RPG Starship Combat as of 2nd Edition

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What do you guys think of the second edition Starship Combat rules. Do they work for you? Any criticism or praise?

 

[Shadow Queen]

have not gotten around to space combat yet

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

I'll reiterate what I said in the other topic: I prefer the rules to a more hardcore wargaming style, with hexes and individual move speeds and the like. The 2e rules let the GM place the focus of the battle where he wants it, and there's plenty of room for individual characters to make a difference, so I'm all for it. If you add in things like armor damage they are even playable which, in my opinion, they aren't really as written. So with minor adjustments that you can find on this forum, they are good and fun.

 

[thedarkelf007]

I find it a good change for a RPG. Not focused on the miniature movement and facing and all that... which is good for a miniature game or dealing with a large encounter...

If my group were spread out enough to have squadrons, then I might use the ACTA instead, but as they are all on a single vessel I will stay with keeping the focus where they are.

As for the rule, I like some of the varients proposed in the forum, as without armour taking damage, most of my combats between starfighters tended to be comical, with one hitting the other and doing no damage...

 

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INteresting insights, thanks.

I've been reading them myself these days and am not quite sure myself. Maybe too abstract and to complex with all those orders. Remains to be seen, If my players will exept that much detail. And yes of course, I'd use 'em only for small engagements and ACTA for bigger, epic battles

 

[the_first_one]

do you get XP from starship battles and if so how do you calculate it?

 

[B_Steele]

do you get XP from starship battles and if so how do you calculate it?

There really is no hard and fast XP system we use...it is best left up to the Games Master to decide how fast he wants his game to progress, in my opinion.

Bry

 

[the_first_one]

ok so i decide when they get xp from ships

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

d20 has moved away from giving xp based on individual kills, it tends to be based on encounters, goals accomplished, and the challenge involved for coming out on top. So I, personally, wouldn't make the xp based on each ship killed, but more of scale based on how tough the battle was, or on whether they have accomplished their goals by the end of the night.

 

[Reborn]

I need a bit of practice with space combat, I haven't tried it yet. Anyone care to give an example of a round of space combat?

 

[James McMurray]

I much prefer the 2e starship combat, although as someone mentioned you have to add armor degrdation rules or it doesn't work.

 

[Mick]

What do you guys think of the second edition Starship Combat rules. Do they work for you? Any criticism or praise?

The how move and command rules work more then ok, But the damage vs armor rules fail in total, before the GM ran away we were look at D20 Mecha to cover ship building and weapon damage effects

 

[thedarkelf007]

The basics of what the extra rules did (I'm sure someone else will link the thread)

- Armour will take damage if the ship takes damage, lessing the effects of armour
- Rolling higher than the target defence adds to damage delt
- Combined fire REALY helps if the other two is not available, or make it far more effective...

Good points:
- once learnt, it is fairly simple and straight forward (btw - note that in starfighters, a pilot check covers the other space skills) and
- nifty orders, to make choosing what to do a lot easier
- limited visibility of a battle (can't see everything anyway)

Bad points:
- some players need to know EVERYTHING...
- needs the armour degregation house rules
- More storybased combat, munchkin players might collapse

It's simply another system, you could use anything, but I do like how it captures the feel of the show.

 

[B_Steele]

I personally use the "bonus damage equal to the amount that the to-hit roll exceeds Defence Value" version.

It makes things a little more realistic - if not deadlier for small ships.

Cheers,
Bry