Scan

Scanning is a function of a spaceship. 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, moon, or even another ship to find 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 are equal to 10 + Sensor Mod (Minimum 9, unless damaged) and are always on. If a ship's Passive sensors detect something, the crew can be informed immediately. Active Sensors imply that a crew member is manually scanning specific targets or looking for specific things. An Active scan is a 2d10 + Sensor Mod + Character's Wisdom Mod. A ship also has a Detection DC, which is determined by the ship's hull size. If a target ship's Detection DC is lower than the ship's Passive Sensors, then they can instantly know of the ship's presence. Otherwise, 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, C.A.S scores, life support, who is on board, and so on. Only detailed scans or Hacking can gather that info.

• In Combat:
  • Scan for Ship Weakness: This is against the target ship’s Tracking DC. If successful, this allows the Weapon’s Officer to apply 1 + Ship’s Sensors to their d10 rolls. The minimum benefit is always +1, so a negative modifier in Sensors just makes scanning hard; it doesn't also impact Weapons. For every 4 that the Sensor Officer beats the Tracking DC by, this adds +1 to the Weapons Officer's bonus. If the target ship's Detection DC is higher than the ship's Passive Sensors, then this scan also becomes a necessary accuracy check. Meaning that if the player's roll doesn't meet or beat the enemy ship's Detection DC, the Weapons Officer cannot target them. This also means the roll may beat the Detection DC but not the Tracking DC, so the roll was partially successful. The Weapon's Officer can attack but cannot add the Sensor bonus to their d10s. This can also critically succeed. A Critical on a Scan check is determined by following the 2d10 Critical rules. Review the 'Fire' function under the Weapon's officer for more information on what happens on a critical success. If the Character has the Spaceship Communications Officer feat, they may choose to add either their Dex/Wis/Int modifier to one d10 in the Battle Pool before re-rolls. If you boost a d10 this way, it cannot be re-rolled.
  • Gather Information: While in combat, getting information about a target ship may be vital. A single scan cannot provide all the information. A GM can determine what info gets provided. This Scan can be done at the same time as a 'Scan for Ship Weakness'. However, the DC for the Scan for Ship Weakness check is increased by +2 if the Player chooses to do both at the same time.
• Out of Combat:
  • Passive/Active Detection: The crew can use this to quickly determine their surroundings. The scan can provide basic information about the location, direction, motion, and size of all objects, including ships, planets, moons, space stations, stars, and anomalies. Passive detection will provide all objects that have a Detection DC equal to or below the ship's Passive Sensors. This can also be used to track down a vessel or an alien anomaly. The GM can determine the object's Detection DC. If the Sensor Officer gets within 5 of the DC but still fails, it is close enough that they gain advantage on the next scanning attempt, since 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. The GM decides what information the Crew can request, and how much, to 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 every 1 point to the roll total, for a maximum roll of 45. This cannot be used while in Stealth, as it would instantly give away the ship's position. Also, a deep scan must be within range. Long or short 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 Tracking DC.