The Starship Armory · Chapter 9
Beam Weapons
Lasers and particle weapons. Their damage type is Beam.
| Strength | Accurate. No ammunition. Can pick out a single system |
| Weakness | Heat, and every screen ever built |
| Stopped by | Deflection screens first, then Armor |
Every beam weapon has Accurate 1. Most have Precision.
A beam cannot attack through thick smoke, dust, or a planet's cloud deck. In atmosphere, heavy rain adds 2 Bane Dice.
Point-Defense Laser
PD laser, close-in laser, flicker
Light 2 — 5 Short 2 1
7000 Common Beam Accurate 1, Point Defense 1, Cooldown
A fast-tracking pulse laser on a ball mount. It is fitted to shoot down missiles and it does that well. As a gun it is weak. Cooldown: fired as a reaction and again as an action in the same round, it makes 1 extra Heat.
Light Laser Cannon
Fighter laser, pulse cannon, wing gun
Light 3 — 3 Short to Medium 2 1
10000 Restricted Beam Accurate 1, Linked 1
The standard gun of a space fighter, normally fitted in pairs. Linked 1 is the second barrel: spend 2 Boons for a second hit. It needs no ammunition, so a fighter with these can stay out as long as its pilot can.
Laser Battery
Turret laser, beam battery, ship laser
Standard 5 — 3 Medium 3 2
24000 Restricted Beam Accurate 1, Precision, Signature Bloom 1
The general-purpose energy weapon of ships from Scale 3 up. It is accurate, needs no magazine, and can be aimed at a single system. A deflection screen takes 2 or more off every hit, so it is at its best against ships that cannot afford one.
Cutting Beam
Breaching laser, hull cutter, salvage beam
Standard 3 2 3 Short to Medium 3 2
20000 Common Beam Accurate 1, Precision, Boarding Support
A continuous industrial beam sold for salvage and used for boarding. It does less Hull damage than a Laser Battery and adds 2 System Damage. Boarding Support: it makes checks to breach a hull or force a lock one step easier.
Particle Lance
Lance, spinal beam, particle cannon
Heavy 10 — 3 Medium to Long 4 3
120000 Military Beam Accurate 1, Precision, Power Draw, Cooldown, Signature Bloom 2
A beam of accelerated particles from a long fixed emitter. It is the heavy weapon of precision-doctrine navies. It ignores 1 Bane Die for range. Power Draw: it takes 1 more Power on the round it is brought to bear.
Capital Lance Array
Battle lance, array, the long light
Capital 18 — 3 Long 5 4
500000 Military Beam Accurate 1, Precision, Concentrated Fire, Power Draw, Cooldown, Signature Bloom 3
Several lances focused on one point. Concentrated Fire: against a target that has already taken 5 or more Hull Damage in this encounter it does 21. It makes more heat than most ships can carry twice in a row.
