Space Combat
The rules for space combat are a superset of the rules for vehicle combat in System 7. Here is a quick primer on those rules:
Vehicle Combat
Vehicles don't take actions--characters do.
- Vehicles will allow one or more crewmen to man various positions.
- Things like piloting, shooting, etc are handled by the skill checks of the crewmen--these may be modified by the vehicle.
Vehicles have some of their own attributes, including:
- Movement: the crewmen's movement is irrelevant
- Hit Points and Critical Hit Locations (analogous to injuries)
- Maneuverability: a very important attribute that factors into many checks
In vehicle combat, use an initiative chart as normal. Vehicles do not take actions; rather, the initiative chart should consist of characters who are commanding vehicles. All characters go on their own initiative, even when multiple characters are operating a single vehicle.
Normally, vehicle combat uses the same kind of battle map as character combat. However, this is not applicable to space combat (see below).
Mapping
Space Combat eschews a normal battle map for many reasons. Instead, it uses two more abstract maps:
- The Battlefield Map keeps track of all vehicles and entities in the battle. It represents which vehicles are engaged with which--it does not represent exact positions.
- A series of Engagement Maps are used to track individual battles. These maps show which units have positioning advantage over which.