Starship Control Panel 02 - Computation Core

What's inside?

• Easy-to-deploy Starship Control Panel player handout – An in-game representation of any sufficiently advanced starship’s master navigation interface, filled with buttons, toggles, and security overrides. Pressing the wrong button may have catastrophic consequences, and most buttons are the wrong ones in most situations.

• Human-made vector graphic– The control panel graphic itself was made by the author using a vector graphic editor, so there is minimal pixelation and maximum scalability. If you need even higher resolution, contact the author! (email address in credits)

• Dozens of Distinct Functions– Each control on the panel has an overly specific designated function. There can be no lucky guesses.

• Fully annotated panel – Give your players the full 2-page annotated panel on how the control panel works, or make them earn it in the collective story.

• Unlabeled panel– Present your players with a panel without annotations and dare them to start pressing buttons at random. Each function is conspicuously powerful and not very intuitively labeled in most cases!

• Suggestions Sheet with 5 ideal navigation sequences – Each sequence contains 8 to 10 panel commands that illustrate how the panel would actually be used by trained personnel.

• How-to-Use Sheet with dozens of usage ideas across seven categories– This GM-facing PDF full of ideas will help you brainstorm how to implement the control panel in any situation on a starship where the characters need to get control. The following contains a few highlights:

  • No-Instructions Version at First– The control panel, as presented in-game, is indecipherable without the instructions. Players must rely on the handout to understand its functions.

  • Tense Situations – Introduce the panel during a high-pressure moment: a ship-wide lockdown, an impending reactor overload, or an AI anomaly that requires immediate intervention.

  • Internal Interference – A ship’s AI or computer may disagree with player inputs, issuing alternative suggestions, flagging false security warnings, or outright refusing execution until bypassed.

  • Crew Annotations & Scribbled Notes – Prior crew members may have left cryptic warnings, hastily scratched-out instructions, or conflicting theories on how certain functions really work.

  • The Danger of Guessing – Players who fumble through the interface recklessly will quickly realize some mistakes cannot be undone.