Ship is destroyed, now what?

[baithammer]

If players wait to leave a ship that is about to be destroyed then it's not an unfortunate event, but the GM needs to be clear about the situation the players are in. ( D&D hit point system has created the notion of all or nothing fights.)

 

[Sigtrygg]

By the book:

Once a spacecraft has been reduced to zero Hull, it is wrecked and becomes totally inoperable, and is beyond any repair. Those on board will find themselves without power or life support.

So what about those folks on board? What the vicorious enemy decides to keep shooting, or there is another missile salvo incoming?

Beyond the crew critical hit, at what point does the crew take damage? How would you handle this in your games once the ship is destroyed?

I would ask myself what do I want to happen?

This is a serious question. I am the referee, my job is to set the scene, administer the rules, and decide the consequences.

Do you want a TPK and roll up new characters, or do you want to set the scene for the players to deal with:
"Ok guys, your ship is wrecked, you have no power, life support or chance to repair any of this mess - you are alive thanks to your vacc suit/survival pod/storm shelter what do you want to do next?"

If the attacking ship closes and pours more weapon fire onto the wreckage you could still use this as the scene setting rather than kill the entire party:
"The pirate vessel has closed to inspect the wreckage, it fires lasers at anything within the wreck that may still have battery back up, your shelter behind this bulkhead will not last long - what do you want to do?"

 

[baithammer]

Have to take into account even basic sensor suites have neural activity detection.

The key is to give enough information to the players as to the stakes at hand, which tends to avoid TPK. ( The old jump into some drums and try to pass themselves off as debris.)

 

[Reynard]

I can't accept stories that have opposition taking the no survivors route. If the wreck is useless, it and any survivors are helpless. Was the opponent sent specifically to destroy the crew no matter the situation? This is similar to us watching a movie and always saying "If I was that bad(good) guy, I wouldn't fool around and just kill them now! They're helpless!'. Movie (game) ends, no sequel.

It's the referee's role to present an exciting, challenging and rewarding story so players at the end of the game say "Whew, that was a wild ride!". That also means the referee has the duty to game the rules and don't let rigid adherence to the rulebook or random bad rolls create a train wreck. I have seen some rulebooks state that the GM can hide their rolls. I spent 40 years of gaming different RPGs as both player and GM to learn this. Even today, I have faced some GMs who think the game is about GM vs. Players and winning the game can mean using every rule to take down the party then openly show their glee doing it!

The best rule is always have an out for the players. I don't mean they escape unscratched every time but climbing out of the wreckage covered in blood with their hands up means 'what do we do now'. Story bad guys are never obligated to end the story then and there. The last set of incoming missiles receive the Destruct signal, everything goes quiet for a time then the players' comms receive transmission to surrender and they will be brought on board. Referees should not have a reputation to shoot the players' characters when they come out into the open with gloved hands up making them paranoid. If players use such 'leniency' to game and abuse the system taking extreme chances and expecting to always win, they are the types that will do it anyhow, I have seen that disgusting behavior too and it's as bad as TPK GMs. That's not how you have fun for both players and GMs.

 

[baithammer]

It's more due to players thinking the GM won't kill a player and so push the action into the all out war. ( The I got 1 HP left and I know the GM won't kill me.)

 

[Reynard]

And those are bad players abusing the system. Roll players, not role players winning at all costs. There have been a few times I stopped GMing when players act like that. I have had players challenge me by openly saying 'either the bad guys go down or I do!'. No fun any more.

 

[Linwood]

I’ve run into that attitude a time or two in con one-off games. In longer story arcs the GM has more options....

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Have to take into account even basic sensor suites have neural activity detection.

No, only Advanced sensors (HG, p19).

The sensor types on Core, p151 shows the required sensor in parenthesis (with the wrong names).

 

[AnotherDilbert]

It's more due to players thinking the GM won't kill a player and so push the action into the all out war. ( The I got 1 HP left and I know the GM won't kill me.)

Easy solution, disabuse the players of this misapprehension. Just let the character die a few times, then players will take more care of their characters.

I will not go out of my way to kill the characters, but survival is not guaranteed.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

( D&D hit point system has created the notion of all or nothing fights.)

Agreed, the fully fit or dead system is not good.

 

[Condottiere]

The general rule is that Dungeon Masters cannot kill off player characters without their express permission, and then usually to provide the ending to an epic story arc.

Sudden death without respawning is very much a tabletop wargaming aspect, and in a campaign setting, the player has access to a pool of replacements with fairly same characteristics and optimizations.

 

[baithammer]

Players actions determine outcome, if they decide to ignore the situation their character is in then they shouldn't be surprised if it results in death for the character.

Taking away that risk leads to less reward, but the DM shouldn't aim to kill pcs and should use discretion about lethal outcomes not brought about by character's actions.

 

[Condottiere]

Players tend to get very attached to their characters, one reason you introduce them to the concept of pre rolled ones, both when they're starting out and so that if they mess up, they don't feel it personally if the character dies, hopefully learning something in the process of preparing Plan Bees, or coming up with ad hoc solutions.

Traveller doesn't have Raise Dead, or burning karma points to get out of near fatal, or actually fatal, situations. It does have emergency low berths and technology level fifteen, if not sixteen, medical science.

 

[Sigtrygg]

T5 offers several variations and options for raise dead.

Recover as much of the body as possible - regrow the bits that are damaged. If the brain has been critically damaged regrow that as well and then download a memory back up from a wafer or personality storage insurance company. You did pay to have your memories and personality saved to a wafer/secure back up facility before going adventuring didn't you?

If the body is beyond any possibility of salvage or regrowth then just grow a clone or construct a synthetic body with a cloned brain - download as per above.

 

[Pyromancer]

Traveller doesn't have Raise Dead, or burning karma points to get out of near fatal, or actually fatal, situations. It does have emergency low berths and technology level fifteen, if not sixteen, medical science.

Exactly. In my "Pirates of Drinax" campaign, as long as the other players throw the remains of the "dead" person into a low berth (or freezer) and return it to the Scholar's Tower, the dead will be revived - somehow.

Of course, that doesn't help when the whole ship is blasted into pieces.

 

[Condottiere]

Frozen sperm and eggs, plus fast growth.

 

[Linwood]

So - brought back from the dead, but with an enormous medical debt to pay off?

Could be a fate worse than death for some players....

 

[phavoc]

So - brought back from the dead, but with an enormous medical debt to pay off?

Could be a fate worse than death for some players....

Or even better, the PC's now have a Patron they owe, literally, their lives too. But the Patron will take their working for them as an exchange of payment. Such an "arrangement" can bring up all sorts of adventure possibilities - especially if their Patron is not necessarily a scion of society... or even better IS a scion of society in the public view, but in private...

 

[Sigtrygg]

If the new body is synthetic or cybernetic (extensive prosthesis would count) then on many worlds of the Imperium the character could be declared legally the property of whoever payed the bills.

 

[Democratus]

However, no win situations should also be very rare. RPGs are not movies BUT they are games for fun and dying because of unfortunate circumstances isn't fun. This isn't some Japanese story that demands death for the sake of honor. That's why the ref should have the surrender card just in case.

I strongly disagree. A universe with no-win situations is very fun.

The Ref should adjudicate the world in a manner that maintains the verisimilitude of the universe. A consistent universe is better than a universe that always has a trap door for the characters.

Sometimes, everyone dies. If there's anything to be learned from Rogue One, it's that hero death isn't the mark of a bad or un-fun story.