Using Sensors

[john brewer]

Hey all,

Is there any rule in one of the books that goes into any detail about how much information you can get about a ship using sensor tests? Or is that something I should be looking for in the "House Rules" section?

John

[Grimace]

Not so much a rule as an explanation: It can be found in the Star Wars Sourcebook. It talks about LFI (Life Form Indicators) and two or three other types of sensors. I can't remember off the top of my head, and I don't have the book in front of me right now, but I believe that all of those sensors are considered "in package" with the sensors on the ship. If you look through that book, you should be able to make your own ruling on what can and cannot be detected.

Hope this helps some.

[Hellcat]

On page 51 of the 2nd edition, revised and expanded, under the description for the Sensors skill, it says that sensors are best used as a plot device. Gm's should give the PCs just enough to tantalize them and cause them to maybe check things out. However, if you read more on the skill on pages 51 and 52, you might get a better idea. Also, try the following site and see if it helps. West End Games Stats at Free Traders Starwars RPG palace
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[Esoomian]

In game I once used my ship's sensors to scan for an object I knew was inside another ship (I'd lost it and wanted to find it). As both ships were 'parked' and friendly I didn't have to worry about the other ship detecting my focussed scan and worrying why I was scanning them.

As the item was a large calcium deposit (a tooth that was two meters long) the dificulty was set at 30

The tooth is still lost

[garhkal]

To give you an example of what you get with sensors... Here is something i had from one of my modules, IF the players used sensors on the planet, as they were coming in..

Easy or less = HOT. Little life, mostly desert.
Moderate = small pockets of mountains, a few oasis, and life is animal.
Difficult = 4 underdround rivers seem to be the supplies for most of the oasis.
V.diff = 2 of the oasis seem to have pockets of a reflective mineral, diffusing your sensor readings, but you at least are seeing them.
Heroic = it seems that both those mineral deposits are directly over cave systems...
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[KageRyu]

Also, sensors have different modes of operation that affect how you detect, reflected in the ratings:

Passive- Passive scans are basically just that your ship is sitting there and will only detect massive power readings, possible very fast objects, or energy spikes from weapons or sensor scans. For more details you need to go active (have a crewmember operate the sensors and power up).

Scan - Basically, this is an active sensor sweep. Usually it must be fixed on 1 arc, though theoretically you can divide the sensor D among multiple arcs just as with shields. Active scans can be detected by passive sensors. Scan will usually give you basic information such as, type of a craft, if there's life on a planet or not, things of that nature. With a good scan roll, you may be able to determine details about a ship, it's armament, some details of a planets surface or biosphere. Things would still be rather vague (it's heavily armed, It's got an extremely high energy output, the hull is thickened, the shields are strong, There's rivers/water/jungle/deserts below, there are various species of animal and avian life, there are cities, etc...). For more specific information you need to do a thorough search.

Search - Searching involves narrowing your sensor field to increase gathered information with a more powerful sensor sweep. Searches will grant you more specific details. A search could help you identify a specific ship, seperate the different species of animal, determine the aproximate tech levels of cities, know the basic nature of what weapons a vessel has, know it's shield strength, determine velocity of a target, roughly map a planet's terrain, layout the size and street pattern of a city, etc. Searches will register on passive sensors more often than a basic scan. Fore even more specifics, you would need to focus.

Focus - A focus scanned involves narrowing the sensor beam to a single target, or area of the target. This grants the most detailed information available. With a focused scan, you can identify life forms on a target vessel or in a target area, try to identify a specific animal or individual, get details of weapons systems or ship components, locate a reasonable sized item, map out a building in a city, etc... Focus will always register on passive sensors.

Keep in mind, these are guidelines, and situational modifiers may apply (interference, distance, speed, jamming).

Hope this helps.
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[garhkal]