The astrogation roll in the game??

[worfbacca]

I'm just wondering if the characters have to make the astrogation roll before the countdown is complete or after? If it's before ..then they know they failed their hyperspace roll (Kinda crappy) if after..its alot more..story driven! Just wondering what u dudes think.
Sam

"You do realize that my gun is bigger than yours."

[Loc Taal]

What we've done in the past is have the GM roll the character's skill in secret. This way the character doesn't know if his roll failed or succeeded until they see the outcome. We've done the same for other skill rolls as well. One other example is demolitions. If a character wants to set some explosives to go off at a certain time, the GM will roll their demolitions skill in secret. This way the character doesn't know if his attempt failed or succeeded until the bomb does or doesn't go off (or goes off at the wrong time, or whatever). This can be a good thing, because the character isn't really sure if he succeeded or not (he thinks he succeeded, but doesn't really know for sure). One drawback of this is that characters may want to use character points to boost their total if they roll bad.
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"Mind what you have learned. Save you it can." --Yoda

The original RANCOR PIT archive

[Rathe Ehtar]

In the past, astrogation was a big thing. The most used adventure hook.
"You appear in a part of space you've never seen before. A planet is just coming into view..."
Cool huh, well for a while now, astrogation has been a trivial matter. "Make your roll."
"I got 28, again. Did we make it?"
It's hard to miss a moderate or even a difficult astro roll with 6D+2.
So, when things weren't life threating, I'd say, "and you blast off into hyperspace. Do you want to do anything while you're in hyperspace? No, okay. You arrive 2 weeks latter..."
Now, with my new adventure on the horizon, astrogation may become a crucial skill to my players...
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"I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings." -Max Payne

"I don't buy that cluck like a dog, bark like a chicken stuff." -Col. Jack O'Neill

[Esoomian]

It's so hard to concentrate on your astrogation with those thrice cursed Ssi-ruuk battledroids boarding your ship and tearing up the place

[Rathe Ehtar]

Astrogation is a tough skill when you consider other skills like blaster, dodge, and the piloting skills. It is, however, worth putting some training time in, because a failed roll when things are hot can only make the situation worse.
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"I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings." -Max Payne

"I don't buy that cluck like a dog, bark like a chicken stuff." -Col. Jack O'Neill

[Urhart the Fallen Angel]

Much worse! I oce had a situation where I missed my roll and got boarded by 100 stormtroopers (luckily I had all my allies with me, some drone guns, and an E-Web.).
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'God gave you grace to purge this place
And peace all around may be your fortune
Oh oh children of the land
Love is still the answer take my hand
The vision fades a voice I hear
Listen to the madman!'

[Rathe Ehtar]

I hope you survived.
Hasty calculations and the good'ol 1 on the wild die can really mess up your day.
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"I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings." -Max Payne

"I don't buy that cluck like a dog, bark like a chicken stuff." -Col. Jack O'Neill

[Esoomian]

Yes, as none of the players in our group have the astrogation skill we rely very heavily on the astromech, it failed once.

Fortunately it failed so badly that we didn't even get into hyperspace. Otherwise we may very well have gone on a long journey and ended up at the other end with no fuel and no idea where we were.

Great lead in for a new adventure but not so great in the middle of an important mission.

[Tybalt]

i agree, i think we should think of some way to better integrate astrogation into the game. any suggestions?
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"Without the risk of failure, there is no hope of glory"

[Esoomian]

Our MOG allows us to make jumps we've made before automatically as all the data is already stored in our Nav computer.

This is good because when you meet an allied ship you can exchange nav computer data thus giving you a greater range of 'auto jumps'

However if someone has done something like dragged a bunch of asteroids into the path of a frequently used hyperspace route their gravity will pull you out of hyperspace just like an interdictor cruser.

And yes that has happened to us. It was a very good ambush

[Rathe Ehtar]

Astrogation in hyperspace is a complicated matter mathmatically. You have to calculate your current position on a 3d axis, then calculate where you are going. Stargate defined it very well in my opinion. Now, sullustians are great navigators. You might consider having one on your crew.
Astrogation can be a big part of the game if you are scouting new trade routes, or plotting your own secret routes for rebel operatives. Navigating through a strange and dangerous Expanse is another good place for astrogation.
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"I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings." -Max Payne

"I don't buy that cluck like a dog, bark like a chicken stuff." -Col. Jack O'Neill

[Esoomian]

That's why if you're making the jump based on nav computer data then you have to jump from exactly the same point you jumped to before but if you are making an astrogation roll you have a little more flexibilty.

In combat that means you can try and concentrate on the calculations and possibly jump from the location you are already in, or you can use nav computer data (if you'd already jumped from this system) and try to make it to the exit point before the enemy can take you down.

With only the astromech to make the rolls we use the Nav computer a lot... I hope that nnever goes down

[Rathe Ehtar]

Your group's characters should start improving astrogation. Just in case the nav computer and the droid breaks down. Still, I doubt navigating hyperspace can be done easily or at all with the nav com down. Difficulty very difficult with archaic navigational tools.
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"I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings." -Max Payne

"I don't buy that cluck like a dog, bark like a chicken stuff." -Col. Jack O'Neill

[Esoomian]

There is a lot of things we need to improve.

All of the characters are fairly recently created (6 to 8 game sessions old)

[Tybalt]

i agree, sullsustans make great piolots, try to hire one for your next mission, and i bet he'll be worth the cash. you never know what your gamemaster is gonna do.
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"Without the risk of failure, there is no hope of glory"