In the Character Operations Manual, there are some Open Crew actions added to starship combat
Open crew actions occur at the beginning of the engineering phase, before any other actions occur. All open crew actions occur simultaneously and can be resolved in any order the GM sees fit. Each open crew action can be performed only once per round.
Furthermore, taking an open crew action counts as your action during a starship combat encounter.
The Open Crew Actions are:
- Erratic Maneuvering
- Feign Disaster
- Prioritize Calculation
- Range Finding
- Ready Weapon System
Then along came the Starship Operations Manual and on page 41 added
- Lead Boarding Party
- Subdue Boarding Party
It seems to me like three additional Open Crew Actions are needed, because in the Injected Pathogen description another Open Crew Action is mentioned (bold added)
In addition to fending the pathogen off as though it were a boarding party, a defending officer can use environmental controls to weaken the pathogen as an open crew action with a Life Science check (DC = 10 + 1-1/2 × the creature’s tier). If successful, all pathogen boarding parties take a –4 penalty to their next boarding attack before the end of the next round.
So a "Subdue Pathogen with Environmental Defense" action seems to be needed as a new open crew action since the mechanics involving a science check makes this somewhat different from the "Subdue Boarding Party" choice.
Also, in the Ramming description, another Open Crew Action is mentioned (bold added)
When a starship successfully rams and deals damage to another starship’s Hull Points, an officer can direct a boarding party to invade the targeted starship as an open crew action during the gunnery phase that round.
In this case an "Initiate Boarding after Ramming" seems to be needed, as this action specifies it takes place during the gunnery phase, making it different from the new "Lead Boarding Party" action. One thing to note, since this is an Open Crew Action, then it will use up someone's action during the round, while the other methods of initiating boarding such as Anchoring Weapons, Breaching Pods, and Injecting Pathogens don't need an additional action.
Finally, in the Security Modifier description a third possible new open crew action is mentioned
Antipersonnel weapons provide their BR modifier only against the first boarding attack attempted against the starship, after which the weapon exhausts its ammunition and must be reloaded as an open crew action.
Some sort of "Reload Antipersonnel Weapon" would then be needed to fulfill this open crew action, probably at the start of the engineering phase with the other open crew actions since the phase is not specified.
Just curious if other people interpret this the same way I'm seeing it.
One more thing, if I was making a reference sheet, do you think these would be good descriptive open crew action names?
- * Subdue Pathogen with Environmental Defense
- * Initiate Boarding after Ramming
- * Reload Antipersonnel Weapon
I'm not certain that it is necessary to specifically add those to the list, as they can only be used under specific circumstances, and the methods of using them is spelled out clearly in the effect that will call for them to be applied. Of those on your list, only Reload Antipersonnel Weapon might call for being added with an asterisk as a reminder both that it's only good vs. one boarding, and that someone needs to reload it after it has dumped a mag.
For a reference sheet, I do like the idea of having them listed to remind me of what occurs during the open crew phase of the turn though. I'd put them at the end since they are used rarely.