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Chapter 2: Starship Combat / Squadron Combat

Squadron Options

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 54
Individual starships in squadron combat function in much the same way as in standard starship combat, though with their small crews, they’re far more reliant on minor actions like glide and snap shot (Core Rulebook 326). The small crews also encourage regularly swapping between roles based on an individual starship’s needs.

Squadron combat introduces additional options for starship captains, more pilot stunts, and starship upgrades that emphasize teamwork.

Roles

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 54
At the start of each round during a starship combat, each character declares which role they assume for their starship. The roles and their respective actions function exactly as they would on a standard starship, except each starship in the fleet can have a character in each starship role. The exception to this rule is the captain role—only one character throughout the squadron can assume the captain role, as this character counts not only as the captain of their starship, but of the entire squadron (see below). Because starships in a squadron have a limited crew size, it’s virtually impossible for every role on every starship to be occupied simultaneously, though each starship in the squadron can purchase a virtual intelligence system (page 34) to secure an additional crew member and starship actions.

Squad Captain: Thanks to the coordinated maneuvers of and close communication between squadron starships, a squadron can have only a single captain at a time, referred to as the squad captain. A squad captain can affect any of their squadron’s crew with captain actions, such as using encourage to assist another starship’s pilot.

Instead of having their own starship, a squad captain can opt to remain in the HQ during combat, taking their captain actions to coordinate the rest of the squad’s actions from afar. However, due to the HQ’s relative distance from most encounters, this limits the squad captain’s ability to take other roles during combat. On the other hand, a PC who enjoys being a full-time squad captain doesn’t necessarily need their own starship—and having a smaller squadron increases the tier of each other starship.

Stunts

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 55
In addition to the stunts on pages 319–320 of the Core Rulebook, squadron pilots can attempt the following three stunts when performing the stunt action.

Escort

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 55
Choose an allied starship. Your starship moves up to its speed and can turn as normal. If your starship occupies a hex that is adjacent to the chosen starship at the end of the helm phase, that allied starship gains a +2 circumstance bonus to its AC and TL until the start of the next round. To perform this stunt, you must succeed at a Piloting check (DC = 10 + 1-1/2 × the chosen starship’s tier). On a failed check, your starship moves as normal. If you fail the check by 5 or more, your starship moves as normal but interferes with the chosen starship’s movement; that starship takes a –2 penalty to its AC and TL until the start of the next round.

Flank

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 55
Choose an enemy starship. Your starship moves up to its speed and can turn as normal. If your starship ends the helm phase within 5 hexes of the chosen starship, the next attack against the chosen starship, made during that round and originating from an arc not occupied by your ship, gains a +2 bonus to its gunnery check. To perform this stunt, you must succeed at a Piloting check (DC = 10 + 1-1/2 × the enemy starship’s tier). If you fail this check, your starship moves as normal but does not grant the bonus to the gunnery check.

Run Interference

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 55
Choose one active tracking projectile that is moving toward (but has not yet reached) its target. Your starship moves up to its speed and can turn as normal. If it moves through a hex occupied by the projectile, the starship attempts to interfere with the projectile’s tracking system, causing it to veer off course and take a –4 penalty to its next gunnery check to continue moving toward its target. To perform this stunt, you must succeed at a Piloting check (DC = 5 + the tracking weapon’s speed + 1-1/2 × the attacking starship’s tier) with a circumstance bonus to your check equal to the bonus to TL granted by your starship’s defensive countermeasures. If you succeed by 5 or more, you cause the projectile to detonate harmlessly, destroying it. If you fail, your starship moves as normal but does not penalize the tracking weapon’s gunnery check. If you fail the check by 5 or more, the tracking projectile immediately attacks you instead; it makes a new gunnery check against your starship’s TL, dealing damage if it succeeds and veering off course to explode harmlessly if it fails.