RangerWickett
Legend
What do you expect from ship combat, and how have games failed at it?
I've tried Star Wars (three versions), 40K Rogue Trader, Pathfinder, my own version six years ago, and old FASA Star Trek. Rules that work for a tactical board game don't work for an RPG.
Honestly, the best experiences I had were with Rogue Trader, where most skill checks had silly visceral narratives attached. You'd make one die roll to lead a shuttle of marines on a bloody boarding foray, kill hundreds of their crew, and return. You'd roll to reload the cannons faster to increase damage, and there'd be some number of your crew dying too as the mad rush led to dozens being loaded into barrels and inadvertently fired into space. You'd make a communications check to insulate the enemy system, bribe members of the crew, and get a brief mutiny all of which would amount to getting a small penalty to their next piloting roll.
It was over the top. Maybe we're all balancing the power level too low.
I've tried Star Wars (three versions), 40K Rogue Trader, Pathfinder, my own version six years ago, and old FASA Star Trek. Rules that work for a tactical board game don't work for an RPG.
Honestly, the best experiences I had were with Rogue Trader, where most skill checks had silly visceral narratives attached. You'd make one die roll to lead a shuttle of marines on a bloody boarding foray, kill hundreds of their crew, and return. You'd roll to reload the cannons faster to increase damage, and there'd be some number of your crew dying too as the mad rush led to dozens being loaded into barrels and inadvertently fired into space. You'd make a communications check to insulate the enemy system, bribe members of the crew, and get a brief mutiny all of which would amount to getting a small penalty to their next piloting roll.
It was over the top. Maybe we're all balancing the power level too low.
