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Rules > Starship > Critical Effects
Starfinder Starship Operations Manual p.42
Just as a gunner’s lucky shot can disable key enemy systems, the rest of the crew can also achieve heroic feats in the heat of battle. Whether it’s a captain’s demands striking just the right nerve, an engineer performing the perfect patch to keep a damaged ship together, or a pilot surpassing their starship’s design specs with an impossible maneuver, the following rules provide critical effects for any crew member who rolls a natural 20 during starship combat. More information on the chief mate, magic officer, and open crew actions can be found on page 146 of the Starfinder Character Operations Manual.
The following system for critical effects is an optional way to give any crew member the potential to achieve extraordinary results when that officer attempts a starship crew action, rolls a natural 20, and succeeds at the check. Except for minor crew actions, each of the starship crew actions benefits from this critical success in a specific way, either adding a bonus effect to the action’s typical effects or increasing the benefits provided by the successful action. Actions marked with an asterisk appear in this book.
Starfinder Starship Operations Manual p.15
Gunners can use the following new actions to deploy drones and mines.
You activate a starship weapon with the deployed special property, deploying a drone into a hex adjacent to your starship at the beginning of the next round.
You activate one of your ship’s weapons with the mine special property and place a number of mines up to the value listed with this special property. Each mine must occupy a different hex through which your starship traveled during its movement this round. Any of the listed number of mines not deployed with this action are wasted. You must use this action before the pilot begins moving the starship during the helm phase.
Science officers can use the following new actions to interact with ECM modules.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Starfinder Starship Operations Manual p.17
A starship’s pilot can perform the following stunt.
The starship increases its distance between turns by 2 (to a maximum
of 4) and moves up to its speed, but it can move through 1 hex occupied
by an enemy starship that has already moved during this helm phase. To perform
this stunt, you must first succeed at a Piloting check (DC = 15 + 1/1-2
× your starship’s tier). If you succeed, you then attempt a gunnery check
against the enemy starship’s AC upon entering that starship’s hex.
If
the gunnery check succeeds, your starship collides with the enemy starship,
dealing collision damage to each based on your starship’s speed and the
sizes of the two starships. The base collision damage equals 1d4 × half
your starship’s speed, plus an additional 1d4 damage × a value based on
your starship’s size (for the purpose of this calculation, Tiny = 1, Small
= 2, Medium = 3, etc.). The enemy starship takes the full damage to the
struck quadrant, and your starship takes half this damage to its forward
quadrant, after which your movement ends. If your starship has a ramming
weapon, add the ramming weapon’s damage to the damage to the enemy starship.
If your starship is one size category smaller than the enemy ship or larger,
you push the ship 1 hex in the direction your ship is facing. If this would
push the ship into an occupied hex, the ship does not move but instead takes
additional damage equal to your starship’s tier. If your starship is more
than one size category smaller than the enemy starship, your starship returns
to the hex from which it entered the enemy ship’s hex, facing that starship.
If the initial Piloting check fails, your starship still moves as described
and doesn’t attempt the gunnery check, but the movement provokes a free
attack from that starship as normal. If the Piloting check is successful
yet the gunnery check fails, your starship still moves as described, but
the movement doesn’t provoke a free attack from that starship.
Demand: Your demand echoes throughout the starship. You
can attempt the demand crew action with the targeted character one additional
time during the current starship combat.
Encourage: You’re
able to select just the right motivation for your crew, increasing the bonus
you grant to your crew members’ actions to +4.
Moving Speech:
The crew is so motivated by your speech that they also gain a +2 bonus to all
checks that phase, as if you had successfully used the encourage action to aid
them.
Orders: You orders flow so naturally that you can
take one additional captain crew action this turn.
Taunt:
Your strong words push just the right buttons. The penalty your taunt action
applies to an enemy ship continues through all three phases of combat instead
of just one.
Hard Turn: You’re able to keep up with the pilot’s needs,
applying changes with perfect precision. You improve the maneuverability of
the ship by one step until the start of the next round.
Maintenance
Panel Access: Your assistance gives the engineer more time to perform
their action. The next time an engineer attempts an Engineering check to divert
power, they can roll twice and take the better result.
Manual Realignment:
Your assistance makes the science officer’s scan easier to perform. The next
time a science officer attempts a Computers check to scan, they can roll twice
and take the better result.
Maximize Speed: You’re able
to maintain the engines for longer. The speed of your starship increases by
2 until the end of the next round.
Targeting Aid: You’re
able to provide targeting information to all gunners about one specific ship.
Choose an enemy starship; all gunners on your starship gain the benefits of
the targeting aid crew action for attacks targeting that starship.
Divert: For a crucial moment, you far surpass the power
core’s potential output. The results of a critical divert action depend on where
you decided to send the extra power.
Engines: You also divert power
to the maneuvering thrusters, lowering the turn value of your starship by 1
this round.
Science Equipment: You’re able to divert power in an
efficient and balanced way. Science officers can roll their checks twice this
round and use the better result.
Shields: You’re able to efficiently
route energy to the shields, doubling the number of Shield Points restored to
10% of the PCU rating of the starship’s power core. If this would restore the
shields over their maximum value, these excess Shield Points remain until the
beginning of the next engineering phase, at which point any excess Shield Points
are lost.
Starship Weapons: The augmented weapons run at maximum
safe power. For your starship’s weapons, treat each damage die roll that results
in a 1 this round as having rolled the die’s maximum result instead.
Hold It Together: Thanks to your inspired repairs, the system
you worked on is treated as if its critical damage condition were two steps
less severe (wrecked becomes glitching, whereas malfunctioning or glitching
become undamaged) for 1d4 rounds.
Overpower: Choose one
of the three systems to which you diverted extra power. One of those systems
also receives the critical effect benefit of the divert action.
Patch:
Your patch was especially robust. If the system takes critical damage again,
it removes the patch but doesn’t also apply additional critical damage.
Quick Fix: Your inspired engineering results in a lasting repair,
removing the critical damage condition from the system for 1 day instead of
for 1 hour.
Eldritch Shot: Your magical energy also augments the damage
of your selected weapon’s next attack. On that attack roll, the gunner can treat
each damage die roll that results in a 1 this round as having rolled a 2 instead.
Mystic Haze: Your conjured haze is especially powerful. The
granted enhancement bonus to AC increases to +2 and also affects your starship’s
TL.
Precognition: Your precise senses give you detailed
information about your opponents’ next move. Increase the circumstance bonus
to the Piloting check to +4.
Psychic Currents: You manipulate
the currents to push your starship along, increasing its speed by 2 until the
start of the next turn.
Scrying: Your divination reveals
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.
Audacious Gambit: Your incredible maneuvering leaves enemy
gunners confounded. You gain a +4 circumstance bonus to your ship’s AC and TL
until the start of the next round.
Full Power: You maintain
steady control over your starship during its movement and add only 1 to your
starship’s distance between turns.
Maneuver: Fancy flying
keeps you safe through incoming fire. You gain the effects of a successful evade
stunt until the start of the next round.
Stunt: The results
of a critical stunt action depend on the stunt being attempted.
Back
Off: Your starship can move up to its full speed and make turns as normal
for its maneuverability rating.
Barrel Roll: The sudden roll makes
it difficult to target your starship. You also gain the effects of a successful
evade stunt until the start of the next round.
Evade: You successfully
anticipate your enemy’s firing patterns. The stunt’s circumstance bonus to your
starship’s AC and TL increases to +4.
Flip and Burn: With a flawlessly
executed stunt, your starship can move up to its full speed (without turning)
and rotate 180 degrees to face the aft edge at the end of the movement.
Flyby: You line up the shot perfectly. The gunner gains a +2 circumstance
bonus to the gunnery check affected by this stunt.
Ramming Speed:
You fly your ship fast and true. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the gunnery
check to ram the target, and if you succeed, you deal additional damage to the
target equal to your starship’s tier.
Slide: You slide and rotate
your starship simultaneously. At the end of the stunt’s movement, your starship
can turn once.
Activate ECM or Rapid Jam: 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: 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.
Improve
Countermeasures: 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.
Insidious Electronics:
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: 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.
Recall Beacon: 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:
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: Your sensors keep a continuous
lock on the enemy starship. The effects of target system last until the start
of the next round.
Lead Boarding Party: Your assault team inflicts devastating damage to a nearby system. You inflict critical damage to an additional starship system, determined randomly.
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