Okay, so let's say that a conflict is being played out in space.

How does escalation go?

"Just Talking" is easy, that's conversation and confrontation over communicators.  No big deal.

"Physical, not fighting" is also pretty cool, that's chasing, evading, that kind of thing.

"Gunfighting" is clearly turbolasers and torpedoes.  Got it.

But what about level 3?  The Body+Will level?  Wild stunts, like playing "chicken" or flying into an asteroid field?  Is that too similar to level 2?

"Use the Force, Luke!"

The times in the sources that I see the kind of determination that is equivalent to the "Guns" level are accompanied by everyone else thinking that the person is crazy. Luke turning off the targeting computer, Han flying into the asteroid belt, Lando going to close range against the Star Destroyers. Any time the tactic is risking d10s in fallout, essentially.

I know that this may lead to a muddling of cause and effect, but I'm not sure how else to go about it.

Boarding actions? Finding out that there's a spy on your ship and punching him? Ramming your spaceship into the other guy's spaceship (that's fighting, but you're not using guns)?

Not all situations will lend themselves to all escalations, though.

Oops. I made a mistake in my previous post.

In Star Wars, blasters and torpedoes are at the same level as brawling -- level 3. The same way that I would say blasters are level 3 in individual combat. Level 4 -- the equivalent of Guns -- is pulling some crazy do-or-die stunt, the same way that lightsabers would count as level 4.

Does that make sense?

Mark, I think you're talking about Fallout, with your "Level 3" and "Level 4" stuff. Fallout is not the same thing as escalation.

No, I said what I wanted to say. It's also escalation. In a space opera/Star Wars setting, the equivalent to brawling is busting out the turbolasers. When the conflict is really important -- the equivalent of an old west gunfight -- Star Wars tends to have space battles that are somehow more intimate or unexpected.

I get the feeling that this still isn't clear. An example is at the end of the original movie (now A New Hope). The conflict is "Is the Death Star destroyed?" The first escalation is from physical to violence at "lock S-foils in attack position" (the Rebel side) and "Launch interceptors." (the Imperial side) -- The Empire escalates to the next level when Vader says "ready my fighter. You and you, come with me." It's now personal, and the rebel player takes to "He's shut down his targeting computer" to respond in kind. With the Millennium Falcon's arrival as a Raise.

Obviously this is just an example of what I'm thinking of.

Hm...

[table]
[tr][td]Attributes[/td][td]Personal Scale[/td][td]Space Scale[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Acuity+Heart[/td][td]Just Talking[/td][td]Hailing Frequencies Open[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Body+Heart[/td][td]Physical, not Fighting[/td][td]Chase and Evade[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Body+Will[/td][td]Fighting[/td][td]?[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Acuity+Will[/td][td]Blasters and Lightsabers[/td][td]?[/td][/tr]
[/table]

These ? are really the two entries in the table that are problematic.

Maybe I should call them "Dogfighting" and ... what?

"Do or Die?"

We've had some examples of actions in space battles that are at the highest, riskiest end of the spectrum... turning off the targeting computer, battlecruisers moving to close range, landing on the superstructure of the star destroyer...

What is the quality that defines that kind of escalation?

"Leap of faith"?

It's amorphous in a way "guns" or "swords" is not, but the capacity to take insane personal risk does seem to be the defining characteristic of true heroes and villains in the Star Wars movies: Tarkin is cool, yeah, but only Vader goes out in his fighter; Rebel troopers are brave, I'm sure, but only Luke and Leia hop on commandeered speeder bikes and chase people through a frickin' forest; Rebel pilots are skilled, but only Luke turns off his targeting computer. Etc.