Fighters are organized into squadrons, which move and fire together. These squadrons are created through the use of Squadron Generation Points (or SGP's), and all of their details are recorded on a Squadron Record Sheet.

Attributes, Skills and Training

Attributes and skills work almost exactly as they do in WEG's roleplaying game. The six attributes (DEX, KNO, MEC, PER, STR, TEC) govern a range of skills, which determine a pilot's performance. These skills can be improved through extra training or, in game terms, purchased with SGP's. The skills used in this game are:

DEXTERITY
Blaster*
Missile weapons
Vehicle blasters*
KNOWLEDGE
Survival*
MECHANICAL
Capital ship gunnery*
Capital ship piloting*
Capital ship shields*
Sensors
Space transports*
Starfighter piloting
Starship gunnery
Starship shields*
PERCEPTION
Command
STRENGTH
No Strength skills are used in the game
TECHNICAL
No Technical skills are used in the game

(* indicates skills used in the Advanced game only.)

The standard RPG die codes are simplified for this game, by simply removing the D, and any pips, from the skill level. For example, a pilot from the RPG with a starfighter piloting skill of 5D+1 now has the skill at a value of 5. Similarly, a craft in the RPG with 2D+2 shields will now have a shield value of 2 (in Star Wars Miniatures Battles, they round any +2s up, so that a skill of 2D+2 would become 3. You and your opponent can pick the method that's right for you!). The related dice rolling mechanics are described below.

Squadrons

Squadrons are the basic units in the Tales of the Freespirit Space Combat Game. Apart from a few possible exceptions (i.e. Hot Shots), all pilots in a squadron have the same skills, their ships the same weaponry. Squadrons come in one of three possible 'qualities' - Average, Veteran or Elite. These titles describe a squadron's experience in combat and are an indicator of that squadron's ability to see a battle through to its conclusion. All of the fighters are commanded by one pilot in the squadron - the Leader.

Squadron Coherence

All fighters in a squadron must stay within 'command distance' of another fighter within the squadron. This command distance is, simply, the pilot's command skill, in hexes. For a Leader to be actively in charge of his Squadron, he too must be within his own command distance of one of his fighters, who in turn must be within command distance of another fighter in the Squadron, etc.

Example: the small Squadron of TIE interceptors pictured here has a command skill of 2, and therefore must remain within 2 hexes of one another in order to maintain Squadron Coherence. The Leader, however, has a command skill of 3. He's not penalized for being three hexes away from his Squadron, who will still enjoy the benefit of his command. Blue Four, on the other hand, is not within command distance of his Squadron. He is now Separated.

Separation

Does this mean that a fighter may never go off on its own? Of course not. Pilots are free to go where they wish, but if they choose to separate themselves from their Squadron, they will deprive themselves of the enhanced coordination that being part of an organized fighting unit can provide. In game terms, a modifier of +1 is added to the difficulty of all fire combat rolls. In addition, the Threat Level of all Morale checks is increased by +1 (see the chapter Morale).

Skill Tests

Dice rolling is a little different in this game, and is performed with multiple ships and guns in mind. There are two kinds of die rolls used here:

Straight roll: When a pilot is trying to perform an action where his own skill is the only deciding factor (fire lasers, navigate an asteroid field, etc.), a straight skill test is performed. The player simply rolls one six-sided die, and adds his applicable Code value to the roll. If the result meets or exceeds the predetermined difficulty number, the player succeeds.
Opposed roll: When there are two sides to the outcome of an event (using one's lasers to damage another craft, trying to break one's ship out of a tractor beam), an opposed roll is called for. Both players roll a die, and add the applicable Code to their roll. The highest roll wins, and the attacker wins on a tie.

Rollovers and Bomb-outs

In the interest of making sure anything is possible (and, alternatively, making sure that anyone can fail), there are some special die-rolling mechanics that will ensure you get a healthy element of unpredictability into your game:

Rollovers: If a six is rolled when making any kind of die roll, that player gets to roll again, adding the new number to the six he just got. If the lucky player keeps on rolling sixes, he simply gets to keep adding them to his total! Adding the applicable Code to this total will get the player his final total.
Bomb-outs: If a one is rolled, the player's total is an automatic zero, no matter what Code applies. The only exception to this is when the player is performing a 'rollover'. In this instance, the one rolled is simply added to his total.