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Chapter 4: Running Starship Campaigns / Building Starship-scale Creatures / Step 5: Special Abilities

Standard Special Abilities

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 128
In most cases, starship-scale creatures should have no more than three standard special abilities, including those gained from the creature’s type but not including those listed above as free special abilities. Unless otherwise noted, you can select an ability more than once. You can also come up with your own special abilities, but be careful using any that significantly adjust its combat statistics or abilities, as this might make your creature too easy or too challenging to defeat in combat.

Agile Flying: The creature gains a +2 bonus to its Piloting checks.

Biological Redundancy: The creature ignores the first critical damage effect it would take each combat.

Crystalline: The creature’s crystalline body refracts light. It takes half damage from weapons with the word “laser” in their names.

Cunning Predator: Once every 1d4 rounds, the creature can attempt the target system science officer action using a skill bonus equal to its good skill bonus.

Death Throes: When the creature reaches 0 Hull Points, it perishes violently. This functions as a self-destruct system but can’t deal more than the creature’s maximum high weapon damage from Table 4-1: Starship Creature Array.

EMP Resistance: The creature gains a +4 circumstance bonus to AC and TL against weapons with the EMP property.

Fearsome: Once every 1d4 rounds, the creature can attempt the taunt captain crew action using its good skill bonus.

Graviton Resistance: The creature gains a +4 circumstance bonus to AC against weapons with the tractor beam special property. It also gains a +5 circumstance bonus to Piloting checks it attempts to escape a tractor beam.

Improved AC: The creature gains +1 AC.

Improved Hull: The creature has additional Hull Points equal to 5 × its tier.

Improved Shields: The creature has additional Shield Points equal to 5 × its tier.

Improved Speed: The creature gains +2 speed.

Improved TL: The creature gains +2 TL. This special ability can be selected only once.

No Shields: The creature has no Shield Points and has additional Hull Points equal to one-quarter the Shield Points appropriate for a starship creature of its tier.

Realign Energy: Once every 1d4 rounds, the creature can attempt the balance science officer crew action using its good skill bonus.

Regeneration: The creature automatically regains a number of Hull Points equal to its tier at the start of each engineering phase, up to its maximum number of Hull Points.

Speed Burst: Once every 1d4 rounds, the creature can increase its speed by 4 for 1 round during the Engineering phase.

Teleportation: On its turn during the helm phase, in lieu of its standard movement, the creature can select an empty space within 5 hexes and teleport to that space with a facing of its choice. Once it uses this ability, it can’t use it again for 1d4 rounds.

Titanic Slam: Once every 1d4 rounds, the creature can make an attack that deals damage on a hit equal to 1-1/2 × its high weapon damage to a ship that is adjacent and in its forward arc.

Archives of Nethys

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Standard Special Abilities