Starship Weapons and Grappling Systems

[h=5]STARSHIP WEAPONS[/h] Starship weapons fall into one of four categories: beam weapons, projectile weapons, missiles, and mines. Each category of weapon is described in greater detail below.
Starship weapons require the Starship Gunnery feat to operate proficiently. Without this feat, a gunner takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls made with starship weapons. Trained, expert, and ace crew gunners are assumed to have this feat.
To build a starship weapon system from scratch, a character must succeed at a Craft (mechanical) check (DC 30) after investing 300 hours in its assembly. A character without a mechanical tool kit takes a –4 penalty on the skill check. The character must also make a Wealth check against the weapon’s purchase DC.
Installing a weapon system requires a successful Craft (mechanical) check (DC 30) after investing 30 hours. A character without a mechanical tool kit takes a –4 penalty on the skill check.
Modifying Weapons: Certain beam and projectile weapons—as noted in Table: Starship Weapons—can be modified for different rates of fire. With 1 hour of work and a successful Repair check (DC 30), these weapons can be reconfigured for semiautomatic or automatic fire mode. (Resetting a weapon to its original configuration requires another check and 1 hour.) Weapons can be purchased in their modified versions, but the purchase DC of a modified weapon increases by +3.
[h=5]Average Weapon Damage[/h] Some starship weapons (particularly fire-linked weapons) deal incredible damage. To speed up play, you can decide to deal average damage with weapon attacks instead of rolling handfuls of dice and adding them up. Table: Starship Weapons lists average damage in parentheses in the Damage column.
[h=4]BEAM WEAPONS[/h] Beam weapons deal energy damage, usually of a nonspecific type. They range from weapons as simple as a high-powered laser to monstrous devices capable of harnessing the fundamental forces of the universe.
Beam weapons draw power from a starship’s power plant and are considered to have unlimited ammunition.
Beam Weapon Mounts: Beam weapons are mounted on turrets or in banks that, coupled with the starship’s ability to adjust its orientation, allow the weapons to fire in any direction. The cost of a turret mount or bank is included in the purchase DC of the weapon.
[h=4]PROJECTILE WEAPONS[/h] Projectiles are generally solid slugs delivered to the target, where the velocity and density of the slug hopefully punch through the target’s defenses. The most basic projectile weapons launch a small hunk of metal at roughly the speed of sound; the most advanced can push around mountains or molecules at greater than the speed of light.
Projectile weapons tend to be slightly more expensive than beam weapons, but the top end damage is considerably higher.
Starships have sufficient storage space to contain a virtually unlimited supply of projectile weapon ammunition.
Projectile Weapon Mounts: Like beam weapons, projectile weapons are mounted on turrets or in banks that, coupled with the starship’s ability to adjust its orientation, allow the weapons to fire in any direction. The cost of a turret mount or bank is included in the purchase DC of the weapon.
[h=4]MISSILES[/h] A missile is an explosive warhead fixed to a guided rocket and fired from a missile launcher. The type of warhead determines both the type and amount of damage.
All missiles are equipped with guidance systems that negate the penalty for range increments. Missiles are purchased in racks of eight.
Missile Launchers: A starship must be equipped with missile launchers to fire missiles. Each type of missile has its own type of missile launcher; for example, a launcher designed to fire CHE missiles cannot fire KE submunition missiles. Missiles can fire in any direction. A missile launcher has a purchase DC of 20.
[h=4]MINES[/h] Mines are immobile explosives that must be deployed to be effective. Mines are equipped with sensors to scan approaching ships and detonate when hostile ships draw near. Some mines also come equipped with cloaking screens and other defensive systems to conceal their presence (see Defensive Systems).
Mines are sold individually. Although a mine weighs no more than a few thousand pounds, one mine consumes 100 tons of a ship’s cargo capacity (most of it taken up by the launch system and radiation shielding).
Minelayers: A starship must be equipped with a minelayer (purchase DC 25) to deploy mines, and only Colossal ships can be fitted with minelayers. A minelayer consists of two or more mine rails—low-powered magnetic accelerators that can deploy one mine per round.
Deploying a Mine: A starship equipped with a minelayer can, as an attack action, deploy a single mine in any 500-foot square it occupies. Only after the starship leaves the mine’s detonation area does the mine activate.
A starship that deploys a mine sets the conditions under which the mine detonates. Up to four mines can be deployed in the same 500-foot square and programmed to detonate simultaneously.
A deployed mine is a Medium-size object with Defense 5, hardness 10, and 50 hit points. Damaging or destroying a deployed mine has a 50% chance per hit of detonating it.
Detonating a Mine: When certain predetermined conditions are met (usually when an enemy ship enters the mine’s detonation area), the deployed mine explodes. The mine’s detonation area includes the square it occupies and all adjacent 500-foot squares (9 squares total). All ships within the mine’s detonation area take damage when the mine detonates. A pilot may attempt a Pilot check (DC 25) to reduce the damage by half; making this check does not count as an action.
[h=5]FIRE-LINKED WEAPONS[/h] Fire-linked weapons are identical beam weapons, projectile weapons, or missile launchers that point and fire in the same direction. In effect, this arrangement creates a single weapon (fired with a single attack roll) that deals greater damage than either weapon alone.
Each full doubling of the number of fire-linked weapons (two weapons, four, eight, and so on) increases the damage by one-half the base damage. For example, a fighter using two fire-linked rail cannons (damage 6d12 each) deals 9d12 points of damage with a successful attack. Fire-linking weapons adds +1 to the purchase DC of each weapon in the link; taking the above example, each fire-linked rail cannon would have a purchase DC of 31 instead of 30.
Variable fire links also exist, allowing the gunner to decide from attack to attack whether to fire the weapons individually (as normal), in a full link (as described above), or in a partial link. A partial link allows the pilot to fire the linked weapons in groups of two. Only starships with four or more fire-linked weapons can be fired in a partial link. The variable version of the fire link adds +3 to the purchase DC of each weapon in the link.
[h=5]WEAPON BATTERIES[/h] A weapon battery consists of a cluster of up to five identical beam weapons, projectile weapons, or missile launchers that fire as a single weapon (requiring a single attack roll). When using battery fire, every weapon after the first in a battery adds a +1 bonus on the attack roll, to a maximum of +4 for a five-weapon battery. If the attack succeeds, roll damage as if one of the weapons had hit. In addition, a weapon battery has a greater chance of scoring a critical hit. Regardless of the number of weapons in the battery, the threat range is increased by 1. For example, a battery of plasma cannons (normal threat range of 20) has a threat range of 19–20. This effect stacks with other systems that expand a weapon’s critical threat range, such as Achilles targeting software.
Batteries of weapons cannot be “split” into individual weapons; they either fire all together, or not at all. Installing weapons in a battery increases the purchase DC of each weapon by +1.
Only mediumweight, heavy, and superheavy starships can be equipped with weapon batteries.
[h=5]WEAPON DESCRIPTIONS[/h] Table: Starship Weapons provides the following statistics for various ranged weapons:
Damage: The damage the weapon deals.
Critical: The critical threat range of the weapon.
Damage Type: Most beam weapons deal a nonspecific type of energy damage that is not subject to energy resistance. A few weapons deal a specific kind of energy damage; for example, a laser deals fire damage. Projectile weapons deal ballistic damage.
Range Increment: A weapon’s range increment is given in feet. An attack at less than this distance is not penalized for range. However, each full range increment causes a cumulative –2 penalty on the attack roll. Beam weapons dissipate and become ineffective past 10 range increments, while projectile weapons have unlimited range.
Rate of Fire: Ranged weapons have three possible rates of fire: single shot, semiautomatic, or automatic.Minimum Ship Size: The minimum size of starship capable of supporting the weapon.
Purchase DC: The purchase DC of the weapon.
Restriction: The level of license required to purchase the weapon legally.
[h=4]Starship Weapons on Autofire[/h] If a starship weapon has an automatic rate of fire, it can be set on autofire. Autofire affects an area and everything in it, not a specific target. The starship using the autofire weapon targets a 1,000-foot-by-1,000-foot area and makes an attack roll; the targeted area has an effective Defense of 10. If the attack succeeds, the pilots of all ships within the affected area must make a Pilot check (DC 15) or take the weapon’s damage.
Apply a penalty on the check based on the size of the pilot’s ship: Huge –2, Gargantuan –4, Colossal –8.
Some starship weapons—such as the needle driver—only have autofire settings and can’t normally fire single shots.

Table: Starship Weapons
FUSION BEAM (PL 6): The fusion beam initiates a fusion reaction and then directs the blast at the target.
GAUSS GUN (PL 6): The gauss gun is an electromagnetic accelerator that fires tiny ball bearings at an extremely high velocity.
LASER (PL 6): The simplest beam weapon, the laser is used generally for small craft. It consists of a focused beam of white-hot light.
LASER, HEAVY (PL 6): The heavy laser is simply an oversized laser that pours more energy on the target. It’s too big to install on light spacecraft, but is common on destroyers and larger warships.
MINE, FUSION (PL 6): A fusion mine initiates a fusion reaction that deals damage to all starships in its square and all adjacent squares.
MISSILE, CHE (PL 6): A CHE (conventional high-explosive) warhead can destroy a small vessel, but it’s less effective against larger warships unless launched in numbers. Heavy vessels, such as battleships, can usually ignore the weapon despite its payload of hundreds of kilos of advanced chemical explosives.
MISSILE, KE SUBMUNITION (PL 6): This warhead consists of a bundle of dozens or even hundreds of tungsten steel darts, each mounted on small rocket motors. As the weapon approaches its target, the warhead splits open, unleashing a lethal hail of high-velocity metal arrows. The impact alone can vaporize several square yards of heavy armor.
MISSILE, NUCLEAR (PL 6): This 1-megaton warhead is essentially a fusion bomb rigged to a guided rocket.
NEEDLE DRIVER (PL 6): The needle driver is a larger, heavier version of the rail cannon (see below), with an extremely high rate of fire. It fires small metal flechettes at the rate of thousands of rounds per minute.
NEUTRON GUN (PL 6): This device directs an intense blast of neutron radiation at the target.
NEUTRON GUN, HEAVY (PL 6): This weapon is simply a larger version of the neutron gun.
RAIL CANNON (PL 6): Rail cannons use a series of electromagnets to propel projectiles down a magnetic track. The projectiles are kinetic-energy weapons with no explosive charge, but at close ranges, they can still be quite devastating.
ANTIMATTER GUN (PL 7): Using the same basic technology as the PL 6 rail cannon, the antimatter gun throws a piece of antimatter at the target. The impact alone is extremely destructive. Following the initial impact damage, the “splatter” of antimatter from the disintegrating warhead creates a cluster-bomb effect around the point of impact, increasing the chance of a critical hit.
MASS CANNON (PL 7): The mass cannon uses gravitic technology to “charge” a small bit of matter with incredible gravitational energy, then hurls it at the target, where its increased gravitational pull causes it to slam into the target like a wrecking ball.
MASS CANNON, HEAVY (PL 7): The heavy mass cannon is a larger and more powerful version of the mass cannon.
MINE, GRAVITIC (PL 7): When a gravitic mine detonates, it creates a brief artificial gravity well that pulls on ships in its square and in all adjacent squares, tearing their hulls.
MISSILE, MASS REACTION (PL 7): This warhead uses a dark matter reaction to unleash a powerful wave of energy. The effect is more concentrated than a nuclear blast, but it’s less likely to cause unwanted collateral damage.
MISSILE, PLASMA (PL 7): The plasma warhead improves on the PL 6 chemical explosive. It creates a burst of white-hot plasma that can blast a small ship out of space with one shot.
PARTICLE BEAM (PL 7): The next phase of the PL 6 neutron gun, the particle beam projects a stream of protons, neutrons, or alpha particles at the target—each particle accelerated to near light-speed.
PARTICLE BEAM, HEAVY (PL 7): This weapon is simply a larger version of the particle beam.
PLASMA CANNON (PL 7): Using a powerful electrical charge to convert a mix of chemicals into white-hot plasma, this weapon then accelerates the plasma mass toward the target with a simple rail gun. The result is a bolt of incandescent plasma that can explosively vaporize objects in its path.
PLASMA CANNON, HEAVY (PL 7): This weapon is simply a larger version of the plasma cannon.
QUANTUM CANNON (PL 7): The quantum cannon fires a stream of highly charged subatomic particles, destabilizing the atoms of the target and creating localized fission reactions.
AUTOMASER (PL 8): The automaser uses multiple firing arrays to channel high-energy maser compressions into shorter pulse widths. This weapon fires only in automatic mode.
EMP CANNON (PL 8): The EMP cannon induces an electromagnetic pulse effect similar to that of a nuclear explosion. This makes the EMP cannon especially effective against electronic equipment. In addition to taking damage, the starship is dazed for 1 round. Neither crew nor passengers are dazed, however.
KINETIC LANCE (PL 8): The kinetic lance creates a high-velocity stream of virtual particles simulating solid matter. The impact of these particles is quite destructive—rather like a collision with a solid object.
MASER CANNON (PL 8): Maser cannons channel an enormous amount of power through a linear antenna array, creating a broad-spectrum blast of energy that devastates the target with heat, light, and intense radiation.
MASER CANNON, HEAVY (PL 8): The heavy maser cannon is a larger version of the maser cannon. With 1 hour of work and a successful Repair check (DC 30), a heavy maser can be reconfigured for semiautomatic or automatic fire mode. (Resetting the weapon to its original configuration requires another check and another hour of labor.) Increase the purchase DC of the modified pulse maser by +5.
MINE, ZERO POINT (PL 8): This mine creates a spontaneous quantum fluctuation of energy—the same energy as the Big Bang, though obviously on a smaller scale.
MISSILE, NOVA BURST (PL 8): The nova burst warhead generates an incredible gravitational force that compresses normal matter into an incredibly dense mass, which then explodes in a colossal detonation.
MISSILE, STARLOAD (PL 8): The starload warhead is essentially an improved version of the PL 7 mass reaction missile.
NEUTRONIUM DRIVER (PL 8): This version of the rail gun is configured to fire a projectile of false neutronium—a slug the size of a baseball, but with a temporary mass of thousands of tons. Because neutronium is electrically neutral, the driver mechanism actually encapsulates the projectile in a sleeve or sabot of ordinary matter to fire the slug.
SLIVER GUN (PL 8): An efficient mass driver loaded with flechettes of tungsten steel, the sliver gun is the PL 8 version of a heavy machine gun. It cycles at a rate of fire of almost 4,000 rounds per minute, and each sliver can tear through a yard or more of heavy armor.
ZERO BORE (PL 8): The zero bore creates a stream of energy that encourages extraordinary amounts of quantum energy fluctuation—the so-called “zero point” energy. Anything in its path is wrecked by the spontaneous destruction of space itself.
BLACKLASER (PL 9): Using the fluorescent gaseous form of dark matter, a blacklaser fires a beam of coherent light. To human eyes, it appears to be a beam of purplish light bordering on ultraviolet, but it is composed of radiation much more energetic and dangerous than ordinary photons.
MINE, NULL (PL 9): This weapon is horrifyingly simple in design. It harnesses nuclear strong force to generate a field in which all atomic bonds cease to exist. Matter in the mine’s square and all adjacent squares is pulverized into subatomic dust.
A null mine ignores a ship’s hardness.
SINGULARITY CANNON (PL 9): The singularity cannon creates a quantum black hole and fires it at the enemy. A quantum black hole is no bigger than a single molecule, but it masses hundreds of millions of tons and can rip even the toughest armor to shreds.
STRING PROJECTOR (PL 9): The string projector creates a super-dense cosmic string that passes through the target. A cosmic string is a short-lived chain of extraordinary mass; the effect on the target is similar to being pierced by the mass of a mountain, but concentrated into a space the size of a strand of hair.
TACHYON GUN (PL 9): The tachyon gun fires a blast of high-energy, faster-than-light particles at the target.


[h=5]GRAPPLING SYSTEMS[/h] The following devices are commonly found on starships but don’t fit under the headings of armor, engines, sensors, defensive systems, or weapons.
Installing one of these systems requires a successful Craft (mechanical) check (DC 30) after investing 30 hours. A character without a mechanical tool kit takes a –4 penalty on the skill check.
Purchase DC: The purchase DC of the system.
Restriction: The level of license required to purchase the system legally.
[h=6]GRAPPLERS (PL 5)[/h] Grapplers consist of two or more robotic arms fitted with magnetic grips or pads capable of latching onto a single target, usually another ship. Grapplers can also be used to grab Small or larger objects adrift in space.
Using grapplers against another ship or an unattended object is an attack action. Against another ship, this action provokes an attack of opportunity if the ship being grabbed has a point-defense system. To successfully grab the target, the starship must first enter the target’s square; then the starship’s pilot must succeed at a Pilot check. The Pilot check’s DC depends on the size and Defense of the target being grabbed, as shown on Table: Grappler Pilot Check DCs below. If the check succeeds, the starship successfully latches onto the target, and the two ships continue to occupy the same space until the grapplers release their hold. The grappling ship cannot move as long as it wishes to remain latched and moves in concert with the grappled ship. Neither ship can attack the other as long as the grapplers maintain their hold.
As an attack action, a grabbed starship can free itself from a grabbing ship by succeeding at an opposed Pilot check. Each ship adds a special grapple bonus on its check based on its size: Huge +8, Gargantuan +12, Colossal +16. A ship may only attempt to free itself once per round.
A starship using grapplers to latch onto another ship can release the hold and retract the grapplers as a free action.
Purchase DC: 10 + one-half the base purchase DC of the starship.
Restrictions: None
Table: Grappler Pilot Check DCs
[h=6]TRACTOR BEAM EMITTER (PL 7)[/h] A tractor beam emitter projects a short-range gravitational “tether” that latches onto or immobilizes a single target, usually a ship or unattended object. The target must be in the same square or in an adjacent square.
Using a tractor beam against a starship or an unattended object is an attack action. Against another ship, this action provokes an attack of opportunity if the ship being grabbed has a point-defense system.
To grab a target with its tractor beam, a starship must succeed at a ranged attack roll. If the attack succeeds, the smaller ship is immediately pulled into the larger ship’s space (if it isn’t in occupying the same space already); if both ships are the same size, the target is pulled into the tractoring ship’s space. In any case, being pulled into another ship’s space by a tractor beam does not count against a ship’s movement. If the tractoring ship is one or more size categories larger than the target, the target is effectively immobilized, and tractoring ship drags the target with it when it moves. If the tractoring ship is the same size category as the target or smaller, both the tractoring ship and the target are effectively immobilized. See the Starship Condition Summary for the effects of being immobilized.
As an attack action, a tractored starship can free itself from the tractoring ship by succeeding at an opposed Pilot check. Each ship adds a special grapple bonus on its check based on its size: Huge +8, Gargantuan +12, Colossal +16. A ship may only attempt to free itself from a tractor beam (or any other grappling device) once per round. A ship held by multiple tractor beams may attempt a single grapple check to escape all of the beams, but must beat the grapple check results of all opponents.
A starship using a tractor beam to grab another ship can terminate the beam (thereby releasing its hold on the other ship) as a free action.
Only Gargantuan and Colossal ships can be equipped with a tractor beam emitter.
Purchase DC: 15 + one-half the base purchase DC of the starship.
Restrictions: Licensed (+1)