The Starship Armory ยท Chapter 3
Firing
This chapter is the whole procedure for attacking with a vehicle weapon. Where a Universe has its own ship combat rules, those govern.
The Attack
Who fires. A gunner fires one weapon, or one twin or quad fitting, with an action. A pilot may fire Fixed weapons with an action. Each weapon fires once in a round.
Skill. Ranged. A Universe with a Gunnery skill uses Gunnery.
Difficulty is set by range.
| Range | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Engaged | Easy |
| Short, Medium | Average |
| Long | Hard |
| Extreme | Severe |
Scale. As the core rules say: attacking a target 2 or more Scale smaller adds Bane Dice equal to the difference, and attacking one 2 or more Scale larger removes that many Bane Dice. The attacker's Scale is that of the firing vehicle.
Defense. The target's Defense adds Bane Dice. A screen adds its own Bane Dice against the types it names.
Arc. The target must be in the weapon's arc.
Damage
On a hit, work in this order.
- Total. Hull damage is the listed number plus 1 for each uncancelled Success. A weapon that deals only System Damage adds the Successes to that.
- Screens. Subtract a screen's Damage Reduction if it names the weapon's type.
- Armor. Subtract the target's Armor, less the weapon's Pierce. Armor does not reduce System Damage.
- Apply. What is left is Hull Damage. System Damage is applied in full.
A vehicle is disabled when its Hull Damage reaches its Hull Points, and loses control when its System Damage reaches its System Points, as in the core rules.
Critical Hits
Spend net Boons equal to the weapon's Crit, or a Breakthrough, to inflict a Critical Hit on a target that suffered at least 1 Hull or System Damage from the attack. Roll on the Critical Hit table in the core rules, adding 10 for each Critical Hit the target already has.
A hit on a vehicle that is already disabled inflicts a Critical Hit automatically.
Spending Results
| Result | The gunner may |
|---|---|
| 1 Boon | Add 1 Boon Die to the next attack on the same target by any weapon on this vehicle |
| 2 Boons | Trigger Linked or Auto-Fire for one more hit; trigger Blast or Scorch; ready a Slow-Firing weapon at once |
| Boons equal to Crit | Inflict a Critical Hit |
| Breakthrough | Inflict a Critical Hit, or choose which system a Critical Hit strikes |
| 2 Bane (GM spends) | The weapon makes 1 extra Heat, or the firing vehicle's next attack adds 1 Bane Die |
| Calamity (GM spends) | The weapon jams, overheats, or runs dry: it cannot fire until a crew member spends an action on it |
Missiles and Torpedoes
Lock-On. A weapon with this quality needs a lock before it fires. Taking a lock is a maneuver by the gunner or a sensor operator. It is automatic against a target with no countermeasures. Otherwise it is an Average Ranged check, with Bane Dice from the target's countermeasures. A lock is lost when the target changes range band or leaves line of sight.
Interceptable. After the attack hits and before damage, the target may use point defence or countermeasures against it.
Tracking. Ordnance that misses comes round again. At the end of the next round, make the attack once more with the same pool, at 1 less damage. It then burns out.
Salvo X. The launcher fires up to X missiles at one target on one lock. Roll a separate attack for each.
Point Defence
A weapon with Point Defense X may be fired as a reaction, once in a round, when an Interceptable attack hits its own vehicle or another within Short range.
| Incoming | Result |
|---|---|
| Rockets, missiles, drones, pods | The weapon destroys up to X of them with no check |
| Torpedoes | Each needs an Average Ranged check by the gunner. On a success it is destroyed |
| Capital torpedoes | As torpedoes, at Hard difficulty |
A reaction makes the weapon's Heat. A weapon fired as a reaction may still fire as an action in the same round.
A dedicated point-defence suite from Chapter 14 has its own rating and needs no gunner.
Ammunition and Reloading
Limited Ammo X is the number of shots in the weapon's magazine or on its rails.
A weapon with an internal magazine is reloaded from the ship's stores by a crew member with an action. External racks, pods, and bomb bays are reloaded in port, or by a crew member in a suit taking ten minutes.
Slow-Firing X is the time to cycle a heavy weapon. A crew member's Reload action removes one round of it.
| Mount | A full reload weighs | A full reload of shells costs |
|---|---|---|
| Light | 5 Encumbrance | 5% of the weapon's price |
| Standard | 20 Encumbrance | 5% of the weapon's price |
| Heavy | 50 Encumbrance | 5% of the weapon's price |
| Capital | 200 Encumbrance | 10% of the weapon's price |
Missiles, torpedoes, bombs, and mines are priced by the round in Chapter 8.
Batteries
Weapons of one kind in one arc may fire together as a battery on one officer's command. The officer makes one attack check, with Gunnery or Leadership.
| Weapons in the battery | The attack gains |
|---|---|
| 2 or 3 | Linked 1 |
| 4 to 7 | Linked 2 |
| 8 to 15 | Linked 3 |
| 16 to 31 | Linked 4 |
| 32 or more | Linked 5 |
Each hit is reduced by screens and Armor separately. A battery makes the Heat of one weapon for each hit it scores, and draws the Power of one weapon for each step of Linked, plus one. This is how a capital ship with forty guns is run at the table.
Massed Fire
Small ships hurt a large one by attacking together.
When two or more vehicles attack the same target of larger Scale in one round, each attacker after the first adds 1 Boon Die to its attack, to a maximum of 3.
A corvette's Heavy weapons get through a battleship's Armor a few points at a time, and its torpedoes do better. Four corvettes working together are a real threat to a capital ship, and the capital ship's main battery will disable one of them with most hits. A fighter's Light weapons do nothing to a capital hull: fighters carry torpedoes for that, or they go after its turrets and sensors with Precision.
An Example
Ilse, gunner on a Scale 3 patrol boat, fires a Railgun Battery (5 Hull, Crit 3, Pierce 1) at a Scale 4 freighter at Long range. The difficulty is Hard. The freighter is one Scale larger, which is not enough to change the dice. It has Defense 0 and Armor 2.
She rolls 2 net Successes and 3 Boons. Hull damage is 5 plus 2, which is 7. The freighter has a deflection screen, which does nothing against a Ballistic weapon. Armor 2 less Pierce 1 stops 1. The freighter suffers 6 Hull Damage. She spends the 3 Boons on a Critical Hit.