Scan

Scanning is a function of a Space ship. Space Ships and other functions can be found here. This allows a ship to 'perceive' its surroundings. You can have the Ship Sensors Scan a planet or moon or even other ship to found out more details about it.

This is used by the Sensors/Communications Officer.

Descriptions

Scan has both an in-combat roll and an out of combat roll. The rules are a little different for each circumstance.

• Passive Vs Active Senors:

Passive sensors is equal to 10 + Sensor Mod (Minimum 9) and is always on. If a ship's Passive sensors detect something the crew can be immediately informed about it. Active Sensors imply that a crew member is manually scanning specific targets or looking for specific things. An Active scan is a d20 + Sensor Mod + Wisdom Mod. A ship also has a Detection DC which is determined by the ship Hull Size. If a target ship's Detection DC is higher then ship's Passive Sensors then they can instantly know of the ships presence and an Active scan will be necessary to see and target the ship. A Passive Ship detection provides the following info: Ship Location/Direction/Motion/Size and if the Ship's shields/engines/FTL/Power Core are active. It cannot inform any other stats such as its armaments, attribute scores, life support, who is on board, and so on. Only detailed scans or Hacking can gather that info. Gathering that information is different depending on if you are in combat or not.

• In Combat:
  • Scan for Ship Weakness: This is against the target ship’s AC. If successful this allows the Weapon’s officer to apply the Ship’s Sensor’s to there d10 rolls. If the target ship's Detection DC is higher then the ship's Passive Sensors then this scan also becomes an accuracy check meaning it is necessary for this roll to be higher then the enemy ship's Detection DC in order for the Weapon's officer to even attempt to fire. This can also critically succeed. Review the 'Fire' function under the Weapon's officer for more information on what happens on a critical success.
  • Gather Information: While in combat getting information about a target ship may be vital. This takes 1 turn but a single scan cannot provide all information. A GM can determine what info gets provided. A ‘Deep’ scan can but it takes 3 turns to complete the enemy ship knows you are doing it and stealth is normally impossible. The DC for the scan is 10 + Target Ship's Shields Mod.
• Out of Combat:
  • Passive/Active Detection: The crew can use this to quickly determine their surroundings. The scan can provide basic information like location, direction, motion and size of all objects from ships, planets, moons, space stations, stars, anomalies and so on. Passive detection will provide all objects that have a Detection DC equal too or below the ship's Passive Sensors. This can also be used to attempt to track down a vessel or some alien anomaly. The GM can determine the object's Detection DC and if the Sensor Officer gets within 5 of the DC but still fails then it is close enough that they gain advantage for the next scanning attempt sense they almost found what they are looking for. You can 'Take 20' or in this case up to 45 minutes. Each minute adds to the Sensor Roll with the Sensor Mod being added on top.
  • Gather Information: This is a quick and simple way to gain more information about a planet or ship. It is up to the GM what and how much information also the Crew can request that they scan for particular things. The crew can choose to roll or wait for the results like with Passive/Active Detection. This is not a 'Deep' scan meaning that there are limits to what they can learn about the target.
  • Study/Scientific/Deep Scan: This is a longer then normal process. A roll is considered 20 minutes by default and the 'Take 20' action is instead 1 hour for 20 and an additional 10 minutes for ever 1 point to the roll total for max possible roll of 45. This cannot be used while in Stealth as it would instantly give away the ship position. Also a deep scan of an object must be within range. Long or shorter range only. For planets and other celestial objects the ship must be in a close Orbit. This is highly verbose and provides as much information as possible regarding the target. However, the target will know that it is being deep scanned and from where. The DC for a Deep Scan on a ship is the Ship's AC.