Mines

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.