Beginner Box Starship Combat Rules

by Ian

In order to simplify the beginner box rules, Paizo made the choice to cut out starship combat.
This choice makes sense given the constraints they had, but flying starships is a lot of fun!
These rules are an attempt at creating a simplified combat system for starships that can
supplement the Beginner Box content, or replace starship battles in the full rules version of the
game if your players find it tedious. This document is intended to be mostly self-contained, so
you should not need to refer to the Core Rulebook for anything during combat, only to convert
starship stat blocks beforehand. The last page of the document includes a blank starship
character sheet.

As these rules are primarily intended to be used by beginner players, and as such they are
designed with ships in the Tiny - Medium size categories in mind. They may work for larger
ships as well, just keep in mind they haven’t been designed with them in mind and may be
unbalanced.

You may notice that there’s no information on Drift travel in these rules. For now, I considered it
outside the scope of combat rules, but may add something on it in a future revision.
Crew
A ship’s crew is as important as the ship itself. A top of the line interceptor flown by a cocky
teenager will lose to an old hunk of junk flown by a veteran pilot every time. During starship
combat, each player takes on a role which allows them to contribute in some way to the combat.
Not all roles need to be filled at all times, and some roles can have multiple players occupy
them at a time. All ships do have a maximum number of crew members, however, which limits
the total number of players who can take active roles in combat in each turn.

Crew Roles
1. Captain (maximum 1 per ship)
The captain is the leader of the ship, and as such there can only be one. The captain
can act in any phase of combat, and is responsible for inspiring their crew, and using
their ship’s communication system to taunt their enemies. The primary skills used by the
captain are Culture and Interaction.

2. Pilot (maximum 1 per ship)

The pilot is in charge of flying the ship, and acts during the helm phase. They are
responsible for determining the order in which the ships act (initiative) and moving and
positioning the ship during combat. There can only be one pilot per ship. The primary
skills used by the pilot are Athletics and Perception.

3. Gunner (maximum 1 per weapon)

The gunners are in charge of firing the ship’s weapons. There can be one gunner per
weapon system on the ship, keeping in mind the maximum crew limit for the ship
(detailed under Ships). The gunner’s role doesn’t involve using skills, instead it involves
making attacks using a character’s Small Arm or Longarm skill bonus. When a character
takes on the Gunner role, they are not locked in to firing a specific weapon. They choose
a weapon to fire during each gunnery phase.

4. Engineer
The ship’s engineers are responsible for managing the ship’s functions, repairing
damaged equipment, and scanning enemy ships. There can be as many engineers as
there are maximum crew members on a ship (see Ships). The primary skills used by the
engineer are Science and Technology.
Starships
Starships are an important part of many science-fiction and science-fantasy stories. To use
starships that have been published for use with the core rules with these rules, they must be
converted.

Converting Starships
To convert a ship in published materials (such as the Core Rulebook), transcribe the following
items from the stat blocks in the book. Write down each of the following stats on the provided
starship character sheet.

1. Speed
2. Maneuverability
3. AC
4. HP -> Max HP
5. Shields -> Max SP

Record each weapon along with its range, damage dice, and the arc it's located in. You may
have to look the weapon up in the Core Rulebook to find its range. For any weapon with a range
listed as Medium, list it as Short instead.

6. Weapons (including range and damage dice)

a. Forward
b. Aft
c. Port
d. Starboard
e. Turret

Large starships will often have many people who run them, doing various jobs. To simplify
starship combat, only the officers are considered crew members for the purposes of determining
how many actions can be taken and how many roles can be filled. To determine a ship’s
maximum crewmembers, look at the “Crew” section of the stat block, and add up the total
number of listed crew positions. If officers and crew are listed separately, only count the officers
(also include the captain). The total number counted is the maximum number of crewmember
roles that can be actively filled.

7. Total counted -> Max Crewmembers

Calculate the Ship DC using the formula below. This is the DC that needs to be met when crew
actions are taken.

8. Ship Tier x 2 (Round Down) -> Ship DC

For a starship operated by players, this is it! The stat block is complete. For an NPC ship,
skill modifiers also need to be established. The following skills are used during starship combat,
and so must be generated based on the crew bonuses in a standard stat block:

9. Translate Skill Bonuses

- Athletics
- Equal to the Pilot's Piloting skill bonus
- Culture
- Equal to the Captain's Intimidate or Bluff skill bonus, whichever is higher
- Interaction
- Equal to the Captain's Diplomacy skill bonus
- Perception
- Equal to the Pilot's Piloting skill bonus
- Science
- Equal to the Science Officer's Computers skill bonus
- Small Arm/Longarm
- Equal to the Gunner's gunnery bonus
- Technology
- Equal to the Engineer's Engineering skill bonus

If a ship doesn’t have a role or doesn’t have one of the above skills listed under the role, it has a
+0 to those skills.

If a ship only has a single crew role listed (such as a single seat fighter), calculate the various
skill bonus using any skill bonuses listed for that role.

For example, the Idaran Voidrunner listed on Core Rules pg. 309 only lists a Pilot with
Computers +7, gunnery +5, and Piloting +11. For this ship the Athletics and Perception would
be equal to +11, as normal, but Science would be equal to +7 and Small Arm/Longarm would be
equal to +5. All other skills (Culture, Interaction, and Technology) would have a +0 bonus. The
single crewmember could still switch into the Captain’s role if they wanted to, but all Culture and
Interaction checks would have a +0 bonus.

Starship Movement
A starship’s movement is determined by its speed and maneuverability. Speed is the number of
hexes a pilot can move the ship when they take the Move action (or another helm action that
allows movement). Movement must take place in a straight line, in the direction the ship is
facing. A ship can change direction one increment at a time, and only after moving a number of
hexes equal to the ship's Maneuverability. Rotation does not cost movement. A starship with
perfect (0) maneuverability can therefore move in any direction when moving, and end its
movement facing any direction.
An example of starship movement is shown below. The example ship has a Maneuverability of
Good (2) and a Speed of 5. It moves forward 2 spaces, then turns once, moves forward 2 more
spaces, turns again, and then moves its final space

Weapons and Firing Arcs

A starship’s weapons are mounted on either one of the four sides of the starship (forward, aft,
port, starboard) or on a turret. Weapons mounted on a turret can fire in any direction, while all
other weapons are considered fixed and can only fire within the arc they are directed toward. To
figure out what constitutes an arc, draw diagonal lines from the front and aft edges of a
starship's square to form two cones, as in the image below (gray). Any hex on the interior of a
cone or that a line passes through is part of the forward or aft arc (gray). Any other hex is part of
the port or starboard arc (purple).

Starship weapons are limited in range, and firing them at too far of a distance will cause a
gunner to incur penalties. There are two ranges in this version of starship combat, short and
long. Short range is any tile up to 4 hexes away from a ship (dark colored hexes), while long
range is any tile up to 8 hexes away (light colored hexes). Weapons cannot be fired at ships
more than 8 hexes away (white hexes). Each weapon also has a range associated with it: short
or long. A short range weapon takes a -4 penalty to hit when fired at a ship at long range, while
a long range weapon takes no penalty. Both are still limited to a maximum 8 hex range.

Weapon Firing Arcs & Ranges Starship Movement

Repairing Damage
If a starship becomes damaged, generally its Hull Points cannot be repaired during combat.
Outside of combat, Hull Points can be repaired at cost of 10 credits & 2 man-hours per Hull
Point. You can only repair at a rate allowed by the number of players filling the Engineer role(s).
Combat
This section details combat and the actions that can be taken during it, as well as the order in
which those actions take place. Though it is beneficial to have read the Starfinder starship
combat rules before this document, it should not be necessary. Unlike player character combat,
a round of starship combat doesn’t have a clearly defined amount of time that it takes place
during. Rounds are broken up into phases, where each combatant takes appropriate actions
during each phase.

Listed under each phase are the actions that can be taken by crew members during that phase.
Only one action can be taken by a crew member during each phase, with the exception of the
Glide and Snap Shot actions under certain circumstances.

Some actions require a skill check to complete. For actions that concern the player’s ship (such
as rerouting power), the check is against the Ship DC. For actions that concern an enemy ship
(such as taunting or scanning), the check is against the Enemy Ship DC. Round down if the DC
is not an integer.

Ship DC = 15 + (2 x the tier of your ship)

Enemy Ship DC = 15 + (2 x the tier of the enemy ship)

OR
Enemy Ship DC = 15 + (2 x the median tier of the enemy ships)

If you are the GM and you are making a skill check for an enemy ship to take an action, use the
skill modifiers listed on the ship’s statblock (after conversion). Player Characters should use
their own skill modifiers.

Combat Phases
Starship combat works differently than person-to-person combat in Starfinder, following phases
rather than a normal initiative order. The phases of combat are below, and listed in order. All
ships act during each phase, with all actions taken during the phase resolved at the end, with
the exception of piloting during the helm phase, which is explained further in its section.

1. Switch Roles
During the Switch Roles phase, crewmembers can exchange or trade roles based on the
situation they find themselves in. Players without a crew role can take one during this
phase, but must respect the ship’s maximum crew limit.

2. Engineering
During the Engineering phase, Engineers can each take one of the following actions.
a. Reroute Power - An engineer can make a technology check against the Ship DC
to reroute power between the ship’s engines, shields, and weapons subsystems.
If you succeed on the check, choose one of the following subsystems to
decrease and one to increase. You can increase or decrease a subsystem’s
capability a maximum of once.
i. Speed - Increase/Decrease the ship’s speed by 50% (round down, i.e. a 7
would become a 3 if decreased or a 10 if increased). You cannot
decrease the ship’s speed below 1.
ii. Maneuverability - Increase/Decrease the ship’s maneuverability by 1.
Decreasing maneuverability in this case means increasing it’s value, so
good (1) would be degraded to average (2), and vice versa. You cannot
have a maneuverability below clumsy (4) or above perfect (0).
iii. Shields - Increase/Decrease the ship’s maximum AND current SP by 5 x
the ship’s tier (round the tier up to 1 if it is less than 1). If the current SP
are less than this amount, you cannot decrease power to the ship’s
shields.
iv. Weapons - Any weapon attacks made gain a +4 bonus/-4 penalty.

b. Scan Enemy - Using your ship’s scanners, you can make a science check
against an Enemy Ship DC to discover information about that enemy ship. If you
succeed, you can choose one of the following pieces of information to learn
about it.
i. Basic Information - crew complement, ship type, size, speed, and
maneuverability
ii. Defenses - Armor Class, current Hull Points, current Shield Points
iii. Weapons - total number of weapons on the ship in each arc, details of
one weapon system of your choice
You learn everything listed under the heading when you choose something to
scan. For example, if you scan for Defenses you learn the ship’s AC, HP, and
SP simultaneously. You can scan each category more than once if you wish (to
get an update on current SP or to learn details about multiple weapons, for
example).

c. Repair Shields - Make a science or technology check (your choice) against your
Ship DC to vent heat from the shield’s power feedback loop. If the check is
successful, roll a number of d4’s equal to the ship’s tier (rounded up) and
increase the current SP by that amount. You cannot increase the ship’s SP above
the Max SP value.

d. Repair Damage - If a ship has the hampered condition due to extensive damage
(such as when it has ½ its total HP remaining), you can make a Technology
check against your Ship DC to remove the condition if you are successful. If the
ship has the impaired condition, you can make this check to reduce the condition
to hampered.
3. Helm
At the beginning of the helm phase, each ship's pilot makes an Athletics or Perception
check to determine initiative, representing anticipation of the enemy’s movement or quick
reaction to it. The pilot who rolls the lowest check takes their helm actions first, then the
pilot with the second-lowest, continuing until all ships have taken their helm action. If a
ship doesn’t have a Pilot, treat it as having rolled a 0. The pilot can choose to do one of
the following actions during the helm phase.

a. Move - move the ship at its normal speed. Rules for starship movement can be
found in the Movement section.
b. Careful Reorientation - rotate the ship 1 direction increment to port or starboard.
If you take this action you must remain stationary.
c. Evasive Maneuvers - Move the ship at half its normal speed (round down). Make
a Perception check against the Ship DC (not the Enemy Ship DC). If successful,
increase the ship’s AC by 4 - Maneuverability Rating during the next gunnery
phase. This means that for a ship with perfect maneuverability (0), AC increases
by 4. For a ship with poor maneuverability (3), AC increases by 1.
d. Flip and Burn - Move the ship at half its normal speed (round down), then make
an Athletics check against your Ship DC. If successful, reverse the direction the
ship is facing.

4. Gunnery

During the gunnery phase, a Gunner can fire one of the ship’s weapons at an enemy
located in one of the arcs. To determine a weapon's arc (forward, aft, port or starboard),
see the chart in the Ships section.

a. Fire Weapon - fire a weapon at an enemy ship in the appropriate arc. Roll using
your Small Arm or Long Arm attack bonus (your choice) against the enemy ship’s
AC, adding any bonuses or penalties due to range (see Weapons and Firing
Arcs), power management, and starship conditions. Each weapon system can
only be fired once per Gunnery phase.

Gunner’s act in the order determined by the ship’s pilots, but all damage done to ships
resolves during the Damage Resolution phase. This means that all gunners get a
chance to fire before any ships are damaged or destroyed.

5. Damage Resolution

During this phase, resolve all damage dealt by weapons to the ships involved in combat
in the order in which the weapons were fired. Damage resolves first against Shield
Points (SP) until they are depleted, then Hull Points (HP). If damage from an attack
exceeds a starship’s current SP, the remainder of the damage is dealt to the ship’s HP.
 When damage takes a ship below ½ its maximum Hull Points, the damage begins to
inhibit the effectiveness of the ship’s systems. The ship gains the hampered condition
until its Hull Points are repaired to ½ its maximum hull points or above. The hampered
condition can also be removed by an Engineer taking the Repair Damage action, though
this doesn’t restore any Hull Points.

When a ship is reduced to 0 Hull Points, it becomes disabled. Excess damage does not
roll over. It’s SP and speed are reduced to 0, it’s AC becomes 5, and it can no longer
take any actions. At this point, combat is over for the disabled ship, and it can only take
actions again once it has been repaired by its engineer(s). If a ship takes any damage
after being disabled, it is destroyed and any crew inside it are killed.

Captain Actions
A captain can act during any phase, taking one of the following actions. They can only take one
action per combat round.

a. Taunt - Using your knowledge of the enemy, you can use your ship’s
communications equipment to taunt them. You can only use this action if you
have successfully scanned the enemy ship for Basic Information (see Scan
Enemy). Make a Culture check (use the opponent’s ship’s tier for the DC
calculation). If successful, the enemy ship has the hampered condition for the
remainder of the current phase. If the ship was already hampered due to
damage, it becomes impaired instead, returning to hampered at the end of the
phase. A ship can only be taunted once per round.

b. Give Orders - You instruct a member of the crew to do a specific action. When a
crew member takes that action and makes a roll (attack or skill check), make an
Interaction check (using your ship’s tier for DC calculation). If you succeed, the
crew member gets a +2 bonus to their roll.

Starships with a Single Crewmember

If a starship only has a single crewmember, they choose one of the four roles to take on each
round, as normal. However, in addition to taking an action in the appropriate phase as they
normally would, they can choose to take one of the additional actions below during the
appropriate phase. You cannot choose Glide if you are in the Pilot role, and you cannot choose
Snap Shot if you are in the Gunner role.

a. Glide (Helm Phase) - You may move the ship at half of its normal speed.
b. Snap Shot (Gunnery Phase) - You can fire one of the ship’s weapons at an
enemy located in an appropriate arc, taking a -2 penalty to the attack roll.
 Forward Weapon Damage Range Current Maximum
- -
Shield Points
Ship Tier Ship Name/Type Armor Class - Hull Points

- Ship DC

Speed -
Port Weapon Damage Range Starboard Weapon Damage Range

Maneuverability -
Perfect (0) / Good (1) / Average (2)
Poor (3) / Clumsy (4)

Turret Weapon Damage Range

Aft Weapon Damage Range Starship Pilot

Captain
Condition
Crew Roles

Hampered
Max Crew -
NPC Ship Skill Bonuses (GM Only)
(-2)
Power Management
Skill Bonus
Speed +50% Maneuver Max & Attack Bonus
Athletics
-1 Current SP +4
Impaired
Gunners
+ 5 x Tier
Culture
(Min 5) (-4)
Interaction
Speed Maneuverability Shields Weapons
Perception Max &
Current SP
Science
Maneuver - 5 x Tier Attack Bonus Disabled
Small Arm/Longarm Speed -50% +1 (Min 5) -4 Engineers
Technology
Example of the stat sheet in use
• The next page includes an example of how to use the character sheet for a converted ship
• The ship chosen is the Ringworks Wanderer, from the Core Rulebook (the image is from a
royalty-free image site since I’m not sure I can include licensed Paizo images other than the iconic
heroes)
• Stats are filled out as listed in the Starship Combat Rules document, as are weapons

• Some pawns/coins are placed on the board indicating the following information:
• Condition Tracker
• The ship currently has the Hampered condition, perhaps as if from an enemy captain’s action
• Power Management
• The ship’s Maneuverability and Shield power are currently unchanged
• The ship’s Speed has been increased at the cost of the Weapons
• Roles
• The Captain and Pilot roles are currently filled, and two crew members are acting as Engineers
• There are no crew members in the Gunner role, so the ship cannot currently fire weapons
 Forward Weapon Damage Range Current Maximum
1/4 Ringworks Wanderer Light Laser Cannon 2d4 Short Shield Points 10 10
Ship Tier Ship Name/Type Armor Class 14 Hull Points 35 35

15 Ship DC

Speed 6
Port Weapon Damage Range Starboard Weapon Damage Range
None - - None - -

Maneuverability 0
Perfect (0) / Good (1) / Average (2)
Poor (3) / Clumsy (4)

Turret Weapon Damage Range

None - - Aft Weapon Damage Range Starship Captain Pilot
None - - Condition
Crew Roles

Hampered
Max Crew 4
NPC Ship Skill Bonuses (GM Only) Power Management
5¢
(-2)
Skill Bonus
Speed +50% Maneuver Max & Attack Bonus
Athletics + 13
2 5 ¢ -1 Current SP +4 Gunners
+ 5 x Tier Impaired
Culture +0
(Min 5) (-4)
Interaction +0
Perception + 13
Speed 5¢
Maneuverability Shields
10¢ Weapons
Max &
Current SP
Science +5
Maneuver - 5 x Tier Attack Bonus Disabled
Speed -50% (Min 5) Engineers
$1
Small Arm/Longarm +3 +1 -4

Technology +5