Weapon Descriptions

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.

Single Shot: A weapon with a single shot rate of fire can fire only one shot per attack, even if the gunner has a feat or other ability that normally allows more than one shot per attack.

Semiautomatic (S): A semiautomatic ranged weapon fires one shot per attack (effectively acting as a single shot weapon). However, a gunner who gains multiple attacks per round because of his level or because of certain feats can fire a semiautomatic beam weapon multiple times in rapid succession, getting more than one shot per attack.

Automatic (A): Automatic ranged weapons fire a burst or stream of shots. Only weapons with the automatic rate of fire can be set on autofire or be used with feats that take advantage of automatic fire. See the Starship Weapons on Autofire for more rules and information.

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.

Starship Weapons on Autofire

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.