Hostile Encounters and Crashes During Exploration

A hostile presence triggers a real battle against a Breach entity, not an abstract loss. Intensity is rolled after the “hostile presence” result; space uses a single ratio for the enemy budget, while land rolls a ratio for each unit type.

With a small number of units, the actual hostile force may be proportionally larger than the stated ratio. Enemy units remain whole: any positive fraction is rounded up to at least one unit of the relevant model or type. For example, in a small space encounter at 20% after sending one ship, a calculation of 0,2 of a hostile ship yields one whole ship. The same rounding applies to land encounters.

The presence receives combat technologies randomly rolled between −3 and +3 relative to the player. Enemy forces bear Breach class names in reports; these names are cosmetic and do not change the statistics of Errant models or copied units, losses, wounded, or captures.

A hostile encounter generates an exploration narrative message and a detailed battle report. For space fleets, a return mission is created if ships survive. The specific rules for space combat and Debris fields are detailed in Space Encounter, Debris, and Position 11; land combat results are covered in Land Encounter.

Example

A fleet may encounter Breach Scouts, a Wandering Force, or Awakened Sentinels; combat is then resolved using the normal combat engine.

The hostile entity generates Errant PvE models without copying the models of the ships sent. The player's total points determine the model tier: 0–100k, 100–500k, 500k–1m, 1m+, 3m+ or 40m+. The single space ratio associated with the intensity, shown in the previous table, is applied to the value of the ships sent to form the enemy budget. If this budget is too small to fund any model in the tier, the least costly Errant ship is still generated.

Enemy ships may receive the following class names in the report: Mirror Scout, Breach Hunter, Black Frigate, Awakened Cruiser and Ghost Battleship. The displayed name replaces the Errant model's name, while the statistics and costs used remain those of the generated PvE model.

When a space exploration encounters a hostile presence and destroys ships, a Debris field may appear at position 11 in the explored system. This position is reserved for explorations and recycling missions targeting a field at this location; it is not a normal planetary position for other missions.

Player hull losses follow the common rates for Debris field formation, which exclude damaged hulls and also specify the general rules for creation, coordinates, and accumulation. The resource composition of hostile ships follows that of Errant ships, as described in Debris field creation.

Land exploration does not create a space Debris field.

Example

If an exploration at [4:46:11] encounters a hostile presence and destroys ships, a field may appear at position 11 in the explored system. The losses of both the player's ships and the hostile entity's ships may contribute according to the corresponding rules; recyclers can then target [4:46:11].

The hostile entity copies the assault units sent through the Pillars. The encounter size is shared across the force, then each unit type rolls its own land ratio in the intensity table in the previous section.

Ground combat follows the normal rules: deaths, wounded, captures, captured carriers if the combat rules allow it, and survivors.

Enemy units may receive the following class names in the report: Breach Guard, Wandering Rampart, Rupture Specter, Awakened Overcharger and Breach Executor. These names are displayed in the report, but the statistics remain those of the copied units.

Example

A land expedition made up of soldiers and ramparts may encounter a hostile force displayed as Breach Guard and Wandering Rampart.

A crash destroys the expedition entirely. Unlike a hostile presence, it does not trigger a detailed battle, create survivors, or generate loot: it represents a total loss.

Example

A space fleet or land expedition may be lost entirely if the draw results in a total crash.