Starship Combat - Action DCs
Combat Rounds
Each round of starship combat is divided up into the three following phases, resolved in order. Each character onboard a starship typically acts in only one of these phases, depending on her role on the starship. The captain can act in any phase. Full rules for starship combat begin on page 317 of the Starfinder CRB (Core Rulebook).
- Engineering: The engineers can repair the starship’s systems or give one or more systems a boost. These actions occur simultaneously, so they can be resolved in any order.
- Helm: Each starship’s pilot attempts a Piloting check. The pilot with the lowest result acts first to move his starship and perform stunts, followed by the next lowest, and so on, until all starships have moved. Also during this phase, each of the science officers act at the same point in the phase as her starship’s pilot, but they can decide between them who acts first.
- Gunnery: The gunners can fire their starships’ weapons. Although starships fire in the same order decided upon in the helm phase, the effects of damage are not taken into account until the end of the phase, meaning that all starships can fire, even if they take enough damage to be disabled or destroyed during this phase.
Starship Roles
Captain
You can take any of the following actions during any phase of combat.
- Demand: Intimidate, DC = 15 + 3/2 × your starship’s tier
- Encourage: same skill, DC = 10 or Diplomacy, DC = 15
- Taunt (Push, communications): Bluff or Intimidate, DC = 15 + 3/2 × the enemy starship’s tier
Engineer
You can take any of the following actions during the Engineering phase. Roll an Engineering check.
- Divert: DC = 10 + 3/2 × your starship's tier.
- Hold It Together: DC = 15 + 3/2 × your starship's tier.
- Patch: ...
| Stunt | actions | Engineering Check |
|---|---|---|
| Glitching | 1 | DC = 10 + 3/2 × your starship tier |
| Malfunctioning | 2 | DC = 15 + 3/2 × your starship tier |
| Wrecked | 3 | DC = 20 + 3/2 × your starship tier |
Gunner
Each of a starship’s weapons can be fired only once per round, but multiple gunners can take actions to fire different weapons in a single round. Actions that allow you to fire starship weapons use the rules for attacking on page 320 of the CRB.
- Fire at Will (Push, weapons): Fire any 2 weapons with -4 penalty
- Shoot: Gunnery Check = 1d20 + BAB or ranks in the Piloting skill + DEX modifier + bonuses from ship's computer systems + bonuses from the captain and science officers + range penalty
Pilot
You can take any of the following actions during the Helm phase. Roll a Piloting check.
- Fly: You move your starship up to its speed and can make any turns allowed by its maneuverability
- Maneuver: DC = 15 + 3/2 × your starship's tier.
- Stunts: (Push, engine) ...
| Stunt | Piloting Check |
|---|---|
| Back Off | DC = 10 + 3/2 × your starship's tier |
| Barrel Roll | DC = 10 + 3/2 × your starship's tier |
| Evade | DC = 10 + 3/2 × your starship's tier |
| Flip And Burn | DC = 15 + 3/2 × your starship's tier |
| Flyby | DC = 15 + 3/2 × your starship's tier |
| Slide | DC = 10 + 3/2 × your starship's tier |
| Turn In Place | no skill check |
Science Officer
You can take any of the following actions during the Helm phase. Roll a Computers check.
- Balance: DC = 10 + 3/2 times your starship's tier.
- Scan: DC = 5 + 3/2 times the tier of the starship being scanned + its bonus from defensive countermeasures.
- Target System: (Push, sensors) DC = 5 + 3/2 times the tier of the starship being scanned + its bonus from defensive countermeasures.
Minor Crew Actions
You can take a minor crew action regardless of your current role, but only if no other action was performed this round for the role associated with that minor crew action. A minor crew action can be performed only once per round and doesn’t count as your action.
Glide (Helm Phase, Minor)
You move the starship at half its normal speed. The starship can take turns during this movement, but the starship’s distance between turns increases by 2. You can add your ranks in the Piloting skill to the starship’s AC and TL for this round. You can only take this action if no other pilot actions have been taken during the helm phase (including glide).
Snap Shot (Gunnery Phase, Minor)
You can fire one of your starship’s weapons with a –2 penalty to the gunnery check. You can take this action only if no other gunner actions have been taken during the gunnery phase (including snapshot).