Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Rule Book

Stellar Phenomena or Terrain

S

pace is full of obstacles, from simple asteroids and

fiery comets to strange gravitational anomalies and

nebulae and even dreaded black holes. When a ship

passes near or through one of these treacherous ob-

stacles, the pilot might need to make an appropriate

Piloting check, even if he is attempting a starship ma-

neuver that typically wouldn't require one. This starship

maneuver's difficulty is based on the ship's speed (as it

is generally easier to avoid an obstacle while traveling at

a reduced speed) and silhouette (as it is usually easier to

dodge something in a smaller ship than in a larger one).

These rules also apply to vehicles driving on the

surface of a planet or flying in a planet's atmosphere.

The basic concepts are the same: smaller, more agile

vehicles are more likely to avoid a fatal collision with

the local terrain than slower-moving vehicles.

When making the Piloting check, the difficulty is

equal to the vehicle or starship's current speed or half

of its silhouette (rounding up), whichever is higher.

The lower of the two values indicates how many times

the difficulty of the check is upgraded. So a TIE fighter

flying through an asteroid held at top speed (speed

5) would make a Piloting check with a Formidable

(4444 4) difficulty. He would then take half his

silhouette (base of 3, divided in half rounding up to

two) and upgrade the difficulty of the check by that

value. In the end, the poor TIE pilot has to make a

check against 444 and •

However, a Jawa sandcrawler with a speed of 1 and

silhouette of 4 driving through a canyon would only

be an Average (4 4) difficulty check, with one die

upgraded to a #. In this case, the slow speed of the

sandcrawler works to the Jawa pilot's advantage, even

if the vehicle is fairly large and unwieldy.

Failing these checks does not mean the ship or

vehicle crashes (although failing and generating ^

might well result in a crash). Instead, it means that

the pilot has been unsuccessful in navigating through

the situation. He drops his speed by one, and does

not reach wherever he was attempting to go (if he

was trying to reach a specific location at medium

range from him, for example, he remains at medium

range from the location).

NAVIGATION HAZARDS

While even the tiniest speck of debris can pose a

threat to a starship hurtling through the void, not all

astronomical features are created equal. Piloting a

ship through a well-charted nebula is one thing, but

threading a ship through a densely packed asteroid

field while being chased by Imperial fighters is en-

tirely another. If local space is hazardous enough,

the Came Master can add Setback dice to a player's

Piloting check.

CELESTIAL HAZARDS AND

DIFFICULT MANEUVERS

Ship captains or vehicle drivers might find themselves

in situations where they are already in the thick of an

asteroid field or nebula (or a swamp or scree-covered

hillside) and need to perform an action that requires a

Piloting check. In this case, the player makes his Pilot-

ing check as specified in the description of the action

(not the check specified by his speed and silhouette).

He does, however, add the specified number of • dic-

tated by the difficulty of the obstacles; see Table 7-8:

Navigation Hazard Setback Dice for reference. The

Game Master can also choose to upgrade the diffi-

culty of the check based on the speed of the vehicle

or ship. In general, he should upgrade the difficulty

once if the speed is 1 -3, and twice if the speed is 4-6.

TABLE 7-8: NAVIGATION HAZARD SETBACK DICE

Number of C Planetary Description Space Description

• Flat, clearplains, or (if flying) clear skies and good weather. terrain. Roads, firm fields, grassy

An easy, relatively unchallenging navigational situation.

A broad, loosely packed asteroid field, for example, or a

thin, calm nebula.

Somewhat tricker terrain. Scattered trees, dense

undergrowth, rolling hills, sand dunes, or windy

weather.

A tricky but not seriously daunting set of obstacles. Flying

over high mountains on a moon, or a thicker asteroid held

or nebula.

Dangerous terrain. A thick forest, steep, rock-

covered hills, or flying in atmosphere during a

violent storm

A dangerous astronomical feature. Flying around or

through a fracturing comet, or navigating through a

particularly dense and turbulent asteroid held.

••• +

Very risky terrain. Sheer cliff faces, deep swamps,

lava with only a thin crust of hardened rock, or

speeding through a canyon only just wide enough

for the vehicle to fit through, are all examples of

flying or driving across this type of terrain.

An extremely dangerous situation calling on every ounce

of a pilot's skill and coolness. Navigating the Maw. flying

close to a deadly pulsar, flying through asteroid tunnels,

or other dangerous and foolhardy pursuits.

STARSHIPS AND VEHICLES

•EDCE OF THE EMPIRE