Defense systems include anything that reduces the chance a starship will be destroyed. They are often less regulated than weapon systems, since every ship needs a certain amount of defenses to deal with routine space hazards.
| System | Emplacement Points | Availability | Size Restriction | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adaptive Armor, Advanced | 0 | Extremely Rare | None | Priceless |
| Adaptive Armor, Chrysoari | 0 | Rare | None | 800,000 Chrysoari Protectorate Credits |
| Adaptive Armor, Teuthidoid | 0 | Teuthidoid-Built Ships Only | None | N/A (included in base cost of ship) |
| Armor, +1 | 2 | Licensed | None | 4,000 credits base |
| Armor, +2 | 5 | Restricted | Colossal or larger | 10,000 credits base |
| Armor, +3 | 10 | Military | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 20,000 credits base |
| Armor, +4 | 20 | Military | Colossal (cruiser) or larger | 40,000 credits base |
| Chaff Projector | 3 | Restricted | None | 16,000 credits base |
| Jamming Suite | 1 | Military | None | 10,000 credits base |
| Jamming Array | 5 | Military | Colossal or larger | 40,000 credits base |
| Living Ship | 0 | Rare | None | N/A (included in base cost of ship) |
| Regenerating Shields | 2 | Restricted | None | 10,000 credits base |
| Reinforced Bulkheads +10% | 2 | Common | None | 4,000 credits base |
| Reinforced Bulkheads +20% | 5 | Licensed | None | 10,000 credits base |
| Reinforced Bulkheads +30% | 10 | Restricted | None | 20,000 credits base |
| Shields, Chrysoari Energy | As normal shields | Military | As normal shields | Double normal shield cost, in Chrysoari Protectorate Credits |
| Shields, SR 10 | 1 | Common | None | 1,500 credits base |
| Shields, SR 15 | 1 | Common | None | 2,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 20 | 1 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 2,500 credits base |
| Shields, SR 25 | 1 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 3,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 30 | 2 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 4,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 35 | 2 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 5,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 40 | 2 | Common | Colossal or larger | 6,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 45 | 2 | Common | Colossal or larger | 8,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 50 | 3 | Common | Colossal or larger | 10,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 55 | 3 | Common | Colossal or larger | 12,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 60 | 3 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 16,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 70 | 3 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 20,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 80 | 4 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 25,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 90 | 4 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 30,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 100 | 5 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 40,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 125 | 6 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 50,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 150 | 7 | Common | Colossal (cruiser) or larger | 60,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 175 | 8 | Common | Colossal (cruiser) or larger | 80,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 200 | 10 | Common | Colossal (cruiser) or larger | 100,000 credits base |
Adaptive Armor [Advanced, Chrysoari, Teuthidoid]
Found only in vehicles designed by the most advanced powers and long-abandoned derliects, adaptive armor utilizes bio-technology or mysterious crystalline technology. When struck by an attack, the outermost layer of the armor ‘learns’ about the attack and the rest of the armor adapts to absorb and disspate the energy, leaving just the physical impact of the attack. Chrysoari Adaptive Armor halves all incoming damage from incoming directed energy weapon attacks. Advanced Adaptive Armor halves incoming damage from all energy damage sources including plasma and other forms of non-directed energy. Teuthidoid Adaptive Armor is only available in Teuthidoid-built ships and halves all incoming damage from non-energy sources, however if the ship lacks a shield rating at any time it takes double damage from any radiation-based damage – including energy weapons (both directed and non-directed).
Armor
A basic level of armor exists on all starships – it’s a necessary part of building a hull strong enough to survive the rigors of space – and armor never has to be completely replaced, just patched up. However, it’s possibly to add additional armor beyond what’s needed to keep a starship intact, or to add armor to ground and air vehicles as well, and doing so can boost the a vehicle’s chance of making it out of a firefight. Additional armor is heavy and generally obvious, giving a vehicle a blocky, military appearance. Armor is bought as an equipment bonus to the armor a vehicle adds to its Reflex Defense. Skilled pilots often prefer vehicles without heavy armor, since they can use their character level in place of a vehicle’s armor bonus in any case.
Chaff Projector
A chaff projector is a countermeasure system that protects a craft from incoming projectiles and disrupts targeting computers attempting to gain a lock. As a reaction, the chaff gun fires a trail of energized durasteel shards and particles from the rear of the craft in a 6-square (character scale, only the cone behind it on starship scale) cone, dealing 7d10x2 to any objects (incoming missiles, starships, etc) caught in the affected area as they are showered with flechette. Additionally, for 2 rounds after the chaff is deployed, any attacks rolls made against the ship do not benefit from their craft’s Intelligence modifier as the targeting software is unable to obtain a lock on its prey. The ammunition capacity for a chaff projector is equal to the ship’s cost modifier. Additional capacity can be added, increasing the cost by 20% for each additional chaff burst (up to a maximum of double capacity).
Jammers
Jammers come in many forms, from small jamming suites used in strike craft to massive jamming arrays carried by some capital ships. Not all jammers are effective enough to alter game statistics – the jamming suite in a wing commander’s Interceptor, for example, has too small an effect on other ships to modify game statistics in any way.
A sensor jamming system is capable of blinding enemy sensors and fire-control computers, making the vehicle carrying the jammer a more elusive target. The effectiveness of a jamming suite is limited to small craft and space transports, and a single target within 6 squares (starship scale) must be selected as the target of the jammer (a swift action). A jamming array affects all enemy vehicles within 6 squares of the vehicle carrying it, regardless of the size of those vehicles.
A vehicle affected by a jammer takes penalties on Use Computer checks made for communications or sensors. For a jamming suite, the penalty is -4 for starfighters and -2 for space transports. For a jamming array, the penalty is -6 for starfighters, -4 for space transports, and -2 for capital ships. This penalty also applies to enemy fire control systems, although it cannot reduce a ship’s Intelligence ability attack modifier on attack rolls below +0.
A system operator can attempt to overcome the effect of a jammer. Doing this is a swift action and involves a Use Computer check (with the jammer penalty) opposed by the Use Computer check of the ship with the jammer. On a successful result, the jammed vehicle takes no penalties from jamming until the start of the system operator’s next turn.
Living Ship
A living ship’s hull is an organic, living creature – it heals hit points on its own as normal for living creatures. The vehicle can be repaired as normal with the Mechanics check. All functions of the Treat Injury skill can be used on a Living Ship, however the time it takes to actually make these checks is increased by multiplying the normal time by the vehicle’s cost modifier (minimum x1).
Regenerating Shields
Because of the importance of shields, many engineers have tried to devise ways to improve their performance. For example, the Teuthidoids install backup generators on their vessels to keep their defenses strong, while others have added additional power generators or special computers to ensure that shield generators have the most power when they need it. All these systems are essentially ways to have shields regenerate more quickly, even if they work on different principles.
If you have regenerating shields, your current shield rating increases by 10 (up to the vehicle’s maximum shield rating) when you use the recharge shields action. Normal shields increase their shield rating by only 5 when recharged.
Reinforced Bulkheads
The overall durability of a vehicle can be increased by reinforcing its internal bulkheads. Reinforced bulkheads increase a vehicle’s hit points by 10%, 20%, or 30%. (These improvements don’t stack.)
Shields
While not entirely the ‘energy shields’ of science fiction, shields do indeed represent a certain level of energy deflection capability. Shields serve to deflect, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with and stop enemy attacks from hitting the vehicle. They represent a combination of a variety of technologies, including magnetic fields, interceptor missiles, and CIWS projectile destruction systems (such as the Terran Alliance’s Pulse Laser System). Less advanced powers tend to do without shielding, instead preferring to use heavy armor and high damage resistance technologies instead. Standard shields cannot protect against directed-energy weapons.
Shields, Chrysoari Energy (USERS: Chrysoari Protectorate)
The Chrysoari’s most heavily-guarded technology, these shields create high-intensity energy fields around their ships which can absorb incoming directed-energy weapons fire, incinerate or overload missiles, and melt physical weapons. These shields protect against directed-energy weapons in addition to all other attacks.