Crypt Ship Playtest Analysis

I had a few thoughts about the Crypt Ship adventure I play tested.

First of all, my Pirates racked up 269 CV for beating two ships. That seems like way too much treasure at first glance but I started thinking about the very nature of PEF’s in Star Navy. This is a game about asymmetrical fights where every battle can be fair, unfair, or downright ludicrous. That is a big appeal for me. The randomness keeps things interesting.

This adventure came down to the escort roll. That escort roll was a random decider of difficulty. In a normal Patrol mission that you play for Pirates, you’re used to this. Sometimes you encounter a nasty PEF and that’s okay. You just break off as soon as possible and hope the next PEF is nicer. It is like getting spins of the slot machine.

What makes this adventure more dangerous than a normal Patrol mission is that you only get one spin of the slot machine. It is one spin for possibly 300 CV. If you roll up an escort that is too hard to fight, then you go home. You don’t get to roll for more ships and you do not get a chance at the 300 CV.

I like that kind of decision making. It also makes adventures riskier than the patrol mission. Some days you might get lucky and fight off one escort and some days you might get unlucky and face a bigger force. Either way, you got 300 CV waiting for you if you pull it off.

My second thought is on the Crypt Ship itself. I used a Class 4 Tanker’s stats for simplicity sake but I wonder if I should make a more custom layout. Perhaps give it an AA or two. Higher shields make a sort of sense but in this game, just one extra shield can turn something into a tank. I’ll have to think on it.

I enjoyed how the adventure took on a different tone after the escorts were wiped out. Every little hit on the Crypt Ship has the potential to devastate your CV. Once you defeat the escorts, it is not a matter of if you get the CV but how much. One bad missile hit wiped out 30 CV and man, I felt that.

Personally, my favorite part of this experiment was the time involved. Normally when I play a Patrol Mission, I play it all in one sitting. That means I resolve three or more PEF’s in one day. I could break it up to different days but my schedule gets weird sometimes. I average about three to four hours.

This adventure took me less than an hour. Part of that was the fact that I only rolled one escort ship but still, it was really nice to play something to conclusion rather quickly. I got to advance my campaign time table another turn in a single sit-down. That is a huge plus for me.