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Player > Starships > Other > Shield
While almost every ship has simple navigational shielding to prevent damage
from tiny bits of debris, this protection does little to stop a starship from
being damaged by lasers, missiles, and larger impacts. To defend against such
threats, a ship has energy shields, though these shields don’t count as force
effects. Projectors mounted around the ship create a barrier that absorbs damage
from attacks. Each attack reduces the number of Shield Points (SP) in a given
arc until that arc’s shields are depleted, after which point all further damage
in that arc reduces the ship’s Hull Points. See Damage on page 304 for more
information. Shield Points regenerate over time and can eventually be used again,
but this regeneration occurs only when the ship is not in combat or otherwise
taking damage. Shields must be attached to a functional power core in order
to regenerate; the rate of regeneration is listed in the table below.
The
value listed under Total SP in the table below is the total number of Shield
Points provided to the ship. At the start of combat, when the starship’s crew
takes up battle stations and the shields are activated, the Shield Points must
be divided up between the four quadrants of the ship. No quadrant can be assigned
less than 10% of the total number of Shield Points available at the start of
combat, or available at the time the shields are balanced again using the balance
science officer action (see page 324). The table also lists rate of regeneration,
PCU needed, and cost.
Name | Total SP | Regen | PCU | Cost (In BP) | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic Shields 10 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 2 | CRB p.302 |
Basic Shields 20 | 20 | 1 | 10 | 3 | CRB p.302 |
Basic Shields 30 | 30 | 1 | 15 | 4 | CRB p.302 |
Basic Shields 40 | 40 | 1 | 15 | 5 | CRB p.302 |
Light Shields 50 | 50 | 2 | 20 | 6 | CRB p.302 |
Light Shields 60 | 60 | 2 | 20 | 8 | CRB p.302 |
Light Shields 70 | 70 | 2 | 25 | 10 | CRB p.302 |
Light Shields 80 | 80 | 2 | 30 | 12 | CRB p.302 |
Medium Shields 90 | 90 | 4 | 30 | 13 | CRB p.302 |
Medium Shields 100 | 100 | 4 | 30 | 15 | CRB p.302 |
Medium Shields 120 | 120 | 4 | 35 | 17 | CRB p.302 |
Medium Shields 140 | 140 | 8 | 40 | 18 | CRB p.302 |
Medium Shields 160 | 160 | 8 | 45 | 20 | CRB p.302 |
Medium Shields 200 | 200 | 8 | 50 | 22 | CRB p.302 |
Heavy Shields 240 | 240 | 16 | 55 | 23 | CRB p.302 |
Heavy Shields 280 | 280 | 16 | 60 | 25 | CRB p.302 |
Heavy Shields 320 | 320 | 16 | 70 | 27 | CRB p.302 |
Heavy Shields 360 | 360 | 32 | 80 | 28 | CRB p.302 |
Heavy Shields 420 | 420 | 32 | 90 | 30 | CRB p.302 |
Heavy Shields 480 | 480 | 32 | 110 | 32 | CRB p.302 |
Superior Shields 540 | 540 | 64 | 130 | 35 | CRB p.302 |
Superior Shields 600 | 600 | 64 | 160 | 40 | CRB p.302 |
Whereas conventional starship shields absorb attacks entirely until they
are depleted, some engineers insist that shields are most effective when deflecting
attacks, blunting their force or causing them to miss entirely. Deflector shield
technology reduces damage from incoming attacks and increases a starship’s AC
and TL, though each successive attack depletes the shields’ defensive potential.
Deflector shields and conventional shields create fields that interfere with
each other, so only one of these two defenses can be installed on a starship.
Fully functioning deflector shields provide a starship the defense value (DV)
listed in Table 1–5 (page 21) to each quadrant. Whenever the starship would
take damage, it ignores an amount of that damage equal to its defense value
in that quadrant. Deflector shields are twice as effective against attacks from
melee, ramming, and ripper starship weapons, so the starship ignores double
the amount of damage from such attacks. Any attack that would ignore a fraction
or all of a target’s shields instead reduces the amount of damage the deflector
shields ignore by an equal amount, rounded in the defender’s favor (e.g., deflector
shields with a defense value of 5 would reduce damage from a burrowing weapon
[Pact Worlds 153] by 3). While the deflector shields’ defense value in a quadrant
is 1 or higher, the shields increase the starship’s AC and TL against attacks
in that quadrant by the listed amount.
Whenever an attack or effect damages
a starship’s Hull Points, the deflector shields’ defense value in that quadrant
also decreases by 1, reducing the amount of damage they can ignore. Weapons
with the array or line special property that damage a starship’s Hull Points
overwhelm its deflector shields, reducing their defense value in that quadrant
by 2, whereas vortex weapons that deal Hull Point damage reduce the target’s
deflector shields’ defense value in each quadrant by 1d4. Any successful attack
by a weapon with the buster special property (or another special property that
deals reduced damage to Hull Points) reduces the deflector shields’ defense
value in the struck quadrant by 2, whether or not the attack damaged the target’s
Hull Points. When a gunnery check results in a natural 20, any decrease to the
target’s deflector shield’s defense value from the attack is 1 greater.
When
an engineer uses the divert action to send power to shields, they increase the
defense value of a single quadrant by 2, or the defense value of each quadrant
by 1, up to the deflector shields’ maximum defense value per quadrant. For every
150 PCU provided by a starship’s power core, increase the defense value restored
to one quadrant by 1. When a science officer uses the balance action, they can
adjust their deflector shields’ defense values in the same way as they would
shift or distribute Shield Points, though each quadrant must have a defense
value of at least 1 afterward. When a starship is not engaged in combat or otherwise
taking damage, the defense value for each quadrant regenerates at a rate of
1 per minute.
Name | DV | AC/TL | PCU | Cost (In BP) | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic Deflector Shield 1 | 1/— | +1 AC/+1 TL | 5 | 4 | SOM p.20 |
Basic Deflector Shield 3 | 3/— | +1 AC/+1 TL | 5 | 6 | SOM p.20 |
Light Deflector Shield 5 | 5/— | +1 AC/+2 TL | 10 | 12 | SOM p.20 |
Light Deflector Shield 8 | 8/— | +1 AC/+2 TL | 15 | 15 | SOM p.20 |
Medium Deflector Shield 10 | 10/— | +2 AC/+2 TL | 30 | 22 | SOM p.20 |
Medium Deflector Shield 12 | 12/— | +2 AC/+2 TL | 45 | 26 | SOM p.20 |
Heavy Deflector Shield 13 | 13/— | +2 AC/+3 TL | 60 | 33 | SOM p.20 |
Heavy Deflector Shield 15 | 15/— | +2 AC/+3 TL | 80 | 36 | SOM p.20 |
Superior Deflector Shield 18 | 18/— | +3 AC/+3 TL | 100 | 45 | SOM p.20 |
Superior Deflector Shield 20 | 18/— | +3 AC/+3 TL | 120 | 50 | SOM p.20 |
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