Mar 19, 2017

Homebrew 5e Space Combat


Hi! I wrote these Homebrew rules for space combat. Feedback is welcome!:)

SciFi Vehicles and SpaceCrafts For D&D 5e

By Carlo Gemmani

Summary                                        1


  • Vehicles                                    2
  • Currency conversion                            3
  • Structure of an Airborne Craft                        3
  • Structure of a Small Spacecraft
  • Structure of a Large Spacecraft                        4
  • Structure of a Mothership                            5
  • Dogfights and Space Combat                        6
    • Planetary Airborne Combat and Space Combat            6
    • Gravity                                6
    • Underwater Combat                            6
  • Maneuvers                                    7
    • Types of Maneuvers                            7
    • Maneuverability                            7
    • Outmaneuvering                            8
    • Dogfight Maneuver Rolltable                    8
    • Losing Control                            9
    • Attacks and Actions                            9
  • Crew                                        10
    • Crew Composition                            10
      • Commanding Officers                    10
      • Crew Members                        10   
    • Crew Proficiency                            11
    • Controlling the Crew                        11
    • Repairing the Ship                            11
  • Characters in Space                                12
    • Space Suit                                12
    • EVA (Extravehicular Activity)                    12
    • Death in Space                            12
  • Weapons and Upgrades                            13






Vehicles


Vehicle
Cost
Credit
Speed
MPH
Crew
Passengers
Cargo (tons)
AC
HP
Shield
Damage Threshold
Maneuverability
Land Vehicles










Motorcycle
150
400
1
1
-
13
50
-
-
high
Buggy
500
300
2
3
-
15
100
-
-
standard
Truck
600
200
3
3
30
15
200
-
5
low
Airborne Craft










Civilian Aircraft
500,000
570
6
400
20         
13
100
-
-
low
Helicopter
100,000
250
2
12
-
13
60
-
-
standard
Air Fighter
3.5 Mil
1,550
2
-
-
15
80
10
-
high
Bomber
7 Mil
630
2
5
20
18
90
10
-
standard
Drone
130,000
135
-
-
-
16
60
10
-
high
Small Space Craft










Escape Pod
10,000
600
1
0
-
13
30
10
-
low
Utility Pod
100,000
5,000
2
0
1
13
60
20
-
low
Space Fighter
1.8 Bil
20,000
2
0
-
12
100
25
5
high
Mecha
2.25 Bil
20,000
5
0
-
15
200
20
5
high
Shuttle
1.25 Bil
17,500
7
5
2
15
300
30
10
standard
Patrol / Scouts
1 Bil
23,000
3
1
-
12
60
15
-
high
Repair Ship
500 Mil
2,000
5
2
3
14
200
30
10
low
Troop Ship
3 Bil
10,000
10
500
150
15
200
30
10
standard
Large Spacecraft










Escort
200 Bil
5,000
100
900
5
14
300
30
15
standard
Cutter/Frigate/Destroyer
100 Bil
10,000
30
50
50
16
250
40
15
high
Cruiser
1 Tril
15,000
50
200
300
20
800
50
20
low
Battle Cruiser
3 Tril
17,000
60
100
250
25
900
60
20
standard
Assault Carrier
2 Tril
9,000
20
60
100
16
700
50
15
high
Space Freighter
10 Tril
6,000
80
200
500
26
900
60
20
low
Cargo Ship
3 Tril
4,000
15
20
800
25
950
80
15
low
Dreadnought
50 Tril
3,000
200
800
1000
25
1000
100
25
low
Mother Ship
500 Tril
1,000
1000
5000
3000
27
5000
500
25
low
Submarine Vehicles










Waterborne Pod
2,000
100
2
0
-
12
60
-
-
low
Submarine
15,000
200
30
10
2
18
200
-
10
low

Currency Conversion

Copper = 1 Unit (=1 $)
Silver = 10 Unit
Electrum = 50 Unit
Gold = 100 Unit = 1 Credit
Platinum = 100,000 Units = 1000 Credit

Structure of an Airborne Craft

These craft are made to function only within an atmosphere and a gravitational field. They include Airplanes and self piloting Drones.

d8
  1. Cockpit/Flight deck
  2. Wings
  3. Fuselage
  4. Engine Cowlings / Propulsion System
  5. Radar
  6. Flight Control system (Oxygen generation and Electrical emergency power unit)
  7. Weaponry
  8. Tail/Stabilizers

Structure of a Small Spacecraft

d10
  1. Piloting Array
  2. Sensor Array
  3. Weaponry
  4. Cargo Hold
  5. Crew Cabins
  6. Dining Room
  7. Engine Room
  8. Sick Bay
  9. Passenger Dorm
  10. Air Lock

Structure of a Large Spacecraft

This is what you can find in a large size spaceship

d20
  1. Main Bridge
  2. Sensor Array
  3. Engine Room
  4. Warp Engine Room
  5. Weaponry (depending on the ship type)
  6. Docking Tube / Airlock
  7. Energy containment Cells
  8. Emergency Power systems
  9. Shuttle bays (may contain smaller ships such as shuttle, fighters, workers...)
  10. Crew and Passenger Hull
  11. Life Support
  12. Cargo Hold
  13. Sick Bay
  14. Pressure Chambers
  15. Escape pods
  16. Computer Core
  17. Shield Emitters
  18. Cooling Tanks (for engines and weaponry)
  19. Teleport Chamber (only specific advanced crafts have this technology)
  20. Tractor Beam emitter (only specific advanced crafts have this technology)



Other spaces are
  • Kitchen
  • Recreation Chambers
  • Holodeck (for simulations and recreation.)
  • Conference Room
  • Officer’s Cabins

The presence, size and number of these parts may vary depending on the ship
Every ship part has its function. When hit with a critical hit or its HP drop to half, roll on the table above to determine which part of the ship has been damaged/destroyed.
The part can be repaired by the Chief Engineer and their Mechanics after the battle as described in the “Repairing the Ship” paragraph.

Structure of a Mother Ship

Mother ships are extraordinarily large ships, which are often built in space and are the size of a small Space Station. This makes them a separate class of ships. You can think of them as small mobile Space Stations. They can be the size of a large town or even bigger. They can travel at Hyper Speed, but they are not easily maneuverable. They do not land on planets, unless they are equipped with appropriate landing supports, procedures or structures.

d100
  1. Main Bridge
  2. Auxiliary Bridge
  3. Primary Sensor Array
  4. Secondary Sensor Array
  5. Main Engine Room
  6. Auxiliary engine Room
  7. Warp Engine Room
  8. Torpedoes Bay
  9. Torpedoes Loading Port
  10. Drone Bay and Control
  11. Nuclear Array
  12. Nuclear Fusion Reactor
  13. Reactor Service Hatch
  14. Gyroscopic Pulse Cannons
  15. Gyroscopic Phaser Beams
  16. Weapon Turrets
  17. Docking Tube / Airlock
  18. Docking Arms
  19. Landing Gravitic Supports
  20. Main Power Generator
  21. Energy containment Cells
  22. Emergency Power systems
  23. Shuttle bays (may contain smaller ships such as shuttle, fighters, workers...)
  24. Crew and Passenger Hull
  25. Life Support
  26. Cargo Hold
  27. Sick Bay
  28. Pressure Chambers
  29. Escape pods
  30. Computer Core
  31. Primary Shield Emitters
  32. Secondary Shield Emitters
  33. Shield Stabilizers
  34. Emergency shield Adapters
  35. Auxiliary Shields
  36. Cooling Tanks (for engines and weaponry)
  37. Teleport Chamber (only specific advanced crafts have this technology)
  38. Tractor Beam emitter (only specific advanced crafts have this technology)
  39. Tractor Beam Reactor
  40. Main Exhaust Port
  41. Thermal Exhaust Port
  42. Power Converters
  43. Atmosphere Processing unit
  44. Atmospheric Membrane
  45. Auxiliary Atmospheric Generator
  46. Water Tanks
  47. Gravitic Power Core
  48. Sector Computer Cluster
  49. Offices
  50. Meeting Rooms
  51. Officers Inner Hulls
  52. Crew Outer Hulls
  53. Heat Exchanger
  54. Beam Focusing Magnet
  55. Fuel Collector
  56. Refinery
  57. Trade Market
  58. Trader Sector
  59. Civilian Sector
  60. Primary Factories Sector
  61. Secondary Factories Sector
  62. Armory
  63. Magnetic Field Generator
  64. Mining Bays
  65. Fighters Bays
  66. Solar Panels
  67. Sewer Discharge System
  68. Communication Relay
  69. Communication Offices
  70. Science Labs
  71. Medical Research Facilities
  72. Control Headquarters
  73. Sanitation Systems
  74. Recycle Synthesizer
  75. Holodeck
  76. AI Surveillance Cluster
  77. Entertainment Facilities
  78. Sports Stadium
  79. Surface Racers Port
  80. Surface Pressure Chambers
  81. Surface Magnetic Pods
  82. Propulsion Stabilizers
  83. Thrusters
  84. Warp Mass Anti Mass Support Cluster
  85. Mass Detectors
  86. Stellar Radiation Adaptor
  87. Port Resources Depot
  88. Resupply Connection Ports
  89. Escape Pods Ports
  90. Escape Pods Ejection Tubes
  91. Mecha Storing Facilities
  92. Mecha Launch Tubes
  93. Mecha Laboratories
  94. Assembly facilities
  95. Construction Facilities
  96. Gardens
  97. Hibernation Pods Cluster
  98. Food Processor
  99. Kitchens
  100. Restaurants

Dogfights and Space Combat

These rules apply to combat in spaceships and other airborne vehicles.

Planetary Airborne Combat and Space Combat
The difference between Planetary Airborne and Space combat is the presence of an atmosphere and gravitational field. When a planetary gravitational field is applied to a vehicle, the rules for Falling apply, and depending on a vehicle, in order to stay airborne, it might have to maintain a Momentum or Hover. When the speed of a craft is reduced to 0 within a gravitational field, it begins to fall.

Gravity
This Force determines the amount of damage that a craft takes upon falling. Follow the falling rules from the PHB. On a low gravity celestial body the craft takes half damage and can attempt to land. In high gravity, the craft takes double the damage.

Underwater Combat
Works just the same as Space Combat. But this time you can ignore Gravity, Inertia and Momentum.


Maneuvers

To avoid the complication of a grid like approach, that would not work on a 3d Environment, the movements are substituted by Maneuvers. To complete a Maneuver, roll a Dexterity check against the specified DC in the  Table below. On a success gain the benefits of the maneuver. On a critical fail (natural 1) the craft has disadvantage on the next maneuver roll.

Types of Maneuver

Maneuvers are performed by the Flight Control officers and their Flight Operators crew from the bridge of a Craft. In a small craft such as certain types of Fighters, the Flight Operator is also in charge of the weaponry. When this crew is active, and the bridge is functioning, the ship can perform the maneuvers below. When the bridge is damaged or the crew is dead, the craft’s speed is reduced to 0, and either drift helpless into space, or falls when within the gravitational field of a larger object such as a planet, a moon, or a large asteroid.

Below are basic maneuvers not used in combat.

  • Hover: Allows a craft to stay airborne even when the speed is reduced to 0.
  • Forward Momentum: minimum speed to stay airborne within a gravitational field.
  • Inertia: This apply only in space movement. Once a character or vehicle begins to move in one direction, it keeps doing so, until a Reverse or a Hover bonus action is taken.
  • Orbit can be done around objects that exert a considerable gravitational force over the craft. Tractor Beams don’t count to this end.
  • Landing can be done on planets, Asteroids, or Ports.
  • Takeoff can be done from planets, Asteroids or Ports. Can be aided by Tractor beams, Gravitic technology and Landing Procedures.
  • Emergency Landing can be attempted when a craft is out of control or the Engine is damaged or its speed is reduced to 0. First, control of the ship must be taken through the Losing Control rules below (Roll a DC 10 Dex Saving Throw).
  • Docking It’s a Landing operation in Space. Requires dexterity and training in Space Piloting.
  • Offensive and Defensive. These maneuvers are described in the section below.

Maneuverability

When a Craft is maneuvering around a Larger one, or one with less maneuverability, they have advantage on all Maneuver Roll, and vice versa.


Low Maneuverability
Average Maneuverability
High Maneuverability
Low Maneuverability
-
Disadvantage
Disadvantage
Average Maneuverability
Advantage
-
Disadvantage
High Maneuverability
Advantage
Advantage
-


Outmaneuvering

Outmaneuvering happens when a Craft gains tactical advantage on another. See the table below for the Maneuver rolls. When a defender outmaneuvers the attacker, he becomes the attacker.

Dogfight Maneuver Rolltable

These rules describe movement on and off gravitational fields.
Some of these maneuvers, if failed, can cause the pilot to lose control. Follow the table below for more details.
Attacking Maneuver
DC (Dex)
Properties
Lag Pursuit
10
Become the attacker and keep the Craft steady on the defender’s trail. Gain tactical advantage.
Lead Pursuit
15
Lean the craft to aim ahead of the defender. Gain advantage roll on your cannons and rays
Pure Pursuit
18
The craft tails their opponent with high precision. Gain advantage on next attack roll. Lock On is triggered. You can now use your missile ammo.
Defensive Maneuver
DC
Properties
Defensive Spiral
10
Within Gravitational fields only. You dive trying to lose your tail, using gravity to your advantage. On a failed roll, you must succeed a DC 10 Dex Saving Throw or lose control of your craft. In order to stay on your trail, the attacker must also succeed a DC10 Saving throw or lose control. Otherwise the Attacker can forfeit the pursuit attempt.
Low flight
18
Pilot dangerously using the environment to your advantage. Use caves, mountains, asteroids, city buildings, etc. On a fail succeed on a DC 10 Dex Saving Throw or lose control of the craft.
Scissors
15
Keep your craft out of phase from the attacker going into a forward spiral. If successful, a Ramming action can be taken
J-Turn
18
Only applicable to High Maneuverability vehicles. Perform a controlled Tail Spin 180. Now you are facing the attacker and you can shoot with your cannons. On your next turn, you can attempt pursuit.
Evasive maneuvers
13
The attacker has disadvantage in his next Pursuing Maneuver roll.




Losing Control
When a pilot loses control of his craft, they have little time to regain it. Roll a DC 10 Dexterity ST. on a fail you lose control of the craft and either begin to fall towards the center of the Gravitational Field (a planet, space station, large asteroid) or drift in space out of control, losing all tactical advantage.  On your turn you can roll the saving throw again until you regain control of the craft, or until the ship crashes, or is stopped from moving from outside forces (such as Tractor Beams and Repair Ships).

Attacks and Actions
A craft can take as many action as it is possible each turn. For example it can shoot with its cannon while recharging its laser beams and waiting to Power up its Antimatter Cannon.
  • Fire! This is the regular attack. Utilizes your weapons of choice. Some can be used only through the use of a maneuver roll.
  • Recharge Roll a d6 and compare it to the Recharge DC of the weapon. If the Recharge succeeds the weapon can fire again.
  • Cooling Wait N turns to use the weapon again.
  • Power Up Wait longer to fire, in order to magnify the damage of certain weaponry.
  • Docking Can be executed upon a willing vessel, or a drifting out of control craft. A craft can only dock upon a same size or larger craft.  
  • Ramming. Can be executed on a Surprise turn, after a successful J-Turn, Scissor or Pure Pursuit. It can be also performed against an out of control vehicle, or a larger and slower vehicle.
  • Ready - The Crew gets ready for a counter maneuver. Counter the next enemy maneuver with a Contest (dex) instead of the Maneuver DC

Crew

Depending on the crew size, and ship type, one person may cover one or more of the roles shown below

Crew Composition

Commanding Officers
  • General
  • Admiral
  • Commander
  • Captain
  • Science
  • Flight Control
  • Security
  • Tactical
  • Operations
  • Engineering
  • Medical & Counseling
  • Linguist
  • Intelligence
  • Diplomatic
  • Civilian VIP (Ambassador, Emperor, King/Queen and other relevant political individuals)
  • Master Chef

Crew Members
  • Flight Operator
  • Security Officer
  • Tactical Advisor
  • Worker
  • Mechanic
  • Nurse
  • Agent
  • Soldier
  • Chef
  • Bodyguard Private
  • Sanitation
  • Civilians/Passengers







Crew Proficiency
Some crews are more trained than others. Follow the table below for proficiency and general prices of a crew.

Crew
Proficiency Bonus
Commanding Officer Cost/Week
Crew Member Cost/Week
Characteristics
Shabby
0
1 C
50 U
They will fly the ship, but don’t expect them to be organized.
Interlopers
+1
10 C
1 C
Organized, but don’t take responsibilities
Trained
+2
40 C
10 C
Professional Pilots and Mercenaries
Veteran
+3
80 C
40 C
Expert in Space Travel and Experienced in Combat
Disciplined
+4
150 C
80 C
Usually coming from the Army and highly disciplined organizations. They will obey orders to the death. You can count on them.


Controlling the crew
Having a crew in battle is vital in order to complete many actions in the same turn. Consider the ship as one character who can perform as many action as it is possible with their weapon and movement capabilities at the same time. Don’t consider the crew individually unless they are docking and pillaging another ship. Follow the Heroes, in order to keep the fight cinematic and keep things simple. Avoid having a space battle, unless the heroes specifically control any of the ships involved.  
Having command officers gives advantage on initiative rolls and a trained crew is vital in order to call all men at their station before the battle begins. A surprised craft will take one turn to get their crew to their posts.
During a Dogfight,  follow the maneuver rules and ignore the crew members. Once the battle is over, or when it becomes relevant (during a docking or ramming, or when the fight moves into one ship or the other), assess how much of the crew was lost during the fight. Look which parts of the Ship were damaged/destroyed, consider that part of the crew dead.
If a character was established in the damaged part of the ship, roll a Dexterity Saving throw. On a fail they take damage as well and are ejected into space; if they succeed they take half damage but they are safely within the ship. They are then moved to Sick Bay for those craft that have one.

Repairing the Ship
A damaged ship is not lost. The Chief Engineer and his crew of mechanics can attempt to repair the ship once the battle is over. The craft can expend a short rest (24 hours) to recover half of its HP, and the damaged parts are now functioning. During a Long Rest (48 hours) the ship recovers all HP and all parts are functioning.
The amount of time needed for a repair can be determined at the discretion of the GM. All of these rules are just a guideline.

Characters in Space


Space Suit
A space Suit is a piece of equipment that every Space Vehicle has. The number depends on the vehicle Type. When completely charged, a suit has a Power and Oxygen independence of 1 hour. This may vary upon GM discretion.

Vehicle type
Average Number of Space Suits
Small Vehicle
4 - 10
Large vehicle
30 - 100
Mother ship
200 - 1000


EVA (Extravehicular Activity)
In order to begin an EVA, - or Space Walk - a Character must be wearing a working Space Suit. He must also go through a Compression Chamber where he must remain for 1 turn before access the outside of the Vehicle or Space Station.
A character in space is subjected to Inertia, and not subjected to falling, unless a gravitational field is applied to them.

Death In Space
The space suit exhaust the Energy cell, or the Oxygen finishes, the ship depressurize and jettison you into space.  You float helplessly. A choking darkness surrounds you.
When a character is in outer space without protection follow the tab below.

Turns n
Effect
1
Take 1d8 Cold Damage + 1d10 Force Damage
2
Take 1d8 Cold Damage +
2d10 Force Damage
3
Falls Unconscious. (Begin Death saving throws.)
4
From this turn on, the character has Permanent Injury even in case of recompression
15
Death (even if the character managed to stabilize succeeding 3 death saving throws, if exposed to the vacuum for this long dies automatically.)

If a character exposed to the Space environment is not recompressed within 90 seconds he dies. Also, the character must be recompressed even if exposed to the vacuum for just 1 turn. Ships and Space stations are provided with Compression Chambers where this can be done.  

Weapons and Upgrades

Vehicles and Crafts can be upgraded substituting or adding the elements from the tab below. The cost below only refers to the cost of the upgrade. If the characters decide to have a Mechanic install the upgrade, the fee for their labor is not included.

Upgrade
Properties
Installation Time
Cost
Credit
Weapons



Cannon
Projectile, Repetitive (6/second), 1d4+5 Piercing Damage,
10 Hours
100
Phaser Beam
Plasma, High Precision, 1d8+5 Radiant Damage
24 Hours
600
Pulse Cannon
Plasma, 1d8 Radiant Damage + 1d10 Burning Damage, Recharge (5)
24 Hours
1,500
Gauss Beam
Dark Matter, Power up (+1d10/turn), 1d10 Radiant Damage+1d12+5 Force Damage, Cooling (2 turns)
48 Hours
8,000
Antimatter Cannon
Antimatter, Power up (+1d12/turn), 1d12 Radiant Damage, +2d10+5 Force damage, Recharge (6)
3 Days
10,000
Torpedo
Missile, Lock on,  6d10 Fire Damage, Consumable.
20 Minutes
9,000
Nuclear Warhead
Missile, Lock on, 15d12 Fire Damage, 10d10 Force damage, Consumable.
3 Hours
20,000
Turret
Projectile, Repetitive (6/second), 1d4+5 Piercing Damage,360∘ Angle
24 Hours
300
Engine



Pulse
Short Extraplanetary Travel
3 Weeks
10,000
Gauss
Long Extraplanetary Travel (star system)
1 Month
5.5 Mil
Antimatter
Interstellar Travel
2 Months
1 Bil
Warp
Instantaneous interstellar travel.
6 Months
10 Bil
Tech



Thrusters
Hover, Landing Procedures(+6 to Landing and Emergency Landing Rolls), Takeoff (automatic success)
48 Hours
150
Gravitic Rings
Ignore Falling and Crashing even when a gravitic field is applied to the craft. Makes the craft extremely smooth and quiet during landing and takeoff procedures.
30 Days
1,000
Mining Beam
Allows to mine materials from asteroids and planets.
5 Hours
30
Tractor Beam
Applies a gravitic field in cone area 30 ft long, 20 ft wide ray area from the ship.
48 Hours
450
Shields
Adds 50 Temporary hitpoints per upgrade. Can be stack to a maximum of 3 upgrades. The shield Temporary Hitpoints may not exceed the total HP of the craft.
24 Hours
100
Stealth Camo
Provides Invisibility
8 Days
3000
Space Suit
Provides protection from the vacuum of Space. See rules on Space Suit
10 Minutes
1,200
Holo Projector
Creates illusion
3 Hours
50
Gyroscopic rig
Mount your cannons on this rig to gain a 360 angle of attack. This rig allows the defender to shoot a pursuing craft
2 Hours
250
Ram
Allows the ship to ram into another craft and allows the crew to access the other ship for a raid operation.
8 Hours
100
Cooling System
Allows the cooling of weaponry that necessitates it.
48 Hours
60
Solar Sails
Can be used even when the engine is incapacitated to achieve speed  (maximum of 150,000 mph). This technology can only be used within a solar system (proximity to the sun)
4 Days
900
Plasma Coils
Generate Plasma and supplies a steady amount to a Pulse Engine.
2 Days
800
Dark Matter Extractor
Filter and channels antimatter into an Antimatter Cell. Provides stability and independence to a Dark Matter Engine.
5 Days
500,000
Antimatter Synthesizer
Synthesize Antimatter
1 Week
1 Mil
Energy Cells



Plasma Cell
Powers Pulse Engine (30 - 90 days), Phaser Beam (500 Charges) and Pulse Cannon (1000 Shots)
10 Minutes
90
Dark Matter Cell
Powers Gauss Engine (1 Light year), and Gauss Beam (500 Charges)
20 Minutes
10,000
Antimatter Cell
Powers Antimatter Engine (10,000 Light years), and Antimatter Cannon (100 Shots)
30 Minutes
650,000
Anti Mass Containment Cell
Powers Warp Engine, Upon Warp Drive Trigger stabilizes the appropriate amount of Antimass, and supplies the energy to tear through space and time for a jump, Recharge after 3 Days
1 Week
2.5 Bil