Canyon Running Rules (or Asteroids)

This is tricky flying, using boost to try and catch up a faster ship makes it very hard to steer your vessel at such speeds as the direction thrusters struggle to compensate. Each turn the players must make a Speed check roll to see how well they can fly through the canyon and then an opposing Pursuit roll vs their target.

Slower speed ‘keeping in the blue’ will optimise your turn rate and reduce the chance of a crash. Flying at full throttle will make turns harder but not as impossible as Boosting.

1 - Each person at the start of each turn decides if they are going to Boost, Speed up, or Keep in the Blue

2- If they use Boost they must make a Spaceship Piloting skill check 12, and can add +5 to their Pursuit Roll if they succeed. If they fail they take -5 penalty to their Pursuit Score.

If they Speed up to Full Throttle they must make a Spaceship Piloting check 9 but can add +2 to their Pursuit roll or take -2 if they fail.

If they move at Normal speed they make a Spaceship Piloting check vs 6. If they fail they cannot gain on their opponent this round, irrespective of their opponents roll, there is a stalemate.

If they fail any of these speed rolls twice in a row they graze the canyon wall and take hull damage according to their speed. Normal 10, Fast : 20, Boost :30.

3 - They then make opposing Pursuit Rolls (pursuit is Ship speed +half spaceship piloting) rolling a 1d10 and adding it to their Pursuit score, modified for the above.

They need to succeed two Pursuit checks in a row to catch up enough to open fire.

(It is possible therefore to hit a canyon wall and take damage but still catch up an opponent. Sometimes reckless flying is the only way). This opposition check mini game is very similar to the Interdiction mechanic.

This can also be used to simulate canyon racing etc where you are trying to get ahead of other opponents using a combination of speed skill and luck, or even dogfighting in a dense asteroid field.

Optional Obstacle Rule: (We didn’t use this as it was a suggestion from a player after we had tried the above but it is the same idea as the Check or Obstacles from Vehicle Combat in the playtest.)

Each turn the GM (not the player) rolls a d10 to see if there are any obstacles in the players path after they have decided their speed.

Roll: 1-7: No Obstacles. 8-9 Sudden turn. 10. Something in way.

No obstacles: - Skip.

Sudden turn – the pilot must make their Speed roll with an additional -2 penalty. If they fail in addition to the normal effects they also scrape the edge of the canyon in addition and take 5, 10 or 15 points of damage based on their chosen speed.

Something in way: - This could be a falling, rock, sudden cliff face, or the canyon narrows dangerously. – The pilot must make their Speed roll with an additional -4 penalty. If they fail they are forced to make an emergency manoeuvre and are ejected from the canyon or take a wrong turn and they automatically lose their Pursuit this turn, as well as any other normal effects. If they are moving at normal speed this is all that happens. If they are travelling at High Speed they must make an additional Piloting check difficulty 8 to miss the obstacle or take an additional 10 damage and lose their Pursuit this turn. If they are Boosting they must make a piloting check difficulty 12 or take an additional 15 damage and lose their Pursuit.