Infinite Dark Special Manoeuvre - THE THOMPSON TURN (Patreon)

In response to the many, many requests that I include an option to perform a manoeuvre like this one, I've written some test rules for you. I have named it, here, after the patron who was most insistent on this point so he can take the blame. I make no promises that it will still be called this in the final rules...

CL1 vessels only may perform a thompson turn. This difficult manoeuvre is named for a long-forgotten pioneer of space combat and involves cutting the main engine and firing lateral boosters just enough to flip the vessel so it is pointing back the way it came but still travelling in the same direction. A full turn can be used to shoot enemies behind a vessel or to execute a dramatic change in direction or both.

To perform a thompson turn must be declared before the dice are rolled and requires three successes on a manoeuvre test (i.e. two successes on the dice plus the “free” success for CL1). If successful, change the vessel’s heading by 180° but do not change its vector at the end of the activation. The vessel may not change vector or speed again until it has re-started its engines. If insufficient successes are achieved, the pilot has "bottled it" and doesn't benefit from their normal +1 success for this activation but may spend their remaining success as normal. Once declared, if the test achieves at least three successes, the thompson turn must be performed.

To re-start engines requires two successes on a manoeuvre test.  If successful, at the end of the activation the vessel’s vector aligns with its heading and its speed becomes 0.