I can't find it mentioned in the RAW, but do you think it is correct to assume that once your Science Officer has succeeded on a Computers check for the Scan action (SCRB p. 325) that they have real-time access to the information they have learned?
For example, if they have succeeded on a Scan check sufficient to discover an enemy's Defenses, do they know the "AC, TL, total and current Hull Points, total and current Shield Points in each quadrant" for the rest of the combat, even if those values change?
I realize the answer to this could be answered differently by each GM, but I wondered what the forums thought about it. Perhaps I'm the only one wondering. : )
Depends on how the rules for science officers' actions read. If that's the only meaningful thing the science officer can do, then I would rule that it doesn't last long, requiring multiple checks during an encounter. Otherwise, the player would make one check each combat and be bored to tears the rest of the time.
Now, if there's plenty of other things to keep the player occupied during starship combat, then I'd be fine with one check.
Science Officers have three actions that they can perform (at 1st level, anyway), so they have a couple of other options by default. It just seems a little strange to me that subsequent checks don't mention details from previous successful checks. But then, maybe that's why there is no limit to the number of science officers a ship can have (except for a ship's Maximum Crew).
Thanks!
I read that as knowing all current info at the time of the check. Most of it wouldn't change of course. Also only another simple success is required to get anything that changed later, not multiple ones or the extra +5's needed.
I probably wouldn't update with exact numbers unless they scanned again; I'd just describe the actions of the enemy ships. Once you give all that information once, it's fairly easy for the players to keep track for themselves.