Star Trek Starship Beam Weapons

## **Beam Weapons**

### **Targeting Interlock System**

The specific Targeting Interlock System (TIS) bonus for the Beam Weapon is added to the Threat Assessment / Tracking / Targeting System (T/T/TS) to get the total Fire Control bonus.

Pulse Phasers and Borg Energy Weapons require a Class Gamma Targeting Interlock System.

 Class Beta
 Class Gamma

### **Threat Assessment / Tracking / Targeting System**

Known colloquially as the "targeting scanners," the Threat Assessment/Tracking/Targeting System (TA/T/TS) is a ship's tactical sensors and computer package. The tactical officer relies on the TA/T/TS in combat in much the same way as the Flight Control officer uses the navigational computer - it helps him do his job better. Different classes of TA/T/TS are available; the better ones make the Tactical Officer's job easier, but take up more space and require more power to operate. The accompanying table lists types and benefits of different TA/T/TS systems. The listed bonus applies to the Test results of Capital Ship Gunnery Tests made to hit a target with weapons, or to cancel out negative modifiers such as those due to size, Tests made to scan a ship for a particular target, and the like. TA/T/TS systems are not cumulative; a ship can only have one in effect.

In addition to using it to target weapons and assess tactical data, a character may use targeting scanners to obtain a transporter lock on a person or object.

 Beta
 Gamma
 Delta
 Epsilon

* A ship can have multiple Threat Assessment / Tracking / Targeting Systems installed, but only one may be active at any time. The active Threat Assessment / Tracking / Targeting System provides the main Fire Control bonus for Beam Weapons, Missile Weapons, and Tractor Beams.

### **Firing Modes**

Beam Weapons have firing modes which describe different ways of using them.

All beam weapons can fire in Standard mode for free. Typically, a phaser can fire in all four modes (except for pulse phasers, which cannot fire in Continuous or Wide-Beam mode); disruptors and polaron beams fire in Standard and Pulse only; isolytic weapons and lasers fire in only Standard mode.

* **Standard** mode is the one typically used. It does the weapon's basic damage.

* **Pulse** mode involves increasing the damage the weapon does by firing a series of rapid pulses of energy. You can simulate this by increasing the weapon's damage with extra power, or as a form of single-weapon multifire. Pulse phasers cannot use this rule; they are already optimized for this type of fire only (which is why they do much more damage than normal phasers of the same type).

* **Continuous** fire mode involves maintaining a beam for longer than normal, making it easier to hit the target. This provides +1D to roll when making an attack Test to hit the target. Pulse phasers cannot fire in continuous mode.

* **Wide Beam** mode allows a beam to affect a much broader area. Instead of a narrow beam, the beam widens by 10 meters for every 1D of damage sacrificed. In combat, for every 1D (1D = 3 pips) of damage sacrificed to widen the beam, the ship receives a +1D bonus to hit the target. Out of combat, a sufficiently wide beam on low power settings has many uses as a tool. Pulse phaser cannons can fire in Wide beam mode, but it requires three hours' time and a Moderate (14) Repair Test to modify them for it (if the roll fails, the character may try again after another three hours; if it Dramatically fails, he's damaged by the phasers and must spend 2 + 1D hours bringing them back online).

 Pulse Beam
 Continuous Beam
 Wide-Beam

## **Phasers**

The primary weapon on most Starfleet vessels are phasers. Phasers (short for PHASed Energy Rectification) use a rapid nadion effect (RNE) to release and transfer energy generated within superconducting crystals known as fushi-gi-no-umi. Ships can use these beams of energy as tools (say, to remove obstacles, excavate large holes, or reshape planetary terrain) or as weapons.

Ship-mounted phasers are organized into types, rated from I (one) to X (ten). Generally Type X is the most powerful type of phaser which Starfleet can mount on a ship. Advances in tactical technology as of 2372 have allowed it to mount Type XI and XII phasers on large ships, but to date only the Sovereign-Class Heavy Explorer has benefited from this breakthrough.

Phaser arrays (sometimes call "banks") also include an auto-phaser interlock which links with the targeting computer to assure accurate firing. It precisely times the firing of the array for maximum chance of a successful shot.

## **Pulse Phaser Cannons**

Pulse phasers are a reletively new Starfleet development. They combine large, newly flawless emitter crystals with rapid discharge EPS capacitance banks and high-speed beam focusing coils. This technology allows the phaser to store the phaser charge for a few nanoseconds then release it as a layered pulse. Shields and materials have a harder time dispersing the layered energy pulse than the standard phaser beam, resulting in more damage to the target.

Pulse phaser cannons are usually built into ships in linked pairs. They have the same range as standard phasers, but are slightly more accuracte and do more damage. On the other hand, they have smaller arc of fire (usually just straight forward) and cannot fire in continuous mode, or wide-beam mode without extensive modification (which limited their usefulness as tools - they're really meant only for combat). They can perform single-weapon multifire, or multiple-weapon multifire with other phasers of any type. Advances in tactical technology as of 2372 have allowed it to mount Type X pulse phasers on ships.

A pulse phaser cannon can only fire in a 360 arc in one direction.

## **Disruptors**

The primary weapons of the Klingons and Romulans is the disruptor; the Cardassians use a variant, the spiral-wave disruptor, which moves energy through the system differently. Disruptors create highly-charged, powerful beams of plasma using microscopic amounts of antimatter. This makes a comparative model more powerful than a phaser, but much less versatile. Advances in tactical technology as of 2379 have allowed it to mount Type XIV and larger disruptors on large ships, but to date only the Scimitar Class Warbird has benefited from this breakthrough.

Romulan disruptors leave an anti-proton residue. The anti-proton decay allows the time of use to be estimated (this requires a Sensors (10) Test).

## **Graviton Beams**

A graviton beam is a confined beam of gravitons.

## **Plasma Weapons**

Plasma Weapons are similar to disruptors.

## **Polaron Beams**

The polaron beam is the standard weapon of the Dominion. Powerful, and possessing several tactical applications, they're the perfect weapon for such a belligerent, militaristic species as the Jem'Hadar. From 2370 to 2373, Starfleet vessels were utterly vulnerable to polaron beams; their deflector shields offered no protection against them whatsoever, regardless of nutation or harmonics. In 2373, Starfleet developed a way to overcome this limitation; since that time Starfleet shields have affected polaron beams normally.

A polaron beam can disrupt a tractor beam.

## **Borg Energy Weapons**

### **Borg Energy Beam**

The Borg use a powerful energy beam which does 5D per shot. They can fire it up to twice a round, in all firing modes.

### **Borg Cutting Beam**

The Borg use a weapon called a cutting beam to take samples of other ships' technology. Able to bypass shields without any loss of effect, the cutting beam slices through a ship's hull and systems in a circular pattern, then uses a linked tractor beam to pull the "cylinder" of ship's hull and systems out like removing a cork from a wine bottle.

A Borg cutting beam does 2 points of damage a round (shields are not affected by this). Before using the weapon, the Borg define the size of the piece of ship they want to obtain: Size 1 (40 cubic meters), Size 2 (2,500 cubic meters), or Size 3 (49,500 cubic meters) (2 is the most common). (The piece cannot exceed the ship's size, of course.) The cutting beam must do 5 points of damage to the ship for every Size category (thus a Size 3 piece requires 15 points of damage); assume this damage is general, or roll a random location. After the Borg withdraw their "sample" (which takes 1 round), the ship has a hull breach equal in size to the size of the piece taken.

### **Borg Feedback Pulse**

Borg defensive technology includes a beam weapon-like device which allows a Borg ship to send a "feedback pulse" back down a beam which hits it, causing the attacker to take the weapon's damage as well! A feedback pulse requires a delayed action (to act when the other ship fires) and a successful Moderate (16) Capital Ship Gunnery (Feedback Pulse Generator) Test to use properly. Failure indicates the attack strikes the Borg ship but the feedback system does not take effect; Critical Failure results in the beam doing double damage to the Borg ship and not feeding back.

### **Borg Shield Draining Weapon**

This weapon only works in conjunction with a tractor beam. When the Borg catch a ship with one of their tractor beams, they can activate the shield draining weapon the next round. Each round it drains 25% of the shields' normal maximum Protection until the shields collapse. Once the shields collapse, they cannot recharge or regenerate until the Borg turn off the shield draining weapon.

## **Energy Dissipator**

The energy dissipator (also referred to as the energy-dampening weapon) was an advanced energy weapon used by the Tholians and Breen. These weapons ignore shields and armor.

## **Isolytic Weapons**

Used by the Son'a and some other peoples who favor power over following the laws of war, these widely outlawed weapons have unpredictable effects and can open tears in the subspace fabric. A tear opens near the targeted ship and moves towards its warp engine at Warp 1 (if the ship attempts to go to higher warp speeds to escape the tear, it will simply "pull" the tear along with it, causing it to move at the same speed and wreaking untold havoc). If the tear contacts the ship, it rips it apart, but the detonation of the warp drive system as it does so seals the tear. Subspace in the area remains dangerously unstable forever after, and can cause problems for ships passing through.

A ship hoping to escape being destroyed by a tear can try to eject its warp core, move away, and then detonate the core when the tear gets close to it. This requires a Moderate (16) Capital Ship Piloting Test to get the timing right; if it succeeds, it destroys the tear and returns the local subspace environment to normal. Failure (of any degree) means the tear ignores the detonation and keeps pursuing the ship.

The accompanying table gives the damage for Isolytic weapons.

A Small Isolytic Weapon will create a Supspace tear on a result of 3 on 3D.

A Medium Isolytic Weapon will create a Supspace tear on a result of 2 on 2D.

A Large Isolytic Weapon will create a Supspace tear on a result of 1 on 1D.

 Medium Isolytic Weapon
 Large Isolytic Weapon

## **Lightning Beam Weapon**

This is a very powerful weapon capable of mass destruction. When multiple Bio Ships come together, they can combine their Lightning Beam Weapons as one, creating a more powerful beam. This requires a number of rounds of preparation equal to the number of ships combining weapons. While preparing, the ship cannot fire their main weapon.

 Combined Lightning Beam Weapon (1)

1. This requires eight (8) additional ships to combine their Lightning Beam Weapons together. This action can only be performed once every ten (10) minutes. While combining fire, the ships cannot maneuver to dodge incoming attacks.

## **Lasers**

Lasers, ranging from basic models to high energy X-ray lasers, are primitive weapons used by societies which have not yet developed phaser or other advanced weaponry. As indicated by the accompanying table, they pose little threat to an advanced starship.

## **Source**

* Spacedock - Starship and Construction Manual (pages 65-72)
* thedemonapostle