Running Cinematic Starship Scenes

A cinematic starship scene runs like most encounters, with players rolling initiative for their characters based on how their characters entered the scene and taking individual turns in that order during each round. Prior to the start of a cinematic starship scene, each player selects one of the starship roles their character occupies, which determines the skill they roll for initiative. Someone acting as a pilot is likely to roll Piloting for initiative, while a science officer might roll Computers or Perception. Remember that each PC might receive a bonus to their rolls based on the Starship Bonuses available! At the beginning of a round, each starship role becomes available, as determined by the scene. At the start of a PC's turn, they select an available role to occupy, maintaining that role until the beginning of the next round. This means a PC who acted as pilot in the previous round could act as captain in the following round, as long as the role is currently available and unoccupied. Some roles can be occupied by multiple PCs, such as a ship that has two gunners or even two science officers. The available roles and the number of characters who can occupy each role are noted in the scene. Based on the role a PC selects, they have one or more special actions they can use on their turn. This might represent a special piloting maneuver to try to escape the threat, a counterhacking endeavor the science officer might need to commit to, a magical ritual necessary to close a nearby rift into Hell, or even a simple firing of the ship's laser cannon at a foe! As usual, PCs have 3 actions during their turn, which they'll use to perform special actions granted by their role or other actions of their choice. As most starship actions require 2 actions to use, each PC is likely to have a single action to spare on their turn, which might include a PC preparing to Aid an ally, a spellcaster casting guidance to improve their odds of success on a skill check, or a PC taking a shot at an enemy boarder invading the bridge. Unlike the PCs onboard their starship, who are the stars of the show and guide the story with their choices, the threats in a cinematic starship scene operate using preset routines— though some scenes might provide variations on a routine to keep the PCs on their toes! Enemy starships involved in the scene perform routines and don't perform crew actions. Cinematic vs. Tactical The rules presented in this section are intended to get the PCs right into the action with their characters, rather than taking the time to learn a new subsystem the players might not have encountered before. These scenes should represent what happens when the PCs have a predetermined starship that they use in an encounter. Expanded starship encounter rules, including having an upgradeable party starship and rules for more extensive tactical combat, are detailed in Starfinder Tech Core .