The Hidden Truth

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Player > Starships > Role > Science Officer

Science Officer

You use the starship’s computers, scanners, and other systems to identify threats, target foes, and navigate hazards. A starship can have any number of science officers. A science officer acts during the helm phase of combat.

Science Officer Actions

As a science officer, you can take any of the following actions, depending on your ranks in the Computers skill. These actions can be taken only during the helm phase.

Activate ECM Module (Gunnery Phase)

You can activate one of your starship’s ECM modules. If you use an ECM module mounted on a turret, you can target a ship in any arc.
Critical: Your powerful ECM module disrupts enemy targeting computers. Gunners aboard the target starship also take a –2 penalty to gunnery checks during this round.

Balance (Helm Phase)

You can balance the shields, redirecting power from one quadrant to protect another. With a successful Computers check (DC = 10 + 1-1/2 × your starship’s tier), you can shift Shield Points (SP) from the shield in one quadrant to the shield in another quadrant, including to depleted shields (after rebalancing, every shield must have at least 10% of the total current SP). Alternatively, you can add up the SP from all the remaining shields and evenly distribute them to all four quadrants, putting any excess SP in the forward quadrant.
Critical: While rebalancing the shields, you discover latent power in the shield systems. Before redistributing the Shield Points, you increase the total Shield Points by 5% of the starship’s PCU rating, up to the shields’ maximum value.

Rapid Jam (Gunnery Phase, Push)

You can activate any two of your starship’s ECM modules, regardless of their arc. Each check attempted with these modules this round takes a –4 penalty.
Critical: Your powerful ECM module disrupts enemy targeting computers. Gunners aboard the target starship also take a –2 penalty to gunnery checks during this round.

Recall Beacon (Helm Phase)

You configure your starship’s coordinates to one of your starship’s active warp pucks. If you succeed at a Computers check (DC = 15 + 1-1/2 × your starship’s tier) before your starship’s movement for the round, your starship instantly moves to the warp puck’s hex while maintaining its facing. For every 5 by which you exceed the check, you can either increase your starship’s size modifier by 1 for the purpose of determining the maximum distance your starship can teleport to the puck, or you can turn your starship once. If you attempt to teleport your starship to a warp puck that is beyond the module’s maximum range, your starship does not move and the puck is destroyed.
Critical: You coordinate your starship’s teleportation flawlessly. Upon moving to the warp puck’s hex, your starship can turn to face any direction before starting to move.

Scan (Helm Phase)

You can scan a starship with your sensors to learn information about it. This action requires your starship to have sensors (see page 300). You must attempt a Computers check, applying any modifiers from the starship’s sensors. You can attempt this check untrained. The DC for this check is equal to 5 + 1-1/2 × the tier of the starship being scanned + its bonus from defensive countermeasures (see page 298). If you succeed at this check, you learn the first unknown piece of information on the following list. For every 5 by which you exceed the check, you learn another unknown piece of information. Subsequent checks reveal new pieces of information, continuing down this list.

Critical: Your insightful scans reveal a weakness in a random quadrant of the targeted starship. The next time one of your starship’s weapons deals damage to the targeted starship’s Hull Points, it has a 25% chance to also deal critical damage to a random system.

Target System (Helm Phase, Push)

You can use your starship’s sensors to target a specific system on an enemy starship. This action requires your starship to have sensors. You must attempt a Computers check, applying any modifiers from the starship’s sensors. The DC equals 5 + 1-1/2 × the tier of the enemy starship + its bonus from defensive countermeasures (see page 298). If you succeed, choose one system (core, engines, life support, sensors, or weapons). The next attack made by your starship that hits the enemy ship scores a critical hit on a natural roll of 19 or 20. If that attack deals critical damage, it affects the chosen system. For any further critical damage resulting from the attack, determine which system is affected randomly as normal. Your starship’s sensors can target only one system on a specific enemy starship at a time, though this action can be used to concurrently target systems on multiple starships.
Critical: Your sensors keep a continuous lock on the enemy starship. The effects of target system last until the start of the next round.

Insidious Electronics (Gunnery Phase, Push)

At 6th level, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to activate any one of your ECM modules that targets a starship. If you succeed, you gain the benefits of either the scan (one piece of information) or target system science officer action, in addition to the effects of the ECM module.
Critical: Your electronic attack triggers devastating side effects on the target starship. You also gain the critical effect of either the activate ECM, scan, or target system science officer action (your choice).

Lock On (Helm Phase, Push)

If you have at least 6 ranks in Computers, you can lock your starship’s targeting system on to one enemy vessel. You must spend 1 Resolve Point and attempt a Computers check. The DC equals 5 + 1-1/2 × the tier of the target starship + its bonus from defensive countermeasures (see page 298). If you succeed, your starship’s gunners gain a +2 bonus to gunnery checks against the target for the rest of the round. This action can be taken only once per round.
Critical: Your weapon lock greatly improves your gunners’ accuracy. Until the start of the next round, any attacks by your starship score a critical hit on a natural roll of 19 or 20.

Improve Countermeasures (Helm Phase)

If you have at least 12 ranks in Computers, you can try to foil enemy targeting arrays and incoming projectiles by spending 1 Resolve Point and attempting a Computers check. The DC equals 5 + 1-1/2 × the tier of the target starship + its bonus from defensive countermeasures (see page 298). If you’re successful, gunners aboard the target starship roll twice and take the worse result for gunnery checks during this round (including checks for tracking weapons).
Critical: Your powerful countermeasures send false signals to the enemy targeting systems. Gunners aboard the target starship also take a –2 penalty to gunnery checks during this round.

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