Let's say you're the only crew member on your ship. What does ship combat look like for you?
What actions do you take? How do you fire? Can you lock a target, divert shields, maneuver out of the way, insult the enemy, and fire in the same round? Probably can't do all of that, but how much of it can you do?
You pick a crew role (any) then do one (or maybe both, depending on how you interpret the rules, I think you can do both) of the minor crew actions: snapshot (shoot one weapon at -2) and/or glide (move half speed, increase turn distance 2, and add your Pilot skill to AC/TL).
So you can be a bad gunner and/or a bad pilot plus either engineer or science officer, or you can choose to be a fully functional gunner or pilot and do the other role poorly.
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Well, as per the rules on p. 326, you can Glide (ie: move at half speed and add Pilot to your AC) and make a Snap Shot (one attack at -2) in addition to doing one of the main actions (though taking your main action as Gunnery precludes the Snap Shot, ditto any main Pilot action and Glide).
So...you can handle the basics and make one normal crew action, yes. You'll need to carefully decide what action is necessary, but it's doable if you've got all the relevant skills.
EDIT: Ninja'd by 45 seconds. Dang.
Yeah, oddly enough, a ship isn't *that* much worse off in combat just because it doesn't have a pilot :)
It does seem like it's difficult to have a classic one man ace pilot ship, though.
I think the way to model that is to be a pilot and use your minor action on gunnery (switching to gunner with minor piloting actions when that became more necessary).
Science Officer-y stuff and Engineering-y stuff would usually be left to outsider of combat (unless you have a convenient R2 unit in back). Although I could envisage rounds where it was crucial to enact repairs, rather than fly and shoot super effectively.
A one-person starship isn't going to do well up against a fully staffed starship, but it'll work fine in a dogfight since everyone else will be under the same handicap.
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I've run two starship combats against a fully crewed level 2 PC ship, and some Tier 1/3 and 1/4 ships piloted by some space goblins.
What I've found is similar to what Steve says, you're going to mostly jump between concentrating on piloting and gunnery, using your minor action for one or the other.
Since they were goblins they didn't really do much to restore their shields, or scan very much. Just trying to focus on swarming to punch through one side of the ship's shields.
Could you be the Captain and give yourself a bonus to the minor crew actions. Say something witty/motivational and then do it.
Could you be the Captain and give yourself a bonus to the minor crew actions. Say something witty/motivational and then do it.
Yesss!
Give yourself a +2 to offset the -2 for firing as a minor crew action!
I think that is exactly what the minor crew actions are for.
You use your action e.g. to make a Stunt (Pilot role) and then take the "Snap Shot" action to fire at the enemies ship (with a -2 penalty).
Alternatively you could also add an AI to the ship (like a Droid in a X-Wing).
Could you be the Captain and give yourself a bonus to the minor crew actions. Say something witty/motivational and then do it.
You can't use Captain actions on yourself though.
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You can't use Captain actions on yourself though.Could you be the Captain and give yourself a bonus to the minor crew actions. Say something witty/motivational and then do it.
I have house ruled that fighter squadrons can elect Leaders. They can make captain actions if the squad is together.
Also, computer programs can be given the ability to make skills checks. Nothing to say you can't have a dedicated system that can shoot/autopilot for you.