Chapter 3: Narrative Combat

So far, we’ve discussed ship combat as a combat simulation played out on a mapsheet of hexes. Now we’re going to shift our focus over to combat from a player character’s point of view.

Heroes In Combat

In the previous two chapters, we’ve used the term “crew check” as a catch-all for any kind of skill check that the hundreds or thousands of nameless crewmembers on board a major warship might make in the course of a space combat. Player-controlled characters may make skill checks against their own skills at key battle positions instead of relying on the crew’s general ability. In general, you can ignore the normal action check procedure for characters in combat for a combat using the systems presented in Chapter 1: Basic Combat and Chapter 2: Advanced Combat. While the ALTERNITY action round conists of four 3-second phases, characters who are manning stations on a major warship don’t get to take three or four or five actions every game round. They make skill checks in place of attack rolls, sensor checks, tactics checks, and so on, but their individual action checks just aren’t significant in the overall course of the battle. If this feels like it denigrates the characters’ role in the fight, look at it this way. Manning a weapon station or a helm station during a battle presents the character with a complex skill check that must be solved to maneuver the ship, fire a weapon, repair damage, or whatever. A character at the ship’s main weapons console isn’t just pushing the button as fast as she can. She’s constantly computing fire control solutions, monitoring weapon recharge or reload procedures, compensating for shipboard damage that might knock down some of the weapon mounts under her control, choosing sensor input sources that give her the best view of the battle for her job, and trying to pay attention to any new firing orders that might be issued. She’s performing a number of small tasks to make that one attack roll with that weapon or battery.

Character Stations When the battle begins, the Gamemaster should determine where each player-controlled character is located and what each character is going to try to do. Clearly, a character imprisoned in the ship’s brig can’t take any actions to help her shipmates fire the ship’s guns. Possible stations include the following:

• Command

• Bridge

• Combat Information

• Computers

• Communications

• Sensors

• Weapons and Defenses

• Engineering

• Repair

• Internal Security

• Flight

• Boarding Party

Command The command station decides which enemies to engage, where to engage them, and when to break off the action. Most of the command personnel are located in the ship’s command deck, bridge, auxiliary command deck, flag bridge, or launch tower. Officers: Command officers include the tactical officer (an officer charged with overseeing the details of the engagement), the strike commander (the officer in charge of flight operations), and the ship’s captain. If the ship is the squadron flagship, the commodore or admiral and any officers on her staff are considered command officers. Even in a battleship or fortress ship, the number of command officers is very limited. Only the captain and one or two chosen delegates are responsible for command in battle. Enlisted: Enlisted are present as necessary to support the command officers. Usually, two or three messengers, comm operators, and comptechs assist the tactical officer or strike officer by watching over various battle comm nets and datalinks. Someone’s got to keep the radio chatter straight.

Bridge On many ships, the bridge and the command deck are the same space. Characters on the bridge (or tasked with bridge responsibilities) are primarily concerned with the safe navigation and maneuvering of the ship. They continuously monitor the ship’s position, the position of any obstacles or hazards (planets, for instance), and the ship’s current course and heading. Officers: The officer of the deck is the officer in charge of the bridge. She decides where the ship is going and answers to the captain and the tactical officer’s requirements. The officer of the deck is usually assisted by a junior officer of the deck. The ship is actually “flown” by a helm officer, conning officer, pilot, or helm operator answering to the officer of the deck. The astrogator provides navigational information to the officer of the deck. On small warships, the officer of the deck is probably the tactical officer. The helm operator may be a certified flight officer, or she may be an enlisted person who maneuvers the ship at the conning officer’s orders. Enlisted: The helm operator and lee helm operator actually drive the ship if the ship doesn’t have an officer pilot. Messengers and comm operators help to keep the bridge in contact with other vital stations on the ship. The astrogator usually has a small team of quartermasters (navigators) to track the ship’s position. The boatswain of the watch is the enlisted person who maintains order on the bridge and supervises the junior enlisted people under the officer of the deck’s command.

Combat Information On many warships, the command deck and the combat information center are located in the same space, along with the bridge. For example, a destroyer’s command deck usually includes command, navigation, sensor, and weapon stations all in the same general area of the ship. The combat information center houses most of the ship’s sensor, weapon, and communication stations. Officers: The combat information officer ensures that the center works as it’s supposed to and advises the tactical officer or captain as needed. The intelligence officer analyzes enemy vessels and advises the tactical officer of their capabilities. Depending on the size of the ship, sensor and weapon officers may supervise their system operators from the combat information center. Enlisted: The combat information center is crammed full of consoles and control stations for most of the ship’s sensor, weapon, defensive, and comm systems. A sensor operator or weapon operator mans every station.

Computers The ship’s computer core and its control computers are usually manned in battle by comptechs under the supervision of a computer officer. They make sure that the computers operate at peak efficiency and initiate or defend against data warfare as necessary. The computer officer may be stationed on the bridge or command deck.

Communications Comm operators under the supervision of the communications officer man most communication systems on board the ship. The communications stations are typically located in the combat information center (or command deck), so the comm officer reports to the combat information officer or tactical officer. Comm officers and techs ensure that the ship maintains clear and secure communications and data feeds with all friendly ships in the area. They also supervise attempts to jam enemy communications.

Sensors Every sensor system on board is manned by a sensor operator reporting to the sensor officer (or science officer). The sensor stations are usually located in the combat information center.

Weapons and Defenses Crewmembers serving the ship’s weapons and defenses work in one of two places: the ship’s command deck or the weapon mounts. Officers: The tactical officer directs the activities of crewmembers manning central weapon stations. Most war-

ships slave weapon controls to a central station near the ship’s captain and her command team. However, large weapon mounts usually have crews associated with them who fire as directed by the central station. These mount crews can also fire independently if the ship’s command deck is wiped out or communications and remote firing controls are knocked out by enemy damage. Therefore, most major mounts have a mount captain or battery commander who commands the local crew. Enlisted: Enlisted gunners usually man the weapon control stations in the command deck or in the mount. A large mount may require a dozen or more highly trained specialists to operate in a battle.

Engineering The ship’s helmsmen or pilots normally “control” the ship’s engines remotely through their own stations on the bridge or command deck. Control is slaved from the local consoles governing the exact operation of each individual engine to the main engineering console in the engineering control center. Then engine control is slaved up to the command level. It’s the responsibility of the engineering department to keep the ship’s engines and power plants available to the command team so that the ship can execute the weapon fire and maneuvering required in battle. Officers: An engineering officer is usually present on the command deck or bridge to monitor systems status boards and handle orders that are more complex than simple maneuvering. She answers to the officer of the deck or the tactical officer. The nerve center of the ship’s engineering section is the engineering control center or main engineering, a command station that controls and monitors all power plants, life support, drive systems, engines, and other engineering systems. Finally, large ships may have smaller control stations for major systems such as individual engines or power plants. Engineering, drive, and auxiliary officers supervise these stations. Enlisted: Enlisted are similar to what was described above for the officers. Usually, enlisted specialists are stationed near the local control panels for the systems they’re familiar with.

Repair If everything works right and the ship sustains no damage, most crewmembers don’t have much to do in a battle. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Repair parties stand by to patch hull breaches, aid wounded, fight fires, correct system failures, rig bypasses, and generally keep the ship spaceworthy as long as possible under enemy fire. The chief engineer oversees damage control efforts through her representative, the damage control officer or assistant. Each repair party is under the leadership of a repair officer, usually a deck officer or supply officer since these jobs don’t require their attention in battle. Dozens of enlisted men—again, largely consisting of deck, supply, and support staff—round out the party, with a handful of repair specialists who train exclusively on damage control procedures.

Flight Carriers and assault ships that carry squadrons of small attack craft or fighters possess flight sections or departments. The strike officer is usually a high-ranking officer of the embarked squadron. She mans the flight tower and directs the operations of strike and fighter craft that are away from the ship. The strike officer answers to the captain, much like the tactical officer. A team of junior officers and enlisted crewmembers in the tower or the ship’s command deck provide traffic control, strike communications, and patrol command and control. Obviously, any flight crews involved in flying strikes, intercepts, or combat patrols are on duty, too. There are three basic missions for small craft: striking enemy targets, providing fighter cover for friendly strike forces, and providing fighter cover for the carrier to defeat enemy strikes. Any strike force or fighter flight normally answers to a flight leader, the senior officer airborne. Carriers may have hundreds of crewmembers and officers employed in the hangar deck. During battle, they refuel, rearm, or repair craft as necessary, ensuring that the carrier’s small craft are out where they can do the most good instead of bottled up inside the ship.

Internal Security and Boarding Parties The ship’s troops or marines are normally responsible for providing internal security and defending the ship from enemy boarders. Security teams or troop detachments typically guard the most important areas of the ship against potential boarding parties, while reserving several fast-reaction teams to seal off trouble spots fast. If the captain anticipates the opportunity to get boarders onto an enemy vessel, the boarding party musters near the ship’s airlocks or boarding pods.

or Amazing success he confers a –1, -2, or –3 step bonus to his team’s crew check for that round. A character can affect only the crewmembers assigned to one particular task or station. For game purposes, you can define this as one die roll per round—an attack roll, sensor check, repair check, maneuver check, or any similar roll. For example, the captain of a ship might use his Leadership skill to help the bridge team through evasive maneuvers, direct the fire of one battery, or supervise one repair check, but he couldn’t do all three at the same time.

Edge If you are playing with ALTERNITY characters, have the char acter in command of the fleet make a Tactics—space combat skill check instead of a crew check.

Power Distribution A character manning the engineering console on the bridge or in main engineering can attempt to increase the amount of power available to the ship in the current pwer phase. He’s coaxing the power plant to the limits of its performance, selectively cutting off nonvital systems, and using his knowledge of the ship’s engineering plant to squeeze out every bit of power. The character may attempt a System Operation—engineering skill check. (Don’t forget the penalties for shaken, disabled, or crippled ships.) He increases the ship’s total power points by 10, 20, or 30 percent for an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success.

Sensors Obviously, a character manning one of the ship’s sensors (or the main sensor control console) may substitute his System Operation—sensors skill check for the ship’s crew check when performing a sensor check with that system.

Character Tasks

Movement

If you think of a typical round of space combat as dozens of tasks that various members of the ship’s crew must accomplish, then you’ll see that a group of player-controlled characters have to pick and choose which tasks demand their personal attention. A team of highly skilled characters can fight a ship much better than even a crack crew by taking control of the most important jobs on the ship.

A character manning the ship’s nav console or helm may substitute a Vehicle Operations—spacecraft skill check for a maneuver check. If the character is flying a single-seat fighter, he can use this skill for attack rolls, sensor checks, and other crew checks.

The Leadership Skill

A character manning the ship’s weapons console may use his own System Operation—weapons skill in place of the crew check number for all fire from that weapon. Normally, a weapon operator or mount captain may gain this bonus—a character working as the ship’s tactical officer is too busy to fire weapons himself. On the receiving end, characters manning ships in battle stand a good chance of being injured or killed by enemy

Instead of taking a hands-on roll by making skill checks based on his own System Operation or Vehicle Operation skills, a character might instead use the Leadership skill to coordinate the efforts of supporting characters who are actually firing the guns or maneuvering the ship. The character in question makes a Leadership skill check; on an Ordinary, Good,

Attacks

fire. When the characters’ ship is blasted into atoms by a wellplaced matter bomb or a zero bore hit, someone’s likely to be hurt. See “Injury and Death,” later in this chapter.

Repairs Characters manning the engineering console on the bridge or command deck may repair stun damage or get a knockedout system back on line in the repair phase with a successful System Operation—engineering skill check. An Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success repairs 1, 2, or 3 points of stun damage. Characters stationed in main engineering, the ship’s damage control center, or the ship’s repair parties may repair stun damage, wound damage, or bring knocked-out systems back on line with a successful Technical Science—repair or juryrig skill check. An Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success repairs 1, 2, or 3 points of damage.

Special Orders Boarding actions, while rare, are made for characters. By leading a boarding party or repelling boarders, a character’s personal combat skills become the most important assets at his command. A character in charge of a boarding party or security detail may use his Tactics—infantry combat or Leadership—com mand skill to add a –1, –2, or –3 step bonus to his side’s boarding combat crew check for an Ordinary, Good, or Amazing success. At the character’s option, he can instead apply a +1, +2, or +3 step penalty to the enemy’s boarding combat crew check. This increases the enemy losses inflicted by the troops under his command, or reduces the casualties of friendly troops. If the character is not in a position of command, you can assume that he’s worth twice as many boarding points as a similarly armed and armored trooper. You may prefer to actually sketch out a short scenario for the characters to play through, and base the success or failure of the boarding action on the success or failure of the characters’ encounter.

Injury and Death What happens when six player characters are among the thousand crewmembers of a battleship that sustains heavy damage? Presumably, dozens or hundreds of the ship’s crew might have been injured or killed during the battle. How do you determine if the characters happened to be among those unfortunate casualties?

Crew Losses In general, tracking exact crew losses isn’t necessary. It’s reasonable to assume that a ship reduced to about half its mortal points has suffered a number of casualties, some of whom are wounded and some of whom are dead. However, if it’s important to guess at just how many crewmembers

are being killed or wounded by enemy fire, use the following guidelines. First, divide the crew into four groups: 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent, and 40 percent. Next, assign these numbers to the ship’s four damage tracks: stun, wound, mortal, and critical, respectively. For example, a light cruiser has a total crew of 240 hands. Of these, 24 are on the stun track; 48 on the wound track; 72 on the mortal track; and 96 on the critical track. Boxes marked off on the damage track cause a proportionate number of crew losses. A light cruiser has 40 stun, 40 wound, 20 mortal, and 10 critical points. This means that each stun box is “worth” 0.6 crew casualties, each wound box is worth 1.2 casualties, each mortal box 3.6 casualties, and each critical box 9.6 casualties for a light cruiser with a crew of 240 hands. If the ship loses 10 wound points and 5 stun points, you can assume that about 15 (12+3) crewmembers have become casualties. Finally, you can assume that about half of all casualties are killed outright, one-quarter are severely wounded and require immediate care, and one-quarter are lightly wounded and can wait on medical attention for a short time. To continue our example, you could assume 7 dead, 4 badly wounded, and 4 with slight wounds. The death rate is high because the effects of antiship weapons on crewmembers who happen to be near the impact site are often quite gruesome. Losses to the crew don’t have any game effect unless called for by specific results on the hit location table. In general, the step penalties for shaken, disabled, and crippled ships reflect increasing crew losses among other effects. These guidelines are provided just as a point of information.

Characters at Hazard If you don’t want to keep track of the exact location of each player character on board or the exact location of all incoming enemy fire, you can simply use this rule. Any time the ship marks off damage on its damage track, there is a chance that a character on board suffers damage. Each player rolls a d20 to determine if her character is endangered by the hit. On larger ships, the odds of any particular hit jeopardizing the character are very small.

Table 3–1: Random Hazards (d20) Ship Endangered on… Class Stun Wnd Mor Small 1–4 1–6 1–8 Light 1–3 1–4 1–6 Medium 1–2 1–3 1–4 Heavy 1–2 1–3 S-Heavy 1 1–2

Crit 1–12 1–8 1–6 1–4 1–3

For example, if a character is on board a destroyer (a light ship) that suffers mortal damage, she is endangered by the damage on a roll of 1–6 on a d20. On a battleship (a

heavy ship) she’s endangered only by mortal damage on a roll of 1–3 on a d20. Characters endangered by damage roll Personality feats and compare the results to the following table. Why a Personality feat? At this level, the question of whether the character happens to be standing in the path of the incoming plasma beam is a matter of sheer luck, and Personality measures luck about as well as any heroic attribute.

Table 3–2: Character Injury PER Feat Amazing Good Ordinary Failure Crit. Failure

Secure None None 1d6s 1d8w 1d6m

Vulnerable None 1d4s 1d8s 1d12w 1d8m

Consider this damage to be low impact, high impact, or energy depending on the weapon that caused the hit. The firepower of the attack is Good. Secured characters are strapped into their seats and protected by armored acceleration couches. Vulnerable characters are any characters who are trying to move around the ship during the fight. This doesn’t mean that people routinely survive direct hits from heavy plasma beams. They don’t. But the heavy plasma beam wasn’t targeting the character who is endangered by the strike, it was targeting her ship. People in the general vicinity are at hazard from explosive decompression, flying shrapnel, explosions, catastrophic system failures, and other such dangers. Direct hits would be handled by means of the normal damage upgrading rules described in Chapter 1: Basic Combat.

Characters on Station If you would prefer to be more precise about when and where a character might be injured during battle, refer to the system damage rules in Chapter 2: Advanced Rules. Determine which station or system each character is manning and which section or zone of the ship that system is located in. When that system or location is hit, the characters are endangered, just as described in the preceding section. For example, the characters might all be manning a cruiser’s command deck, which happens to be located in the forward center section of the ship. When the FC section is hit and the command deck is exposed to a potential System damage check, the characters are endangered by the damage and must make Personality feat checks as described in the previous section.

Bailing Out It’s usually advisable to bail out of crippled or destroyed craft before more damage makes bailing out impossible. Bailing out or abandoning ship is a special order. It takes a little time to reach the ship’s escape system (if any) and get clear of the wreck:

Table 3–3: Bail-Out Times Class Small Light Medium Heavy Super-heavy

Bail-out Time Same round 1d4 rounds 1d6+1 rounds 2d6 rounds 3d6 rounds

The figures on TABLE 3–3 represent an evacuation of most surviving crewmembers. Generally, 10 to 20 percent of the surviving crewmembers won’t be able to evacuate due to blocked exits, damaged escape craft, severe injuries, and other factors. Even though it might take 8 or 10 rounds to completely abandon a large ship, some number of crewmembers will get clear of the wreck every round during the evacuation. Assume that 20 percent of the survivors get clear each round for a light or medium ship, and 10 percent of the survivors get clear each round for a heavy or super-heavy ship. Player characters can leave as soon as they reach an escape pod or airlock.

Combat Without

Miniatures

Many Gamemasters prefer to run their games without using any maps or miniatures at all. Obviously, the combat rules in the preceding chapters assume the use of some kind of map sheet, but you don’t have to do this if you prefer not to. In the ALTERNITY Player’s Handbook, vehicle or spacecraft combat without some kind of physical representation in front of the players is referred to narrative combat resolution.

Position The only things that matter for positioning in narrative combat are the range category and each ship’s heading. In narrative combat, assume that every ship in both fleets is maneuvering in the exact same manner and shares the exact range category, heading, and speed of all friendly vessels in relation to the enemy fleet.

Range Categories Instead of keeping track of the exact distance between the enemy fleets, distance is described as one of the following range categories:

• Disengaged

• Contact

• Extreme

• Long

• Moderate

• Close

• Very Close

Disengaged: The battle is over, as both ships lose sensor contact with each other. Contact: Missile fire is possible, but no other weapons can reach the enemy ship or ships. Extreme: This is long range for beam or projectile weapons of super-heavy or heavy firepower; no other weapons can fire. Long: This is long range for beam or projectile weapons of medium or light firepower; normal range for heavy and super-heavy beam and projectile weapons. Moderate: This is long range for torpedoes and special weapons, as well as beam or projectile weapons of small craft firepower. Normal range for all other weapons. Close: All weapons are at normal range. Very Close: Bomb attacks and missile attacks may be executed. Beam or projectile weapons of Heavy or Superheavy firepower, torpedoes, and special weapons may not fire, since they’re simply too close. Attacks at normal range are conducted normally; attacks in a weapon’s long range category suffer a +3 step penalty.

Heading Basically, there are three ways a ship can be facing relative to the enemy: closing, holding, or opening. Closing: The ship or ships are generally pointed at the enemy and trying to get closer. Weapons that bear forward (the front firing arc) may be fired at the enemy. Holding: The ship or ships are maintaining their position. They may be drifting in space, or driving in some direction that doesn’t really close or open the distance, instead maneuvering around the enemy. The commander may choose which of the four firing arcs faces the enemy. Opening: The ship or ships are heading away from the enemy. Weapons that bear aft may be fired at the enemy fleet. All friendly ships share the same heading in the narrative system. It’s assumed that they are maneuvering in formation to provide mutual support to each other.

Movement In the narrative combat system, the movement phase is simply a set of declarations: Do you want to get closer to the enemy, and which way do you want to be facing? The opposing player must declare his heading first. As previously noted, all ships in the opposing player’s fleet share the same heading in the narrative combat rules. After the opposing player declares his intentions, the edge player declares his intention. Again, all edge ships share the same heading. After both sides have declared their heading, adjust the current range category accordingly:

Table 3–4: Narrative Movement Edge Player Close Hold Open

Opposing Player Close Hold

–2 C

–1 C

–1 C

NE ?? +1 C

Open ?? +1 C +2 C

–2 C: Decrease current range by two categories, to a minimum range of very close. –1 C: Decrease current range by one category (min. very close). NE: No change, keep current range category this round. +1 C: Increase range by one category (max. disengaged). +2 C: Increase range by two categories (max. disengaged). ??: If both fleets have the same acceleration, the range category remains the same; otherwise, the faster fleet closes or opens the range accordingly. Example: The Audacious is a Concord destroyer attacking an External frigate. The range category for the first round is contact; this is an open-space encounter. The Concord commander decides to pursue the External ship and bring her to battle at a much closer range, so he declares an intent to close. The External commander wants no part of the Auda cious, and chooses to open the range, hoping to escape altogether by increasing the range from contact to disengaged. Since the Concord commander wants to close and the External commander wants to open, the next range category depends on which ship is faster. The Audacious has an acceleration of 4, while the External frigate only has an acceleration of 3. Since the Audacious is faster, the range will decrease by one category, from Contact to Extreme. It will take the Audacious a couple of more rounds, but she’ll eventually run down the External frigate and force her to fight whether she wants to or not.

Sequence of Play While the narrative combat round runs much like the visual combat round, there are some important differences. Edge Phase Power Phase Sensor Phase Movement Phase a. Opposing Player Declaration b. Edge Player Declaration c. Position Updates Attack Phase a. Beam and Projectile Weapons b. Torpedoes and Special Weapons c. Missile Attacks d. Bomb Attacks Launch Phase Repair Phase Special Orders

Crew Requirements Basic Crew Deck Deckhands: 1 deckhand per 40 hull points Cargo Handlers: 1 cargo handler per autocargo system, or 1 cargo handler per bay and 2 per hold Bosun’s Mates:1 boatswain mate per 5 deckhands or cargo handlers Ship’s Bosun Deck Officers: 1 per 3 bosun’s mates First Lieutenant

Engineering Drive Techs: 1 drive tech per 5 hull points for FTL drives. Engine Tech: 1 engine tech per 10 hull points devoted to engines, plus 1 engine tech per engine. Power Tech: 1 power tech per 10 hull points devoted to power plants, plus 1 power tech per power plant. Support Tech: 1 support tech per life support system Cold Tech: 1 cold tech per 2 life suspection units Eco Tech: 1 eco tech per recycler unit or hydroponics bay Petty Officers: 1 engine mate per 5 drive techs, power techs, engine techs, support techs, eco techs, or cold techs Fuel King (if ship carries fuel) Engineering Officers: 1 per 3 petty officers Chief Engineer

Navigation Quartermasters: 2 quartermasters, plus 1 per class (2 for light, 3 for medium, etc.) Helm operators: 1 helm operator plus 1 per class (2 for light, 3 for medium, etc.) Petty Officers: 1 per 4 quartermasters or helm operators. Navigator

Operations Electronics Techs: 1 per sensor or comm system Comp Techs: 1 plus 1 per class (computer core); 1 per system assigned a dedicated computer. Op Specialists: 1 per sensor system; 1 per weapon system; 1 per defensive system. Intelligence Specialists: 2 on medium ships, 4 on heavy, or 10 on super-heavy ships Petty Officers: 1 per 3 techs Officers: 1 per 3 petty officers Operations Officer Psi—Psi Officers as needed Auxiliary Engineering Repair Techs: 1 per 40 hull points Machinists: 4 per workshop, fabrication facility, or nanomanufacture bay. Petty Officers: 1 per 4 repair techs or machinists. Damage Control Officer Weapons Gunners: 2 per beam or projectile weapon mount, plus 1 per 5 hull points devoted to beam or projectile weapons. Missile Techs: 2 per missile rack, 4 per missile tube, or 4 per cell array. Torpedomen: 4 per torpedo system, plus 1 per 5 hull points devoted to torpedo systems. Petty Officers: 1 per 4 gunners, missile techs, or torpedomen. Weapon Officers: 1 per 3 petty officers Chief Weapons Officer

Flight Flight Crews: As needed Aviation Techs: 3 per embarked craft Aviation Storekeepers: 1 per embarked craft Flight Deckhands: 1 per 2 embarked craft Flight Ops Specialists: 1 per 4 embarked craft Aviation Weaponeers: 1 per embarked craft Petty Officers: 1 per 4 aviation techs, aviation storekeepers, flight deckhands, flight ops specialists, and aviation weaponeers Officers: 1 per 4 petty officers Flight Officer: Strike Officer: Wing Commander: Science Technicians: 4 per lab section Science Officers: 1 per lab section Chief Science Officer Ship’s Troops Marines: As needed Sergeants: 1 per 4 marines Officers: 1 per 4 sergeants Commander:

Support Crew Medical Med Techs: 1 per 50 basic crewmembers or 1 per 2 beds in sick bay, whichever is greater Petty Officers: 1 per 3 med techs Surgeons: 1 per sick bay (troop ships only) Ship’s Doctor Service Mess Hands: 1 per 20 basic crewmembers Mess Stewards: 1 per 3 basic officers plus 1 per passenger Petty Officers: 1 per 5 mess hands or mess stewards Mess Chief Supply Storeskeepers: 1 per 20 basic crewmembers Petty Officers: 1 per 5 storeskeepers Supply Officer Administration Yeomen: 1 per 40 basic crewmembers Security Specialists: 1 per 40 basic crewmembers Petty Officers: 1 per 4 yeomen or security specialists Officers: 1 per 3 petty officers Chief Master-at-Arms Admin Officer Embarked Flag Petty Officers: 20 Officers: 10 Chaplain Flag Lieutenant Intelligence Officer Admiral Command Master Chief Petty Officer Executive Officer Political Officer (if needed) Captain

Edge (Narrative) In the narrative combat style, edge is even more important than it is in map-based combat. The commander with the edge has the privilege of deciding his heading (described below) after the opposing commander declares his heading. Edge is determined as described in Chapter 1: Basic Combat, with a crew check or a Tactics—space tactics skill check. However, the first tiebreaker for narrative combat is ship size; the fleet with the largest or heaviest ship loses ties. The second tiebreaker is number of ships on a side; the side with the fewest ships wins ties.

Sensors (Narrative) Assume that all sensor systems have normal capability out to Extreme range, and long-range capability (checks with a +3 step penalty) in the Disengaged range category.

Movement (Narrative) As described under “Position” and “Movement” on the preceding page, the narrative combat style does not require any kind of map. Range is one of seven general categories from disengaged to very close. Heading is relative to the enemy ship—is the character’s ship closing, holding, or opening the distance between it and its opponent? The first step of the movement phase is the opposing commander declaration. The opposing player is the side that currently does not have the edge; they have to declare their intentions first (close, hold, or open). Then, the edge commander declares his intent for the round. Based on the intentions of both sides, the range between the two ships or fleets may be updated as shown on TABLE 3–4.

Attack (Narrative) If you’re not playing out the battle on a map of some kind, exact weapon ranges don’t matter. Instead, weapons are assigned range categories based on their type and size. Range Normal Long Category Fire Fire Disengaged none none Contact A none Extreme A B Long

A, B

C Moderate

A, B, C

D, E

Close

A, B, C, D, E

none Very Close

C, D, F

none

A: Missile launches. B: Beam and projectile weapons of heavy or superheavy firepower. C: Beam and projectile weapons of light or medium firepower. D: Beam and projectile weapons of small craft firepower. E: Torpedoes and special weapons. F: Bombs and missile impacts. Normal fire allows an attack roll at no penalty for range. Long-range fire adds a +3 step penalty to the shot.

Special Orders (Narrative) Chapter 2: Advanced Combat covers three special maneuvers or actions: ramming, boarding, and self-destruction. It’s possible to perform these actions in narrative combat, with some modification to the rules. Ramming: To conduct a ramming attack, a captain must have the edge and must be in the very close range category. The ramming ship must have an acceleration rating equal to or greater than the target’s. The ramming ship must pass a crew check (or a Vehicle Ops—space craft skill check on the part of the pilot). If the ramming ship succeeds in its attack roll, the target is entitled to a crew check (or Tactics—space combat skill check by the captain) to avoid the collision. Add the target vessel’s target size modifier to the avoidance check. The damage of the ramming attack is listed under “Ramming” in Chapter 2: Advanced Combat. After the ram, the ships involved are at very close range. Boarding: The entry and assault stages of a boarding action work as described in Chapter 2: Advanced Com bat. The approach stage is a little different, though. Boarding transporters can be employed at moderate range, provided no energy screen interferes with the transport. For conventional approaches, the boarding ship must be at very close range, and the target vessel must be unable to maneuver in its own defense. Self-Destruct: Initiating self-destruction takes place just as described in Chapter 2. When a ship self-destructs, it creates an explosion equal to that caused by the loss of more than twice its critical point score. See explosion damage, on TABLE 2–3. Ships that are very close to the detonating vessel are treated as if they were 1 hex away on TABLE 2–3; ships that are close to the detonating vessel are treated as if they were 2 hexes away.