Star Trek Starship Deflector Shields

Deflector Shields

Deflector shields (so called because they deflect energy and physical objects from the ship to save it from harm, not because they have anything to do with the navigational deflector) are a ship's primary form of defense. They (and related types of technology, such as multiphasic force fields) are fields of highly focused spatial distortion created by shield generators and focused by subspace field amplifiers, within which generators maintain an energetic graviton field. Shield grids on the exterior of the hull shape the shield to conform to the ship (collectively, the shield grids are referred to as the shield matrix). When energy or physical objects impact the shield, its field energy is concentrated at the point of impact to resist the intrusion. Impacts are accompanied by a quick flash of Cerenkov radiation which humanoids perceive as a flash of colored light (blue for Starfleet shields, sometimes different colors for other species' shields.)

Shields are activated, or "raised," whenever threats to the ship become apparent. This could be an enemy attack, potentially dangerous emissions from a nearby star, or the presence of some enormous spacefaring creature. Shield modulation frequencies shift at random to prevent an enemy from adjusting the frequency of its weapons to penetrate the shield without resistance (on the other hand, adjusting the shields to match the frequency of a weapon can strengthen them against it). Raised shields interfere with sensors, so shield frequency rotation creates electromagnetic "windows" to which sensors automatically recalibrate to minimize this effect. (In game terms, shields without such windows impose a -1D penalty on all Sensors Tests (minimum of 1D is still rolled); Tests made when windows exist are rolled normally.) Often, however, Silent Running mode (See Operations Systems) comes into effect when shields are raised, so only passive sensor use is allowed anyway. Shields completely block transporters; no one can transport onto or off of a ship whose shields are raised.

Shields also interfere with warp travel. Software which controls warp drive and shield operation compensates for this effect. Without such measures, use of shields reduces a ship's Standard, Sustainable, and Maximum warp speeds by one-third.

Shields would interfere with outgoing attacks, except that Starfleet has anticipated and corrected for these problems. Torpedoes are equipped with shield transponders which allow them to pass through the shields unimpeded. (It might be possible to interfere with the transponder's signal, causing it to explode, but no workable means has yet been developed to take advantage of this idea.) Beam weapons' frequencies are set by the tactical computers to match that of the shields, so they pass through unhindered. (Theoretically, a ship could gauge another ships' shield frequency and sensing the frequency of outgoing beam weapon attacks, but rapid shield frequency changes during combat generally eliminates any chance of making practical use of this theory.)

Shield Generator

Type	Capital Scale	Starfighter Scale
Class 1	0D - 0D+2	0D - 1D+1
Class 2	0D+1 - 1D	1D+1 - 3D
Class 3	0D+2 - 1D+2	2D - 4D+1
Class 4	1D - 2D+1	3D - 6D
Class 5	1D+2 - 3D	4D - 7D+1
Class 6	2D - 3D+2	N/A
Class 7	2D+1 - 4D	N/A
Class 8	2D+2 - 4D+2	N/A
Class 9	3D - 5D	N/A
Class 10	3D+2 - 6D	N/A

Advanced Shield Variants

Since shields are so important to the integrity of a ship and the safety of its crew, much research has gone into improving them or developing new, more powerful types of shields. Players may buy the following types of advanced shields for their ships with the Game Master's permission.

Covariant Shields

Covariant shields use an advanced, tetryon-based technology. They work like normal shields, but with one additional benefit: they interfere with sensors. They have the same effect as a sensor-reflective hull (See Specialized Hulls) when active.

Metaphasic Shields

Developed in 2369 by a Ferengi scientist, Dr. Reyga, the metaphasic shield generates overlapping low-level subspace fields. This causes anything within those fields to partially enter subspace, which provides high level protection against phenomena in normal space. Metaphasic shields Protection is triple that of a normal defector shield. Among other things, this allows a ship with a metaphasic shield to safely enter and spend time in the corona of stars. (For obvious reasons, metaphasic shields can significantly unbalance a game; Game Masters should be very, very cautious about allowing players to have metaphasic shields for their ship.)

Source

• Spacedock: The Advanced Starship and Construction Manual (pages 72-75, 125-126)
• thedemonapostle