Having seen someone’s printout of Faster Than Light: Nomad’s Space Combat Actions section on FTLN pp 177-181 (FTLN Quickstart pp 55-59), I thought, “hey, I could explain it more simply.”
Readers who don’t know the first thing about Faster Than Light: Nomad should read the appendix first.
So, without further ado:
Space Combat Turn Sequence
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Each ship’s Pilot throws 1d6 + ship’s Agility to derive their Position.
A spaceship with higher Position can attack a ship with lower Position normally. A ship with lower Position takes a -2D penalty to attack. If both ships have the same Position, both ships attack at -2D.
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Characters then may take their actions in any order.
Each character may only take one Action a round. Often the Pilot takes additional roles as the Captain, Sensor Operator, Gunner, or even Engineer. They therefore must choose one action among all their options, and then their turn is done.
Some roles need to take their actions before or after others:
- The Captain goes first because his actions affect the entire crew and possibly other allied or enemy ships.
- Most Engineer actions affect the rest of the round. However, Damage Control only has meaning after damage.
- The Pilot can enhance the Gunner’s chances to hit with an Attack Vector.
- The Sensor Operator can enhance the Gunner’s chances to hit and enable torpedoes with a Sensor/Weapons Lock, or diminish an enemy Gunner’s chances with Jam Sensors or Break Sensor/Weapons Lock.
- To receive the maximum benefit, the Gunner typically goes last.
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A player or the GM marks the damage done to their ship as it occurs. Roll on the table on FTLN p. 183 (FTLNQS p. 59) to see where the hit landed.
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The combat continues onto the next round until one ship is disabled or surrenders or five turns pass without either side being destroyed. In the last case, either side may break off the combat and escape.
Captain’s Actions
Aid The Fleet
IF the Captain makes a Knowledge throw at 8+ THEN they may distribute two total Advantage dice to other vessels on their side.
Each die (or both) may be applied to any throw the vessel makes until the Captain’s next turn, including the Position throw.
Magnificent Bastardo!
IF the Captain’s ship has the highest Position this turn AND the Captain makes a Knowledge or Vehicles throw (pick one) with -2D Disadvantage at 8+ THEN only the Captain’s ship may act this turn.
Lead Crew
IF the Captain makes a Social throw at 8+ THEN they may distribute two total Advantage dice to members of their crew.
Each die (or both) may be applied to any throw the vessel makes until the Captain’s next turn, including the Position throw.
Self-Sacrifice
IF the Captain has not yet used this Action during this battle AND the ship takes Regular or Critical damage THEN instead of recording the damage the Captain takes a Wound.
After the battle, if the damage taken was Critical, the Captain rolls on the Triage table with -1D Disadvantage, cumulative with other modifiers.
Engineer’s Actions
If no one has the Engineer Archetype or a relevant technical Talent, no one may take Engineer’s actions.
Brace For Impact
IF the Engineer takes this Action THEN all subsequent attacks against this ship this turn have their Guns reduced by 1D.
Damage Control
IF the Engineer makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN a single disabled system is temporarily repaired.
The system will fail again in 1D hours.
Optimize System
IF the Engineer allocates resources to a specific system (Sensors, Communication, Fire Control, or a system unique to the ship) THEN any subsequent rolls for this system are made at +1D until the ship’s next turn.
Overcharge Weapons
IF the Engineer makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN the Gun dice increase by 1D for the next attack.
Redline Engines
IF the Engineer makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN the ship’s Agility increases by +1 until the ship’s next turn.
Pilot’s Actions
Attack Vector
IF the Pilot makes a Vehicles throw + the ship’s Agility at 8+ THEN the Gunner’s next attack roll gains +1D Advantage.
Disengage
IF the Pilot makes a Vehicles throw + the ship’s Agility AGAINST the most agile enemy pilot’s Vehicles + Agility throw THEN the ship can prepare to leave the combat.
A second consecutive successful Disengage is required to escape combat entirely.
Evasive Maneuvers
IF the Pilot makes a Vehicles throw + the ship’s Agility with -2D Disadvantage at 8+ THEN the Pilot gains half their Vehicles skill in dice to distribute as Disadvantage dice against attacker’s ships.
Engage FTL
IF the Pilot takes this action for two consecutive turns AND chooses a destination for FTL transit AND on a subsequent turn throws Vehicles at 8+ THEN the ship can escape to hyperspace.
The Pilot can shave off a round of calculations, but at a -1D disadvantage to the Vehicles throw.
Sensor Operator’s Actions
Spoof Torpedoes
FOR a number of torpedoes equal to the Sensor Operator’s Technology skill IF the Sensor Operator makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN an incoming torpedo is neutralized.
Jam Sensors
IF the Sensor Operator makes a Technology throw AGAINST an enemy Sensor Operator’s Technology throw THEN the Gunner of the enemy ship suffers a number of Disadvantage dice equal to the Sensor Operator’s Technology skill.
Scan
IF the Sensor Operator makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN the Sensor Operator can detect vessels and other objects not already in combat OR determine information about an attacking ship OR detect an ambush about to be sprung.
Target Systems
IF the Sensor Operator makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN the Gunner may target a specific system on the enemy ship in their next attack.
Sensor/Weapons Lock
IF the Sensor Operator makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN the Sensor Operator gains a Sensor/Weapon Lock on an enemy ship.
A Sensor/Weapons lock grants every allied ship a +1D Advantage on all Guns attacks against the enemy ship for the combat round. All torpedos need a Sensor/Weapons Lock.
Break Sensor/Weapons Lock
IF the Sensor Operator makes a Technology throw at 8+ THEN an enemy’s Sensor/Weapons Lock on the ship is removed.
Gunner’s Actions
Fire Guns
IF the Gunner makes a Combat throw at 8+ THEN they hit a targeted enemy ship and roll their Guns rating for damage.
Launch Torpedoes
IF the ship has a Sensor/Weapons Lock on an enemy ship THEN the Gunner may launch up to half their full supply of torpedoes at that enemy ship.
Torpedoes do not gain the +1D bonus for a Sensor/Weapons Lock. Torpedoes take a full combat round to reach the target, but ignore Position. The Gunner then rolls Combat for each torpedo to see if it hit its target.
Point Defense
IF the Gunner divides their Guns rating against incoming torpedoes THEN the Gunner rolls 1d6 against every incoming torpedo; on a 4+, the torpedo is destroyed.
A ship with a Point Defense Grid may do this as a free action. All others must use a crew action to fire at torpedoes.
Splitting Fire
IF a Gunner wants to split their fire among multiple enemies. THEN they may allocate two or more dice per enemy, making a throw for each separate attack.
Combining Fire
IF two ships with comparable Guns ratings (+/-1D) want to concentrate fire on a single enemy AND the Gunner with the highest Combat rating succeeds at a single throw, with a +1D Advantage THEN each ship rolls their individual Damage roll but uses the higher of the two results.
Appendix A: What’s a Throw?
If you’re completely unfamiliar with Faster Than Light: Nomad, here’s the basics:
- A throw is a roll of the dice, usually two six-sided dice. Nomad uses six-sided dice exclusively, sometimes abbreviated D.
- You can roll with Advantage, which means adding one or more dice and choosing the highest. The notation +nD denotes throwing with n Advantage dice.
- You can roll with Disdvantage, which means adding one or more dice and choosing the lowest. The notation -nD denotes throwing with n Disadvantage dice.
- Advantage dice and Disadvantage cancel each other out, so you’re either rolling with net Advantage, net Disadvantage, or a flat 2D.
- You usually add one of your Skills to a throw. The skills are Combat, Knowledge, Physical, Social, Stealth, Technology, and Vehicles. Those cover all the situations a character can find themselves in.
- Usually your target number is 8+ (on two dice), but sometimes a throw is to see which of two (or more) competitors can throw the highest number.
(I’ve noted the target number above for new players, plus it’s both shorter and more clear to say “a throw at 8+” than “a successful throw”.)
Appendix B: How Does Damage Work?
These are a ship’s vital statistics in Nomad:
Hull Type End. Armor Crew Cargo Guns Agility Scout 1 mo 18/21 4 8 5d6 +2 Travel Multiplier: x1
Modifications: FTL Engine
Yep, that’s it, apart from the ship’s initial and monthly cost in “Credits”.
When a ship makes an attack with Guns, the attacker first throws their Combat skill. If that is 8+, they then roll their Guns dice, which in the case of a hypothetical attacker is 6d6.
Suppose they roll a 21. That’s more than the first Armor value but not over the second Armor value, so this is only a Regular hit. We then roll 2d6 on the Regular Damage chart on page 183 (59 in the Quickstart) and get a 4, which signifies a “Breach”. To quote the text:
Breach: The craft’s hull is compromised. A spacecraft will be fully exposed to vacuum within 1d6 turns unless the breach is repaired. Anyone not wearing a spacesuit will perish unless they make a Physical throw to don vacuum gear in time. All actions by the crew in the turn the breach occurs and the following turn are at -1D as they secure the ship and deal with the pressure loss. It is standard procedure for all crew to don space suits when combat is expected.
Space combat in Nomad is swift and brutal.
Appendix C: How Do Torpedos Work?
You may not need to know this for your first adventure, but just in case:
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Some ships have Torpedo Tubes, through which they fire torpedos. They also need to cary Torpedos in their Cargo: 8 torpedos per unit of Cargo.
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To fire torpedos, a ship needs a Sensor/Weapons Lock, as noted above.
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A ship can fire no more torpedos than their number of torpedo tubes in each turn.
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Torpedos reach their target the turn after they are fired.
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The enemy sensor operator may attempt to spoof them before they hit, causing them to explode prematurely.
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The enemy gunner may attempt to shoot them down before they hit.
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The Gunner that launched them makes a Combat throw for each remaining torpedo to confirm that it’s on target.
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When a torpedo hits, it rolls 5d6 damage. However, for each 6 rolled the attacker adds the 6 and rerolls the die. (Or adds an extra die. Same thing.) Thus torpedos can do a lot more damage than simply 5d6 Guns.
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For each torpedo that exceeds Armor, the target then rolls against the Damage Table and determines which part of the ship was hit.
Appendix D: Credits and References
The main references are, of course, Faster Than Light: Nomad and the Faster Than Light: Nomad Quickstart, both by Stellagama Publishing. The authors are Omer Golan-Joel, Richard Hazlewood, Josh Peters, and Robert Garitta.
Thanks, too, to the #ftl-nomad
channel on the Stellagama Publishing Discord
server for advice and comments.
Additional insights came from the Coriolis: The Third Horizon RPG by Free League Publishing, which has a similar combat turn structure.