GURPS: TREK - THE UNAUTHORIZED SOURCEBOOK SECOND EDITION - SECOND PRINTING --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION TWO A - "TREK TECH" - PART ONE - PHASERS --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- This is a description of how Phasers in the Trek universe operate in GURPS game terms. It includes both hand-held Phasers and Starship Phasers. This section was influenced by material that was formerly presented in two articles by Eric Phillips: "Trek for GURPS", and "GURPS: Star Trek". Eric can be reached at: z600282a@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us. I'd like to thank him for his contributions to the "second edition" of the rules. Any comments about this section should be sent to: tmp_harkins@dirac.physics.jmu.edu "Mr. B." GURPS: Trek - Section Two A - "Trek Tech" - Part One - Phasers - is Copyright (c) May 1996. See GURPS: Trek - Section One B - General - Part Two - Overview for more info. --------------------------------------------------------------- Table Of Contents - Part One ---------------------------- Phasers Starship Phasers =============================================================== PHASERS: -------- Phasers are the standard defensive sidearm of Starfleet. They also serve as the defensive weapon for most Starships. They fire a highly cohesive, phased particle/electromagnetic beam capable of effects from light stun to total disintegration of solid matter. There are three types of Phaser sidearms: The Phaser I is a small hand-held Phaser that can be easily concealed (+2 to holdout). The Phaser II is larger (-1 to holdout), but has more range. The Phaser III, also known as a Phaser Rifle, has an extremely long range, and is very powerful. It is not commonly used, except in military applications. Here are the basic stats of Phasers: WEAPON TYPE SS ACC 1/2 D MAX WT ROF ST RCL ------------------------------------------------------------ P I imp. 10 2 200 400 0.5 1 -- 0 P II imp. 9 5 450 600 1 1 -- 0 P III imp. 12 10 1200 1200 4 1 -- 0 All Phasers have a malf. of ver., and a Rcl. of none. They are considered to be TL 11, and have a legality class of CR-1. Phasers operate at varying power levels, starting with Stun effects and going up to total molecular disruption. Phaser I's can only fire at settings 1 through 8, but Phaser II's and III's can fire at all sixteen settings. The effects at the various levels are: SETTING DMG STUN TIME CHG (MJ) SETTING ------------------------------------------------- Power Level One ------------------------------------------------- 1 1d-4 5 16 Lt. Stun 2 1d-2 15 45 Med. Stun 3 1d-1 60 161 Hvy. Stun ------------------------------------------------- Power Level Two ------------------------------------------------- 4 1d6 516 5 2d6 858 6 3d6 2,700 7 6d6x2 4,900 8 6d6x3 15,000 Kill ------------------------------------------------- Power Level Three ------------------------------------------------- 9 6d6x8 65,000 10 6d6x12 125,000 11 6d6x18 * 300,000 12 6d6x26 * 540,000 13 6d6x30 * 720,000 14 6d6x40 * 930,000 15 6d6x50 * 1,170,000 16 6d6x70 * 1,550,000 ------------------------------------------------- * (see notes below) The DMG column refers to the roll used to determine the damage of the attack. Phasers are most similar to Electron Pistols, found in GURPS: Ultra-Tech (pg. 90), but have a wider range of settings. GM's should be warned that Phasers set on very high settings cause an unusually high amount of damage - a Phaser set on setting 16, for instance, can cause an average of 245 points of Phaser fire damage, and an additional average of 245 points of explosive damage. Phasers set on high settings not only mean bye-bye victim, but bye-bye nearby objects as well. The STUN TIME column shows the amount of minutes needed by a stunned victim to regain consciousness naturally. CHG (MJ), is an optional statistic. It represents the amount of energy in MilliJoules each shot at that setting consumes. This is subtracted from remaining charges in the Phaser's power cell. Phasers use Saurium Krellide power cells allowing for large amounts of energy storage. The older "power cells" of GURPS: Ultra-Tech have been eliminated. Varying amounts of stored energy are expended per shot depending on the level selected. Fully charged energy storage rating for each Phaser type in MilliJoules is: TYPE CHARGE (MJ) ---------------------- I 7,200,000 II 45,000,000 III 67,500,000 Under normal game play, it is easiest to just ignore trying to keep track of the charges used, because, even in a fire fight, there is a -lot- of energy available. For example, a fully charged Phaser II could fire off 9,183 shots at setting 7, and 2,812,500 shots if set on setting 1. Under normal game situations, it is doubtful that the power cell of a fully charged Phaser will be depleted. * Note: at settings 11 thru 16, Phaser fire also causes an explosion of the same damage as the Phaser setting. This means roll twice for shots at settings 11-16 - once for the regular Phaser damage, and again for the explosion damage. Here are the effects of various settings upon targets: SETTINGS 1 TO 3 - Light, Medium, and Heavy Stun ----------------------------------------------- Any hit at these settings done on a living being will cause the subject to roll against HT-3(minus the Phaser roll) to save versus stun. Central Nervous System (CNS) damage done (if any) at these settings is reversible. SETTINGS 4 TO 5 - Thermal Effects --------------------------------- Also called "Heat Settings", Phasers set at these settings are primarily used to produce heat effects. These settings can also produce CNS shock (see below) and will produce from mild (setting 4) to severe (setting 5) burn effects on clothing and living tissue. CNS damage done at these settings is generally reversible. SETTINGS 6 TO 10 - Disruption ----------------------------- Setting 8 is also called the "Kill" setting. Thermal effects drop off as matter tends to disassociate at higher settings. If a living target takes damage greater than HTx3, it will disassociate into energy. If damage is less than HTx3, it will take damage normally. On any successful hit, CNS shock can set in. If any damage penetrates armor, the target must make a roll versus HT minus damage taken or have their heart stop. The subject will die in HT/3 minutes unless someone successfully performs CPR to save them. Doctors can use equipment in a standard medical kit for this purpose. This takes one minute per attempt, and requires a successful First Aid/TL or Physician/TL roll. Some CNS damage done at these settings may not be reversible - if the subject rolls a critical failure, treat that CNS damage as permanent. SETTINGS 11 TO 16 - Explosive Disruption ---------------------------------------- When damage inflicted exceeds the Hit Points of an object, but is less than three times the Hit Points, the object will either be burned through, detonated, or melted, depending on its composition. If 3xHP or more damage is done, the object will disassociate into energy, generally followed by an explosion. See GURPS: Basic (pg. 125) for guidelines on assigning DR and Hit Points to inanimate objects. The GM determines final outcomes of attacks. Note that all settings in this category require two rolls: one for the actual damage done by the Phaser fire, and one for the explosion. Phasers can also be set for overload, a process where all the energy remaining within the power cell is released explosively. The safety interlocks must first be disabled, and requires a successful Beam Weapons: Phaser skill roll. It takes one round to disable the interlock, and one round to start the overload process. It takes 30 seconds for overload to occur. During this time, the Phaser will emit a high-pitched squeal which increases in pitch while overload is occurring. During the 30-second build-up, the overload can be deactivated by re-enabling the interlock, which requires another successful Beam Weapons: Phaser skill roll. After 30 seconds, the Phaser will explode, causing 6d6x700 points of explosion damage. No price is listed for Federation Phasers because they are issued to Starfleet members routinely. Should one ever be available on the black market, the price should be at least three times that of an ordinary blaster. When dealing with the Disruptors used by the Romulans and other races, the tables above can be used to determine the effects of these weapons with only minor changes. Here are some guidelines on the similarities and differences between the various weapons. The GM has the final determination of their effects. Romulan Disruptors are essentially identical to a Phaser II except that they are slightly heavier, around 1.75 pounds. Romulans also have a Phaser III like weapon with similar stats to the Federation Phaser III. Klingon Disruptors are considered to be Phaser II's with only power levels 2 and 3 available. Also, weight would be around 2.5 pounds, since they have a larger power cell. However, it should only have 200 charges due to the fact that the Klingon power cell is less sophisticated than the ones the Federation or the Romulans use. The added weight will give it a SS of 11. Other Disruptors, such as the ones used by the Ferengi and other races, are similar to Phaser I's in effectiveness, charges, range, etc., but should be like Phaser II's in size, snap shot, etc. Feel free to make it up as you go along, varying weapon configurations from race to race based on the information above. =============================================================== STARSHIP PHASERS ---------------- Starship Phasers are much like the regular hand-held Phasers, except bigger. Much bigger. There are three types of ship Phasers that are used in current Starfleet ships. Type Ten Phasers are the main Phaser bank aboard any Starship. They are extremely powerful. They have been connected directly to the Warp Drive engines for even more powerful discharges. This reconnection occurred sometime between the end of TOS and ST:TMP. Newer Type Ten Phasers are set up in a Phaser array on the underside of the saucer section of the ship, and can fire in an almost 360 degree arc (with the exception of directly aft of the ship, which is covered by another array in the stern). This also gives the saucer section a defensive mechanism during times when it is separated from engineering. Note that during these times, the engineering section of the ship does not have to maintain the saucer section, giving it even more power to use in Phaser battles. Type Nine Phasers are the secondary Phasers used as backups to the main Phaser bank. They are not quite as powerful, nor are they attached to the Warp Drive engines. They receive their power from the Impulse engines. They are placed in Phaser arrays in strategic locations around the ship. Type Eight Phasers are point defense Phasers, and are also the Phaser Cannons used in "Menagerie". They are generally set up at points where either the primary or secondary Phasers have "blind spots", as well as near entrances to the ship, in order to repel boarding parties. There are also portable Phaser Cannons that can be set up anywhere required. Here are the basic stats of Starship Phasers: TYPE MASS VOL. FP POWER ---------------------------------- Ten 25 15 150 150 Nine 20 13 100 100 Eight 15 10 50 50 More detailed information on Starship Phasers, Starship firepower, and other ship info can be found in Section Nine B - Miscellaneous - Part Two. Starship Phasers can be set on settings similar to hand-held Phasers, but with a much greater effect. Individual GM's will wish to make the final determination on the exact power level of Starship Phasers. The stun settings can even be used, but on a much wider area. The stun effect will affect everyone in the area of effect, friend or foe. Using the TOS episode "A Piece of the Action" as an example, we know that the stun effect can be set on as small an area as one city block, or as large as an entire planet, although a sweep of the planet would be necessary to achieve this effect. The other use of Starship Phasers would be on attacking vessels. I suggest that GM's wishing to simulate space battles use the "Space Opera Combat System" found in GURPS: Lensman (pg. 104 - 113). GM's wishing to use the combat system in GURPS: Space (pg. 91-96) are welcome to try. There is also another space combat system in GURPS: Humanx (pg. 71-74) that might be good for simulating larger space battles, such as the Battle of Wolf 359. (ST:TNG episode "Best of Both Worlds, Part 2"). ===============================================================