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  A Shared Character 
  The crew’s starship is more than just a device or a bit of technology. It’s a home, a protector, a base of 
  operations, and after a long voyage a nearly-living thing with attitudes and tendencies just like any 
  other part of the crew. In this way, a starship in Star Trek: Cypher is like another member of the party, 
  one that is shared amongst all the players. The rules here are long but this is an important part of the 
  campaign so it’s worth taking time to get it right. 
  Starship Creation 
  There are five parts to a PC starship in Star Trek: Cypher, creating a sentence as with characters. 
  The [Name] is a [Class], a [Descriptor] [Type] that [Focus]. 
  Name 
  The first part of the sentence is the individual ship’s name. This is the simplest of the choices for 
  players’ ship, but also the most powerful as this will be the identity of the ship as a character. 
  Whatever the exact class of the USS Enterprise, for example, the legacy of the name is why it has been 
  used for Federation flagships for centuries. Likewise, not everyone could tell you what an Intrepid-
  Class starship looks like but nearly everyone in the Federation can tell you that the ship that returned 
  miraculously from the Delta Quadrant is the USS Voyager. 
  Class 
  The class of a ship is the general design of the ship, the model that it was created as. The U.S.S. 
  Excelsior was created as an Excelsior-class ship, the first of its kind, but there were many other 
  Excelsior-class ships including the U.S.S. Enterprise-B, the U.S.S. Melbourne, the U.S.S. Repulse, etc. 
  Likewise, many encounters with Klingons involve the B’rel-class Bird-of-Prey. While these are all 
  different vessels with different names, histories, and capabilities, they share some basics that 
  Federation crews can count on when facing off against them. 
  Classes are in some senses the most important aspect of a starship, but in another sense they don’t 
  really matter. The class of a starship is made up of the Type, Tier, Descriptor, and Focus. This 
  means that all Excelsior-class ships are Federation Cruisers that Explore and they are Tier 4 ships. 
  The names and the ship cyphers, as well as the abilities chosen from Type,  might all be different but 
  the bulk of the mechanics are already picked. So does this mean players are locked in? No, not really. 
  First of all, your crew can pick whichever class they want so they can still pick the qualities they’re 
  looking for and just select a class that fits these. If they have their heart set on a specific ship design, 
  however, there are always modifications and refits. Modifications are changes that happen during a 
  ship’s career as the crew optimizes it for their specific missions. A ship that leaves space dock with a 
  focus of Patrols might be in service for three years and become a ship that Explores. 
  The other option is Refits. A ship which is older or which is needed for a specific purpose might 
  spend time in a spacedock getting refitted. This can change it into a completely different sort of ship, 
  though refits that change the starship’s Type are rare and expensive while refits to a ship’s 
  Descriptor require special circumstances (such as a Federation ship changed over and refitted with 
  Cardassian systems due to some sort of special arrangement). 
  
   
   
  This should provide ample options for crews to create a ship they want. If they are dead-set on a 
  Cruiser that Defends and the GM says they should pick a Tier 3 vessel, they could end up with an 
  Ambassador-class support cruiser, a modified Excelsior-class advanced heavy cruiser, or a refitted 
  Excalibur-class heavy cruiser. All of these are Tier 3 Federation Cruisers that Defends, but only the 
  Ambassador-class would normally have that description. 
  Tier 
  Starship tiers are decided at the time of their construction, or during a later refit (see above). They 
  fall between one and six just like character tiers and the PC ship’s tier should be decided by the GM at 
  the start of the campaign, depending on what scale of game they want to run. Tier 1 vessels are 
  localized starships that pursue specific missions for the Federation, while Tier 3 or 4 ships are more 
  autonomous and follow long-term missions that might take them all over the galaxy. Tier 6 vessels 
  are the true power-pieces of galactic fleets and are usually at the front of major matters of state. The 
  arrival of a Tier 6 vessel in a sector is an event that prompts governments to take notice and possibly 
  lodge protests or inquiries. 
  Higher Tiers 
  Unlike characters, ships do not necessarily start out at the first tier. More powerful ships are 
  launched with advanced capabilities and power, meaning that a Tier 2 cruiser can just perform better 
  than a Tier 1 cruiser. However, a ship launched at a higher tier hasn’t got through all the adventures 
  and missions that lead to the sort of optimization normally involved in advancing in a tier (also a 
  little different for ships, see below). For each tier above the first that your ship has, pick two of the 
  following benefits and each option can only be picked once per tier. 
   
  Increasing Capabilities: The ship gains 4 new points to add to its stat pools (Hull, Engine, 
  or System). 
   
  Improved Shields: The ship can increase its shield pool by 2 points. 
   
  Moving Toward Perfection: The ship’s Hull, Engine, or System Edge increases by 1 (crew’s 
  choice). 
   
  Extra Effort: The ship’s Effort score increases by 1. 
   
  Resilient Systems: The ship’s recovery roll modifier is increased by 2. 
  Ship Advancement 
  When the ship’s crew gains experience they can spend it on advancing the ship’s capabilities. By 
  spending 4 XP collectively, they can purchase one of the benefits from the list above. When they’ve 
  purchased four of the benefits (in whatever order) the ship’s Tier increase by one and they can pick 
  out new abilities. 
  Type 
  Starship types are the core of a ship’s function and they follow the same general guidelines of 
  character types described in Chapter 4 of the Cypher System Rulebook. One major difference with 
  starships is that there are three different levels of starship types. The four character types are all 
  comparable to each other (a warrior and a speaker of the same tier can be competetive with each 
  other) but between levels starships can easily outclass each other. The three levels are… 
   
  Small Craft are vessels meant for only a few people and they are usually for short missions 
  or trips. Right now there’s only one type of small craft, the Personnel Craft. 
   
  Ships of the Line are powerful starships that can operate on their own for many years if 
  need be. There are three types of ships of the line: the large and powerful Cruiser, the fast 
  and sturdy Escort, and the Science Vessel designed for research. 
   
  Capital Ships are the premier starships of the Federation fleet and are few in number. There 
  are three types of capital ships: the Battlecruiser which is the strongest battleship model, the 
  
   
   
  Destroyer which is capable of operating as a remote base of operations, and the Dreadnought 
  which are the most powerful long-term mission ships that Starfleet has. 
  Stat Pools 
  Each type has different features that accrue with each tier (see section above) and the level of type 
  decides how big the starting Stat Pools are for the ship. There are three different Stats for ships, just 
  as with characters, but they are different from the Stats used by PCs. 
   
  Engine is the propulsion systems of the ship, both the power of its drives and its 
  maneuverability. It is used to defend against incoming attacks, line up attacks that the ship 
  itself is making, and make maneuvering tests through debris fields. 
   
  Hull is the structural integrity and physical coherence of the ship. It is used to defend against 
  incoming attacks, resist conditions placed on the ship, and withstand physical stresses that 
  the vessel might undergo. 
   
  System is the ship’s computers, sensors, deflector dishes, and other technological aspects. It 
  is used to resist conditions placed on the ship, target enemy ships for attacks, and scan the 
  starship’s surroundings. 
  Starships use Edge (optimized subsystems), Effort (the ever-important auxiliary power), and cyphers 
  just like characters and the details for these can also be found in the type descriptions below. 
  Personnel Craft 
  Divide 3 additional points among your Stat Pools. 
  Hull 
  4 
  Engine 
  5 
  System 
  5 
  Tier One 
   
  Versatile Design: Personnel craft have an Edge of 1 for one of their pools while the others 
  are 0. This is part of their initial design and does not change. 
   
  Cypher Use: Personnel craft have room for one ship cypher in their design. 
   
  Ship’s Weapons: Personnel craft are proficient with light ship weapons. They have space for 
  a number of weapons equal to their Tier. 
   
  Shields: Personnel craft have shields that provide pools of 1 (light shields), 2 (medium 
  shields), or 3 (heavy shields). 
   
  Special Abilities: Choose one of the abilities described below for the personnel craft. The 
  same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
  o 
  Advanced Propulsion: If you succeed at a difficulty 2 Engine roll, you can move 
  your ship a short distance and take another action in the same round. Enabler. 
  o 
  Extra Edge: Your Edge for the other two Pools not chosen by Versatile Design 
  increase to 1. For instance, if the ship had a Hull Edge of 1 initially, it now has an 
  Engine Edge of 1 and a System Edge of 1 as well. 
  o 
  Onboard Computer: The personnel craft’s computer offers an asset on checks 
  involving two of the following areas: astrometrics, geography, geology, stellar 
  physics, subspace physics, biology, computer systems, starship design, and 
  navigation. Enabler. 
  Tier Two 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the personnel craft or an ability from a lower Tier. 
  The same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Improved Light and Medium Weapons: Attacks with the ship are considered trained with 
  light and medium ship weapons. Enabler. 
  
   
   
   
  Guidance Assistance: The craft is capable of guiding a larger ship through a difficult region 
  of space. The crew can use the helping rules (see page 211 of the Cypher System Rulebook) to 
  provide a benefit to another starship attempting a task related to maneuvering, navigating, 
  attacking, or defending. The personnel craft doesn’t need an action to do this and can still do 
  something else in the round. Enabler. 
   
  Survey Craft (2 System points): When the ship’s crew takes five minutes or so to 
  thoroughly scan an area (no larger than a planetary system) they can ask the GM one 
  question about the area, and she must answer them truthfully. The crew cannot use this 
  ability more htan one time per area per twelve hours. Enabler. 
  Tier Three 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the personnel craft or an ability from a lower Tier. 
  The same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Maneuverable (4 Engine points): If the ship succeeds on an Engine defense roll to resist an 
  attack, it gains an action. The crew can immediately use the action even if the ship has 
  already acted in this round. If they use the action to attack, the difficulty of the attack is 
  reduced by one step. They don’t take an action during the next round. Enabler. 
   
  Planetay Operation: This personnel craft is designed to operate in a planet’s atmosphere as 
  easily as space. The difficulty of checks made to overcome atmospheric or gravitational 
  effects of a planet are reduced by one step. Enabler. 
   
  Stealth Configuration: The vessel’s design is intended to provide a small sillhouette and to 
  baffle sensors to help it move undetected. It provides an asset to the pilot when making a 
  stealth check. Enabler. 
  Tier Four 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the personnel craft or an ability from a lower Tier. 
  The same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Evasive Maneuvers (5 Engine points): Your ship dodges an attack. If the Engine defense 
  roll succeeds, you can trick the attacker into accidentally attacking another ship within 
  immediate range of both your ship and theirs. Enabler. 
   
  Medical Shuttle: The vessel is equipped with an extensive medical bay despite its small size. 
  It provides an asset to anyone making healing checks. Enabler. 
   
  Targeting Sensors (3 Engine points): For the next minute, all ship attacks made with your 
  vessel inflict 2 additional points of damage. Action to initiate. 
  Tier Five 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the personnel craft or an ability from a lower Tier. 
  The same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Difficult Target: If you move a short distance or father on your turn, the difficulty or all 
  Engine defense rolls is reduced by one additional step. Enabler. 
   
  Full Impulse Burst (5 Engine points): Your ship jumps forward a long distance in a 
  dramatic burst of impulse power. Action. 
   
  Shuttle Brig: The shuttle is equipped with a secure area for prisoners, with security sensors 
  and force fields strong enough for a larger ship. Enabler. 
  Tier Six 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the personnel craft or an ability from a lower Tier. 
  The same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Coronal Operation: The  craft is equipped for operations very near a star’s surface. The 
  difficulty of any defense checks from solar flares or other hazards of a star’s corona are 
  reduced by two steps. Enabler. 
   
  Energy-Dampening Armor: The ship gains +5 armor against energy weapons. Enabler. 
  
   
   
   
  Holo-Emitter Disguise: The ship is equipped with holo-emitters on its hull that can project 
  images to make the vessel look like other types of small craft. Action to initiate. 
  Personnel Craft Example 
  The crew of the U.S.S. Avalon is launching a shuttlecraft to carry members of the bridge crew to a 
  conference on Vulcan. Rather than go with a run-of-the-mill shuttlecraft, they decide to pick out stats 
  for a customized one that they might have used in their science surveying missions. The start with 
  the stat pools for a personnel ship and add all three of their additional points to the System pool, plus 
  another 2 since it’s a Federation craft, and to put the ship’s 1 Edge into System, to make sure it’s a 
  solid scientific tool for other missions. The ship’s pools are now Hull 4, Engine 5, and System 10 and 
  it has an Effort of 1 (as a Tier 1 ship) with a Hull Edge of 0, an Engine Edge of 0, and a System Edge of 
  1. 
  They decide to christen the custom shuttle as the Franklin. It’s a sophisticated ship that doesn’t 
  especially shine in combat but it will be of extra use on science missions. They decide to boost its 
  combat a little bit by using its one Tier to gain medium shields (2 points) and one light weapon (a 
  phaser beam array). They decide to pick out focus next (the ship is definitely Federation so the 
  descriptor is spoken for) and they choose Surveys, which gives them the Tier 1 ability Planetary 
  Scan. They get one more ability from personnel craft and they decide to pick an Onboard Computer 
  which is focused on astrometrics and geology. As a Federation craft they get training in any two skills 
  and they pick stellar physics and navigation. The Franklin is obviously a good scanning and surveying 
  craft! 
  Cruiser 
  Divide 6 additional points among your Stat Pools. 
  Hull 
  9 
  Engine 
  10 
  System 
  9 
  Klingon cruisers are called raptors. Romulan cruisers are also called warbirds, sometimes called 
  warbird battle cruisers to differentiate them. 
  Tier One 
   
  Efficient Design: Cruisers have an Engine Edge of 1, a System Edge of 0, and a Hull Edge of 0. 
   
  Cypher Use: Cruisers have room for two ship cyphers in their design. 
   
  Ship’s Weapons: Cruisers are proficient with all ship weapons. They have space for a 
  number of weapons equal to their Tier. 
   
  Shields: Cruisers have shields that provide pools of 3 (light shields), 5 (medium shields), or 
  6 (heavy shields). 
   
  Special Abilities: Choose two of the abilities described below for the cruiser. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
  o 
  Advanced Propulsion: If you succeed at a difficulty 2 Engine roll, you can move 
  your ship a short distance and take another action in the same round. Enabler. 
  o 
  Extra Edge: You have a Hull Edge of 1 and an Engine Edge of 1. 
  o 
  Shield Frequency Modulation (1 System point): You temporarily increase your 
  max shield pool rating by 1 for the next round. Action. 
  o 
  Strategic Maneuvering (2 Engine points): You reduce the difficulty of tasks 
  related to maneuvering and turning by one as long as you maintain this effect. 
  Because you can’t maintain this ability and pilot the ship at the same time, this is a 
  supporting role that benefits the helmsman. Action to initiate. 
  o 
  Weapon System Efficiency (1 System point): You temporarily increase the 
  damage output of one weapon by 1 for the next attack. 
   
  
   
   
  Tier Two 
  Choose two of the abilities described below for the cruiser or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Engineering Access: Cruisers are designed to be tough and adaptable with Jefferies tubes 
  that access every part of the ship. The time for completing repairs outside of combat is 
  halved. Enabler. 
   
  Extend Shields (3 Hull points): Your ship extends its shields around an ally within point-
  blank range, providing the Armor your shields provide to that vessel. Enabler. 
   
  Focused Fire (2 System points): The ship’s targeting systems allow it to focus an attack 
  which will punch through the enemy shields. On the ship’s next attack roll, if the target 
  absorbs damage with its shield pool, the attack deals one damage to the shields before the 
  absorbing happens. This ability can only be used once in a round. Action. 
   
  High-Yield Torpedoes (2 System points): You program a torpedo that smashes into a 
  target with an increased explosive content. In addition to the projectile’s normal damage, the 
  ship is knocked off-course and ends up an immediate distance from where it would 
  otherwise be. Action. 
   
  Training Vessel: Cruisers are the backbone of a fleet, and this ship is especially designed for 
  training new crews for service. When a bridge officer gives orders to their subordinates, the 
  difficulty of giving instructions is reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  Tier Three 
  Choose two of the abilities described below for the cruiser or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Improved Offensive Capabilities: Choose one type of attack which your ship does not 
  already consider trained: beam arrays, cannons, turrets, or projectile weapons. Attacks with 
  your ship are considered trained in attacks with that type of weapon. You can select this 
  ability multiple times. Each time you select it, you must choose a different type of attack. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Mobile Diplomatic Facilities: The ship has an impressive lounge area for crew members 
  off-duty. While it’s not uncommon for large ships to have pleasant accommodations, this 
  goes above and beyond and is suitable for hosting delegations from planetary governments. 
  The area provides an asset to any social interactions where the prestige of the Federation 
  might help. Enabler. 
   
  Redundant Systems: If a crew member rolls a natural with a check involving the ship’s 
  sensors, transporters, deflector dish, or communications, they can reroll any natural 1 they 
  roll on a d20. If they reroll, they avoid a GM intrusion - unless they roll a second 1 - and 
  might a succeed on the task. Once they use this ability, it is unavailable until the ship makes a 
  one hour or ten minute recovery roll. Enabler. 
   
  Shuttle Drydock: The shuttle bay on this ship is particularly large, suitable for major 
  overhauls of small craft. Teams as large as twenty can work comfortably on a single ship in 
  the space provided and the dry dock provides an asset on any engineering checks to modify 
  the systems or mechanics of small craft. Enabler. 
   
  System Integration (2 Engine or System points): The computer systems onboard are 
  extremely well integrated, allowing some computer space to be swapped out in an 
  emergency situation. When the crew spends two points from the ship’s Engine or System 
  pools they can add one point to the other. This can be done any number of times with a 
  single action as the pool’s current total allows up to the second pool’s maximum. For 
  example, the crew of a ship with 7 points in its System pool and 4 out of 12 points in its 
  Engine pool could spend 6 System points to add 3 points in Engine. Enabler. 
  Tier Four 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the cruiser or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
  
   
   
   
  Beam Array Spread (4 Engine points): You divert power from the warp core to fire 
  multiple beams from your array. You can make an attack against each target within short or 
  immediate range. Action. 
   
  Command Center: The ship is designed to function as a command center for operations in a 
  sector. The difficulty of any tasks related to coordinating ship positions in a sector and 
  organizing a large-scale defense is reduced by one step. This will not factor into individual 
  ship battles. Enabler. 
   
  Deflector Field (2 System points): A ship’s deflector dish is used to prevent small-scale 
  debris from striking and damaging the vessel. By temporarily diverting power to it and 
  harmonizing the power flux with the ship’s shield matrix, the crew can boost their shield’s 
  stability. When spending these System points the ship gains 5 additional shield pool points, 
  up to the pool maximum. 
   
  Disrupt Shields (4 System points): With a blast from your ship’s deflector dish, a weak 
  point is temporarily opened up in your target’s shields. The target’s shield pool maximum is 
  reduced by 5 for the next round. Action. 
   
  Quick Repositioning (5 Engine points): The ship’s impulse engines are pushed to their 
  limit for an extreme maneuver to gain position. The ship immediately gains superior 
  positioning if it was in a neutral position. If it was in an inferior position it instead loses that 
  condition. Action. 
  Tier Five 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the cruiser or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Advanced Repair Facilities: The ship is equipped with improved engineering teams and 
  equipment, allowing it to rapidly repair damage during operations. These facilities provide 
  an asset for repair checks to repair and modify the ship. If another allied ship remains within 
  transporter range, this asset can be used for checks to repair that ship instead (though the 
  asset can only be used on one vessel at a time). Enabler. 
   
  Full Impulse Burst (5 Engine points): Your ship jumps forward a long distance in a 
  dramatic burst of impulse power. Action. 
   
  Improved Shield Emitters: When using shields, your ship gains +1 Armor. Enabler. 
   
  Tactical Center: The ship has a battle bridge, a tactically-oriented secondary ops center that 
  is further inside the ship and used in emergency situations. When operating from this battle 
  bridge, the bridge crew reduces the difficulty of ship defense rolls by one step but they 
  increase the difficulty of any non-tactical sensor and communication tasks by one step. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Warp Core Optimization (3 Engine points): Through long hours tinkering and adjusting 
  your engineering team has optimized your warp core’s functions. With this ability they can 
  push the engines to greater performance. For the next 10 hours, the difficulty of all tasks 
  involving the warp core or impulse engines is reduced by one step. Action to initiate. 
  Tier Six 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the cruiser or an ability from a lower Tier. 
   
  Advanced Offensive Capabilities: Choose one type of attack which your ship already 
  considers trained: beam arrays, cannons, turrets, or projectile weapons. Attacks with your 
  ship are considered specialized in attacks with that type of weapon. You can select this 
  ability multiple times. Each time you select it, you must choose a different type of attack. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Extend Warp Field (4 Engine): The ship’s warp field can be extended around another 
  vessel, allowing that other vessel to use the same warp envelope for travel. The second 
  vessel will stay with the cruiser even if it cannot normally travel at the warp factor the 
  cruiser is maintaining due to a less-capable warp core or damage. The envelope is shared 
  until the cruiser drops out of warp, even if the warp factor is maintained. Action to initiate. 
  
   
   
   
  Optimized Functionality (5 System points): The ship’s systems have been improved to 
  operate at increased levels for a short period. When this ability is used, the crew member 
  taking the action should pick Engine, Hull, or System. The Edge for that Stat is increased by 
  +1 for the next thirty minutes. Action to initiate. 
   
  Self-Managing Library System: The ship is equipped with an advanced computer AI 
  capable of performing its own research. Similar to the Emergency Medical Hologram 
  program, the AI can project itself as a holographic figure to interact with the crew and 
  perform archival research and data processing on its own (it functions as a level 5 NPC). 
  Alternatively, the library hologram can assist a crew member in research in which case it 
  reduces the difficulty of research and data processing tasks by two steps. Enabler. 
   
  Ship-Wide Holographics: Your ship is equipped with holo-emitters in every hallway, on the 
  bridge, in Main Engineering, sick bay, the shuttle bay, and any common social areas aboard. 
  The holo-emitters are capable of creating any holographic program sent to them but are 
  most often used for holographic crew members such as the EMH. Enabler. 
  Cruiser Example 
  The U.S.S. Northland-B is scheduled to replace the Northland-A which was lost on the crew’s last 
  mission. They want to make this one count and the GM says that the players can pick out a ship at the 
  next level up so they pick out Tier 3 options. They like the look of the Stargazer-class heavy cruiser 
  and the focus Explores sits right with them so they decide not to change it. The Northland-B gets the 
  abilities Emergency Training, Extended Sensors, Resist Spatial Shear, and Hazard Control 
  Systems which is a great start already for surviving their next deep space encounter. 
  Cruisers start with 9 points in Hull and System and 10 in Engine, with 6 additional points to spend. 
  The crew decides to spend those split between Engine and Hull, making a fast and tough ship. Since 
  their ship is a Tier 3 vessel they get to pick out four of the benefits from the list in the Higher Tiers 
  section (though each benefit can’t be picked more than twice). They decide to increase the ship’s 
  capabilities (all four points into System), improve the ship’s Effort twice, and increase the ship’s Hull 
  Edge by 1. Oh, and it’s a Federation vessel so that’s another 2 in System. 
  After all of this the Northland-B has Hull 12, Engine 13, and System 17, plus they have an Engine Edge 
  of 1, a Hull Edge of 1, a System Edge of 0, and an Effort of 3. They also have those three tiers to spend 
  on weapons so they pick out heavy shields (6 points), a light weapon and a medium weapon, and one 
  heavy weapon. Since this is a Tier 3 cruiser they can’t have more than three weapons but they’re fine 
  on that front. They pick a phaser cannon (light), a dual phaser beam array (medium), and a heavy 
  photon torpedo launcher (heavy). 
  They’ve saved the really fun stuff for last. They choose communications and transporters as their two 
  non-attack, non-defense skills from the Federation descriptor and then set to work on the many 
  different cruiser ability options. Their two Tier 1 abilities are going to be Advanced Propulsion (to 
  make sure they don’t get trapped again) and Shield Frequency Modulation (likewise, plus they 
  have a killer System score). At Tier 2 they pick Engineering Access at the (strong) request of the 
  chief of engineering’s player and High-Yield Torpedoes to take advantage of both their heavy 
  torpedo launcher and their high System score. 
  For Tier 3, they decide to take some of the more interesting and less mechanical options. They give 
  the Northland-B a Shuttle Drydock and Mobile Diplomatic Facilities so that they can handle the 
  long-range missions they’re given while out Exploring. At this point, all they need to do is flesh out 
  the rest of the bridge crew (aside from the other Northland-A survivors) and head out into the final 
  frontier! 
   
   
  
   
   
  Escort 
  Divide 6 additional points among your Stat Pools. 
  Hull 
  10 
  Engine 
  9 
  System 
  9 
  Klingon escorts are called raiders. Romulan escorts are called warbirds. 
  Tier One 
   
  Tactical Design: Escorts have a Hull Edge of 1, an Engine Edge of 0, and a System Edge of 0. 
   
  Cypher Use: Escorts have room for two ship cyphers in their design. 
   
  Ship’s Weapons: Escorts are proficient with all ship weapons. They have space for a number 
  of weapons equal to their Tier plus one. 
   
  Shields: Escorts have shields that provide pools of 2 (light shields), 4 (medium shields), or 6 
  (heavy shields). 
   
  Special Abilities: Choose two of the abilities described below for the escort. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
  o 
  Compartmentalized Systems (1 Might point). When a crewmember uses an 
  action to make a first recovery roll of the day for your ship, the crew immediately 
  gains another action. Enabler. 
  o 
  Disrupting Attack (1 Hull point): This attack targets your enemy’s sensors and 
  diorients their ship’s sensors temporarily. The attack inflicts 1 less point of damage 
  than normal but dazes your target for one round, during which time the difficulty of 
  all tasks it performs is modified by one step to its detriment. Action. 
  o 
  Extra Edge: You have a Hull Edge of 1 and an Engine Edge of 1. 
  o 
  Shield Frequency Modulation (1 System point): By adjusting the harmonics of 
  your shield matrix to optimal levels, you can boost its coherence. When the ship’s 
  shields next regenerate, they add an additional point to the shield pool. Action. 
  o 
  Stealth Signature: This escort is designed to be difficult for other ship’s sensors to 
  detect. The difficulty of all tasks related to avoiding having the ship detected is 
  reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  Tier Two 
  Choose two of the abilities described below for the escort or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Attack Run (3 Engine points): If you destroy one target your ship can move a short 
  distance, but only if it moves towards another enemy. You don’t need to spend the points 
  until you know that the first target is down. Enabler. 
   
  Extend Shields (3 System points): Your ship extends its shields around an ally within 
  point-blank range, providing the Armor your shields provide to that vessel. Enabler. 
   
  High-Yield Torpedoes (2 System points): You program a torpedo that smashes into a 
  target with an increased explosive content. In addition to the projectile’s normal damage, the 
  ship is knocked off-course and ends up an immediate distance from where it would 
  otherwise be. Action. 
   
  Improved Light and Medium Weapons: Attacks with the ship are considered trained with 
  light and medium ship weapons. Enabler. 
   
  Penetrating Beam Attack (1 Hull point): This is a well-aimed, penetrating ranged attack. 
  You make an attack and inflict 1 additional point of damage if your attack uses a beam array 
  weapon. Action. 
   
  Redirect Shields (2 System points): By shunting power from one set of shields to the 
  direction of an incoming attack, you can provide additional shielding against that attack. The 
  first 4 points absorbed by your shields against this attack are not subtracted from your pool. 
  Action to ready. 
  
   
   
  Tier Three 
  Choose two of the abilities described below for the escort or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Ablative Hull Armor (3 Hull points): Activating this system moves your ship one step on 
  the damage track (see the section on Ship Damage below). For example, a debilitated ship 
  becomes impaired, and an impaired one becomes hale. Action. 
   
  Improved Offensive Capabilities: Choose one type of attack which your ship does not 
  already consider trained: beam arrays, cannons, turrets, or projectile weapons. Attacks with 
  your ship are considered trained in attacks with that type of weapon. You can select this 
  ability multiple times. Each time you select it, you must choose a different type of attack. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Improved Defensive Capabilities: Choose one type of defense task which your ship does 
  not already consider trained: Hull, Engine, or System. Defense tasks with your ship are 
  considered trained for that type. You can select this ability up to three times. Each time you 
  select it, you must choose a different type of defense task. Enabler. 
   
  Modulated Beam Attack (4 Engine points): By modulating your beam attack using the 
  ship’s impulse engine, your beam adopts an erratic frequency that is difficult for your 
  enemy’s shields to resist. The enemy can only absorb a maximum of half the attack’s damage 
  (rounded down) with their shields. Action. 
   
  Target Acquisition (3 System points): The ship’s sensors directly and precisely map out 
  the ship’s movements and weak spots. The next attack made by your ship has its difficulty 
  reduced by one step and deals an additional +2 damage. Action. 
  Tier Four 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the escort or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Advanced Weapons: Attacks with your ship deal 1 additional point of damage. Enabler. 
   
  Coordinate Fleet (4 System points): The ship is equipped with advanced tactical 
  simulation systems and improved communications, allowing it to act as a hub in a fleet 
  action. For the next ten minutes, all complementary actions by allied ships within short 
  range of your ship provide a +4 bonus instead of the usual +2. Action to initiate. 
   
  Disrupt Shields (4 System points): With a blast from your ship’s deflector dish, a weak 
  point is temporarily opened up in your target’s shields. The target’s shield pool maximum is 
  reduced by 5 for the next round. Action. 
   
  Evasive Maneuvers (5 Engine points): Your ship dodges an attack. If the Engine defense 
  roll succeeds, you can trick the attacker into accidentally attacking another ship within 
  immediate range of both your ship and theirs. Enabler. 
   
  Full Torpedo Spread (4 Hull points): You make three separate torpedo attacks. Action. 
  Tier Five 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the escort or an ability from a lower Tier. The same 
  ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Deflector Resonance: The ship’s deflector dish resonates with its targeting sensors to allow 
  it to have a broader radius. The difficulty of tasks related to detecting other ships is reduced 
  by one step and the sensors’ range is increased by 50% for these tasks only. Enabler. 
   
  Full Impulse Burst (5 Engine points): Your ship jumps forward a long distance in a 
  dramatic burst of impulse power. Action. 
   
  Improved Shield Regeneration: The amount of points your shields regenerate to the pool 
  each round is increased by +2. Enabler. 
   
  Multiweapon Targeting (5 Hull points): You target an enemy ship with several weapons at 
  once. With a single attack action, you can use up to three ship weapons. Roll attacks 
  separately for each and the attacks must all be against the same target. Action. 
  
   
   
   
  Shield Feedback (4 Engine points): The shield matrix uses many of the same EPS conduits 
  as the impulse engines and this escort is modified to use feedback from the impulse engines 
  to strengthen the shields. The ship’s shield pool increases by +5 for the next ten minutes and 
  it immediately regains +5 points. An engineering repair check (level 5) must be completed to 
  fix damage to the EPS conduits after using this ability before it can be used again. Action. 
  Tier Six 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the escort or an ability from a lower Tier. 
   
  Advanced Offensive Capabilities: Choose one type of attack which your ship already 
  considers trained: beam arrays, cannons, turrets, or projectile weapons. Attacks with your 
  ship are considered specialized in attacks with that type of weapon. You can select this 
  ability multiple times. Each time you select it, you must choose a different type of attack. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Advanced Defensive Capabilities: Choose one type of defense task which your ship already 
  considers trained: Hull, Engine, or System. Defense tasks with your ship are considered 
  specialized for that type. You can select this ability up to three times. Each time you select it, 
  you must choose a different type of defense task. Enabler. 
   
  Fleet Command Center: The escort is a fully-developed command center capable of 
  organizing battle plans across an entire sector. The difficulty of any tasks related to 
  coordinating ship positions in a sector and organizing large-scale combat plans is reduced by 
  one step. In addition, the bonus from complementary ship actions within long range of the 
  ship is increased by +2. If the ship also has the Tier 3 ability Command Center, this means 
  ships within short range provide a +6 bonus. Enabler. 
   
  Metaphasic Shields (6 Hull points): Your ship is equipped with shields that partially shunt 
  impacts into subspace, minimizing the effect of weapons on the shield arrays. As long as 
  someone is modulating them, metaphasic shields only lose 1 point to absorb an attack. 
  Action to initiate, action each round to maintain. 
   
  Shielded Energy Conduits: The difficulty of defense rolls against attacks targeting the ship’s 
  subsystems is reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  Escort Example 
  The crew of the U.S.S. Avalon is in an interesting situation. They have been working closely with 
  Romulan counterparts to stop a plot from pushing the Klingon Empire into all-out war (again) and 
  they have been given temporary command of a Romulan vessel to travel undercover into Klingon 
  space. They certainly don’t have an invitation but the Romulan ship’s cloaking device means they 
  don’t necessarily have to have one… 
  This ship, which the GM tells them is named the I.R.W. N’sann, is a Tier 2 escort which means they 
  have one additional tier of benefits to add after the initial stats. They decide to give the N’sann two 
  additional points in each of its stat pools because they don’t want to be caught unprepared in Klingon 
  space. They get some more points as a higher tier benefit (2 in Hull and 2 in Engine) and they 
  increase their Effort by 1. It also gets another 2 points in System, and training in targeting enemy 
  engines. It also has an inability in modifying ship systems, however, and limited cargo space but you 
  can’t get everything. All of this gives the N’sann Hull 14, Engine 13, System 11, a Hull Edge of 1 (other 
  Edges are zero), and an Effort of 2. 
  They decide that the N’sann’s focus is Patrols which gives them the useful abilities Patrol Route 
  (they pick the border sector they are crossing into Klingon space through) and Familiar Territory 
  (this, they decide, is due to the Romulan science officer loaned to them for their mission). Since this is 
  a brand-new vessel for their series they also decide that its initial mission was to maintain security 
  along the Romulan-Klingon Neutral Zone, which explains its familiarity. For Tier 1 escort abilities 
  they pick Disrupting Attack (good for getaways if the cloak fails) and Stealth Signature (obviously). 
  For Tier 2 they decide on Redirect Shields (a good use of that big System pool) and Penetrating 
  Beam Attack, already thinking ahead to weapons. 
  
   
   
  They have two tiers so they spend one on a light weapon (disruptor cannon) and a medium weapon 
  (antimatter torpedo launcher) and the other tier on medium shields (4 points) and a light weapon 
  (disruptor beam array). This is three weapons, one more than the N’sann’s tier, but that’s alright 
  since they are an escort. 
  Science Vessel 
  Divide 6 additional points among your Stat Pools. 
  Hull 
  9 
  Engine 
  9 
  System 
  10 
  Tier One 
   
  Sophisticated Design: Science vessels have a System Edge of 1, an Engine Edge of 0, and a 
  Hull Edge of 0. 
   
  Cypher Use: Science vessels have room for three ship cyphers in their design. 
   
  Ship’s Weapons: Science vessels are proficient with light and medium weapons. They have 
  space for a number of weapons equal to their Tier. 
   
  Shields: Science vessels have shields that provide pools of 2 (light shields), 4 (medium 
  shields), or 6 (heavy shields). 
   
  Special Abilities: Choose two of the abilities described below for the science vessel. The 
  same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
  o 
  Extra Edge: You have a System Edge of 1 and a Hull Edge of 1. 
  o 
  Emergency Radiation Shielding (2 System points): Your ship has improved 
  protective measures that can be put in place, perfect for getting caught in a solar 
  flare while surveying or getting close to a pulsar for detailed scans. For the thirty 
  minutes, the difficulty of all Hull and System defense tests that you attempt are 
  reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  o 
  Polaron Pulse (1 Engine point): You transfer your ship’s warp plasma through 
  your deflector shield, creating a polaron pulse. This type of energetic radiation 
  disrupts cloaking fields and can reveal cloaked ships in the area. You reduce the 
  difficulty of finding cloaked ships by one for the next round. Action. 
  o 
  Sensor Analysis (2 System points): Your ship has systems to thoroughly analyze 
  all sensor data for research opportunities. You can ask the GM one question about 
  the stellar system, spatial phenomenon, vessel, planet, or other target that you are 
  scanning and get a helpful answer. For instance, scanning a planet might reveal that 
  it is an uninhabited world but that there is evidence that a large vessel was in orbit 
  around it. The GM will assign a level to the question and set the difficulty based on 
  that. Action. 
  o 
  Target Subsystem (1 System points): Your science vessel’s advanced sensors can 
  be used to pinpoint weak spots in an enemy vessel’s systems. With this ability, you 
  reduce the difficulty for the next attack to disable that system by one. 
  Tier Two 
  Choose two of the abilities described below for the science vessel or an ability from a lower Tier. The 
  same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Ascertain Subject (2 System points): The sensors on your science vessel analyze and 
  characterize your target. Subsequent actions taken to interact with the target have their 
  difficulty reduced by one. Action. 
   
  Blind Sensors (4 System points): Your ship’s advanced sensor systems can be reversed in 
  order to create a wash of sensor noise. When activated, this noise disrupts the sensors of any 
  ships within close range. With their sensors blinded, all attempts by the ship to use their 
  sensors have their difficulty modified by two steps to the ship’s detriment. This doesn’t affect 
  targeting sensors since those work on different parameters but scanning other ships, 
  
   
   
  detecting hazards, and targeting subsystems are all affected. The condition lasts for one 
  minute. Action. 
   
  Extend Shields (3 System points): Your ship extends its shields around an ally within 
  point-blank range, providing the Armor your shields provide to that vessel. Enabler. 
   
  Medical Vessel: Your ship has advanced medical facilities that can help with a quick 
  recovery. When patients are treated on board the vessel, they can make their recovery rolls 
  in half the normal time. Crew must still take actions to treat them for long-term injuries. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Survey Craft (2 System points): When the ship’s crew takes five minutes or so to 
  thoroughly scan an area (no larger than a planetary system) they can ask the GM one 
  question about the area, and she must answer them truthfully. The crew cannot use this 
  ability more than one time per area per twelve hours. Enabler. 
  Tier Three 
  Choose two of the abilities described below for the science vessel or an ability from a lower Tier. The 
  same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Built for Science: Your ships systems can adapt to a number of situations and you can use 
  points from your System Pool rather than your Engine Pool or Hull Pool on any noncombat 
  action. Enabler. 
   
  Class 9 Probe (4 System points): The ship launches an advanced probe within immediate 
  range that has sensor capabilities equal to your starship. The probe can function 
  continuously for 24 hours (it can be extended by spending an additional 4 System points 
  every 24 hours) and is capable of semi-independent operation and warp speeds up to warp 
  9. Action to create and action to receive data. 
   
  Improved Defensive Capabilities: Choose one type of defense task which your ship does 
  not already consider trained: Hull, Engine, or System. Defense tasks with your ship are 
  considered trained for that type. You can select this ability up to three times. Each time you 
  select it, you must choose a different type of defense task. Enabler. 
   
  Redundant Systems: If a crew member rolls a natural with a check involving the ship’s 
  sensors, transporters, deflector dish, or communications, they can reroll any natural 1 they 
  roll on a d20. If they reroll, they avoid a GM intrusion - unless they roll a second 1 - and 
  might succeed on the task. Once they use this ability, it is unavailable until the ship makes a 
  one hour or ten minute recovery roll. Enabler. 
   
  Specialized Systems: Your ship can use four ship cyphers at a time. 
  Tier Four 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the science vessel or an ability from a lower Tier. The 
  same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Botanical Facility: The ship has a large area for botanical studies filled with plant 
  specimens from dozens of solar systems. Some of the science staff maintain the facility which 
  provides an asset on any tasks related to botanical research. In addition, a successful botany 
  check can create an asset for medical checks from botanical extracts gathered in the facility. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Crisis Center: The medical facilities onboard are cutting edge and extensive, allowing the 
  ship to function as a mobile hospital in crisis zones. This facility provides an asset on medical 
  rolls for any characters who are trained or specialized in the roll and allows characters who 
  are untrained in a particular medical roll to consider themselves trained. These effects can 
  be in addition to the Tier 2 ability Medical Vessel. Enabler. 
   
  Deflector Field (3 System points): The ship’s deflector dish is powerful enough to generate 
  a field in front of the entire vessel. When used, this ability provides a bonus to defense rolls 
  against energy effects (including energy weapons) for ten minutes. Action to initiate. 
   
  Research Facility: The ship is equipped to function as a mobile research institution, 
  perhaps even hosting academic faculty conducting experiments. The facility provides an 
  asset on any long-term research projects and can be considered an NPC specialized in every 
  
   
   
  scientific discipline for the purposes of helping with actions (see page 211 of the Cypher 
  System Rulebook). Enabler. 
   
  Tachyon Beam (4 System points): By charging tachyons through the ship’s deflector dish, 
  the crew can make a beam attack against another vessel in range. This attack does 4 damage 
  and the target ship is stunned (see page 203 of the Cypher System Rulebook). Action. 
  Tier Five 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the science vessel or an ability from a lower Tier. The 
  same ability can’t be chosen more than once unless its description says otherwise. 
   
  Aceteon Beam (5 System points): Focusing specific wavelengths through the ship’s 
  deflector causes a resonance in the target ship’s shields which floods it with aceteon 
  radiation. The attack does 6 damage and everyone onboard will take 2 points of radiation 
  damage each round for the next minute. Action. 
   
  Advanced Ecological Facilities: The ship is equipped with an extensive suite of labs and 
  sensors for studying planetary conditions. The facilities provide an asset to any checks 
  related to studying, modeling, and characterizing a planet’s atmosphere and ecosystems. 
  Additionally, it can create any environmental conditions desired for species that don’t come 
  from M-Class planets. Enabler. 
   
  Deflector Pulse (6 System points): A broad, diffuse pulse of radiation comes out of the 
  ship’s deflector shield in every direction. All ships within short range are struck by the pulse 
  and take 2 damage. In addition, the difficulty of all checks are modified one step to their 
  detriment for one round. Action. 
   
  Improved Shield Emitters: When using shields, your ship gains +1 Armor. Enabler. 
   
  Reactive Shield Emitters: The ship’s shields are tied into the advanced sensors of the 
  science vessel to maintain the shield matrix as coherently as possible. Any round in which 
  the shields do not lose any points from their pool, they regenerate an additional +3 points. 
  Enabler. 
  Tier Six 
  Choose one of the abilities described below for the science vessel or an ability from a lower Tier. 
   
  Advanced Defensive Capabilities: Choose one type of defense task which your ship already 
  considers trained: Hull, Engine, or System. Defense tasks with your ship are considered 
  specialized for that type. You can select this ability up to three times. Each time you select it, 
  you must choose a different type of defense task. Enabler. 
   
  Focused Polaron Beam (6 System points): Focusing polaron radiation through the 
  deflector creates a beam which irradiates the target ship’s outer hull. The attack deals 8 
  damage and the difficulty of defending against the target ship’s sensors is reduced by one 
  step for one minute. Action. 
   
  Integrated Subspace Hub: The ship has a large subspace array built into its framework. It 
  can communicate over twice the normal distance for subspace communication and even 
  send holographic communications across whole quadrants. In addition, any ships within 
  long range of the science vessel can use its subspace hub for their own communications. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Rapid Starship Modeling (5 System points): With advanced sensors and advanced 
  computer power, the science vessel is able to rapidly scan and simulate the systems of 
  another vessel. This provides an asset to any attacks targeting subsystems and such attacks 
  also deal +2 damage. 
   
  Self-Managing Library System: The ship is equipped with an advanced computer AI 
  capable of performing its own research. Similar to the Emergency Medical Hologram 
  program, the AI can project itself as a holographic figure to interact with the crew and 
  perform archival research and data processing on its own (it functions as a level 5 NPC). 
  Alternatively, the library hologram can assist a crew member in research in which case it 
  reduces the difficulty of research and data processing tasks by two steps. Enabler. 
  
   
   
  Science Vessel Example 
  A mission into an uncharted nebula has prompted half the bridge crew of the U.S.S. Northland-B to 
  take command of the U.S.S. Boudicca, a Tier 3 science vessel just released from drydock. Together, the 
  ships will investigate a strange signal coming from deep in the nebula, possibly connected with a 
  Borg advance. The GM decides to work with the entire crew, even though half of them are remaining 
  on the Northland-B, and has they decide what the ship’s capabilities are. The first officer (acting 
  captain of the Boudicca) is tempted to pick out a Nebula-class ship but decides instead on the 
  intriguing-looking Hope-class science vessel. 
  This would normally make the Boudicca’s focus Surveys but the crew decides to make it Voyages 
  instead. They reason that this was why the Boudicca was in drydock, it was being refitted for a long-
  term mission. What better way to test it out! They get Improved Replicators (delicious) and 
  Efficient Core (long-lasting) from their focus and decide to pick out type abilities next (even though 
  they haven’t done stat pools or anything). They decide to give the Boudicca Extra Edge and 
  Emergency Radiation Shielding for Tier 1, since there’s no telling what to expect in that nebula. For 
  Tier 2 they pick Ascertain Subject (best to know what they’re dealing with) and Medical Vessel (to 
  better support the Northland-B) and for Tier 3 they pick Class 9 Probe (to make sure they don’t miss 
  anything) and Redundant Systems (no one wants to be flat-footed out in the unknown). 
  With all of that picked, they finally turn to stat pools. The crew decides to spend 3 additional points 
  on Hull, 2 on Engine, and 1 on System (they have that boost coming from the Federation descriptor, 
  after all). They get a System Edge of 1, but that’s boosted to 2 with their Tier 1 Extra Edge ability, and 
  that same ability gives them an Engine Edge of 1. They decide to increase that Engine Edge with one 
  of their Higher Tier benefits, and also to increase their shields twice. The last Higher Tier benefit they 
  use to increase Effort by 1. With all of this, the Boudicca has System 13, Engine 11, Hull 12, a System 
  Edge of 2, an Engine Edge of 1, and an Effort of 2. 
  Lastly, they need to pick out their weapons. They choose heavy shields (6 points, plus 2 for their 
  Higher Tier benefit), a heavy weapon (dual heavy phaser cannons), and one light weapon (a phaser 
  cannon) and one medium weapon (a photon torpedo launcher). Now they just need the rest of their 
  bridge crew and they’re ready to follow the Northland-B on its mission. 
  Descriptor 
  A starship’s descriptor comes from the group that made it: the species or pan-species government 
  that designed and built the thing. While there are many facts to ship design that span cultures and 
  even galaxies (newly discovered species in the Delta Quadrant have warp technology similar to the 
  Federation’s, after all) there are many different aspects that are particular to a species. There’s no 
  mistake, for instance, when you wake up to tell if you are on a Klingon vessel, a Romulan warbird, or 
  a Federation starship. 
  Bajoran 
   
  Solid: +2 to the ship’s Hull pool. 
   
  Skill: Bajoran ships are particularly well-built against boarding and seizure attempts. The 
  ship is trained in defense rolls against tractor beams. 
   
  Skill: Being oppressed by the Cardassians for so long, Bajoran ships are designed to be 
  maneuverable and lose any pursuers. They are trained in tasks involving outrunning or 
  avoiding other ships. 
   
  Hidden Compartments: For much of their spacefaring history, Bajorans used their ships for 
  smuggling things past Cardassian patrols or through Federation space to the Maquis. Crews 
  aboard a Bajoran vessel can make use of hidden cargo holds and shielded space to hide their 
  cargo. Enabler. 
  
   
   
   
  Inability: Bajorans are catching up in ship design but they spent a long period without 
  developing their manufacturing abilities. They increase the difficulty of scanning other ships 
  by one. 
   
  Inability: The Bajorans have few combat ships and their ships don’t stand up to truly 
  devastating barrages. They increase the difficulty of defense rolls against projectile weapons 
  by one. 
  Cardassian 
   
  Solid: +2 to the ship’s Hull pool. 
   
  Full Weapons Coverage: Cardassian ships are designed to be well-protected and they have 
  emplacements of their signature spiral wave weapons in order to cover all angles of attack. 
  They are never considered to be in an inferior position when attacking with spiral wave 
  weapons. 
   
  Skill: Cardassian tactics involve coordinated strikes and group efforts. They are trained in 
  attack actions involving ship formations. 
   
  Skill: Cardassian ships feature spiral wave disruptors, a particular design for their weapon 
  systems. They are trained in attacks with disruptor beam arrays. 
   
  Inability: The warships of Cardassia are strong and tough, but not particularly 
  maneuverable. They increase the difficulty of tasks involving sharp turns and acrobatic 
  maneuvers by one. 
   
  Inability: The targeting systems of Cardassian ships are not as effective at greater distances. 
  They increase the difficulty of attacks at long range by one. 
  Dominion 
   
  Sophisticated: +2 to the ship’s System pool. 
   
  Skill: Dominion ships have especially advanced sensor systems. They are trained in tasks 
  involving scanning other ships. 
   
  Skill: The polaron weapons used by Dominion ships are particular to their weapon systems 
  and devastating against ships unprepared for them. They are trained in attacks involving 
  polaron beam arrays or cannons. 
   
  Inability: Despite their advanced sensors, Dominion vessels have a weakness at very close 
  engagement distances. They increase the difficulty of attacks at point-blank range by one. 
   
  Limited Space: The Dominion concentrates on efficiency over economics and comfort. They 
  have half the normal amount of cargo space. 
  Federation 
   
  Sophisticated: +2 to the ship’s System pool. 
   
  Mission-Specific Design: More than any other fleet, Federation starships are particularly 
  designed for the missions they are sent on. They are trained in any two non-attack and non-
  defense skills. 
  Ferengi 
   
  Voyagers: +1 to the ship’s Engine pool and +1 to the Hull pool. 
   
  Shipping Vessels: Every ship made by the Ferengi is designed with shipping and trade in 
  mind. Ferengi ships have 50% more cargo room (round up). 
   
  Skill: The Ferengi are remarkably good at designing universal systems that can interact with 
  any potential trading partners. They are trained in all tasks involving docking or salvage. 
   
  Skill: What Ferengi ships lack in combat ability they make up for in comfort. Any 
  negotiations aboard a Ferengi ship can benefit from the lavish surroundings and many perks 
  available to the crew. They are trained in all tasks involving business negotiations. 
  
   
   
   
  Inability: Ferengi ships are built for trading, not for fighting. They increase the difficulty of 
  any attacks by one. 
  Klingon 
   
  Raiders: +2 to the ship’s Engine pool. 
   
  Cloaking Device: Klingon ships are outfitted with cloaking devices which surround the ship 
  in a field that makes them invisible to observation and scanners. Other ships will not notice 
  them unless they are actively scanning for a cloaked ship, in which case they must succeed 
  on a scanner check with a task difficulty equal to the ship’s Tier plus one (or just the ship’s 
  Tier at point-blank range). For the PC’s ship they can remain cloaked by beating an NPC 
  vessel with a cloaking check, gaining a +2 bonus for ranges beyond point-blank range. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Skill: The preferred tactic for Klingon ships is hitting the enemy hard and leaving them 
  defenseless. They are trained in attacks to disable a target’s weapons systems. 
   
  Inability: Klingon vessels don’t normally take prisoners. They increase the difficulty of 
  checks to capture a ship with a tractor beam by one.  
   
  Limited Space: Klingon vessels are warships not traders. They have half the normal amount 
  of cargo space. 
  Romulan 
   
  Sophisticated: +2 to the ship’s System pool. 
   
  Cloaking Device: Romulan ships are outfitted with cloaking devices which surround the 
  ship in a field that makes them invisible to observation and scanners. Other ships will not 
  notice them unless they are actively scanning for a cloaked ship, in which case they must 
  succeed on a scanner check with a task difficulty equal to the ship’s Tier plus one (or just the 
  ship’s Tier at point-blank range). For the PC’s ship they can remain cloaked by beating an 
  NPC vessel with a cloaking check, gaining a +2 bonus for ranges beyond point-blank range. 
  Enabler. 
   
  Skill: Standard Romulan tactics involve neutralizing an enemy vessel so that they can be 
  seized and questioned. They are trained at attacks to disable a target’s engines. 
   
  Inability: Romulan ship design is a strict and inflexible discipline. Crews aboard Romulan 
  ships increase the difficulty of tasks to modify systems by one. 
   
  Limited Space: The interior of Romulan ships are spartan and severe. They have half the 
  normal amount of cargo space. 
  Focus 
  The focus of the ship is the fine detail of the ship’s design. The Descriptor is the large-scale picture of 
  the design and the Type is the core system. The Focus describes what systems are optimized and 
  what functions are routine for the ship to complete its mission. 
  Customizing Ship Foci 
  Instead of their focus options, ships can pick from the following alternatives. 
  Tier 1 
   
  Self-Improvement. The ship gains 6 new points to divide among its Stat Pools however the 
  party wishes. Enabler. 
   
  Hitting Harder. Attacks with the ship’s weapons deal 1 additional point of damage. Enabler. 
   
  Additional Consoles. Additional ship functions of the party’s choice (not attacks or defense) 
  become programmed into the ship’s computers. Crew members are considered trained when 
  making these tests. Enabler. 
  
   
   
  Tier 2 
   
  Lower-Tier Ability. Choose any tier 1 ability. 
   
  Offensive Combat Programming. Choose one type of attack in which the ship does not 
  already offer training: light ship weapons, medium ship weapons, or heavy ship weapons. 
  Attacks on the ship with this type of weapon are now considered trained. Enabler. 
   
  Defensive Combat Programming. Choose one type of defense task in which the ship does 
  not already offer training: Engine, Hull, or System. Defense tasks of that type made with the 
  ship are now considered trained. Enabler. 
  Tier 3 
   
  Lower-Tier Ability. Choose any tier 1 or 2 ability. 
   
  Internal Security Measures. Mounted phasers, force fields, and other increased measures 
  make it especially hard for boarding parties to take control of your ship. Any of the duty 
  officers on the bridge can make tasks to stop boarding parties from the bridge. Action. 
   
  Reinforced Structure. Your ship has extra baffles and controls to keep it together. These 
  changes give your ship +1 Armor even without extra hull plating. Enabler. 
  Tier 4 
   
  Lower-Tier Ability. Choose any tier 1, 2, or 3 ability. 
   
  Radiation Shielding. Advanced internal shielding helps your crew to avoid radiation 
  exposure. The crew will not be affected by outside radiation (the GM can require a check for 
  particularly intense radiation) and checks by the engineering or science duty officers can 
  keep any internal radiation leaks from affecting the rest of the crew with an action. Enabler. 
   
  Hidden Weaponry. Up to two of your ship weapons are hidden and can be deployed or 
  withdrawn with an action. The difficulty of attempts to scan for your hidden weapons while 
  they are withdrawn is modified by one step in your favor. Enabler. 
  Tier 5 
   
  Lower-Tier Ability. Choose any tier 1, 2, 3, or 4 ability. 
   
  Entertainment Lounge. Your ship is built for the mission but also for impressing guests. 
  Your lounge area has all the amenities of modern life and is fit for entertaining dignitaries 
  and allied politicians alike. Enabler. 
   
  Improved Shields. Your shield pool is increased by +2. Enabler. 
  Tier 6 
   
  Lower-Tier Ability. Choose any tier 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 ability. 
   
  Reactive Defenses. Micro turrets on your ship’s hull provide point defense against ships or 
  projectiles coming too close. The difficulty of defense rolls against projectile weapons is 
  reduced by one step and any ship that comes within immediate range and makes an attack of 
  any sort will immediately be targeted with a 4 point beam weapon attack. Enabler. 
  Attacks 
  While some ships are designed for a range of combat situations, many are created for a strong 
  offense only. These warships are intended to be fast and powerful, hitting hard and sending a clear 
  message through sheer firepower. These ships are popular designs for the Klingons and Romulans, 
  who often call them Birds-of-Prey or Raiders. 
  Initial Mission Objectives: From the following list of options, choose what the ship’s mission is at 
  the start of the campaign. 
  1. The ship was created during a conflict and remains a part of the fleet’s core warships. 
  2. The ship was sent to deal with an unruly section of space threatening nearby systems. 
  3. The ship was launched as a deterrent during a mission of “aggressive diplomacy.” 
  4. The ship was originally intended as a warship, but it was officially demilitarized afterwards. 
  
   
   
  Minor Effect Suggestion: The ship’s targeting systems disrupt sensor readings, increasing the 
  difficulty of any sensor tasks by one step. 
  Major Effect Suggestion: The target is forced into an inferior position (see Attack Modifiers and 
  Special Situations). 
  Tier 1: Raider. The ship’s systems are optimized for hitting fast and hard. When the crew spends 
  points from the starship’s Engine Pool or System Pool to apply levels of Effort to increase your 
  weapon damage, they add 5 points of damage rather than the usual 3 points. Enabler. 
  Tier 2: Torpedo Spread (1 Engine point). In a round where the ship attacks with projectile 
  weapons, the crew can fire an additional projectile to increase the difficulty of attacks and special 
  abilities made by the target by one step. 
  Onboard Munitions Facilities: The starship has replicator facilities large enough and complex 
  enough to create new projectiles if they have enough energy and time. Checks made to create new 
  projectile weapons are considered trained. Enabler. 
  Tier 3: Tactical Computer. Attacks with beam and cannon weapons are considered trained. If the 
  crew member using them is already trained in attacks with that weapon, they are considered 
  specialized. Enabler. 
  Tier 4: Rapid Cycling. If a crew member rolls 17 or higher with a beam weapon attack, instead of 
  adding damage or having a minor or major effect, they can make another attack with the same 
  weapon. The attack reuses the same Effort and bonuses (if any) from the first attack. Enabler. 
  Advanced Munitions Facilities: Checks made to create new projectile weapons onboard the ship 
  are now considered specialized. Enabler. 
  Tier 5: Tactical Simulator. Attacks with projectile weapons are considered trained. If the crew 
  member using them is already trained in attacks with that weapon, they are considered specialized. 
  Enabler. 
  Tier 6: Advanced Power Relays (2 Hull points). Any attacks with beam or cannon weapons deal 3 
  additional points of damage with a bow. The Hull points spent are in addition to any System or 
  Engine points spent on the attack. Enabler. 
  Defends 
  The opposite sort of combat ship from one that Attacks, a ship that Defends protects a star system, 
  sector, convoy, or other targets. They are tough and reliable, able to get in the path of enemy vessels 
  before they can attack their vulnerable targets. 
  Initial Mission Objectives: From the following list of options, choose what the ship’s mission is at 
  the start of the campaign. 
  1. The ship was created as a mobile defensive vessel along a demilitarized zone. 
  2. The ship was designed to stay stationed within a sector where it could support local 
  defenses. 
  3. The ship is designed to work well with an ally of its designers, supporting a system as a 
  protectorate. 
  4. The ship is built to serve on the homefront of a war. 
  Minor Effect Suggestion: The ship gains +1 to Hull defense rolls for one round. 
  Major Effect Suggestion: The ship gains +2 to Hull defense rolls for one round. 
  
   
   
  Tier 1: Auxiliary Power to Shields. The ship can boost its shields in order to deflect more damage 
  while maintaining the shield matrix. For this round the ship has an asset on Hull defense rolls but the 
  power drain increases the difficulty of all ship attack rolls by one step for the round. Enabler. 
  Tier 2: Reinforced Design. The crew of the ship is trained when they make Hull and System defense 
  checks. Enabler. 
  Tier 3: Defense Subsystems (3 Hull points). A crewmember can reroll any Hull, Engine, or System 
  defense checks and take the better of the two results. Enabler. 
  Tier 4: Drive Vessel Back (4 Engine points). When the ship deals damage with an attack, you can 
  drive the target away from your companions. Until the end of the next round, all other ships have an 
  asset on Engine defense rolls made to resist attacks from this target. Enabler. 
  Tier 5: Hold Fire. If the crew makes no attacks with the ship in a round then they are considered 
  specialized in all defense ship rolls until the next round. Enabler. 
  Tier 6: Feinting Maneuver. Every time the pilot makes an Engine defense roll, they can also make a 
  piloting roll to gain superior position against the foe. Enabler. 
  Explores 
  Ships that explore are especially adept at traveling through space to reach their targets. They might 
  be on research missions to conduct science observations, military missions to determine tactical 
  risks in a region, or diplomatic missions visiting and dealing with new planetary governments on 
  behalf of their governments.  
  Initial Mission Objectives: From the following list of options, choose what the ship’s mission is at 
  the start of the campaign. 
  1. The ship was launched to seek out new life and new civilizations. 
  2. The ship was launched at the same time as an important peace treaty and was charged with 
  exploring the territory of the former enemy. 
  3. The ship’s first years were dedicated to seeking out and exploring new trade routes in a 
  border region of space. 
  4. The ship was launched to learn more about a hazardous region of space such as the 
  Badlands. 
  Minor Effect Suggestion: The ship can take an extra action this round to take any move or 
  movement action. 
  Major Effect Suggestion: The difficulty of any Engine defense task the crew takes before the next 
  round is reduced by one step. 
  Tier 1: Emergency Training. The crew of ships that explore receive regular drills to prepare them 
  for the unknown. The difficulty of the ship’s initiative roll is reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  Tier 2: Extended Sensors. The ranges of your sensors are extended by 50%. Enabler. 
  Resist Spatial Shear. Exploring isolated systems means coming up against stellar phenomenon 
  that can sometimes severely damage ships, but ships that explore are reinforced against these 
  hazards. The difficulty of all defense actions against stellar, gravimetric, and subspace anomalies is 
  reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  Tier 3: Hazard Control Systems (3 Hull points). Protective measures on your ship prevent any 
  significant damage from growing too widespread. Bridge crew can reroll any Hull, Engine, or System 
  defense rolls made this round and take the better of the two results. Enabler. 
  
   
   
  Tier 4: Advanced Navigational Array. Your ship ignores any penalties for navigational actions. 
  Enabler. 
  Stellar Database (0 or 1+ System points). All starships keep databases of stellar systems for 
  navigating but the charts on your ship are exceptionally detailed. The crew can find the information 
  on stellar systems in known space (including the name, number of planets, and major settlements) 
  without a check and you can spend System points to apply Effort to warp travel checks. For every 
  level of Effort applied (maximum three), the warp travel time for a particular journey is reduced by 
  10%. Action to initiate. 
  Tier 5: Emergency Power. Your crew can transfer up to 3 points between your ship’s Pools in any 
  combination, at a rate of 1 point per round. For example, you could transfer 2 points of Hull to Engine 
  and 1 point of System to Egine, which would take a total of three rounds. Once three points have been 
  shifted, this ability is not usable again until the ship makes a 10 hour recover roll. Action. 
  Quick Reactions (2 Engine points). When your ship succeeds on an Engine defense action, it 
  immediately gains an action. It can use this action only to move. Enabler. 
  Tier 6: Deep Space Guide. Your pilot can provide an asset to navigational checks to any allied ships 
  within sensor range. Enabler. 
  Long-Range Communications (0+ System points). The subspace communication range of your 
  ship is doubled. If you choose, you can spend 3 System points to increase it to four times normal 
  range. Enabler. 
  Patrols 
  Patrolling vessels are combat ships that cover a large area or route. While the interior of Federation 
  space is fairly peaceful, the borders are sometimes areas of conflict that require ships moving along 
  their lengths to watch for hostiles. Some patrol missions involve active war zones and others only 
  brigands and raiders but patrols aren’t set unless danger is expected. 
  Initial Mission Objectives: From the following list of options, choose what the ship’s mission is at 
  the start of the campaign. 
  1. The ship follows a busy trade route, protecting ships from pirates. 
  2. The  ship maintains the security of an area designated off-limits, such as a quarantined area 
  or neutral zone. 
  3. The ship has a standard route to follow, taking it near several conflicts zones that it can warp 
  to as needed. 
  4. The ship  was launched to monitor a region that was being demilitarized, to make sure the 
  process went smoothly. 
  Minor Effect Suggestion: The target is also dazed for one round, during which time the difficulty of 
  all tasks  performed by the crew is modified by one step to their detriment. 
  Major Effect Suggestion: The crewmember makes an additional attack action with the same weapon 
  on their turn. 
  Tier 1: Patrol Route. Pick a particular sector or route. This is an area that the ship has been 
  patrolling for some time and the vessel’s systems are well-attuned to the area. The difficulty of all 
  navigation, scanning, and initiative checks in the area is reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  Tier 2: Familiar Territory. The ship’s crew has contacts in their chosen sector or route that can help 
  out. They might be allies, frequent rivals, or even adversaries who are foiled by the ship’s crew but 
  willing to work with them if their interests match. The GM should work with the players to determine 
  the nature of these contacts and their relationship to the crew. Even if they aren’t friends, it should be 
  possible to get information or materials from the contacts in certain situations. Enabler. 
  
   
   
  Tier 3: Lock Target (2 System points). A crewmember takes an action to designate a ship within 
  range as a “locked target.” For the next ten minutes, attacks from the ship deal an additional 2 
  damage against the locked target. Action to initiate. 
  Tier 4: Intercept Course (4 Engine points). The ship makes an attack with such speed that it is 
  hard for the enemy to defend counter. The target must be within immediate or short range and the 
  difficulty of making the attack is decreased by two steps, and the target, if struck, is dazed so that for 
  the next round, the difficulty of the crew’s attack, defense, and sensor tasks is modified by one step to 
  their detriment. Action. 
  Tier 5: Merciless Volley (5 Engine points). With a swift and sudden attack, the ship’s batteries 
  strike an enemy vessel in a vital spot. If the target is level 3 or lower, it is crippled outright. Action. 
  Tier 6: Hit and Run. When the ship cripples a foe, the pilot can attempt a stealth action to 
  immediately hide from other sensors, assuming that there is some means nearby of evading sensors 
  such as a planet, nebula, or debris field. Enabler. 
  Surveys 
  Vessels sent to survey are similar to those sent to explore but their mission is far more thorough. 
  They might also be longer term, such as a science mission to study a star cluster over a period of 
  months or a military mission to observe enemy ship movements from week to week. Survey missions 
  are not always the sort of adventurous, energetic missions that Starfleet is known for but not 
  everyone joins to go into combat situations. Besides, once a ship is out in space things can get pretty 
  interesting pretty quickly. 
  Initial Mission Objectives: From the following list of options, choose what the ship’s mission is at 
  the start of the campaign. 
  1. The ship was launched to find new mineral and biological resources to harvest. 
  2. The ship was sent to investigate a remote region in search of suitable colony sites. 
  3. The ship started a long-term investigation of anomalies in the in stellar medium. 
  4. The ship was sent on a medical mission to stop a rapidly-spreading disease. 
  Minor Effect Suggestion: The time required for a given scan is cut in half. 
  Major Effect Suggestion: The scan’s results are particularly thorough and the scanning 
  crewmember can ask the GM one question about what the results mean. 
  Tier 1: Planetary Scan. The ship’s scanners can immediately locate a person, object, or natural 
  resource on a planet surface. If the target is hidden somehow, the difficulty of scanning for it is 
  reduced by one step. Action. 
  Tier 2: Increased Resolution (3 System points). The scanners’ power is boosted, pushing through 
  interference or obscuring material. Electronic interference or barriers the size of a planet’s 
  atmosphere or an asteroid belt can be ignored for one round. Action. 
  Tier 3: System Scan (3 System points). The ship’s scanners can immediately find a ship, building, 
  or group of people within a stellar system. If the target is hidden somehow, the difficulty of scanning 
  for it is reduced by one step. Action. 
  Thorough Data: While making any ship action in an area already scanned (including making 
  attacks) the ship can ignore any environmental penalties such as debris fields, stellar flares, and 
  electromagnetic fields. Enabler. 
  Tier 4: Hazard Identification. When in an area already scanned (equal to or smaller than a 
  planetary system), the ship is considered trained in defense rolls. Enabler. 
  
   
   
  Stress-Point Identification. If a target that the ship scans has a special weakness, such as a 
  vulnerability to specific energy types, a blindspot in it’s sensor grid, or so on, the crew member 
  actively scanning will know what it is. (Ask and the GM will tell you.) Enabler. 
  Tier 5: Long-Range Scan (5 System points). The ship’s scanners can immediately find a ship, 
  planet, or stellar phenomenon within a radius of five light years. If the target is hidden somehow, the 
  difficulty of scanning for it is reduced by one step. Action. 
  Tier 6: Communications Hub (0+ Intellect points). The ship is equipped with a powerful computer 
  hub that can monitor constant input from up to ten sources in the same star system. These sources 
  can be comm badges, ship bridges, facility ops centers, or other similar nodes, all of which must be 
  willing to join the network. When activated, the system receives constant audio and (if capable) 
  visual data from each node and an computer program monitors the signals. Anyone in the node can 
  “check in” on another node and send messages to any or all participants. In addition, the program 
  will alert the entire network of any emergency codes or anomalous signals from a node. Activating 
  this ability doesn’t require a roll but it does require an action from the ship’s require an action from 
  the duty officer at the instigating ship’s comms station and doesn’t cost System points. The network 
  lasts until the instigating ship ends it. If the comm officer spends 5 System points, the system can be 
  expanded to accommodate twenty nodes at once rather than ten, and for every 1 System point spent 
  above that, ten more nodes can be added to the network. These larger networks last for ten minutes. 
  Creating a network of twenty or more creatures also requires an action to establish contact but 
  typically requires no roll. Enabler. 
  Transports 
  It might not seem like a noble purpose for a Starfleet vessel but transporting materiel and people is 
  an important part of maintaining an interstellar community. Some planets produce excess goods and 
  others need them. Populations on one planet want to travel and other planets welcome them. 
  Starships that transport are well-designed to travel well and be secure on the way there. Sometimes 
  they are used as courier ships heading into dangerous areas to make sure they reach their 
  destination. 
  Initial Mission Objectives: From the following list of options, choose what the ship’s mission is at 
  the start of the campaign. 
  1. The ship is tasked with transporting colonists and supplies to newly-settled systems. 
  2. The ship was launched as a military transport to carry weapons and supplies into conflict 
  zones. 
  3. The ship carries trade goods to support the Federation and collect goods needed on 
  Federation worlds. 
  4. The ship serves as a diplomatic transport, bringing Federation representatives to summits 
  and back safely. 
  Minor Effect Suggestion: The ship restores 2 points to its Hull pool. 
  Major Effect Suggestion: The difficulty of the ship’s next action is reduced by two steps. 
  Tier 1: Solid Design. The ship’s one-hour recovery roll takes ten minutes instead, so that the first 
  two recovery rolls each take ten minutes, the third takes ten hours, and the fourth takes twenty 
  hours. Enabler. 
  Auxiliary Power to Inertial Dampeners (2 Hull points). The ship ignores any impact on 
  movement from environmental factors for one hour. Action to initiate. 
  Tier 2: Internal Awareness. Transporting requires maintaining a very close watch on whatever is 
  on the ship whether people, cargo, or resources. Finding anyone or any large object on the ship is a 
  matter of course with the ship’s internal sensors, or a tricorder connected to them. Such a check 
  
   
   
  requires no check unless they are shielded from sensors somehow. If they are shielded from sensors, 
  the difficulty for scanning tasks to find them is reduced by two steps. Enabler. 
  Tier 3: Protective Design. The ship is trained in Hull defense tasks. Enabler. 
  Sensor Shielded. The improved defensive measures of the transport ship also protect its internal 
  spaces from sensors. The difficulty of any scans from other ships is modified by one step to the 
  scanning ship’s detriment. Enabler. 
  Tier 4: Onboard Resources. Choose one of the follow benefits for the transport ship. 
   
  The ship has hidden compartments for storing sensitive cargo in case of seizure and 
  searching. 
   
  Designed as a medical transport, the ship has a medical bay that provides an asset on any 
  trauma medical checks. 
   
  To help crews on long transport hauls, the ship is equipped with an arboretum to add some 
  green space. Crew spending their one hour recovery period or at least one hour of their ten 
  hour recovery period receive a +2 bonus on their recover roll. 
   
  The ship is equipped with an extensive armory to serve as a military transport. Crew 
  members should be able to find any Starfleet weapon they want, though the GM has final say. 
  Tier 5: Juggernaut Design. The ship is specialized in Hull defense tasks. Enabler. 
  Improved Shield Matrix. The ship has +4 points to its shield pool maximum. Enabler. 
  Tier 6: Industrial Transporter. The ship has a transporter that is much larger and more powerful 
  than others. It can transport many tons of material at a time including up to one hundred humanoids 
  or a personnel craft vessel to an internal transporter pad taking up a cargo bay. In the case of a small 
  craft that transports, the industrial transporter is site-to-site. Enabler. 
  Voyages 
  The Federation and other interstellar governments are constantly pushing their frontiers. They 
  create ships that are equipped to go on long, multi-year voyagers without returning for supplies. 
  These long-range missions, typically five years, require a lot of the crew but also a lot from the ship 
  they inhabit. Not every vessel is up to the task, but those that are quickly become legends. 
  Initial Mission Objectives: From the following list of options, choose what the ship’s mission is at 
  the start of the campaign. 
  1. The ship was launched to push the boundaries of known space, venturing either into the 
  Gamma Quadrant or the Delta Quadrant. 
  2. The ship was built for long-term missions with accommodations on board for crew families. 
  3. The ship was built as a forward operation center for a colonization effort. 
  4. The ship was launched as a diplomatic effort to show the authority and technology of the 
  Federation in distant colonies who might be considering breaking away. 
  Minor Effect Suggestion: 
  Major Effect Suggestion: 
  Tier 1: Improved Replicators. The ship’s replicators have an exceptionally large catalog and are 
  easy to modify for whatever the crew needs. The difficulty of reprogramming the replicators is 
  reduced by one step. Enabler. 
  Tier 2: Efficient Core. The biggest impediment to long-range missions is losing the warp core that 
  makes it possible. The difficulty of repairing or modifying the ship’s warp engines is reduced by one 
  step. Enabler. 
  
   
   
  Tier 3: Dilithium Refinery. The ship is equipped for processing its own dilithium should it find a 
  suitable source on its journey. Most ships can do this, but ships that voyage are able to produce a 
  week’s worth of refined dilithium with just an hour’s processing time. Action. 
  Hydroponics Bay. Not only is the ship self-sufficient, but there are extra facilities for keeping the 
  crew fed. The hydroponics bay has efficiently-raised crops that are often used to supplement the 
  replicators’ output. Even if the replicators were to shut down completely, the crew should have 
  enough rations to make it through about a week of meals. Enabler. 
  Tier 4: Additional Edge. The Edge of each of the ship’s pools increase by 1. Enabler. 
  Tier 5: Modular Bay Design. While the ship has shuttle bays and cargo bays as normal, some of the 
  support space is given over to modular areas where various labs, workspaces, and even temporary 
  housing can be set up. With 12 hours to change over the space, this modular bay can offer an asset to 
  tasks involving one of the following: engineering, repairs, physics research, biology research, 
  chemistry research, or medical treatment. Action. 
  Tier 6: EVA Frame. If a vessel suffers major damage or ship-wide overhauls, a long-range mission 
  can easily be cut short. To solve this, the ship is equipped with a frame of nanotechnology scaffolding 
  that collapses to the size of a shuttlecraft but can unfold to surround the entire ship. When deployed, 
  the EVA frame acts as a temporary dry dock facility so that the crew can perform its own refits and 
  modifications. Systemic ship conditions can be addressed with this facility and even the ship’s focus 
  and descriptor can be changed. The amount of time required is up to the GM and if the ship’s focus 
  changes it loses this ability immediately after the work is complete. Action to initiate. 
  Starship Rules 
  Starship Actions 
  The combat round for starships works a little differently than for characters because there are the 
  ships involved and the crews onboard. All of them can take actions but at the same time the process 
  should be streamlined. At the start of starship combat the PCs’ ship (or ships if they are on different 
  vessels) make Engine rolls as their initiative roll and the NPC ship(s) use a result of three times their 
  level (see page 197 of the Cypher System Rulebook for more information on initiative). Each ship will 
  act on its initiative count and the crew will act immediately after it. 
  Once the initiative order is determined, each ship can take one action on their turn: attack, activate a 
  special ability, move, wait, defend, or do something else. The ship can’t take more than one action in a 
  round, but every action can involving coasting which means moving a distance in the direction it was 
  going (since ship’s don’t need to concentrate on moving, unlike people). More on coasting can be 
  found in the Starship Movement section. 
  In the turn after a starship acts, its crew does. Whoever was making the roll for the starship (whether 
  it was attacking, moving, etc) does not get another action but other PC crew members can take 
  actions to create assets, repair damage, and other tasks. NPC starships do not roll except in rare 
  circumstances (in which case a player will roll for it) but the GM can assume that the NPC crew can 
  complete one action with a difficulty less than their ship’s level on their crew turn. 
  Starship Systems 
  Actions made by starships are actually made by the people at the stations. There are thousands of 
  systems that make up even the most simple starship and not all of them need to be constantly 
  watched. There are some important systems (called primary systems) which do need constant 
  supervision, however, and others (secondary systems) that can often be overseen by one of the other 
  systems or checked occasionally by someone watching a major system. 
  
   
   
  Primary Systems 
  The primary systems aboard a starship are considered critical and won’t be deactivated except in 
  dire emergencies or in the case of complete failure of the power systems. 
   
  Propulsion: Both the impulse engines and the warp drive are required to move the ship 
  through space. Travel speeds and warp factors can be found on page 100 of the Narrator’s 
  Guide of the Star Trek Roleplaying Game. Additional information can be found in the Ship 
  Movement section below. 
   
  Sensors: Aside from scientific scans and tactical information, sensors provide the 
  information a starship needs to avoid crashing and exploding. More information can be 
  found in the Distances and Range sections below. 
   
  Operations: The internal monitoring and power allocation of the ship can keep other 
  systems running and prevent overloads. It also includes the operation of the ship’s computer 
  core. 
   
  Life Support: No Federation starship can operate for long without a crew and these 
  individuals are kept alive by the ship’s life support system. 
   
  Weapons: While not necessary for every mission, a starship’s weapons and shields are an 
  important aspect to keeping its crew safe, as the crew of the very first Enterprise (NX-01) 
  were eventually forced to admit. 
  Secondary Systems 
  These systems are important and prioritized over less-important systems (referred to as tertiary 
  systems) but if power levels begin to drop they are disabled to preserve the operation of the primary 
  systems. 
   
  Communications: Being able to communicate with other ships is very important, 
  particularly for the diplomatic mandate that Starfleet personnel are expected to uphold. 
   
  Transporter: Since they were introduced, transporters have revolutionized the operation of 
  starships. The technology is complicated but always improving and the system requires a lot 
  of computing power to operate correctly. 
  Bridge Stations 
  Aboard a Starfleet bridge there are eight different stations that must be staffed at all times: the 
  captain’s chair, the six duty stations on the bridge, and engineering. If a PC is not at one of these 
  stations, an NPC crew member must take their place. These stations are… 
   
  Captain’s Chair: In most cases this is not a critical station because of the systems routed 
  through it; while systems can be checked from the captain’s chair none are run primarily 
  through its interfaces. The captain’s chair is critical to starship operation, however, because 
  this is where all the orders come from. When the ship’s captain is not present themselves, 
  they hand the conn (control of the ship’s movements) to someone else in their stead. This 
  officer (traditionally called captain as long as they have the conn) is usually the highest level 
  officer currently on the bridge but this isn’t immutable. 
   
  Communications: Any contact with outside ships, planetary communities, or other entities 
  is handled by the communications duty officer. Aboard 22nd and 23rd century ships, this 
  was a complex enough process to merit its own station and on sensitive diplomatic missions 
  that might still be the case, but most of the time later starships leave this to the operations 
  officer (see below). 
   
  Engineering: While there is an engineering station on the bridge of every Federation 
  starship, most of the time this duty station is controlled from the ship’s main engineering. 
  Chief engineers communicate through comms with the bridge crew and stay where they can 
  more quickly respond to issues with the warp engine or engineering crews to deal with 
  damaged systems. 
   
  Environmental: For safety reasons, life support and environmental controls are heavily 
  automated aboard a Federation starship. The duty station on the bridge is mostly staffed by 
  
   
   
  someone monitoring levels to make sure there are no issues with these critical systems. In a 
  starship battle, damage to one of these systems is more likely and could spell the end for the 
  ship’s crew so a vigilant officer is definitely needed. 
   
  Helm: The responsibilities of the duty officer at the helm might be the most boring on the 
  bridge or the most exciting. On long-distance warp journeys they monitor the coherence of 
  the subspace envelope, though if the engineering officer is doing their job this is redundant. 
  On impulse maneuvers they lay in coordinates to direct the ships but sometimes this is only 
  entering, maintaining, and leaving orbit. However, after piloting the starship through their 
  first battle, many helm officers gladly take the boring shifts of routine operations. 
   
  Operations Management: This station, most often called Ops, handles the power allocation 
  and routing on the starship. This can be done through the engineering station as well but 
  maintaining the systems and coordinating them are each huge tasks. In less action-oriented 
  times, the Ops station is also where the operations officer coordinates crew shifts, space 
  allocation, and other mundane tasks that could break the crew of a large starship if left alone. 
   
  Science: The science duty officer handles the ship’s sensors and conducts any scientific 
  research as part of the ship’s mission. The duty officer is not responsible for every research 
  task themselves, but they do need to spend time coordinating the science teams onboard to 
  make sure research projects are on track. 
   
  Tactical: The tactical station is obviously most critical in a battle but even when threats are 
  not imminent the tactical duty officer needs to monitor weapon systems and make sure the 
  starship is ready for action when the need arrives. They also monitor internal systems, 
  review security reports, and coordinate security teams. 
  Determining Task Difficulty 
  Since the actions of the starship are determined by the crewmembers, the same range of difficulties 
  found on page 191 of the Cypher System Rulebook are used, from routine to impossible. Starships can 
  do things that no humanoid ever could, from traveling faster than light to lifting thousands of tons of 
  material, but these tasks are no great effort for a typical Federation starship. 
  Modifying the Difficulty 
  When a player at a ship’s station takes an action using the a starship station, they can use skills, 
  assets, and Effort to lower the task’s difficulty following the normal rules found on page 192 of the 
  Cypher System Rulebook. However, they can only use the Edge and Stat Pools of the ship, not their 
  own. Might, Speed, and Intellect have no bearing on a crewmember’s efforts onboard a starships 
  except in that they allow the character to create assets and use special abilities that might help them. 
  Some starships offer systems that help with certain skill checks so that someone might be able to 
  consider themselves trained in a certain type of skill even if they aren’t trained when away from their 
  station. If a trained character is aboard a ship with such a benefit, they can consider themselves 
  specialized. If they are already specialized, they gain no further bonus. 
  GM Intrusion 
  Just as with normal character actions, GMs can make intrusions by offering XP or when a 1 is rolled 
  (see pages 193-195 of the Cypher System Rulebook). These intrusions might be malfunctions on the 
  ship, dramatic negative shifts to the current situation, or spatial anomalies that impact the ship. 
  Usually GM intrusions from starship rolls will affect the whole starship (part of the experience of the 
  ship as a “shared character”) but intrusions in exchange for XP will usually affect just one character. 
  EXAMPLE GM INTRUSIONS 
   
  The starship loses some of its subsystems (see Special Starship Damage below). 
   
  Power fluctuations send the ship off course and into a compromised position (see Attack 
  Modifiers and Special Situations below). 
   
  The ship goes on emergency power lighting, increasing the difficulty of all onboard 
  movement and aiming by one step. 
  
   
   
   
  Hull breaches are reported, requiring immediate evacuations and alternate routes. The 
  difficulty of directing any onboard teams is increased by one step. 
   
  A terminal explodes, damaging you. 
   
  Static electricity arcs into your arms, stunning you. 
   
  The klaxons of red alert drown out your orders and they either aren’t carried out or 
  misunderstood. 
   
  Damage to the sensor arrays cause you to misread what you are detecting. 
   
  You don’t realize that the targeting relays are out of alignment and your next shot goes wide. 
  Minor and Major Effect 
  Starship actions can result in minor or major effects as well (see pages 193-194 of the Cypher System 
  Rulebook). Just like the GM intrusions, these should be effects that benefit the ship instead of 
  individual crew members. Some suggested effects for starships are given below. 
  EXAMPLE MINOR EFFECTS 
   
  The target has Damage to Secondary Systems (see Special Starship Damage below). 
   
  A secondary system is knocked offline (see Special Starship Damage below). 
   
  Strike a specific part of the enemy ship, preventing that ship area from being used for one 
  round. 
   
  The enemy ship is knocked off course and is now headed in a very different direction from 
  where it intended to be. If near a dangerous spatial anomaly, this can have dramatic effects. 
   
  Any of the other options given on page 194 of the Cypher System Rulebook. 
  EXAMPLE MAJOR EFFECTS 
   
  The target has Damage to Primary Systems (see Special Starship Damage below). 
   
  A primary system is knocked offline (see Special Starship Damage below). 
   
  The ship’s impulse engines are momentarily knocked offline, bringing it to a full stop. 
   
  One of the ship’s weapons is destroyed. 
   
  Any of the other options given on page 195 of the Cypher System Rulebook. 
  Distance 
  Starships have the same distance considerations as characters, though the distances are 
  understandably different. 
   
  Immediate distance is anything within 0.5 kilometers of a starship. 
   
  Short distance is anything more than 0.5 kilometers and up to 5 kilometers of a starship. 
   
  Long distance is anything more than 5 kilometers and up to 10 kilometers of a starship. 
  In addition, some instances may involve Hull distance which is 0 kilometers: literally on the hull 
  itself. Boarding parties, attached spacefaring organisms, and detritus adhering to the hull are all too 
  close for weapons to hit at all and must be dealt with some other way. 
  Starship Attacks 
  Attacks with starship weapons is handled by the tactical duty officer or sometimes by dedicated 
  tactical teams that the duty officer is directing. Attacks use the same rules as character attacks (page 
  199 of the Cypher System Rulebook) except that they use either the ship’s Engine or System Stat Pools 
  - player’s choice. Attacks are made with the ship’s weaponry (see Ship Weapons below) and a ship 
  can typically only attack with one weapon in a round unless they have an ability that says otherwise. 
  Damage 
  Damage also works similarly to the rules for characters (pages 199-200 of the Cypher System 
  Rulebook), although NPC ships have structural integrity instead of health. Likewise, PC starships take 
  damage to their Stat Pools just like PCs themselves. Almost all attacks target the ship’s Hull stat and if 
  
   
   
  no Stat is specified you can assume that’s what is affected. System damage is usually from computer 
  viruses or specialized radiation and it will always be labeled as System damage. Engine damage is 
  very rare and will usually be gravitational effects (often an environmental effect) and will always be 
  labeled. 
  Armor 
  Some ships have reinforced hulls, neutronium plating, or other armor built into their hulls. This is a 
  special ability and works just like armor for characters (page 200 of the Cypher System Rulebook). 
  Normally ships have no armor plating. 
  Shields 
  By contrast, every starship can be assumed to have shields. These are energy barriers that keep out 
  projectiles, energy weapons, boarding parties, and other dangers. A ship’s shield rating is determined 
  by its type (see above) and can also be modified by foci, special abilities, and cyphers. When an attack 
  successfully hits a ship, the players or the GM (depending on whether it’s a PC or NPC ship) can 
  choose to have some or all of the damage taken by the shields rather than the Stats/structural 
  integrity. 
  The Damage Track 
  Just like characters, starships that take damage follow a damage track (see page 202 of the Cypher 
  System Rulebook). 
   
  Operational: When all three Stat Pools at 1 or higher, the ship operates normally. This is the 
  equivalent of a hale character. 
   
  Compromised: When a ship has one Stat Pool at 0, it has taken enough damage to cause 
  systems to begin to fail. The ship takes all the restrictions of an impaired character. 
   
  Disabled: When a ship has two Stat Pools at 0, it has been all but destroyed and is relatively 
  helpless against enemies. It can’t move faster than quarter impulse and if its Engine Pool is at 
  0 then it can’t even do that. Just like a debilitated character, a disabled ship can’t take any 
  other action except to (possibly) move and to make basic sensor checks. 
   
  Crippled: When a ship has all three of its Stat Pools reduced to 0 it is utterly dead in the 
  water. If the warp core is still functional, it cannot power any systems onboard because the 
  relays and conduits are too far gone. There’s no sensors, engines, comms, shields, or life 
  support… there may not be any atmosphere considering the multiple hull breaches it has 
  suffered. The only course is to abandon ship and potentially to tow the ship back to 
  spacedock for some serious repairs. 
   
  Destroyed: A crippled ship that takes damage equal to its tier is more than dead in the 
  water, it’s utterly destroyed. The core explodes and nothing is left of the ship but scrap metal 
  hanging in space, or possibly raining down on a planet. This causes a warp breach explosion, 
  which can damage ships around it (see Area Attacks below). 
  Recovering Points and Restoring the Damage Track 
  Starships recover points to their Stat Pools just like characters, through resting. This isn’t sleeping or 
  going into hibernation mode, rather the starship takes time out of a crisis situation to have 
  engineering teams fixing damage sections of the ship. The amount of points repaired during a period 
  of rest is 1d6 + 1 per tier, just like with characters, and raising 
  Stat Pools above 0 will move a starship back up the damage track 
  as well (see pages 202-203 of the Cypher System Rulebook for 
  more information). The times for starship “rest” are different 
  than those for characters; see the table to the right for the times. 
   
  Special Starship Damage 
  First Recovery Roll 
  Ten Minutes 
  Second Recovery Roll 
  One Hour 
  Third Recovery Roll 
  Ten Hours 
  Fourth Recovery Roll 
  Twenty Hours 
  
   
   
  Just as characters can be stunned or poisoned, starships can suffer specific conditions as a result of 
  GM intrusion or special abilities. Removing the effects of these special damage situations requires a 
  System test from someone at an appropriate station or an Intellect test by an engineering officer 
  (either to do the repairs or direct the teams). The difficulty of this task is determined by the level of 
  the ship or phenomenon that dealt the special damage to begin with. 
   
  Damage to Secondary Systems: When a particular hit damages enough power conduits 
  (whether or not it was a particularly strong hit in terms of damage), the starship’s computer 
  begins to prioritize critical systems over secondary ones. The difficulty of all tasks involving 
  secondary systems (see above) are increased by one step. This is similar to dazed for 
  characters. 
   
  Damage to Primary Systems: When a primary system is hit hard enough it can have a 
  cascading effect through the other core systems of the ship. If this happens, the computers 
  are forced to recalibrate the entire power distribution system and the ship loses its next turn 
  (though it can defend against attacks normally). This is similar to stunned for characters. 
   
  Specific Subsystem Offline: Sometimes the enemy targets a specific system, and sometimes 
  they suffer bad luck from a GM intrusion. Regardless, if a certain subsystem is knocked 
  offline then the starship’s engineering teams need to fix it before it can be used again.  
  Area Attacks 
  Starships very rarely have weapons that function as area attacks (the devastating isolytic burst used 
  by the Son’a in Star Trek: Insurrection is an example of a possible exception to this) but when 
  starships detonate this is treated as an area attack to all ships within a short distance from the 
  detonating ship. Any PC ships in the blast area must make Engine or Hull checks to avoid the 
  shockwaves or they will take damage equal to the exploding ship’s level. NPC ships struck by an 
  exploding PC ship are targeted as if by a Hull attack and suffer damage equal to the ship’s tier. For 
  NPC ships too close to an exploding NPC ship, the GM can either decide what would be narratively 
  best or have a PC roll for their defense. 
  Ships in immediate range take twice the normal damage. 
  Targeting Subsystems 
  It’s possible in starship combat to target the enemy’s subsystems to force them to yield without 
  actually disabling their ship. To do this, the tactical duty officer targets specific subsystems hoping to 
  knock them offline (see Special Starship Damage above). The difficulty for making an attack against a 
  primary subsystem is modified according to what system you are targeting. 
  Disable Secondary System 
  One Step 
  The system targeted in 
  unusable and any checks with it 
  automatically fail. 
  Destroy Ship Area 
  Two Steps 
  The targeted portion of the ship 
  (bridge, shuttle bay, etc) is 
  destroyed and all crew there 
  must immediately evacuate. 
  Disable Weapon Systems 
  Two Steps 
  One type of weapon (beams or 
  projectile) is unusable by the 
  target. 
  Disable Impulse Engines 
  Two Steps 
  The ship’s sublight engines are 
  destroyed and it is reduced to a 
  full stop. It cannot make Engine 
  defense rolls. 
  Disable Maneuvering Thrusters 
  Two Steps 
  The ship’s maneuverability is 
  destroyed and it cannot make 
  
   
   
  maneuver checks or Engine 
  defense rolls. 
  Disable Shields 
  Three Steps 
  The ship’s shield pool 
  maximum or Armor rating is 
  reduced to zero. 
  Disable Warp Engines 
  Three Steps 
  The ship cannot go to warp and 
  the difficulty of any checks to 
  reroute power is increased by 
  two steps. 
  Destroy Warp Core 
  Five Steps 
  The ship is completely 
  destroyed. 
  This table is based on the table from page 215 of the Cypher System Rulebook. Be sure to note, 
  however, that the other rules in that section should be ignored for Star Trek: Cypher. 
  Attack Modifiers and Special Situations 
   
  Cover usually doesn’t apply to starships but sometimes they can move behind another target 
  and use the larger vessel, asteroid, or space station as a barrier to attacks. These rare cases 
  work like cover for characters as described on page XX of the Cypher System Rulebook. 
   
  Position comes into effect in pitched starship battles but it only comes in two sorts. Superior 
  position might be coming down from above, moving quickly and powerfully, or bearing down 
  on a ship’s weak spot. Inferior position might be in cramped conditions where maneuvering 
  is difficult or on the opposite end of a superior positioning situation. Either of these positions 
  modify attack rolls one step in the attacker’s favor. 
   
  Starships can benefit (or suffer) from surprise just like characters when they have a nebula, 
  ion storm, or spatial anomaly to hide them or when their opponent’s sensors are damaged. 
   
  The rules for Range function for starships just the same as characters. 
   
  By contrast, Illumination does not typically affect starships except in the very rare cases 
  where sensors are dead but a visual sighting is still possible. 
   
  Visibility is definitely a factor for starship chapters and can lead to a surprise situation (see 
  above). Nebulas and other interstellar clouds function like mist, a dense asteroid field or the 
  atmosphere of a gas giant can work for a hiding target, and cloaked ships are considered 
  invisible targets. 
   
  Obviously, Water doesn’t come into play much but dense clouds or atmospheres can also 
  slow down starships like characters in deep water. 
   
  Moving Targets only come into effect when the attacker or defender is moving at full 
  impulse (see Starship Movement below). Starships cannot be jostled. 
   
  Gravity has no effect on starship combat unless the GM considers the situation to be 
  something extreme (such as fighting close to a black hole or while being pushed in front of a 
  gravity wave). 
   
  Starships can Attack Objects just like characters. 
  Starship Combat Between NPC Ships 
  Just like with Non-Player Characters, fights between NPC ships should be handled either by GM 
  narrative decisions or by having the players roll the dice. If a player has a vested interest in one of the 
  ships then that makes a good case for them to roll, such as an NPC ship with a PC aboard trying to 
  escape from the brig during the battle and hoping the ship that they’re in isn’t destroyed. Remember 
  that any starship that has a PC aboard and acting at a station becomes a PC ship and should use the 
  normal rules. 
  Starship Combat Between PC Ships 
  
   
   
  In the unfortunate case of two PC ships firing on each other, use the rules on pages 206-207 of the 
  Cypher System Rulebook for player vs. player fights. In cases where two PC ships are in the same 
  battle but allied with each other, see the section Cooperative Starship Actions below. 
  Starship Defense 
  Ships make rolls to defend against NPC ships just like characters. The tactical or engineering duty 
  officer can use Hull to defend against the attacks by utilizing the ship’s solid construction to 
  withstand the attack. On the other hand, the helm duty officer can use Engine to dodge the attack or 
  create spatial wake to deflect it. If a ship is guarding (see page 210 of the Cypher System Rulebook) 
  they improve the difficulty as normal. 
  Starship Special Abilities 
  Starships and the crew members on board have special abilities that can help the ship negotiate a 
  difficult situation. These follow all the standard rules on page 208 of the Cypher System Rulebook. 
  Starship Movement 
  Starships have two different propulsion drives, impulse and warp.  
  Impulse Drives 
  Impulse drives are for sublight travel and are used within solar systems and while in orbit. While any 
  percentage of the full impulse drive’s power can be used, there are four typical settings for reference. 
   
  Full Stop: With the impulse engines shut off, the ship isn’t moving at all. Attacks against a 
  non-moving target are modified by one step in the attacker’s favor. Maintaining an orbit is 
  typically very slow (less than one-thousandth the speed of even quarter impulse) but they 
  are moving enough that no advantage is offered. A ship at full stop does not move in a 
  combat round. 
   
  Quarter Impulse: This is the slowest most starships will travel in-system unless they have a 
  pressing need to be very careful. This speed is about 5% the speed of light. A ship at quarter 
  impulse will move an immediate distance in a combat round. 
   
  Half Impulse: A respectable speed that is considered a polite velocity for in-system travel 
  when a ship needs to get somewhere. It is a little more than 10% the speed of light. A ship at 
  half impulse will move a short distance in a combat round. 
   
  Full Impulse: The upper limit of the impulse drives can propel a ship at 25% the speed of 
  light. This speed can cause disruptive gravity waves for any ships that pass close by so it is 
  best left for uninhabited systems or emergencies. A ship at full impulse will move a long 
  distance in a combat round, but needs to make a difficulty 4 Engine action to do so. 
  In the round after a starship has used its action to move it can coast during subsequent actions. This 
  means it continues to move forward at the speed it was moving in the direction it was moving. This 
  will continue until the helm operator takes another action to change course or speed; increasing 
  speed is a starship action but decreasing speed is a crew action. If a ship is moving at full impulse the 
  duty officer at the helm will need to make a crew action (difficulty 4) to maintain that speed while 
  coasting. 
  Warp Drives 
  Warp drive is the faster-than-light propulsion for starships. It's generally not possible to engage in 
  combat at warp speed and other tasks like sensor sweeps and transporters are very difficult. The 
  table of warp factors on the next page is taken from page 100 of the Narrator’s Guide of the Decipher 
  Star Trek RPG. 
   
  
   
   
  Starship Movement Modifiers 
  There’s not terrain in interstellar space, but starships’ movement can still be affected by anomalies, 
  nebulae, stellar flares, gravimetric distortions, and other phenomena. 
   
  Rough Space represents regions of space where propulsion systems still work but they are 
  suboptimal at best. This has no effect on impulse engine movement but it can increase the 
  times for warp travel by 50%. 
   
  Difficult Space represents a region with distortions and hazards that prevent a ship’s 
  impulse and/or warp engines from operating normally. Just as with the character scale, 
  difficult terrain halves normal movement rates so that a short move is only about 2.5 km and 
  a long move is only 5 km. Note that this normally has no effect on sensor range or weapons 
  range. 
   
  Hazardous Space is the category for seriously dangerous and unstable regions like the 
  Badlands. Movement is quartered from normal (short move is 1.25 km and long move is 2.5 
  km) and there may also be damaging elements in the region. At the GM’s discretion, 
  starships can treat these regions as difficult terrain (reducing the movement penalty to half) 
  but increasing piloting checks to reduce damaging elements by one step. 
  Starship Chases 
  The GM can use the vehicle chase rules on page 214 of the Cypher System Rulebook for starship 
  chases as well (using Engine in place of Speed) but only for impulse chases. In cases where one 
  starship is chasing another at warp speed (trying to reach a planet before the other or racing to warn 
  Starfleet) then the checks are Intellect-based engineering checks. There is no piloting in this 
  situation, only the engineering crew working to coax as much power as they can from the warp 
  engine. 
  Cooperative Starship Actions 
  Starships can use their action to complete any of the cooperative actions listed on page 211 of the 
  Cypher System Rulebook. For the Helping, Distraction, Draw the Attack, and Take the Attack 
  cooperative actions the crew member at the helm will use their action to make the roll (or possibly 
  the science or engineering officers) while the Old One-Two-Three, High and Low, and Covering Fire 
  will take the action of the officer at the tactical station. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  Standard 
  Orbit1 
  9.600 
  <0.00001 
  sublight 
  42 
  hours 
  142 
  years 
  558,335 
  years 
  2 
  milion 
  years 
  1 
  billion 
  years 
  11.7 
  billion 
  years 
  223 
  billion 
  years 
  Full 
  Impulse2 
  270 
  million 
  0.25 
  sublight 
  5.38 
  seconds 
  44 
  hours 
  20 
  years 
  80 
  years 
  40,000 
  years 
  400,000 
  years 
  8 
  million 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 13 
  1 
  billion 
  1 
  1.34 
  seconds 
  11 
  hours 
  5 
  years 
  20 
  years 
  10,000 
  years 
  100,000 
  years 
  2 
  million 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 2 
  11 
  billion 
  10 
  0.13 
  second 
  1 
  hour 
  6 
  months 
  3 
  years 
  992 
  years 
  9921 
  years 
  198,425 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 3 
  42 
  billion 
  39 
  0.03 
  second 
  17 
  minutes 
  2 
  months 
  1 
  year 
  257 
  years 
  2,568 
  years 
  51,360 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 4 
  109 
  billion 
  102 
  0.01 
  second 
  7 
  minutes 
  18 
  days 
  2 
  months 
  98 
  years 
  984 
  years 
  19,686 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 5 
  229 
  billion 
  214 
  0.006291 
  second 
  3 
  minutes 
  9 
  days 
  1 
  month 
  47 
  years 
  468 
  years 
  9.357 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 64 
  421 
  billion 
  392 
  0.003426 
  second 
  2 
  minutes 
  5 
  days 
  19 
  days 
  25 
  years 
  255 
  years 
  5.096 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 7 
  703 
  billion 
  656 
  0.002050 
  second 
  1 
  minute 
  3 
  days 
  11 
  days 
  15 
  years 
  152 
  years 
  3,048 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 8 
  1.10 
  trillion 
  1,024 
  0.0011313 
  second 
  39 
  seconds 
  2 
  days 
  7 
  days 
  10 
  years 
  98 
  years 
  1,953 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 9 
  1.62 
  trillion 
  1,516 
  0.000887 
  second 
  26 
  seconds 
  1 
  day 
  5 
  days 
  7 
  years 
  66 
  years 
  1,319 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 
  9.25 
  1.77 
  trillion 
  1,649 
  0.000816 
  second 
  24 
  seconds 
  1 
  day 
  4 
  days 
  6 
  years 
  61 
  years 
  1,213 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 9.6 
  2.05 
  trillion 
  1,909 
  0.000704 
  second 
  20 
  seconds 
  23 
  hours 
  4 
  days 
  5 
  years 
  52 
  years 
  1,048 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 9.9 
  3.27 
  trillion 
  3,053 
  0.000440 
  second 
  13 
  seconds 
  14 
  hours 
  2 
  days 
  3 
  years 
  33 
  years 
  655 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 
  9.99 
  8.48 
  trillion 
  7.912 
  0.000170 
  second 
  5 
  seconds 
  6 
  hours 
  22 
  hours 
  1 
  year 
  13 
  years 
  253 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 
  9.99996 
  214 
  trillion 
  199,516 
  0.000007 
  second 
  0.2 
  second 
  13 
  minutes 
  53 
  minutes 
  18 
  days 
  6 
  months 
  10 
  years 
  Warp 
  Factor 
  107 
  infinite 
  infinite 
  0 
  0 
  0 
  0 
  0 
  0 
  0 
  1 Synchronous orbit around a Class-M planet. 
  2 One-quarter light speed; normal maximum impulse speed. 
  3 Equal to the speed of light (c). 
  4 Normal cruising speed of UFP starships in the 24th and 25th centuries. 
  5 Normal maximum speed of UFP starships in the 24th and 25th centuries. 
  6 Subspace radio speed with booster relays. 
  7 Unattainable without transwarp. 
  
   
   
  Weapons, Shields, and Cyphers for Ships 
  PC ships gain equipment according to their Tier. Crews should decide what their starting armaments 
  are but if they want to change things later the ship will need major refitting in a drydock. For each 
  Tier level their ship has, they can gain one of the following. 
   
  Light shields and two light weapons. 
   
  Light shields and one medium weapon. 
   
  Medium shields and one light weapon. 
   
  One light weapon and one medium weapon. 
   
  Heavy shields. 
   
  One heavy weapon. 
  For example, a Tier 2 ship’s crew might choose to start with light shields and a medium weapon plus 
  another light weapon and another medium weapon. A Tier 5 ship’s crew, on the other hand, might 
  decide to start with heavy shields, three heavy weapons, plus a light weapon and a medium weapon. 
  Keep in mind that most ship types are limited to a number of weapons equal to their Tier, though 
  escorts have an extra weapon allotment (meaning the Tier 2 example above would need to be an 
  escort to carry all three weapons). 
  Ship Weapons 
  Starships have many different sorts of weapons they can use. These are different from personal 
  weapons in that they are mounted and face only in one direction. Starships have four different firing 
  arcs: fore, aft, starboard, and port. Some weapons can cover multiple arcs while others are more 
  limited (and generally more powerful). 
  Beam Array 
   
  Cannon 
  Can attack with other weapons by increasing difficulty +1. 
  Spatial Torpedoes 
  Projectile weapon. Do not choose type. 
  Dual Beam Array 
  Can fire at two targets by increasing difficulty +1. 
  Dual Cannon 
  Can attack with other weapons by increasing difficulty +1. 
  Torpedo Launcher 
  Projectile weapon. 
  Dual Heavy Cannon 
  Can fire at two targets by increasing difficulty +1. 
  Heavy Torpedo Launcher 
  Projectile weapon. 
  Quad Cannon 
  Can attack with other weapons by increasing difficulty +1. 
  Mine Launcher 
  Releases explosive mines. Counts as light. 
  Platform Launcher 
  Releases autonomous weapons platforms. Counts as medium. 
  Beam Weapons 
  Beam weapons are focused lines of energy that are directed at enemy ships. In the Federation, most 
  beam weapons are phasers but plasma and (more recently) tetryon weapons are sometimes 
  outfitted. When selecting a beam weapon, choose a type from the table below. The weapon has the 
  following effect in addition to dealing damage according to its weight (light, medium, or heavy). 
   
   
  
   
   
  Phaser 
  On a miss, the difficulty of the next attack is decreased by one step. 
  Disruptor 
  A successful attack deals +1 damage to a target with active shields. 
  Plasma 
  The difficulty of attacks to target starship subsystems is reduced by one step. 
  Polaron 
  On a successful attack, at least 1 damage affects the target and cannot be absorbed by 
  shields. 
  Spiral 
  Wave 
  On a successful attack against a target with inactive shields, the weapon deals +1 
  damage. 
  Tetryon 
  On a successful attack, the difficulty of any checks by the target to make maneuvers 
  are increased by one step for one round. 
  Projectile Weapons 
  Projectile weapons involve firing physical missiles at the enemy. In modern ships this means 
  torpedoes of various designs but technically older weapons like gauss cannons, mass drivers, and 
  artillery are projectile weapons as well. When choosing a projectile weapon for your ship, pick one of 
  the types below. Most Federation ships carry photon torpedoes but quantum and tricobalt weapons 
  are also used. The weapon has the listed effect in addition to dealing damage according to its weight 
  (light, medium, or heavy). Note: The older design called spatial torpedoes, such as those used by 23rd 
  century ships like the U.S.S. Enterprise, do not have a type. They are light projectile weapons and that 
  is all. 
  Antimatter 
  The torpedo deals at least one damage to the ship itself which cannot be blocked 
  by shields. 
  Chroniton 
  The torpedo deals one extra damage to ships with active shields. 
  Gravimetric 
  The difficulty of maneuvers is increased by one for the target. 
  Photon 
  The difficulty of defense rolls against subsequent projectile attacks is increased by 
  one for the target until the attacker’s next turn. 
  Quantum 
  The difficulty of defense rolls against subsequent beam attacks is increased by 
  one for the target until the attacker’s next turn. 
  Tricobalt 
  The difficulty of the enemy’s next attack is modified by one step to their 
  detriment. Only for heavy torpedo launchers. 
  Ship Shields 
  Unlike Stat Pools, shield pools regenerate at the start of every round. Small craft repair 1 point of 
  damage from the shields, ships of the line repair 2 points, and capital ships repair 3 points (see Ship 
  Type above for more information on these designations). This regeneration cannot increase the 
  shield pool above the ship’s maximum shield value. The engineering or tactical duty officers can also 
  reroute power to the shields which increases the points gained at the start of the by 1 point but it 
  increases the difficulty of tasks involving secondary systems by one step. 
  If at any point the shield pool drops to zero, the starship’s shields fail. Any additional damage from 
  this attack goes to the ship’s Stat Pools (for PC ships) or structural integrity (for NPC ships) and the 
  shields do not remove any of the damage they have absorbed until an engineering check is made to 
  restore them (the level of this task is typically 5 but may be modified by circumstances). Once shields 
  are restored, they immediately remove the damage according to their Tier and then begin removing 
  damage at the beginning of the round as usual. 
  Ship Cyphers 
  Like characters, starships can carry cyphers that give them extra abilities. There are ship cypher 
  limits based on the ship’s type and it uses the ship’s System pool or a PC’s Intellect pool to use unless 
  
   
   
  the GM says otherwise. Player characters can make use of subtle cyphers to empower their ships but 
  all the ones listed here are manifest cyphers. These are not typically “treasure”: crews do not 
  disable an enemy ship and then strip it for parts… at least Federation ships don’t. Instead, GMs 
  should feel free to give them as rewards after successful missions, explaining that they are the 
  product of the player characters’ departments and the hard work of the NPC crew members. 
  1 
  Bio-Neural Gel Pack 
  Warp Core 
  6 
  Enhanced Matrix 
  Warp Core 
  11 
  Mission-Optimized 
  Consoles 
  16 
  Signature-Dampened 
  Impulse Engines 
  2 
  Centrally Interfaced 
  Consoles 
  7 
  Focused Exotic 
  Particles Deflector 
  12 
  Navigational 
  Deflector 
  17 
  Singularity Warp Core 
  3 
  Covariant Shields 
  8 
  Graviton Generator 
  Deflector 
  13 
  Regenerating 
  Shields 
  18 
  Spatial Harmonics 
  Warp Core 
  4 
  Deuterium-Stabilized 
  Impulse Engines 
  9 
  Holographic Interface 
  Consoles 
  14 
  Rotating Frequency 
  Shields 
  19 
  Vectored Shields 
  5 
  Digital Assault Consoles 
  10 
  Maneuvering Impulse 
  Engines 
  15 
  Scanning Deflector 
  20 
  Velocity Impulse 
  Engines 
  Bridge Console Cyphers 
  These cyphers are modifications and extra systems for the consoles on the bridge that are used to 
  run all the ship’s subsystems. They don’t generally do things on their own but they can make tasks 
  with other systems easier or different. 
  Centrally Interfaced Consoles 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: Allows any bridge officer to make tasks with any subsystem. Switching between systems 
  doesn’t take an action, although the character’s actions are limited to one subsystem for a given 
  round. 
  Digital Assault Consoles 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: In the course of a 24-hour period, this cypher may be used a number of times equal to its 
  level. Each time, the user can affect a ship, station, or other computerized system that they have 
  detected within long range. The effect must occur over the course of a round and could include 
  raising or lowering shields, powering weapons up or down, engaging transporters, transmitting 
  discrete amounts of data, using sensors, etc. If the crew suspects such an attack might be coming they 
  can resist it, requiring the PC to make a hacking check at a level equal to 10 minus the digital assault 
  console’s level. 
  Holographic Interface Consoles 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: The ship’s consoles are fitted with holographic projectors, allowing the bridge crew to 
  interact with three-dimensional representations of the systems they are using for greater control and 
  skill. The interfaces are always on as long as the ship’s secondary systems are still functioning but 
  activating this ship cypher allows all bridge crew to apply one level of Effort to a noncombat task 
  without spending points from the ship’s pools for the next round. The level of Effort provided by this 
  cypher does not count towards the maximum amount of Effort a character can normally apply to one 
  task. 
  Mission-Optimized Consoles 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: The bridge’s systems have been tweaked and adjusted to be especially good at a specific type 
  of mission. When activated while creating an asset for that mission type, the cypher lowers the 
  difficulty by one step. Although the mission parameters can be anything, some common Starfleet 
  missions include: 
  
   
   
  1 
  Astronomy Research 
  4 
  Fortify Defenses 
  2 
  Attacking Fleet Action 
  5 
  Planetary Survey 
  3 
  Diplomatic Envoy 
  6 
  Search and Rescue 
  Deflector Dish Cyphers 
  A starship’s deflector dish is what stops debris and energy flares from striking it. When traveling at 
  warp speeds or even full impulse, the impact of even a small bit of mass can be catastrophic. With 
  some modifications, however, the deflector can be useful in other situtations. 
  Focused Exotic Particles Deflector 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: Deflectors are keyed to push exotic particles out of the way as part of their everyday function. 
  When manipulated to target those particles at another ship, however, it can become an offensive 
  weapon that shuts down some of that ship’s functionality for one minute. If the crew manages to 
  reverse the effects (an Intellect test for the engineering crew), the targeted starship will regain that 
  functionality after rebooting for 1d6 rounds. 
  The exact effects of the exotic particle beam depend on what type of particles are focused at the 
  target ship and how. Each version of this cypher has a specific effect, as determined by the table 
  below. 
  1 
  Target cannot make any ship actions. 
  4 
  Target cannot make any sensor checks. 
  2 
  Target cannot use its communications array. 
  5 
  Target’s sensor checks cannot determine 
  distance or direction. 
  3 
  Target can only move an immediate distance 
  and is very clumsy. 
  6 
  Target’s information databases are not 
  operational. 
  Graviton Generator Deflector 
  Level: 1d6+4 
  Effect: The deflector creates a graviton field that warps space around your ship. Sensor and weapon 
  ranges for your ship are doubled for one round while other ship’s sensor and weapon ranges are 
  halved with respect to you. 
  Navigational Deflector 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: The ship’s deflector is optimized for navigating open space. The difficulty of any noncombat 
  movement tasks - such as navigating a dangerous region, moving undetected, or following a difficult 
  path between objects - is reduced by two steps for the next hour. 
  Scanning Deflector 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: Over the course of a 24-hour period, the ship’s crew can activate the cypher a number of times 
  equal to its level. Each time, they can select another ship, a station, a planet, an interstellar creature, 
  or some other ship-scale target and learn the following about it: level, origin, crew on board, 
  damaged systems, and possibly other facts (such as destroyed structures, recent travels, or subspace 
  channels used). 
  Impulse Engine Cyphers 
  A starship’s sublight engines can be optimized to function especially well for a particular use. 
  Deuterium-Stabilized Impulse Engines 
  Level: 1d6+3 
  
   
   
  Effect: All impulse engines use deuterium to stabilize their reactions but these are able to vary that 
  deuterium injection rate to stabilize the starship even in extreme situations. When activated, this 
  cypher will immediately end one ongoing effect targeting the ship that is produced by an artifact, a 
  cypher, a weapon, or a special ability. It has no effect on nearby ships or on crew members. 
  Maneuvering Impulse Engines 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: Adds 1 to the ship’s Engine Edge for one hour. 
  Signature-Dampened Impulse Engines 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: The ship becomes invisible to sensors except at immediate range for ten minutes, during 
  which time all stealth and Engine defense ship tasks made by the crew are considered specialized. 
  This effect ends if the ship does something to reveal its presence or position - attacking, scanning 
  another ship, going to warp, and so on. If this occurs, it can regain the signature-dampening effect for 
  the remainder of the time if the crew member at the helm takes an action to elude sensors and 
  confuse its position. 
  Velocity Impulse Engines 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: For one round, if the ship’s crew uses an ability that has an Engine pool cost, that cost is 
  reduced to 0. 
  Shield Cyphers 
  A starship’s shields are a very important piece of equipment and one that is constantly in flux. These 
  specialized shield designs can be tricky to maintain but they are worth it for the advantages they 
  provide. 
  Covariant Shields 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: This cypher boosts the maximum value of the ship’s shield pool by half the cypher’s level 
  (round up) for 24 hours. 
  Regenerating Shields 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: Restores a number of points to the ship’s shield pool equal to its level. This regeneration 
  cannot increase the pool past its maximum value; any extra points are restored to the ship’s Hull 
  pool. 
  Rotating Frequency Shields 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: The ship’s shield emitters cycle through frequencies to save power and can reroute that 
  power to support damaged systems. When activated, the cypher restores a number of points to a stat 
  pool determined by rolling 1d6, either System (1-3) or Engine (4-6). 
  Vectored Shields 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: For the next minute, this cypher decreases the difficulty of one defense roll every round by 
  one step. 
  Warp Core Cyphers 
  The warp core is the heart of the starship and creative engineers can achieve amazing results by 
  modifying it for better performance. 
  
   
   
  Bio-Neural Gel Pack Warp Core 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: The ship’s warp core utilizes some biological circuitry designs in organic matrices to create a 
  more intuitive and adaptive system. The difficulty of any task involving the modification of systems 
  or rerouting of power - such as rerouting power to shields, adjusting sensors for a particular 
  environment, bringing disabled subsystems back online, and so on - is decreased by two steps for one 
  hour. 
  Enhanced Matrix Warp Core 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: The warp core is especially stable and can create warp fields that are far more efficient than 
  normal. When activated, this cypher decreases warp travel times by 10% for 24 hours. 
  Singularity Warp Core 
  Level: 1d6 
  Effect: Federation vessels typically don’t have singularity drives, in fact it is only common on 
  Romulan ships, but the use of a controlled micro-singularity instead of warp coils can create 
  “phantom signatures” in space around a ship. Essentially, the disruption can create a warping effect 
  that makes the ship appear in several locations at once. When activated, the cypher provides an asset 
  on Engine defense actions for ten minutes. 
  Spatial Harmonics Warp Core 
  Level: 1d6+2 
  Effect: The warp core is fundamentally tied to the shield emitters. When activated it creates a 
  feedback loop that makes the shields stronger when they absorb incoming attacks. The ship gains 
  Armor equal to half the cypher’s level (round down) for ten minutes. 
  
  The 
   
  is a 
   -class ship, 
   
  a 
   
   
   
   
  that 
   
   
  Tier 
   
  Effort 
   
  Shields 
   
   
   
  dmg 
   
   
  Hull 
   
  Engine 
   
  System 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Pool 
  Edge 
  Pool 
  Edge 
  Pool 
  Edge 
   
  Recovery 
  Rolls 
  1d6+ 
   
  Damage Track 
   
  compromised 
   
   
   
   
   
  10 min 
   
  10 hr 
   
  disabled 
   
   
   
   
   
  1 hr 
   
  20 hr 
   
  crippled 
   
   
   
   
   
  Armament 
   
   
   
  Descriptor Abilities 
   
   
  Focus Abilities 
   
   
  Type Abilities 
   
   
   
  Ship Cyphers 
   
  Limit 
   
   
  Ship Cyphers 
   
  Armor 
   
  
  Captain’s Log 
   
   
  Bridge Crew 
  Captain 
   
  First Officer 
   
  Flight Control 
  Officer 
   
  Operations Officer 
   
  Chief of 
  Engineering 
   
  Head of Security 
   
  Ship Counselor 
   
  Chief Medical 
  Officer 
   
  Chief Science 
  Officer 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Other Notable Crew 
   
  Ship Portrait 
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Star Trek RPG/Other RPGs (u)/Cypher/Starship Rules - Colin Wilson.pdf