[Spaceships] Keeping track of space combat

[Stormcrow]

I like to make or use worksheets to keep track of game details, and there is one area for which I'd especially like to do this: the abstract combat system from GURPS Spaceships. However, I have yet to find a suitable way to format such a sheet. There is just too much information to keep track of! Twenty systems, power points, disabled or destroyed status, dST/HP, current HP, Hnd, SR, HT, Move, SM, dDR, maneuver, range to each enemy, facing toward each enemy, situation toward target, damage caused by each weapon, acceleration, delta-V, and preferably Piloting, Dodge, Gunner, and Sensor scores being used by the crew. And that's just for one ship! I've been working on a sheet to take care of this, but I'm not satisfied with what I've managed so far.

How do others keep track of all this stuff during a game?

[AmesJainchill]

Fortunately, our space combats in GURPS Star Wars are fairly simple.
We've got the one or two PCs ships, and I usually have from one to three opposing ships of about the PCs size or smaller. We've got multiple weapons on the main ship everyone is on, so just about everyone gets to fire or do something.

We game in a university classroom (ah, the joys of a college gaming club).
I have a notepad file with the spaceship details open on the computer, and we have a big digital projector and screen to project the wiki page with our main ship stats on onto the wall, and I have a dry-erase board and markers which I use to write a lot of notes and calculations.
Our ships don't use delta-v, and the PC crew's scores are their own business so I don't have to worry about that...hmmm.

[Panzerfaust]

I use an excel sheet and just drop the Decade from everything. Obviously I know a starship with 30x 100mj lasers are going to be doing a lot more damage then what is listed. And it is a hell of a lot thicker and tougher then say... 15hp with like 10dr (just using random numbers as an example)

So, with the scores of the crew. Are they PCs? Thats not your job that is theirs. Keep important NPCs to a minimum helps and as for generic redshirt crew members? Give them a generic skill. I normally assign an experience level across the whole vessel for the redshirts. Recruits, skill 12. Regulars, skill 14, veterans, skill 16. The only exception to that is usually the captain and he enjoys a nice skill 16 for his rolls.

For handling and such, I follow the rule of KSS. I have a fairly BS reason why the handling stats are more or less all the same within certain ranges, that being the find-it-on-every-ship reactionless drive itself, which is super science and relies off of unspecified physics involving artificial gravity generation and a semi-stable FTL field to keep up with the harmonics of the universe or some such. This also helps out with crap like acceleration as most ships literally have the same acceleration unless if they have really good engines, more engines, or choose to squeeze some more power out of them. And, you know, delta-v is not longer an issue thanks to it being a wtf grav drive.

With engineering and power points, I leave that entirely up to the players if their vessel can't run everything it has on it. What they choose to power up I mark on the spreadsheet with an ! and what is powered down I mark with an X. Most vessels they tend to go into battle with carry 2 separate reactor systems so power is a non-issue. 2 engines, 3 energy weapon batteries, and a heavy force shield leaves an extra power point chilling about. If the ship is armed with a spinal gun then the unfortunate target is going to know it's booting up the biggun when 2 of the batteries stop shooting. Systems like contragrav are a little moot to have on in the depths of space.

Just due to how things work out within my game world sensors tend to not be the most reliable things in combat so most combat is handled at knife fight ranges. If somebody is sniping at you from extreme range you can bet that smarmy punk is getting targeting data from somebody who can see you.

If the ship is working with solid round weapons (conventional, railguns, grav guns, missiles) then in order to keep the damage simple and the calculations down low I cut the ship's own speed out of the equation for damage. Not realistic, I know. But I would rather keep the game going at an enjoyable pace for all parties then sit there and math out everything every time somebody lands a hit. Energy weapons do not have this issue as they have the same damage at all ranges and speed is not factored into them.

As for systems taking damage and being rendered incaped or destroyed? I just mark it with a little i or d once it goes down. Getting hit without a shield is bad within my game world because your armor is more there as a placebo effect. That plasma gun is going to make a mess out of you thanks to the explosive effects of it, and the railgun that just put a shell in your hide? 4x damage for having a HE shell go off inside the target is gonna make a mess no matter what you do. Of course other weapons have their own unique, special little place for getting rid of a targets shield but the mainstay for ship to ship combat involves a lot of explosions, missiles, nuclear warheads, and plasma fire.

For truly large battles, dozens of ships or so on each side, just work with the PCs. I make a generic skill roll for each side and the one that does the best wins. The PCs impact on such a battle comes from what they decide to do. If they opt to assist and take orders I assign their team an extra +2 for that generic skill roll because because. If they branch off to do their own thing, like go gunning right for the enemy flagship, then chances are I'd feel bad for the admiral in charge.

If you want I could probably find the excel sheet and send it over to you. I know I have it on one of my flash drives somewhere.