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Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Starfinder RPG Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition)

Mechs | Terrestrial Vehicles | Starships | Vehicle Modifications

Starship Examples

Armor | Armor (Bulkheads) | Armor (Hulls) | Base Frames | Computers | Crew Quarters | Defensive Countermeasures | Drift Engines | Expansion Bays | Interstellar Drives | Manufacturers | Other Systems | Power Cores | Security | Sensors | Shields | Special Materials | Thrusters | Weapons | Weapon Properties

Starship Special Materials

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
Each major component of a starship—its armor, defensive countermeasures, power core, sensors, thrusters, and individual weapon mounts—can be constructed using only one special material, though each of a starship's weapon mounts can use a different special material and counts as a separate system for this purpose. When purchasing a starship component, you can spend additional BP as shown on Table 1–8 (page 23) to purchase a version of that component made from a compatible special material.

Abysium

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
A highly radioactive metal with a bluish-green glow, abysium provides exceptional conductivity and can store electric charges far more efficiently than more mundane metals such as copper.

Power Core

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost +2 BP
A properly functioning abysium reactor produces far less waste than reactors that use other radioactive materials and doesn’t require extreme pressure to sustain nuclear reactions, but it’s hazardous when ruptured. An abysium power core increases the PCU it provides by 25% (maximum +50 PCU). However, if the power core takes critical damage, the starship’s occupants are subjected to radiation for 1 round of starship combat. This radiation is low if the power core gains the glitching condition, medium if it gains the malfunctioning condition, and high if it gains the wrecked condition.

Weapon Mount

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost Special
Abysium is naturally radioactive. An abysium weapon mount grants any weapon installed onto it the irradiate special property, with a light weapon mount creating low radiation, a heavy mount creating moderate radiation, and a capital or spinal mount creating heavy radiation. If the weapon already has the irradiate special property, add 1 round to the duration of any radiation applied to struck starships. Mounting a light, heavy, capital, or spinal weapon with abysium increases its cost by 2 BP, 6 BP, 10 BP, or 10 BP, respectively.

Adamantine Alloy

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
Famously strong, pure adamantine is too expensive to incorporate into something as large as a starship, but its alloys can impart some of the metal’s infamous deadliness and impregnability.

Armor

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost Special
Adamantine alloy armor protects a starship against all but the strongest attacks. This armor grants the starship a Damage Threshold equal to the armor’s bonus to AC, stacking with the starship’s existing Damage Threshold. Adamantine alloy increases a starship’s size category by 1 for the purpose of calculating the cost of its armor; the value of a Supercolossal ship’s size category increases from 8 to 9 for this purpose.
See Fortified Hull for denser adamantine armor.

Weapon Mount

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost Special
Adamantine alloy weapons are extraordinarily destructive, capable of tearing apart unprotected targets. When such a weapon strikes a target in a quadrant without functioning shields, it deals +1 damage per damage die to the target. Against a starship with functioning deflector shields (page 20), an adamantine alloy weapon reduces that quadrant’s defense value by an additional 1 for each hit that reduces the target’s Hull Points; this stacks with the effects of weapon special properties such as array, line, and ripper.
Mounting an adamantine alloy weapon increases its BP cost by an amount equal to half the weapon’s damage dice. If a weapon’s damage is multiplied, multiply the cost increase by an equal amount.

Djezet

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
This rust-colored, liquid starmetal guides magical energies much as copper guides electricity in a circuit. While it offers little benefit to a starship’s frame, its unique properties can enhance a starship’s sensors and improve its power efficiency.

Power Core

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost +1 BP
A djezet power core absorbs trace magical energies and directs those toward powering minor systems, seeming to produce energy from nowhere. A djezet power core increases the PCU it provides by 10% (maximum +20 PCU), but it can direct that power only to fulfill the PCU requirements for expansion bays.

Sensors

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost +3 BP
Djezet-infused sensors can analyze supernatural auras and unseen magical currents, providing a more comprehensive view of a starship’s surroundings. Djezet sensors increase their range by 50%: short-range, medium-range, and long-range djezet sensors have ranges of 7 hexes, 15 hexes, and 30 hexes, respectively. Additionally, djezet sensors typically have a range of 375 feet on most planets, instead of 250 feet, though obstructions such as terrain might limit this range.

Horacalcum

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
The rarest of star metals, horacalcum is a dull, orange-brown metal with the potent ability to warp space-time around itself.

Defensive Countermeasures

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost +4 BP
A horacalcum lattice incorporated into a starship’s defensive countermeasures creates a field of space-time fluctuation that slows larger incoming projectiles. The speed of any tracking weapon fired at the starship is reduced by 25% (round down the final speed).

Thrusters

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
BP Cost +2 BP
By bending space around a vessel in subtle ways, horacalcum thrusters propel a starship at incredible speeds and enable improbable maneuvers. Horacalcum increases the maximum speed of any thrusters by 1 and reduces a starship’s Piloting check penalty based on its maximum speed by 1 (minimum +0). Active horacalcum thrusters glow with a telltale orange hue.

Inubrix

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
Nicknamed “ghost iron” due to its ability to phase through denser materials, inubrix is a soft metal typically alloyed with platinum before being incorporated into a starship’s systems.

Thrusters

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 23
BP Cost +1 BP
Leaving ephemeral, smoky contrails, inubrix thrusters allow parts of a starship to phase through physical matter for crucial seconds, turning glancing blows into near misses. The starship’s pilot gains a +1 circumstance bonus to Piloting checks to avoid hazards, and damage dealt to the starship by hazards is reduced by an amount equal to its tier.

Weapon Mount

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 23
BP Cost Special
An inubrix alloy weapon’s payload phases in and out of reality, potentially bypassing armor and interior bulwarks to inflict extraordinary damage to a target’s inner systems. Whenever an inubrix alloy weapon scores critical damage against a starship, it has a 20% chance to critically damage the randomly determined system twice. For example, it might cause an undamaged system to gain the malfunctioning condition rather than the glitching condition.
Inubrix weapons provide no additional benefit against biomechanical starships and starship-scale creatures. Mounting a light, heavy, capital, or spinal weapon with inubrix increases its cost by 2 BP, 6 BP, 10 BP, or 10 BP, respectively.

Noqual

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
This green, lightweight crystalline starmetal is best known for its magic-dampening properties. Incorporating noqual into starships is a delicate process, as improperly installed noqual impairs that vessel’s magitech operations as often as it stymies enemy ships.

Armor

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 23
BP Cost +4 BP
Noqual armor deflects magical attacks and absorbs ambient magic, complicating the actions of spellcasting officers on board. Treat the starship’s tier as 2 higher when determining the Mysticism DC of magic officer actions that use the armored starship’s tier to calculate the DC of Mysticism checks. Additionally, the starship’s AC and TL increase by 2 against weapons with the mystical special property.

Sensors

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 23
BP Cost +2 BP
The scanning pulses emitted by a noqual-augmented sensor array can interfere with enemy diagnostics, particularly the functions of any magitech components. When a science officer uses the scan crew action and exceeds the check DC by 5 or more, they can choose to learn only one piece of information and instead scramble the other ship’s sensors, giving the sensors the glitching condition for 1 round for every 5 by which the Computers check exceeded the scan action’s DC.

Siccatite

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 22
Siccatite is a silvery starmetal renowned for its extreme resiliency to thermal energy. Capable of acting either as “cold” siccatite or “hot” siccatite, trace quantities of this material commonly reinforce and absorb heat from starship power cores and thrusters.

Armor

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 23
BP Cost +2 BP
Siccatite armor has the unique ability to absorb massive amounts of heat, allowing the metal to withstand friction better than nearly any other material. When a starship with siccatite armor moves through an atmosphere (page 52), it treats the current friction level as if it were one level less severe when determining the amount of damage the starship sustains (severe becomes high, high becomes moderate, moderate becomes low, and low becomes none).

Defensive Countermeasures

Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 23
BP Cost +3 BP
By wrapping key portions of a starship in an insulated mesh of siccatite, the extremely hot or frigid metal can obscure the vessel’s systems against enemy sensors. Treat a starship with siccatite defensive countermeasures as 2 tiers higher when determining the Computers DC of science officer actions that use the protected starship’s tier to calculate the DC of Computers checks.