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Player > Starships > Other > Shield

Starship 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 1010152CRB p.302
Basic Shields 20201103CRB p.302
Basic Shields 30301154CRB p.302
Basic Shields 40401155CRB p.302
Light Shields 50502206CRB p.302
Light Shields 60602208CRB p.302
Light Shields 707022510CRB p.302
Light Shields 808023012CRB p.302
Medium Shields 909043013CRB p.302
Medium Shields 10010043015CRB p.302
Medium Shields 12012043517CRB p.302
Medium Shields 14014084018CRB p.302
Medium Shields 16016084520CRB p.302
Medium Shields 20020085022CRB p.302
Heavy Shields 240240165523CRB p.302
Heavy Shields 280280166025CRB p.302
Heavy Shields 320320167027CRB p.302
Heavy Shields 360360328028CRB p.302
Heavy Shields 420420329030CRB p.302
Heavy Shields 4804803211032CRB p.302
Superior Shields 5405406413035CRB p.302
Superior Shields 6006006416040CRB p.302

Deflector Shields

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 11/—+1 AC/+1 TL54SOM p.20
Basic Deflector Shield 33/—+1 AC/+1 TL56SOM p.20
Light Deflector Shield 55/—+1 AC/+2 TL1012SOM p.20
Light Deflector Shield 88/—+1 AC/+2 TL1515SOM p.20
Medium Deflector Shield 1010/—+2 AC/+2 TL3022SOM p.20
Medium Deflector Shield 1212/—+2 AC/+2 TL4526SOM p.20
Heavy Deflector Shield 1313/—+2 AC/+3 TL6033SOM p.20
Heavy Deflector Shield 1515/—+2 AC/+3 TL8036SOM p.20
Superior Deflector Shield 1818/—+3 AC/+3 TL10045SOM p.20
Superior Deflector Shield 2018/—+3 AC/+3 TL12050SOM p.20

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