Player Guide: Volume 1 (Levels 1-3)

You've read the PF2E quickstart. You know how three actions work, what MAP is, and why you shouldn't attack three times. This guide covers the new stuff that shows up in Volume 1: starship combat, social encounters, chase scenes, and what leveling up actually looks like.

You Have a Ship Now

Your crew has a starship. It is not a taxi; it is a character in the campaign. You will fly it, fight in it, maintain it, and eventually lose sleep over keeping it in one piece.

The short version: starship combat is a team minigame where everyone picks a role and contributes one action per round. Your personal combat stats (Strikes, spells, HP) do not apply. Instead, you use skills like Piloting, Crafting, Diplomacy, and Computers.

Crew Roles

Pick a role at the start of each starship combat. You can switch roles between rounds (no action cost), but you only get one action per round in your role.

Role	What You Do	Key Skill
Captain	Buff allies, debuff enemies, coordinate tactics	Diplomacy, Intimidation, Deception
Pilot	Fly the ship, perform stunts, set positioning	Piloting
Engineer	Restore shields, fix damaged systems, boost power	Crafting
Science Officer	Scan enemies, lock on targets, jam communications	Computers
Gunner	Shoot weapons at enemy ships	Piloting

Tips for your first fight:

The Captain's "Encourage" action gives an ally a +1 bonus. Use it every round.
The Engineer should Restore Shields early. Shields are your buffer before hull damage starts.
The Science Officer's "Lock On" action gives the Gunner extra damage dice. Coordinate these two.
The Pilot's movement determines firing arcs. A bad position means your guns can't reach.

Ship HP and Shields

Your ship has Hull Points (HP) and Shield Points (SP). Shields regenerate; hull does not (without repairs). When hull HP drops to critical thresholds, systems start breaking: weapons malfunction, engines stall, life support flickers. The Engineer's job is to keep that from happening.

Shields have four quadrants (front, port, starboard, aft). The Pilot's positioning determines which quadrant takes fire.

Volume 1 has negotiations where talking is the mechanic, not just flavor. When you're haggling with a buyer or convincing an NPC, you'll make skill checks with real consequences.

Skill	What It Does	When to Use It
Diplomacy	Persuade through reason and charm	Fair deals, honest requests
Deception	Lie convincingly	Hiding motives, inflating value
Intimidation	Pressure through force of personality	Last resort, aggressive posturing

How it works: The GM sets a DC. You roll. Degrees of success matter here: a critical success might get you a better deal than you asked for, while a critical failure might end the conversation entirely.

The important part: Social checks are not mind control. A successful Diplomacy check means the NPC is persuaded by your argument, not magically compelled. If what you're asking is unreasonable, no roll will save it.

Chase Encounters

You will encounter at least one chase scene. These use a skill challenge structure rather than grid combat.

How chases work:

Each round, everyone makes a skill check (Piloting, Athletics, Acrobatics, etc., depending on the situation)
Success moves you forward (or keeps you ahead). Failure means you fall behind or take a complication.
Obstacles pop up mid-chase: a bridge out, falling rocks, tight turns. Each obstacle has its own DC and relevant skill.
The chase ends when one side accumulates enough successes or the other side fails too many times.

What makes this different from combat: You are not tracking position on a grid. Think of it as a montage of moments. Your character's skills and creativity matter more than their weapon damage.

Leveling Up: What Changes at Levels 1-3

PF2E levels feel impactful. Here's what you gain as you advance through Volume 1.

Level 2

Class feat: Your first real class customization. Read your options carefully; this shapes how you play.
Skill feat: A new skill feat. These unlock special uses of skills (like Quick Repair, Bargain Hunter, or Battle Medicine).
Proficiency increases: Your level goes up by 1, which means every Trained skill gets +1 automatically.

Level 3

General feat: A broad character improvement (Toughness for extra HP, Fleet for extra Speed, Incredible Initiative for going first).
Skill increase: You can raise a skill from Trained to Expert (+4 instead of +2). Pick your most-used skill.
Class features: Many classes get a significant feature at Level 3 (weapon specialization, improved spellcasting, etc.). Check your class page.

The Practical Impact

At Level 1, fights are tight. A lucky crit can drop a PC, and you have limited resources. By Level 3, you have more HP, better skills, and a class feat that gives you a new trick. You'll feel the difference.

Skill increases matter more than you think. Going from Trained to Expert in Piloting means +2 to every starship combat check. That's the difference between dodging a missile and eating it.

Quick Reference Card: Starship Combat

STARSHIP COMBAT ROUND:
  1. Pilot rolls initiative (Piloting)
  2. Choose/change your role (free)
  3. Each crew member takes 1 action
  4. Pilot's movement resolves
  5. Repeat

YOUR ROLE OPTIONS:
  Captain .... Encourage (+1 ally), Taunt (-1 enemy), Coordinate
  Pilot ...... Fly, Glide, Full Power, Stunts (barrel roll, evade)
  Engineer ... Restore Shields, Divert Power, Patch systems
  Science .... Scan, Lock On (+damage), Jam Comms, Identify
  Gunner ..... Shoot, Launch missiles, Suppressive Fire

SHIP DAMAGE FLOW:
  Attack hits → Shields absorb first → Overflow hits Hull
  Hull at critical thresholds → Systems break (glitching/malfunctioning/wrecked)
  Engineer patches broken systems (DC 15/20/30)

Last Updated: 2026-04-09