Random Events
Defined
An Event is defined as an incident that could conceivably result in the ship's destruction, if not successfully completed. Generally, these Events are not defined any further than this, though they can be. Events are described as one of five levels of complexity:
- Simple
- Routine
- Challenging
- Difficult
- Extreme
Levels
To see if the ship and its crew passes an Event, a Test roll is made. A successful roll results in the success of both the mission and the survival of the ship (and its crew), with no further rolls necessary. If the first roll fails, another is made. A success in this roll indicates that although the mission was failed to be accomplished, the ship survived, albeit there is a chance of damage to the ship and casualties to the crew [see below]. A failure of the second roll results in the complete destruction of the ship (unless the scenario allows for an alternate result).
A Simple Event virtually guarantees a successful outcome. Only a Ship skill below 50 has a chance of failing this Event, as the Test roll requires the ship to pass a roll against a doubled Ship skill.
- Ex: The Ship skill is 62, which means a failure can only happen when a result of greater than 124 (62 x 2 = 124) on a 100 percentile roll occurs.
A Routine Event is nearly as easy as a Simple one, though there does exist a sizeable potential for failure. The percentile is rolled versus the unmodified Ship skill.
- Ex: The Ship skill of 62 is higher than the percentile roll of 54, indicating a success. If the roll had been 63 or higher, the mission would have been a failure.
A Challenging Event requires a 25% reduction in the Ship skill, before the roll is made. If the percentile roll is higher than the modified Ship skill, the mission is a failure.
- Ex: The Ship skill of 62 is modified as 46 (62 - 15.5 (averaged up to 16) = 46). A roll of 46 or less is required for success.
A Difficult Event requires a 50% reduction in the Ship skill, before the roll is made. If the percentile roll is higher than the modified Ship skill, the mission is a failure.
- Ex: The Ship skill of 62 is modified as 31 (62 - 31 = 31). A roll of 31 or less is required for success.
An Extreme Event requires a 75% reduction in the Ship skill, before the roll is made. If the percentile roll is higher than the modified Ship skill, the mission is a failure.
- Ex: The Ship skill of 62 is modified as 15 (62 - 46.5 (averaged up to 47) = 15). A roll of 15 or less is required for success.
Note: instead of rolling a d100 die for the Test percentile roll, instead roll two d10s, with the first representing the 'tens' digit and the second as the 'ones' digit. If both rolls are the same (ex: 6 and 6), then roll a third one and subtract that from the percentile. If the third roll also equals the original 'twin' rolls, roll and subtract again (and again and again, as long as each roll is the same as the original two). The effect is to lower the percentile roll in opposition to the Ship skill.
Event Determination
Every month, each commissioned ship has a (roughly) 1 in 12 chance of engaging in an Event of some level. Instead of rolling for each ship every month to see if the ship had an Event, divide the number of active ships by twelve (always rounding up) to determine the number of Monthly Events and then follow these steps:
- Roll percentile dice four times. Each roll represents the number of Events at each level, starting with Simple ones, with each following percentile roll a factor of the remaining Events. Extreme events receive the final remainder.
Ex: For the month of March, 80 Monthly Events are determined to occur. The four percentile rolls are 35, 16, 86 and 19, representing the Simple, Routine, Challenging and Difficult Events. Respectively (and in order), those result in 28 Simple, 8 Routine, 38 Challenging and 1 Difficult Events, leaving 5 Extreme Events. - The Simple Events can be ignored, since -in the majority of the cases- none of the Events will threaten the ship. However, they may be assigned to an individual ship, if preferred, using the below methods.
- Routine, Challenging, Difficult and Extreme Events are assigned to individual ships, to have them played out via Test rolls. Determine the percentage for each primary class (ex: Constitution class) within the totality of all commissioned ships (including those engaged in refits or other similar yard periods) and apply the resulting number to randomized ships within that class as experiencing that level of Event. One ship can experience more than one Event per month. Note: Round out to the nearest whole number for the number of Events assigned to each ship class.
Ex: The Constitution class of twelve ships makes up 7% of the active fleet and 38 Challenging Events have been determined to occur for the month of March. That means the Constitution class will have 3 Challenging Events (38 x 7% = 2.66, rounded up to 3) assigned to its ships.
[Note: a rule can/should be developed that assigns greater risk to certain ships, possibly to the newest line classes or classes assigned to particularly dangerous missions. For example, the USS Enterprise saw about 22 Challenging and harder Events every year during its third 5-year mission of exploration.]
Mission Failures
When an initial Test roll is not passed, the mission is deemed a failure. Whether the actual scenario goals were met or not, the Event resulted in an incident that may be regarded as catastrophic (ex: USS da Vinci's tragic loss of half the crew at Galvan VI still allowed for a successful recovery of the USS Orion and the Wildfire device, but in the spirit of these Events, it would have been seen as a mission failure). When a mission failure occurs, a percentile roll is made to determine the degree of mission failure (minimal, marginal, major, massive, disaster or catastrophic) on the table appropriate to the level of the Event, down the 1 Fail column. The captain and crew must now deal with the results of this damage. A Test roll of the unmodified Ship skill (i.e., full skill amount) is made again: if the ship passes, no further failures have occurred. If the ship fails again, another percentile roll is made and compared against the 2 Fails column, with additional damage recorded. The Damage Table is consulted twice to determine the amount of damage for both failed Test rolls (if necessary).
| 1 Fail | 2 Fails | Damage Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 - 10 | 01 - 05 | Minimal |
| 11 - 46 | 06 - 15 | Marginal |
| 47 - 79 | 16 - 48 | Major |
| 80 - 00 | 49 - 00 | Massive |
| 1 Fail | 2 Fails | Damage Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 - 09 | 01 - 04 | Minimal |
| 10 - 43 | 05 - 11 | Marginal |
| 44 - 74 | 12 - 34 | Major |
| 75 - 94 | 35 - 70 | Massive |
| 95 - 00 | 71 - 00 | Disaster |
| 1 Fail | 2 Fails | Damage Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 - 09 | 01 - 03 | Minimal |
| 10 - 42 | 04 - 09 | Marginal |
| 43 - 72 | 10 - 28 | Major |
| 73 - 91 | 29 - 58 | Massive |
| 92 - 97 | 59 - 83 | Disaster |
| 98 - 00 | 84 - 00 | Catastrophic |
| 1 Fail | 2 Fails | Damage Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 - 36 | 01 - 06 | Marginal |
| 37 - 69 | 07 - 26 | Major |
| 70 - 90 | 27 - 56 | Massive |
| 91 - 97 | 57 - 82 | Disaster |
| 98 - 00 | 82 - 00 | Catastrophic |
| 1 Fail | 2 Fails | Damage Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 - 52 | 01 - 21 | Major |
| 53 - 85 | 22 - 54 | Massive |
| 86 - 95 | 55 - 81 | Disaster |
| 96 - 00 | 82 - 00 | Catastrophic |
| Estimate | Result |
|---|---|
| Minimal | 1d10% of total SUs damage |
| Marginal | (1d16 + 4)% of total SUs damage |
| Major | (1d21 + 9)% of total SUs damage |
| Massive | (1d26 + 24)% of total SUs damage |
| Disaster | (1d26 + 49)% of total SUs damage |
| Catastrophic | (1d50 + 74)% of total SUs damage* |
- Note: For Catastrophic, any roll 100% or greater results in automatic destruction, with the loss of all hands, as does any damage that equals or exceeds the ship's Total SU value.
To apply damage to a ship, see Damage.