Ship Sensors

These are the rules for using a ship’s sensors from the Core Rulebook and High Guard, with some clarifications and minor changes.

Scanning the Local Environment

Making a detailed sensor scan:
Routine (6+) Electronics (sensors), EDU or INT, 1D x 10 minutes

• Gives routine information. May not find things as small as a single ship at longer ranges.

Analyzing the results of a scan:
Average (8+) Electronics (sensors), INT, 1D x 10 minutes

• May give more detailed information about the previous sensor scan.

Detecting Other Ships

Check

Average (8+) Electronics (sensors), EDU, 1D minutes

Detects other ships within 1,000,000 km.

• Possibly greater distance, depending on circumstances.

After the initial detection, sensor contact is always maintained.

• Unless the target ship has a Stealth hull – see below

Sensor DMs

Sensor Factor	DM
Sensor grade	-2 for Civilian, +1 for Improved
Using active sensors	+2 (but makes this ship easier to detect)

Target DMs

Target Factor	DM
Lower TL	+1 per TL target is lower
Using active sensors	+2
Using M-drive	+1 per Thrust
Power plant is operating	+1, only if target does not have Stealth
Using transponder or radio	+6
Extended sensor array is deployed	+2
Stealth hull option	-2 to -6

Stealth

If the target ship has the Stealth hull option, it can break the sensor contact when the range between the ships increases by one or more bands during an encounter.

In that case, contact can be re-acquired by another Average (8+) Electronics (sensors) check, including the following modifiers in addition to the table above:

Stealth Target Factor	DM
Stealthed target fires weapons	+2
Stealthed target has suffered critical hits	+1 per Severity

Sensor Detail

The amount of detail revealed by a sensor scan depends on the distance and the type of sensors.

See here for tables (Core Rulebook, p. 160)

Space Combat

For the use of sensors in combat, see the Space Combat chapter in the Core Rulebook.

References

Core Rulebook, “Skills and Tasks: Electronics”

Core Rulebook, “Spacecraft Operations: Sensors”

Core Rulebook, “Space Combat”

High Guard, “Sensors”