New Starship Damage Chart

[CRMcNeill]

Revised Starship Damage Chart (use chart from rulebook, page 128, except as noted):

Shields Weakened (replaces Shields Blown). The ship loses 1D from its Shields total for the remainder of this round and all of the next round. If the ship has no dice remaining in shields (or no shield to begin with), the ship suffers the Controls Ionized result. In the event of multiple Shields Weakened results, the shields regain strength at a rate of 1D per round.

Controls Ionized. No Change.

Lightly Damaged.
1. No Change.
2. Sensors Damaged. Re-roll 1D:

1-3. Sensor Suite Damaged. -1D to all Sensor and Astrogation rolls.
4-6. Fire Control Damaged. -1D to all Fire Control.

3. Weapons Damaged. Re-roll 1D:

1-3. One on-board weapon emplacement is rendered inoperative by a major power surge or system failure; it's lightly damaged. Randomly determine which weapon is affected.
4-6. One on-board weapon emplacement is hit and destroyed; the gunners take damage (see "Passenger Damage".) Randomly determine which weapon is affected.

4. No Change
5. Shields Blown. The ship loses 1D from its Shields total, which lasts until the shields are repaired. If the ship has no remaining dice in Shields, it suffers the Controls Ionized result.
6. No Change.

Heavily Damaged.
1. No Change.
2. Sensors Badly Damaged. Re-roll 1D:

1-3. Sensor Suite Damaged. -2D to all Sensor and Astrogation rolls.
4-6. Fire Control Damaged. -2D to all Fire Control

3. Weapons Badly Damaged. Re-Roll 1D:

1-3. All weapons of one type in one fire arc are rendered inoperative due to a major power surge or system failure, and must be repaired before they can be used again.
4-6. All weapons of one type in one fire arc are destroyed by a series of power overloads. The gunners take damage (see "Passenger Damage".) Randomly determine which weapon is affected.

4-6. No Change.

Severely Damaged.
1-5. No Change.
6. Sensors Destroyed. All Sensors are rendered inoperable. Fire Control is reduced by -4D, and Piloting and Astrogation suffer a -4D penalty due to the loss of all sensor support for navigation purposes.

Destroyed. - No Change.


Passenger Damage. While the existing rules for passenger damage work fine for small ships (those with a half-dozen crew or fewer), they don't represent the effects of damage on ships with larger crews (in the hundreds or thousands range). Rather than rolling damage against each individual crewman, apply the damage value as a penalty to the ship's Crew Skill dice levels. This represents how crew casualties affect the crew's ability as a whole to operate the ship.

Lightly Damaged - -1D for 1 round.
Heavily Damaged - -3D for 1 round, -2D for remainder of battle, -1D until crew casualties can be replaced.
Severely Damaged - -6D for 1 round, -4D for remainder of battle, -2D until crew casualties can be replaced.
Destroyed - All crew killed. The only exceptions will be PCs or notable NPCs who managed to make it to escape pods with seconds to spare.

The reasoning behind these changes, in general are:

Shields Weakened - There are multiple instances in the EU of shields taking enough damage to be temporarily drained of power, yet still being able to regenerate to full strength after a round or two. Seeing as how Controls Ionized is a temporary result, and that Shields Blown was basically identical to the Shields result on the Lightly Damaged sub-chart, I decided to institute this change.

Sensor Damage (All Levels) - Sensors are a critical component of a starship, yet there is no mechanic for them being damaged or destroyed. Seeing as how there were two Weapon results on the Lightly Damaged and Heavily Damaged charts, I decided to consolidate them under a single result, and use the resulting open slot to allow the ship's sensors and fire control to be damaged.

Sensor Damage (Severely Damaged) - On the standard chart, #6 for Severely Damaged is the same as a Destroyed result, which seems rather unfair. As such, I replaced it with a catastrophic sensor damage result.

Passenger Damage - This has been discussed on several occasions here on the Pit, but every method I have seen ends up being too crunchy. Applying dice penalties to represent crew casualties inflicted on larger vessels is not 100% realistic, but it works well for resolving a battle scene against a capital ship (which does, on occasion, happen in the SWU).

Thoughts?
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Savar]

I like the sensors and crew stuff.

Shields i need to think about.

At what point should switch from RAW to your house rule for crew damage?

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

[Savar]

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

So, I've been thinking about this again...

On the RAW damage chart for Severely Damaged, two of the results ultimately elevate to Destroyed (either right away on a 6, or in 1D rounds on a 5). I've already suggested an alternative here by converting the 6 result into catastrophic sensor damage. However, I think I'd like to take it a step further and suggest the following changes:

Severely Damaged.
5 - Controls Damaged / Bridge Smashed. The ship's control systems are badly damaged. -3D to all skill rolls. For starfighters and space transports, the ship's control linkages and computer systems have been damaged; for capital ships, the ship's bridge or other central command station has taken a direct hit, killing or injuring many of the ship's senior officers

Catastrophic Damage. (Replaces Destroyed)
1-3 - Structural Damage. The ship is so badly damaged that it begins to come apart. The crew has 1D rounds to abandon ship before it is destroyed.

4-5 - Blazing Hulk. The ship is badly damaged and fire rages inside. Roll 1D every round; on a 1, the ship explodes.

6 - Destroyed. The ship instantly explodes in a ball of flame, and all aboard are killed.


My thinking here is to make a more definitive division between Severely Damaged and Destroyed by moving the results which specify the destruction of the ship into a separate category from Severely Damaged.

Changing Destroyed to Catastrophic Damage is intended primarily for PC ships, with the Destroyed result from the RAW being reserved for NPC vessels. The idea here is to give the PCs a chance of survival on a Destroyed result, as opposed to outright destruction.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Naaman]

I'm having a hard time deciding whether Blazing Hulk or Structural Damage is a worse result.

Perhaps structural damage ought to be 1D minutes instead of rounds 1D rounds?

[garhkal]

I like it.. Though on your "Blazing hulk" roll.. what would the damage be to those inside?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

Oh, now I get it 8)

[garhkal]

So only PC used ships would get this revised damage chart, all else would use the regular one?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!