Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Fleet Captain: Countdown to Doom

Any ships that have been reduced to 0 hull points must roll on the chart below before taking any action, including the mandatory Drift at the end of a turn where the ship wasn't activated.

Countdown to Doom (normally 1d6, Fleet Captains roll 2d6)

1 - STRIKE COLORS - Remove ship from board.  If the enemy wins, they capture it as prize.  If the rest of your fleet wins, enjoy the court-martial.
2 - BOOM! - Your ship explodes.  You are dead.  See the rules below for more details.
3 - ABANDON SHIP - Place one Escape Pod marker on your hex for every point of crew efficiency you have left.  1 in 6 chance the ship explodes anyway, killing everyone.
4 - SITTING DUCK - You may only Drift this turn.  Any further hull damage to vessel has an X in 6 chance of Exploding the ship, where X is the hull damage inflicted by the incoming shot.
5 - VENTING ATMOSPHERE - Take 1 point of crew damage.  3 in 6 chance of one fire self-extinguishing.  You may act normally this turn.
6 - EMERGENCY REPAIRS - Crew restores 1 hull point.  2 in 6 chance of extinguishing one fire.  You may act normally this turn.

7 - EMERGENCY REPAIRS - Crew restores d6 hull points, extinguishes all fires and repairs a weapon system of your choice. You may act normally this turn.
8 - EMERGENCY REPAIRS - Crew restores 1 hull point.  2 in 6 chance of extinguishing one fire.  You may act normally this turn.
9 - ENGINE STALL - You may only Drift for movement this turn.  Weapons and Shields still function.
10 - SPITE STRIKE - You may fire as many weapons as you want this turn, but vessel has an X in 6 chance of Exploding, where X is the number of weapons fired.
11 - ENGINE CORE BREACH IMMANENT - Sometime this turn, your ship Explodes.  You get to pick when.  Try to take one of the bastards with you.
12 - SHATNERIAN MIRACLE - Erase all damage to vessel.  Extinguish all fires. Go forth and kick ass.

HOW TO EXPLODE
Anybody or anything that happens to be in your hex takes damage equal to a centerline torpedo strike.
Anybody or anything that happens to be in an adjacent hex takes damage equal to an offcenter torpedo strike.
Replace your ship with an Explosion marker.  This remains on the board as a stationary Density 1 asteroid field.  At the beginning of each turn roll 1d6 for each Explosion marker on the board.  On a 6 remove that marker.
Make a loud explodey sound effect.  Entertain your friends.

6 comments:

  1. Star Fleet Battles had the chance (with a 12 on 2d6) for "Legendary Captains" to somehow end up in command of the nearest enemy ship if their own ship was destroyed.

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  2. So... at what point do I set my ship on a collision course in order to distract the enemy from the escape pods in result 3?

    Is that a "command vessel only" type tactic?

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  3. This is an excellent table with really great distribution. I love 7 and 11 (the most important results on 2d6, natch), and the Shatnerian Miracle almost makes you want to get to 0 once you've started taking damage. Also, I think that you should have to recite the "from hell's heart I stab at thee" bit during a Spite Strike. :)

    Did I miss something, or have we not yet seen mechanics on those fires that get put out on repair rolls?

    And I second Quibish on the collision course. Also, how can I dump my breach-imminent engine, separate the saucer section, and get away on impulse before the dilithium explodes?

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  4. @Quibish, if it was me, I'd make that the "12" choice. No offense to Shatner, but that's a pretty big freakin' miracle!

    Plus plowing into your foe with exposed rebar is pretty cool.

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  5. So... at what point do I set my ship on a collision course in order to distract the enemy from the escape pods in result 3?

    The Fleet Captain's flag vessel isn't rated for efficiency or competence, so what you do is put out ten escape markers. That represents the vast majority of the crew. The Fleet Captain, Spock, Scotty et al. are then free to continue the battle at full efficiency without anyone else on board.

    Did I miss something, or have we not yet seen mechanics on those fires that get put out on repair rolls?

    No, you didn't miss a post. Fires come out of the critical damage rules, which I have yet to write. Basically every vessel has two or three critical points. For most ships the crit points are at 1/2 HP remaining and 1 HP remaining. When you get knocked down to those points, you roll on a chart full of special effects. "Oh, crap! I'm on fire!" is one of those effects.

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  6. I really enjoy reading the updates for your game here, I've always wanted to make a space fleet battles game. Your work is pretty cool and looks great, but I have a real world rhetorical question for you.
    It is generally accepted as the rule that air power made battleships obsolete in WW2. The US and British Navy kept their battleships in safe harbors until air superiority was established. Now, some say aircraft carriers are obsolete because of submarines and anit-ship weapons like the Chinese DF-21, a ballistic missile with 900 miles of range and attacks from above with incoming meteroite speed. It doesn't even have an explosive warhead, just a concrete slug! Small missile launchers are the new awesome as far as naval power goes.
    How well do the rules for your game hold up to this modern situation? Do squadrons of fighters and torpedo attacks have the same devastating effects? I really haven't been ablt to play out a game due to the pending arrival of twins at my house. I'm a bit preoccupied with construction and preparations.
    I know you're concentrating on speed and fun with workable rules being the desired outcome but have you found that fighters and missile attacks are the way to go?

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