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Throughout the past few years I've been a little underwhelmed by the performance of Captains in Starship Combat. For a role so archetypical in sci-fi, it seems to me that most of the time they're reduced to pre-emptively providing a +2 or +4 bonus to somebody elses roll, which often have no actual effect on the outcome and kind of makes the Captain feel like a less impactful version of the ships computer when they aren't burning through resolve points.
Additionally, they're the only role which cannot rely on a single skill (Or BaB/Piloting, in the case of Gunnery). To pull off one of their most potent abilities (Orders) requires being extremely good at a second skill, or set of skills, just to be able to spend a resolve point to even give another team-mate a chance to make their own roll. For every position except Pilot, it would be more efficient to simply change positions and do it yourself. And trying to hit the DC with an attack roll for giving Gunnery Orders is even harder.
To help solve these issues and make the Captain role feel more useful, I've made the following PDF.
Starfinder Revised Captain PDF
I'd recommend that anybody who feels the Captain role underperforms in starship combat take a look and consider using some of the changes within. They're not for every table, of course, but at the very least I can say they've been fun on tables I've been on.
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I like your way of thinking. I'm Counting On You is certainly going to be welcomed. That it's a sort of reaction works well with Brace for Impact also being one.
I think Brace for Impact needs a bit more development. You need to explain how it works with critical hit thresholds - does it create a buffer that can prevent system glitches? I think we shouldn't be decreasing that even more. Already ship combat is more a race to zero hull points and we'll fix up systems later.
Also, it's got potential to make a battle last even longer if you spam it every round. Maybe it needs some kind of cost (resolve?) or limit on how often you can use it.
I do like the idea that the captain could be a more reactive role, keeping an eye on the situation and intervening where needed. So please keep going with this!
I like the main change here, with Counting on You seeming a lot more exciting than Encourage ever was. I'm not sure about Brace for Impact purely from a flavor standpoint. The Captain is talking to people, so how can they make the hull better able to sustain an impact?
I'll also echo Ascalaphus in saying that Brace for Impact doesn't seem like its neccesarily fun if you're able to double up between it and diverting to shields. It would really extend combat more than divert already does.
I do like the idea of having a second reactive action that competes with Counting on You though.