Making an Attack
Whether you're shooting your laser cannons or a railgun, an attack has a simple structure.
1. Choose a target. Pick a target within your attack's range: a ship, an object, or a location.
2. Determine modifiers. The GM determines whether the target has cover and whether you have advantage or disadvantage against the target. In addition, powers, special abilities, and other effects can apply penalties or bonuses to your attack roll.
3. Resolve the attack. You make the attack roll. On a hit, you roll damage, unless the particular attack has rules that specify otherwise. Some attacks cause special effects in addition to or instead of damage. If there's ever any question whether something you're doing counts as an attack, the rule is simple: if you're making an attack roll, you're making an attack.
Attack Rolls
When you make an attack with a primary or secondary weapon, your attack roll determines whether the attack hits or misses. To make an attack roll, roll a d20, add your proficiency bonus (if you have at least one deployment rank), the ship's Wisdom modifier, and any weapon-specific bonuses or penalties. If the total of the roll plus modifiers equals or exceeds the target's Armor Class (AC), the attack hits.
Ships are always considered proficiently equipped with their properly-installed weapons.
Rolling 1 or 20
Sometimes fate blesses or curses a gunner, causing the novice to hit and the veteran to miss.
If the d20 roll for an attack is a 20, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target's AC. In addition, the attack is a critical hit, as explained later in this chapter.
If the d20 roll for an attack is a 1, the attack misses regardless of any modifiers or the target's AC.
Range
You can make ranged attacks only against targets within a specified range.
Ship weaponry typically has two ranges. The value of these ranges depends on the type of weapon (primary, secondary, or tertiary), as described in Chapter 5.
Ranged Attacks in Close combat
Aiming a ranged attack is more difficult when a foe is next to you. When you make a ranged attack with a ship weapon, a power, you have disadvantage on the attack roll if you are within 50 feet of your target.
Firing Arc
Ships have a firing arc, which is determined by the hardpoint on which they are mounted. Fixed hardpoints offer a limited firing arc, while turret hardpoints add an unlimited firing arc.
Limited Firing Arc
Many weapons, such as forward- or aft-mounted laser cannons, can only fire in a single direction, indicated by a limited firing arc. The available arcs are spaced 90 degrees from each other, are adjacent, and consist of: forward, aft, port, and starboard.
Weapons with a limited firing arc only fire at targets within a 90 degree arc, with the ship's center point as the arc's vertex. A weapon's range within it's arc is measured from the outer edge of the ship it is mounted on, although primary weapons can still target and effect targets within a ship's own area, and treat this area as within the weapon's normal range.
Unlimited Firing Arc
Weapons with an unlimited firing arc can fire at any target within range and line of sight.
Saving Throws
While many weapons utilize an attack roll, tertiary and quaternary weapons, as well as primary weapons on Huge and larger ships, instead call for a saving throw. When an ability grants advantage or disadvantage on an attack and the attack calls for a saving throw instead of an attack roll, unless stated otherwise, the saving throw is made with disadvantage or advantage, respectively. The saving throw is calculated as follows:
Weapon save DC = 8 + the crewmember's proficiency bonus (if at least rank 1) + the ship's Wisdom modifier
Damage Rolls
Each ship weapon specifies the damage it deals. You roll the damage die or dice, add the ship's Strength modifier to damage from primary and secondary weapons, and apply the damage to your target. Higher quality weapons, special abilities, and other factors can grant a bonus to damage.
Critical Hits
When you score a critical hit, you get to roll extra dice for the attack's damage against the target. Roll all of the attack's damage dice twice and add them together. Then add any relevant modifiers as normal. To speed up play, you can roll all the damage dice at once.
DAMAGE TYPES
Starship combat damage types are generally similar to ground combat damage types with a few minor differences. Most notably, in space, no one can hear you scream (no sonic damage).
Acid. Acid damage is less effective against shields, dealing only half damage to shields.
Cold. Cold damage is less effective against shields, dealing only half damage to shields.
Energy. The most common type of damage, it deals normal damage to hull and shields.
Fire. Fire damage is less effective against shields, dealing only half damage to shields.
Force. Deals normal damage to hull and shields.
Ion. Ion damage is less effective against hull, dealing only half damage to hull. Ion damage cannot destroy ships. Instead, ion damage that reduces a ship to zero hull points causes the ship to become disabled and stable.
Kinetic. Deals normal damage to hull and shields. Additionally, when ships collide with each other or debris, they deal kinetic damage.
Lightning. Lightning damage is less effective against hull, dealing only half damage to hull.
Necrotic. Necrotic damage is less effective against ships, dealing only half damage to hull and shields. Poison. Poison damage is ineffective against ships, dealing no damage to hull or shields.
Psychic. Psychic damage is ineffective against ships, dealing no damage to hull or shields.
Sonic. Deals normal damage to hull and shields when in an atmosphere, but does no damage in space.
True. True damage is not dealt by any specific source. Instead, effects that prevent or redirect damage cannot be used to counter the damage caused by true damage.
Starship Resistances and Immunities
Hull Resistances: Ion, Lightning, Necrotic Shield Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Necrotic Hull & Shield Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Damage Resistance and Vulnerability
Some ships might have resistance or vulnerability to a damage type. If a ship has resistance to a damage type, damage of that type is halved against it. If a ship has vulnerability to a damage type, damage of that type is doubled against it.
Resistance, and then vulnerability, are applied after all other modifiers to damage. Multiple instances of resistance or vulnerability that affect the same damage type count only as one instance.