Battle Stations!

The June update to the Player’s Guide offers a new section on Shipboard Moves, integrates the two new backgrounds (Resistance Fighter, Uplifted) and refines a number of moves based on our playtests.

One of the most frequently requested items was more to do on the ship itself! The Shipboard Moves section (page 32) mainly talks about how to use other moves for those times when you’re on the ship, but it also introduces two new moves: Delta Shift (“When your away team fills in for bridge staff…”) and Battle Stations (“When you engage in ship-to-ship combat…”).

In addition to the two new playbooks, the Pioneer playbook is now the Terraformer, and two of its moves have been renamed to Folk Medicine and Grit & Gumption.

Only one of our campaigns features a Telepath, but I can’t get their thoughts out of my head. So I’ve rewritten Mindmeld based on their feedback and the Telekinesis move has floated into view (“When you move or manipulate objects you can see without touching them…”).

Other minor edits—

• Two new ideas for Inner Conflicts: Instinct vs. Civilization and Trust vs. Paranoia.
• A new Basic move: “Make It So. When you roll a single die and roll a 6, choose as if you rolled two hits.” Why? Because it’s fun! (Also because it encourages people to roll with one die.)
• A new Engineer move: “Get Me a Spanner, Stat! When you provide medical treatment to an android, cyborg, or augment, you may roll with OPS instead of MED.” We needed this after an android took significant Harm.
• The shuttlepod now has a stungun, autopilot, and remote control (via scanner).
• I expanded the Acknowledgements section to thank more playtesters.

Move edits—

• Translation Matrix: “When you roll another move while using the universal translator…” This makes translation useful to those interacting with alien technology, not just interacting with aliens directly.
• Compromised Cover: “When your alien disguise or Farfleet technology raises suspicions…”
• Phone Home: “otherwise take 1 hit if shipboard” so that this move can be used on the ship itself.
• Take Cover: “when you try to find a safe place.”
• Telepath’s Foresight: “After a roll…” So that the Telepath can use their Teamwork die after someone else’s roll.
• Hard Landing: “Protect vital cargo and equipment.” How I was GMing it anyway, so it’s good to make that clear.
• Both Veteran’s Flow Like a River and Shape Up or Ship Out have new choices.
• Pilot’s Evasive Pattern Paris has been completely rewritten, inspired by the new Battle Stations move.
• The Episode moves Previously On… and Opening Credits have been tweaked.
• The choice “Don’t strain your Health,” used in seven different moves, has been reworded to “Don’t suffer 1 Harm.”

GMs, you’ll find a lot more resources in the GM’s Guide, which has grown from 43 pages to 72 pages! (As always, spoilers for players though.)

Illustration credit: Galaxy, November 1953