in, rolls 11 and pumps Mr. Agent back to full health.

Meanwhile, the sensor thief PC has finished extracting the sensor module and the pirates have managed to harpoon the PC ship with their third shot. Sensor thief grabs the grapple line, cuts it from the turret end and rides it back home. After dumping the sensors he crosses the void back to the pirate ship and proceeds to slaughter the remaining gunners with a heavy gauss rifle. The pirate captain launches in a fighter, while the terrified engineer whips up the gravity, rigs the reactor to meltdown and hides in a vent. Sensor thief comes, notices a vent cover is installed upside down, shoots the engineer in the vent, shuts down the reactor.

Outside the pirate fighter empties its missile rack of 12 multiwarheads into the party's freighter. The pilot manages to dodge most of the missiles, but there are three hits, shredding the freighter. Half of the Ihatei who remained behind are blown out into space. Fighter runs out of missiles, curses the party, lands on the planet. Players assess the situation: their ship is blown full of holes, the pirate ship is otherwise pretty okay expect for the destroyed bridge. Mr. Agent, pumped full of drugs, calls for help, attracting the laboratory ship.

It will be interesting to see how they extract themselves from this pit they dug themselves in next session.

 

[Condottiere]