Crew

The quality of the crew determines how well a starship performs in and out of combat. Unless otherwise noted, every starship has a trained crew of nonheroic characters. However, situations could arise where a starship must rely on an untrained crew. Conversely, expert crews and ace crews are also available—for the right price. Table: Crew Quality compares four different qualities of crew: untrained, trained, expert, and ace.

Skill Check Modifier: Apply this modifier to all skill checks made by crew.

Pilot’s Dexterity Modifier: A pilot’s Dexterity modifier applies to the starship’s initiative rolls and the starship’s Defense.

Pilot’s Class Bonus to Defense: A pilot’s class bonus to Defense applies to the starship’s Defense and to opposed grapple checks.

Gunner’s Attack Bonus: A gunner’s attack bonus applies to all ranged attacks made by the ship.

Modifier to Starship’s Base Purchase DC: The amount by which the crew increases the base purchase DC of the ship. (This modifier is already factored in to the base purchase DCs of the ships presented below.)

Table: Crew Quality
Crew QualitySkill Check Modifier1Pilot’s Class Bonus to DefensePilot’s Dexterity ModifierGunner’s Modifier to Attack BonusStarship’s Base Purchase DC
Untrained+0+1+0–4–4
Trained+4+3+2+20
Expert+8+5+4+4+4
Ace+12+7+6+8/+3+8
1This includes Pilot checks.

Crew Improvement

To improve in quality, a starship’s crew of nonheroic characters must “put in the hours” and gain combat experience. Table: Crew Improvement shows the length of the crew’s tour of duty and the number of ship-to-ship battles the crew must survive to be considered of a particular quality. A crew cannot be elevated to a higher quality until it meets the minimum required time spent serving aboard the ship and the minimum amount of ship-to-ship combat experience.

Table: Crew Improvement
Crew QualityLength of Tour of DutyStarship Battles Survived
Untrained0–5 months0
Trained6–11 months0–3
Expert12–35 months4–11
Ace3 years or more12+