Defense systems include anything that reduces the chance a starship will be destroyed. They are often less regulated than weapon systems, since even the Empire acknowledges that citizens and merchants have a right to avoid suffering at the hands of pirates and rogue planetary defense forces.
| Defense Systems | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System | Emplacement Points |
Availability | Size Restriction | Cost |
| Armor, +1 | 2 | Licensed | None | 2,000 credits base |
| Armor, +2 | 5 | Restricted | Colossal or larger | 5,000 credits base |
| Armor, +3 | 10 | Military | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 10,000 credits base |
| Armor, +4 | 20 | Military | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 20,000 credits base |
| Jamming suite | 1 | Common | — | 5,000 credits base |
| Jamming array | 5 | Common | Colossal or larger | 20,000 credits base |
| Regenerating shields | 2 | Restricted | — | 5,000 credits base |
| Reinforced bulkheads +10% | 2 | Common | — | 2,000 credits base |
| Reinforced bulkheads +20% | 5 | Licensed | — | 5,000 credits base |
| Reinforced bulkheads +30% | 10 | Restricted | — | 10,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 10 | 1 | Common | — | 750 credits base |
| Shields, SR 15 | 1 | Common | — | 1,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 20 | 1 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 1,250 credits base |
| Shields, SR 25 | 1 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 1,500 credits base |
| Shields, SR 30 | 2 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 2,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 35 | 2 | Common | Gargantuan or larger | 2,500 credits base |
| Shields, SR 40 | 2 | Common | Colossal or larger | 3,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 45 | 2 | Common | Colossal or larger | 4,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 50 | 3 | Common | Colossal or larger | 5,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 55 | 3 | Common | Colossal or larger | 6,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 60 | 3 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 8,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 70 | 3 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 10,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 80 | 4 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 12,500 credits base |
| Shields, SR 90 | 4 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 15,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 100 | 5 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 20,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 125 | 6 | Common | Colossal (frigate) or larger | 25,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 150 | 7 | Common | Colossal (cruiser) or larger | 30,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 175 | 8 | Common | Colossal (cruiser) or larger | 40,000 credits base |
| Shields, SR 200 | 10 | Common | Colossal (cruiser) or larger | 50,000 credits base |
Armor
Starships of the Galaxy, page 44.
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 possible to add aditional armor beyond what’s needed to keep a starship intact while traveling through hyperspace, and doing so can boost a ship’s chance of making it out of a firefight. Additional armor is heavy and general obvious, giving a starship a blocky, military appearance. Armor is bought as an equipmnet bonus to the armor a starship adds to its Reflex Defense. Skilled pilots often prefer ships without heavt armor, since they can use their character level in place of a starship’s armor bonus in any case.
Jammers
Starships of the Galaxy, page 44.
Jammers come in many forms, from small jamming suites in starfighters and space transports to massive jamming arrays carries by some capital ships. Not all jammers are effective enough to alter game statistics—the jamming suite in an ARC‑170, 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 sensor and fire-control computers, making the starship 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 (as a swift action). A jamming array affects all enemy starships within 6 squares of the starship carrying it, regardless of the size of those ships.
A ship affected by a jammer takes penalties on Use Computer checks made for starship 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 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 resulte, the jammed ship takes no penalties from jamming until the start of the system operator’s next turn.
Regenerating Shields
Starships of the Galaxy, page 44.
Because of the importance of shields, many engineers have tried to devise ways to improve their performance. For example, the Mon Calamari install backup shield generators on their warships 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 ship’s maximum shield rating) when you use the recharge shield action. Normal shields increase their shield rating by only 5 when recharged.
Reinforced Bulkheads
Starships of the Galaxy, page 44.
The overall durability of a craft can be increased by reinforcing its internal bulkheads. Reinforced bulkheads increase a starship’s hit points by 10%, 20%, or 30%. (These improvements don’t stack.)
Shields
Starships of the Galaxy, page 44.
Not all starships have deflector shields, and they are an extremely popular addition for those that lack them. However, the energy and space cost of shields is extremely high, and it grows with the size of the craft to be protected; thus, only the largest vessels have enough power and internal space necessary to operate the most powerful shields.