A weapon with this special property creates a wave of harmful radiation (see page 403) that penetrates shields and starship hulls. Living creatures on a starship struck by an irradiating weapon are subjected to the level of radiation noted in parentheses for 1d4 rounds of starship combat.

A weapon with this special property can fire only the listed number of times in a starship combat encounter before it requires a brief period of time (10 minutes outside of starship combat) to recharge and rebuild the weapon’s inherent ammunition. A weapon with this special property is often a tracking weapon.

Only tracking weapons can have the volatile special property. Such a weapon breaks apart when destroyed before its intended impact. When a volatile projectile hits a starship but a gunner succeeds at destroying the projectile with a point weapon, the volatile weapon still deals half its damage.

A weapon with this special property can fire in an arc adjacent to the one in which it was installed with a –2 penalty. A broad arc weapon can fire at only one target at a time.

When attempting a gunnery check with a mystical weapon, which is a hybrid device, a gunner can use their ranks in Mysticism in place of either their base attack bonus or ranks in Piloting, and their Wisdom modifier in place of their Dexterity modifier.

This countermeasure unleashes insidious virus software into any system that tries to hack it, causing damage to that system and its programming. If you fail a check to hack the computer by 5 or more, any device used in the attempt to break into the system is infected and becomes unreliable, resulting in a –5 penalty to all skill checks involving the infected equipment. You can remove a virus from an infected system if you succeed at a Computers check with the same DC as hacking the computer that has the feedback countermeasure. At the GM’s discretion, feedback viruses can have other effects instead, such as granting a +5 circumstance bonus to anyone attempting to hack the infected system. A feedback countermeasure costs 500 credits.

The computer and its surrounding environment are protected by a grid of conductive material that transmits a shock to anyone who fails to access the system. This has two settings: one meant to stun and one meant to kill. Normally, the stun setting happens first, with a warning about lethal force should the intruder make another attempt. The stun setting forces all creatures within 10 feet of the terminal to succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or be stunned for 1 round. The lethal setting affects nearby creatures like the stun setting but also deals electricity damage to all creatures within 10 feet of the computer, allowing a Reflex save for half damage. The save DC, damage dealt, and price all depend upon the rank of the shock grid, as indicated on the below table. Each rank added counts as one countermeasure when determining the total number of countermeasures a system can have. Only computers fixed permanently to a floor or similar surface can have shock grids. Rank DC Damage Price 1 20 8d6 500 2 22 10d6 2,000 3 24 12d6 5,000 4 27 14d6 20,000 5 30 16d6 50,000

One of simplest countermeasures, this program sends an alert to a specific individual or station if someone attempts to breach the system. If the computer has a control module connected to an actual alarm, this countermeasure can trigger that alarm. If the computer controls a robot, trap, or weapon, an alarm can also activate them. The alarm countermeasure costs 10 credits.

Unconverted expansion bays count as cargo holds. A cargo hold can contain approximately 25 tons of goods, with no item being larger than Large. A starship with multiple cargo holds can hold larger objects; usually 4 contiguous cargo holds are required to hold Huge objects and 8 for Gargantuan objects. These size restrictions can be overridden at the GM’s discretion.

An expansion bay can be converted into rows of seating for passengers at no cost. A single expansion bay can hold seating for 16 Medium passengers (though seats can be built for larger creatures). This upgrade is appropriate only for taking many passengers on short trips; starships on journeys lasting multiple days should instead have guest quarters installed.