TV Rules for Modeling Shields in Starship Combat

[Stan]

What are the ‘business rules’ for how shields work in the original series?

Background: I’m working on a set of custom Star Trek rules. It uses a d100 type system; once solid I will publish it here on the forums for beta testing and feedback! I’d like to compile a list of ‘how it should work’ rules in plain English, and then make sure my RPG rules model that correctly.

Here’s my first stab at the rules. I’m sure I’ve got something wrong or am missing something. Your feedback is appreciated!

1. Shields at full power are rated at 100%.
2. While shields are up, transporters cannot operate.
3. Both phaser and photon torpedoes can operate and shoot while shields are up.
4. Damage taken degrades shields.
5. Shields regenerate at a slow pace, so they don't effectively go back up until after a combat is over.
6. Cinematically, when a shield first takes damage, it is reported as ‘Shields are at 70%’ or something in that range. You seldom hear ‘Shields are down to 95%’ (that wouldn’t be dramatic!).
7. I’m uncertain on this one, but I think even with shields up, ‘critical hits’ can _sometimes_ occur (impulse engines offline, explosions and crew casualties).
8. Once shields degrade to 0%, ‘critical hits’ (impulse engines offline, explosions and crew casualties) are certain with any new hit.
9. Shield ratings (‘Shields are at 70%’) are generally reported as a number that applies to the entire ship. Forward, aft, starboard, and port shields operate independently, but you usually don’t hear them say ‘Forward shields are at 70%, after shields are at 45%...’ in the same sentence.
10. If a quadrant’s shield (e.g. 'Aft shields') is taken out, would you still use a term like ‘Shields are at 45%’ even though that doesn’t apply globally?
11. Power can be rerouted from various systems (such as life support) to bolster the shields in some way, but you usually don’t hear ‘Shields are now back up to 100%’.
12. Can you have starship-to-starship combat while in Warp, and if so, would shields operate normally?
13. Can shuttles fly in and dock with a ship while the mother ship's shields are up?

[c57d]

I tend to agree with 90% of your post, with the following few comments.
Ship combat (as with most other techie aspects) tended to get more convoluted with TNG (and the TOS movies) so I will stick to TOS.
Shields seem to be global, with no starboard, port, fore, aft, dorsal or ventral aspects. And, in disagreement with the Wrath of Khan onwards, seem to provide full protection, until they don't. They seem to be very much Grand old Duke of York.
Combat seems to be possible at warp or impulse speeds, with warp combat being more responsive and so generally preferred.
Combat takes place over thousands of kilometers, and so weapon ranges must be immense, and targeting systems too.
Anyway, just a few thoughts

[Falconer]

I have some things I want to look up — the Writer’s Guide and the Concordance and maybe the Transcripts — but my immediate thoughts are:

I believe there is an automatic deflector just to make sure the ship doesn’t run into small rocks. This would be different from defensive screens, which have a lot more power allocated to them. I don’t believe these are raised during normal operations.

I am pretty sure you can not beam in our out of a shielded ship/area. This is a somewhat different nuance from how you have worded #2.

[starcruiser]

Okay - shields per TOS DID have sides. There were episodes in which that was actually important to the story.

I believe Journey to Babel had Kirk trying to keep a weakened shield (implying multiple ones) away from the Orion ship. Though that may have been in Elaan of Troyius - or maybe even both. That actually adds a LOT to the drama as you have to fight to protect a damaged ship.

From the way it was put, there may have actually been several different systems in use. Deflectors (which actually probably had nothing to do with the dish), Screens (which may have been global) and Shields (which appeared to cover parts of the ship).

No gaming system has ever gotten the feel quite right. Star Fleet Battles did have a basic cost to bring the online - following by general and specific reinforcement but, didn't differentiate between different types. FASA just had (rather impotent) shields that had a power conversion ratio to effect how strong they were. I don't remember any other specific systems well enough to comment on their solutions but then, I digress.

In TOS - I don't really recall anyone using percentages very often. It was usually "shields holding" "shields weakening" "shield x (or shields) buckling" etc.

Definitely can't beam through active shields - might be able to do so with the screens up if they are more permeable. Could argue that "Screens" are more penetrable but, more resilient. Shields are much tougher to penetrate but, can flat out fail when that happens ("buckling" could mean overheated generators - maybe). Deflectors are purely navigational and of little value in combat - unless they actually come from the Warp Drive...maybe?

This doesn't fit as well with TNG/DS9/Voy but, I think it may be likely that the older Screens and Shields merged into one all encompassing system of Shields at some point. That probably isn't even in TOS movies since the blueprints for the TMP Enterprise shows "Primary Force Fields" and "Deflector Shields" - I suspect the primary thing may be the screens of TOS.

TMP Blueprints Page 3

[Stan]

Jan 19, 2022 21:25:31 GMT -5 starcruiser said:

No gaming system has ever gotten the feel quite right. 

That's exactly how I feel and why I appreciate the feedback folks are giving me here.

I think many games start with a generic set of starship rules and then bolt on the Star Trek stuff, leaving gaps and inconsistencies in matching the TV vibe and rules you see in play onscreen.

I'm excited to work out these 'how do they actually work' rules and then model it (hopefully) more accurately in my own starship rules.

All that being said, another aspect of the TV shows is things didn't take that long and the action was fast paced. I definitely don't want to create a system that is a 1.5 hour slog to get through with people getting frustrated with the complexity of the rules. This is the single thing that turned me off of Star Trek Adventures -- the starship combat system was uber complex and frustrating.

[Falconer]

I strongly agree that it would be great to nail down exactly how they “should” work, but also strongly agree that this is an area in an RPG where you want to be able to “zoom in and out” to various degrees of detail, with “zoomed out” as the default.

[starcruiser]

Maybe - two sets of rules. SFB did that a lot - basic rules and advanced rules.

Could have the basic shield rules just treat shields as a simple global thing. Maybe have a threshold check based off of how strong the shields are vs. the strength of the attack. If well within their capacity - no significant effect (shields holding) if pushing it a bit (weakening - maybe have a chance of damage leaking through) if pushed hard (buckling - definitely leak-through damage) and severely overwhelmed - shields go down and take time to recover...?

Advanced rules could have the slight functional difference of permeable screens coming up fast but offering limited protection (could double for deflectors) and then more flexibility and strength from the shields with maybe fore/aft/port/starboard/dorsal/ventral shield zones etc...?

[putraack]

Jan 20, 2022 7:16:50 GMT -5 Stan said:

I think many games start with a generic set of starship rules and then bolt on the Star Trek stuff, leaving gaps and inconsistencies in matching the TV vibe and rules you see in play onscreen.

I disagree with you here; that may be the long-time SFB fan talking.

All that being said, another aspect of the TV shows is things didn't take that long and the action was fast paced. I definitely don't want to create a system that is a 1.5 hour slog to get through with people getting frustrated with the complexity of the rules.

I DO agree with you here-- a role-playing game's starship combat system probably should not be so involved that it eats most or all of a game session. {Unless this is a really big battle, like one that the crew has spent weeks setting up to take down the big bad; but I digress.} Optimally, IMO, it should be resolved in about the same time as the game's other combat encounters (which can vary a lot by game system, of course).

This is where I rather like good ol' Star Frontiers: Knight Hawks! I've used it in some Traveller games, as easily taught and rather quick! I've been following Falconer's explorations of the Starships & Spacemen system, and a few test matches with my son show me that it's about as long to resolve as a "normal" RPG combat encounter.

I agree that:
- Shields should block transporters-- that, IIRC, was a factor in some episodes (and novels).
- They should also block most damage, until they don't.
- They should be divided around the ship, and be reinforce-able.

[Falconer]

Thinking about what starcruiser says about “shields holding.” I think there should be hits which are so minor that no only do the shields absorb 100% of the damage (zero damage to the ship), but the shields themselves show no sign of erosion (the damage was well within the shield generator’s ability to recharge).

[Stan]

Am I correct that you can take ship damage (e.g. transporter pads blown, deck 17 is venting to space, etc.) even while shields are up? And usually this is when shields are lower (< 50% or something).

Or does NONE of that happen until your shields go to zero? I seem to recall that once your shields are gone you're a sitting duck.

[starcruiser]

I would think that would be if the shields 'leak'.

Screens - in my mind - are inherently leaky but, hard to completely knock down because of that.

I see shields as more 'do or die' in effect. They try to stop everything but, can only take so much before failing.