Boarding

Some starship crews (whether PC or NPC) might try to board one of the opposing vessels during starship combat to take the fight to a more personal level. Pages 40–41 of the Starship Operations Manual describes one way to handle such an event during standard starship combat. A narrative starship combat boarding action can be resolved in a similar fashion.

If the enemy forces have the capability to board the PCs’ starship, they can do so as a Use a Special Ability tactic. Finish the round, allowing the PCs to take their narrative starship combat actions, and then pause the starship combat. Note any damage done to both starships in case the starship combat needs to resume, and then proceed to run a standard tactical combat. If the PCs triumph over the boarding party, the narrative starship combat can begin again; however, the GM might decide that the enemy forces have been completely defeated. If the PCs are defeated, then they might be taken captive or even killed, depending on the campaign.

If the PCs want to board an enemy starship, at least one PC should devote their narrative starship combat action to that course and attempt a skill check against the enemy ship’s Hard DC. Any number of PCs can attempt this check, and as long as at least one PC succeeds, the group can board the enemy ship. As stated above, note the damage done to all starships and run a standard tactical combat, this time with the PCs as the aggressors.