Most modern spaceships are huge and hideously complex, with the necessary environmental systems competing for space with equally important weapon and propulsion systems, but there are standard features that are present in most spaceships. The main difference in spaceships depends on whether a ship is a civilian ship or a military ship. Most civilian ships have few if any offensive systems and are not designed for combat, conversely, a military ship is designed for war and battles, usually against other military ships. These systems can also be found on space stations and satellites.
From computers to shields to electronic counter measures, combat systems are vital to protect a ship from attacks and to allow a ship to hit a target. Combat Systems are obviously important to military ships, but civilian ships often require some measure of protection as well.
Almost as important as weapons, electronic warfare systems protect a ship from being hit and allows a target to be struck through its own electronic warfare. Electronic Warfare Systems has three functions: generating ECM, generating ECCM, and performing special EW functions. See Ship Classes and Types for the average systems equipped on ships from the Three Galaxies and see Electronic Warfare and EWSs for more details on Electronic Warfare and Electronic Warfare Systems.
Nearly all ships, and all military ships, are equipped with some level of armor that protects the ship from damage. The standard type of armor used in the Three Galaxies is a special ceramic-steel mix that results in an ultra-hard metallic alloy. This alloy is an M.D.C. structure and is the basis of nearly all ship armor, fighter armor, vehicle armor, power armor armor, and body armor throughout the Three Galaxies and Rifts Earth. While other metals are being researched by the major galactic powers, unless otherwise mentioned, all M.D.C. armor is considered by of this ceramic-steel mix.
Virtually all military spaceships are equipped with jamming equipment. While the system is active conventional radar, gravity-wave sensors, and missile guidance systems that rely on those sensors will not be able to function properly in the area affected. The jamming also effects communications systems that rely on radio waves. Affected sensor and communication systems will have their ranges reduced to 25% of normal and sensors have a penalty of -60% to all Read Sensory rolls, including the chance of detecting any targets in the area of the jamming within their reduced range, which also includes the ship carrying the active jamming system. If detected, there is a bonus of +25% to a Read Sensory Equipment skill roll to determine which detected ship is the source of the jamming.
A variant of the Omni-Directional Shield System, this system will generate a small, localized shield over a specific part of a ship protecting it from damage. These types of shields are used to protect very sensitive areas, such as exposed bridge towers and hanger bays, and can be used in combination with most other shield systems. They regenerate at a rate of 5% of their maximum strength per melee and a ship could be equipped with many such shields. The main downside of this system is the internal volume required to house it, which often prohibits more then a handful localized shields from being installed in a single ship.
This type of shield system is rather primitive compared to the more advanced variable shield system popular in the Three Galaxies, but it has its own benefits. The omni-directional shield protects the ship or station with a single force field that completely encompasses the ship or station. In order to damage the ship protected by the shield, its entire M.D.C. must be depleted first. Unfortunately, two problems plague most, but not all, omni-directional systems. The first problem is that there is only one shield to regenerate, even though it regenerates at a rate of 5% of its maximum strength per melee. Their second problem is much more important as many of these shields prevent the ship being protected from firing through its own shield. Without that last problem, an Omni-Directional Shield System is a worthy alternative to a Variable Shield System.
A ship's hull is usually armored and the most common way of armoring a ship is through Hull regions distributed over the ship's Main Body. When a ship is attacked, the type and strength of an attack determines whether an attack damages only a single Hull Region or whether it damages the ship's Main Body. For more details on the rules concerning Hull Regions please see Revised Rules for Ship Armor.
Most military ships are equipped with some sort of stealth system to reduce both their gravitic signatures and their normal signatures. There are a variety of stealth systems available, but the most common for making a ship less visible to electromagnetic waves is to build the ship in a specific shape. This reflects the electromagnetic waves in directions away from the detector. While building a ship with a specific shape is a viable options, it is also possible to use a ship's shields to create the same effect. Using only one of these methods causes all sensor systems that rely on electromagnetic waves, such as Radar, have their ranges reduced to 25% of normal and they have a penalty of -40% to all Read Sensory rolls. Using both methods causes all affected sensor systems to have their ranges reduced to 10% of normal and they have a penalty of -70% to all Read Sensory rolls. Another popular stealth system is the use of a ship's shields to hide the gravitational signal of an active contra-grav drive. This effects all gravity sensors and the stealthy ship cannot operate the engines at more then a third of its maximum power, so rate of acceleration must be no more then a third of its normal rate. If this is done, all affected sensors have their ranges reduced to 10% of normal and they have a penalty of -60% to all Read Sensory rolls. If the ship operates at more then one-third power, then affected sensors have their ranges reduced only to 50% of normal and they have a penalty of -30% to all Read Sensory rolls. Also, a ship's shields can be used to block neutrino emissions so that all neutrino sensors have a penalty of -40% to all Read Sensory rolls.
Connecting the ship's sensor systems with the weapon systems is the Targeting Computer System. The system is designed to control all of the weapons currently equipped on the ship. To control additional weapons, the system must be modified by computer technicians, which can be easily accomplished with a successful use of the Computer Programming skill, although a targeting computer can generally only be made to support up to 200% more weapons then the original, unmodified system could. The number of ships that can be targeted simultaneously depends on the size and complexity of the system, but generally this is not a problem because a ship can easily switch between targets, the only problem is that many ships can detect when they are being targeted by a ship using systems that they are familiar with. The targeting computer is able to identify friendly targets by using an IFF (Identify Friend / Foe) system; these systems are also useful for identifying enemy vessels with information stored in the targeting computer. With targeting computers, ships receive bonuses to strike for both its direct fire weapons, such as energy weapons, and for missile systems. The bonuses provided depend on the sophistication of the technology used and the size and type of the ship, see Ship Classes and Types for specific capabilities available to standard ships from the Three Galaxies.
Variable Shield Systems are extremely popular in the Three Galaxies and they all use relatively the same basic technology, although the M.D.C. values for a particular shield will be higher among technologically superior groups. The basic premise of a variable shield is that instead of using a single shield to a ship, there are six equal shields that protect the top, bottom, front, back, and both sides of the ship. The main strength of such a system is that the shield strengths can be moved around from one shield to another, so if a target was behind a ship, the all of the M.D.C. from the other shields could be moved to that shield. For example, if a ship had shield system with 2000 M.D.C. per side (for a total of 12,000 M.D.C.), the energy could be moved around so that the front had 4000 M.D.C. and the others had 1600 M.D.C. per shield. In addition, variable shields have a regeneration rate at 5% of its total shield strength on each of its damaged shields per melee, so if one shield was damaged, the damage could be moved around to all of the shields in order to have them all regenerate simultaneously, but only if they currently have less then their normal amount. For example, using the above ship, if the reinforced forward shield was hit with 3000 points of damage, leaving 1000 points on the forward shield, but since all shields are now below their normal rate and the total shield strength has been reduced, all shields will regenerated at a rate of 600 M.D.C. per melee. Alternatively, the ship could have reinforced the forward shield again, but if that shield had more then 2000 M.D.C. after being reinforced, it would not help the other shields regenerate any damage. Even though the M.D.C. can be moved between the shields very quickly, a variable shield system can be pierced much more easily then an omni-directional shield, although plugging holes with a variable shield is very easy to accomplish.
This category covers how one ship communicates with another ship. Most communications travel at the speed of light, which often makes them unsuitable for communication between star systems, but there are types of communications systems that can travel FTL, although they are generally only available to the more advanced space groups. Most communications can be relayed through satellites or similar devices to extend the maximum range of a ship's communication equipment. There are two important factors concerning communication equipment. The first is the maximum, unimpeded range of the device and the second is how easy it is to jam or intercept a communication from the device. Both of these factors vary widely depending on the quality and size of each ship's communication equipment, but generally, larger ships have more powerful communication relays that have longer range.
Another manipulation of gravity, a ship can generate small, but intense, gravity pulses that can be instantly detected by anything that knows what to look for. Anything with a gravity sensor that is either sensitive enough or designed to should be able to pick up the pulses, but by the nature of the communication method, they need to be decoded. It is important to remember that while this form of communication is instant and not blocked by planets or obstacles, it has a relatively short range, and the most advanced, unclassified, gravity pulse devices used by the CCW only have a range of 5 light-minutes (55.9 million miles / 89.9 million km), but these devices take up a large amount of internal space in a ship.
The most common form of long range, FTL communication is the Hyper-Dimensional Relay. This form of communication uses a relay station to push a communication or stream of data into another dimension, identical to the one that a Hyper-Dimensional Drive uses. The communication travels towards its destination where another relay station intercepts it. Communications are sent to and from a relay station and often these relay stations work in a giant network, passing communications from one relay to the next. Because of the size and instabilities of the dimensions used, very few communications can be intercepted while they are traveling through the dimension, but the relay stations are the most vulnerable stop in this communication method, as the communication travels directly towards the relay, similar to an FTL version of a laser communication device. Hyper-Dimensional communication is very fast and most groups in the Three Galaxies with this technology can reach communication speeds of up to 100 light-years per hour and five times that speed when a transmission is traveling between galaxies, but due to the nature of this method and the size of the equipment required, most relays are equipped on immobile, well protected, satellites or space stations and not on ships.
Laser communications are much more efficient then radio waves and can be much harder to detect. Lasers can be set for different widths, and narrower beams are much harder to detect, but they also require the origin of the beam to know precisely where the target will be once the beam gets to its destination. With that restriction, narrow beams are usually only used when the destination is not moving, but the only way to detect or intercept such a beam is to physically get in the way of the laser beam. It is very difficult to block laser communications, but it is possible to do so by releasing chaff in the path that the beam much travel through, although the wider the beam, the larger the area that needs to be covered by chaff.
This special device is sold by the Prometheans that control Phase World. When activated, the device sends a signal to the massive spacegates in orbit of Phase World and once scanned by the Prometheans controlling the spacegate, the ship is instantly transported to Phase World. Unfortunately, the spacegates are a one-way trip only and cannot be used to send a ship back where they came from. Only authorized space stations and repair ships can install a Phase Receiver and they are always controlled by the Prometheans. The Phase Receivers are tamper proof and any effort to open its black box components results in the instant destruction of the entire receiver, no refund allowed.
The most common communication type used in the Three Galaxies uses standard radio waves between ships. Radio communication arrays are relatively easy to build and maintain, but they are also easy to jam and intercept, which makes them less then perfect for military operations. Radio communications travel at the speed of light, but they cannot travel through obstacles like planets or other ships. Radio waves are also relatively easy to detect with other radio equipment, as long as the communication passes within range of the ship's radio equipment.
This category of ship systems do not fit into any of the other categories and are generally related to life support and command and control facilities. The systems in this category are found on nearly all ships.
Nothing on a ship runs without power, however it happens to be generated. The smaller the source of energy, the more popular it is, but there are limits. For example, an anti-matter reactor produces an amazing amount of energy for its size, but the damage that can be caused if the reactor is breached is unbelievable, so these reactors are seldom used. The most popular reactor used by advanced space groups is a fusion reactor, which are smaller then a nuclear (fission) reactor and the produce more energy, but they do require frequent maintenance and more frequent replenishment of its reactor fuel. A common source of energy in smaller and less advanced space ships are energy batteries that provide a limited amount of energy before needed replacement. These batteries are not really useful for large ships because they would need to be replaced too often to be useful, but for short range craft they are a cheap alternative to a real reactor core. Another common source of energy for less advanced space civilizations is a solar generate. These solar generators are often very large and produce only a small amount of energy, but they require nothing more then occasional maintenance. Nuclear reactors, while larger and do not generally produce as much energy as a fusion reactor require far less fissionable material and can often go years before the fuel needs to be replaced.
With the mastery of gravity manipulation technology, it is possible to build a system that can artificially generate gravity within a ship or station without the need to spin the ship. Such systems are common in the Three Galaxies, but the more advanced systems allow gravity to be manipulated within a ship independently of other sections of the ship. For example, in a large cargo bay, it may be advantageous for their to be little or no gravity, whereas the rest of the ship could still function in normal gravity. The most advanced systems of this type can generate gravity on the surface of the ship as well as inside the ship. This would pull anything within a certain radius towards the ship at whatever gravity the system was set at and can be useful during repairs on a ship.
When a ship accelerates in space, it exerts an enormous amount of force on those inside the ship. So much force that without some way of offsetting this force, a crew would either be crushed to death or the ship would be reduced to ridiculously low rates of acceleration / deceleration. The discovery of gravity-based means of propulsion brought many beneficial side-effects, including the ability to build simple Inertial Compensators. These devices, often buried deep within a ship, cancel out of the effects of a ship accelerating or decelerating, so that the crew does not experience the force that would normally crush them. Most ships are rigged so that if for whatever reason the Inertial Compensator fails, the ship engines stop accelerating or decelerating the ship. Unfortunately, if the engine does not stop in time, the crew will be instantly killed.
Most ships in space are equipped with some form of life pods in case of emergencies. How many life pods and their exact features vary from navy to navy, but they all share some similar features. Life Pods are equipped with environmental systems that allow the standard capacity of passengers to survive for a long period, including breathable air, recycled water, and rations. Life Pods are also equipped a powerful distress beacon system that can range from a simple emergency transmitter to a full-blown, long-range communication array. The standard life pods in the CAF hold ten people for three weeks and are equipped with an emergency transmitter that can be picked up on standard radio frequencies at a range of up to 250,000 miles (??? km), and the CAF provides enough life pods for the ship's entire crew.
Life Support is the most critical system on a ship or space station and keeps everyone on the ship alive with the environmental conditions that allow them to function. For Humans, this means that the Life Support system consumes carbon dioxide, produces oxygen, processes bodily waste, and keeps the ship at a comfortable temperature. Life Support systems are generally designed to accommodate at least 10% more then their regular crew and troop complement. In emergency conditions, the maximum number of people that can be supported by a Life Support system can usually be exceeded, but not indefinitely.
Space is a very dangerous place with many natural hazards. One of the biggest problems in space is radiation. Flying to close to a star or natural source of radiation can expose a crew to enormous quantities of harmful radiation, no matter how think the armor on the ship. To counter this, most ships are equipped with Radiation Shielding of some sort. The exact form the shielding takes can vary from navy to navy. Some navies, such as the CAF prefer to generate a low-power energy field around their ships to protect them from radiation, while the TGE prefers building the radiation shielding directly into the armor of the ships, which increases the cost of building their ships by not a small percentage. While active, any Radiation Shielding will protect a ship from all but the most powerful radiation bursts the ship could encounter. Even close proximity to a star or even a nuclear explosion will not penetrate the radiation shielding of a ship, although it might cause damage in other ways.
Similar to Inertial Compensators, Tractor Beams are an offshoot of developing gravity drive technology. Tractor Beams can be small or large, but whatever their size, they are designed to lock onto an object and move it in whatever direction is desired by the beams' controllers. Most tractor beams are used to assist small craft and fighters enter the bays of a ship or to haul damaged ships. However, ships that are using their Tractor Beams to haul objects suffer from a lower rate of acceleration as they have to move additional mass then normal. The number and power of Tractor Beams on a ship varies depending on the ship and the doctrine of the navy. For example, most TGE ships have only a single, high-powered tractor beam whereas a ship like the CAF Packmaster sports nearly a hundred tractor beams, but each is only powerful enough to tractor a fighter.
What would a ship be without the ability to move from one place to another. There are two main types of propulsion systems, one for sublight speed travel and for for faster-than-light (FTL) travel. There are many different types of propulsion systems that require many different levels of technology. At the low end of technology scale are the simple chemical engines that use ignited particles and the high end of the scale are the powerful gravity manipulating engines.
There are three things that determine how fast a ship can travel at sublight speeds. The first is its propulsion system, which will determine a ship's maximum acceleration rate. The second is an inertial compensator, which will determine how much acceleration a ship's personnel and system can survive. The third and final system is a particle shield that will protect a vessel from micro-meteors and particles of dust. A ship without a particle shield, however it is achieved, could easily be heavily damaged by a small grain of sand if the ship runs into the grain of sand at a significant fraction of the speed of light. Examples of particle shields include simple force fields that withstand the impact before it hits the ship, deflector systems that push the particles away from the ship, and armor that is designed specifically for the purpose of withstanding impacts from small particles. Most particle shields are not useful against bullets or rail guns, but there some systems that are so advanced that they can easily absorb the fast moving particles, even though they are significantly larger then most particles of dust.
Anti-Gravity, or Contra-Gravity, is considered the epitome of sublight drives. It requires little to no fuel, can generally produce high levels of acceleration, and with carefully placed units, can offer unmatched maneuverability. Anti-Gravity drives are only available in advanced space groups, such as the CCW or the Transgalactic Empire from the Three Galaxies, but they are considered to be the best available drives for what they do.
A Chemical Rocket functions by igniting a substance and using the resulting explosion as a thrust. The type of fuel used by these rockets varies widely, but fuel requires a great deal of a ship's internal volume and needs to be replenished. Some ships may be equipped with a particle collector that will gather particles and atoms from space for use as fuel, and such systems can eliminate the need for fuel, but they require a large amount of area to be exposed to space and are not suitable for small ships or fighters. Ships with rockets can only move in the direction that the rockets point in, although carefully placed maneuvering rockets and mobile thrusters eliminates most of these problems.
While most galactic powers use Anti-Gravity drives for sublight propulsion, it did not take long until the discovery of an even more powerful anti-gravity field that would allow a ship to travel faster then the speed of light. Most cultures that developed Anti-Gravity Drives also developed this method of FTL propulsion and it is used throughout the Three Galaxies. It is theorized that there is no limit to the speeds that can be reached with this type of drive, all that is needed is a more powerful anti-gravity field generator. Since a ship using a Contra-Gravity Drive is traveling in normal space, unlike with a Rift Jump Drive or a Hyper-Dimensional Drive, it is incredibly easy to intercept and detect such a ship, although very few weapons work at FTL speeds. The average Contra-Gravity Drive used throughout the Three Galaxies, even by the CCW and the Transgalactic Empire, can move a ship 1 to 5 light-years per hour, but a ship can travel five times faster when traveling between galaxies.
Whether created through magic or technology, a Dimensional Rift Jump Drive is very impressive. The drive creates a temporary dimensional rift at the location of the ship and transports it to another location. The drawback with these systems is there is generally a maximum distance that can be crossed in a single jump and most times a certain amount of time must pass between jumps. Most drives of this type simultaneously transport a ship from one location to its destination, but some drives require the ship to remain in a dimensional limbo before it reaches its destination. While a ship is in this limbo, time does not pass for the ship and ships never encounter anything while in the limbo. Unlike a Hyper-Dimensional Drive, a Rift Drive does not "travel" from one place to another, it merely leaves one place, enters a dimensional limbo for a certain amount of time, and reappears at its destination. Some drives of this type require a ship to be a certain distance away from a gravity source, such as a star or a planet, while others don't. The average jump drive can transport a ship 5 to 20 light-years per jump, but most are limited to four to seven jumps per day.
A Hyper-Dimensional Drive is designed to bring a ship into another dimension that corresponds with the dimension that the ship originated in. What makes this new dimension special is that the points in the new dimension correspond to points in the original dimension, but they are much closer together. For example, two points that are two miles (3.2 km) apart in the original dimension may be only 2 inches (5.1 cm) apart in the new dimension. This allows a ship to travel using its sublight drive in the new dimension and appear to travel at faster-than-light speeds in the original dimension. The way to enter the new dimension varies depending on the drive used and faster drives are the result of being able to enter a dimension with points that are much closer together then a slower drive can enter. Most times, combat can be performed in the new dimension, but just like in the original dimension, it may be difficult to find other ships and other problems may occur with sensor and weapon systems that can interfere with combat. With sophisticated sensors, it is possible to detect another ship traveling in the new dimension, even from the original dimension and ships in transit can be intercepted. Some drives of this type require a ship to be a certain distance away from a gravity source, such as a star or a planet, while others don't. The average hyper-drive can move a ship 1 to 4 light-years per hour.
Phase Drives are commonly used by independents, both independent ships and star systems. These drives use phase technology to envelop a ship in a phase field that allows a ship to use its sublight propulsion system to travel at FTL speeds. Unfortunately, there are a few problems with using a Phase Drive. The first problem is that since it relies on phase technology, only the Prometheans know how to repair the drive, so if it breaks in an area where there are no Promethean repair centers, then the ship is out of luck. The second problem is that for every hour that it is in operation, it needs 30 minutes to recalibrate the field generator, and the recalibration must be done at least once every 12 hours that the drive is in use. The third and final problem with the Phase Drive is that it cannot be activated within 20,000 miles (32,187 km) of a planet. Even with all of these problems, the Phase Drive is still an attractive choice because the drive can move a ship 10 light-years per hour.
A solar sail is very large and delicate, but it allows a ship to move under constant and continuous acceleration, which more then offset's it low acceleration rate. This method of transportation is normally used in combination with chemical rockets in case immediate acceleration is needed. A solar sail uses no fuel and can work continuously, but as mentioned earlier, it is relatively fragile and easily damaged.
Sensor systems are needed to detect other ships and to identify a threat to a vessel. There are many different types of sensor systems, varying for a simple radar system to a highly complex electromagnetic sensor. There are two different types of sensors: active and passive. Active sensors actively emit radiation and use the reflection of that radiation to detect other objects. Unfortunately, the main disadvantage of active sensors is that they can be detected at twice the range in which the sending ship can detect others. For example, a ship with an active radar array that has a maximum range of 100,000 miles (160,934 km) can be detected at a range of up to 200,000 miles (321,869 km). To avoid this, most ships employ a method known as "pinging," where the non-passive sensors are activated only in a single pulse instead of running them continuously. This greatly reduces the chance that the active sensors will be accidently detected, although it doesn't eliminate the possibility entirely. In contrast, instead of sending out signals to detect an enemy presence, a passive sensor detects signals coming off of a ship, these signals can include electromagnetic signals or even the gravity that its mass creates. While passive sensors cannot be detected, they are limited to only being able to detect the signals produced by a ship. Even though it is impossible to hide a ship's gravity presence, most other emissions can be hidden, or at least decreased, to make a ship harder to detect.
Using a sensor properly requires the Read Sensor Equipment skill and it is used determine if a ship is detected by the sensor system and if it can be tracked and identified. The base percentage for these rolls is 60% or the percentage of the senior sensor technician, whichever is higher, and this percentage can be modified by each sensor. The first roll determines whether a target has been detected, while the second roll determines if it can be tracked when it moves, and the third and final roll determines whether the target can be identified. Even if the third roll is successful, it is possible that the Targeting Computer cannot identify the target if it has never seen anything like it before, but if the target is in the computer's databanks, then it can be identified. It is possible for modifiers to bring the percentage total above 100% and in that case, it means that the sensor works perfectly and no roll is necessary. While sensors may update themselves often, a sensor is only allowed to roll three time per melee to detect new targets and is only required to roll once per melee to continue to track a target, and can only attempt to identify a target once per melee.
For each sensor, a table is provided that shows the typical ranges for sensor systems equipped on ships in the Three Galaxies. Each table is comprised of a sensor class and the maximum range they can detect tiny, small, medium, or large objects. Class I sensors are usually equipped on civilian ships of all sizes, class II sensors are usually equipped on shuttles, class III sensors are usually equipped on frigate-sized ships or smaller, class IV sensors are usually equipped on destroyer-sized ships, class V sensors are usually equipped on Cruiser or Battlecruiser-sized ships, class VI sensors are usually equipped on Battleship-sized ships, class VII sensors are usually equipped on Dreadnought-sized ships or larger, class VIII sensors are usually equipped on large orbital space stations. See Ship Classes and Types for specific sensor classes a typical ship in the Three Galaxies is equipped with. Obviously ships with more advanced technology could easily have more powerful sensors, while those with technology that is below the average in the Three Galaxies would likely have sensors with less range. A tiny object is any object that is less then 150' (45.7 m) or less then 1000 tons (907.2 metric tons). A small object is any object that is between 150' (45.7 m) and 1000' (305 m) long or between 1000 tons (907.2 metric tons) and 400,000 tons (362,874 metric tons). A medium object is any object that is between 1000' (305 m) and 5000' (1524 m) long or between 400,000 tons (362,874 metric tons) and 18 million tons (16.3 million metric tons). A large object is any object that is greater then 5000' (1524 m) long or greater then 18 million tons (16.3 million metric tons).
because of the massive gravity waves created by a Contra-Gravitonic Drive, it is relatively easy to detect and track a ship using that drive to travel faster then the speed of light. Although not as easy to detect or identify a ship, once detected, this sensor can generally continue to track a ship perfectly, as long as the target remains within range of the sensor. The signal can localize the detected ship to an area of about 1 million miles (1.6 million km) while it is traveling and can narrow down its start and end points to within 500,000 miles (804,672 km), assuming both points are within the range of this sensor. This sensor provides a modifier of +30% to detect targets, +80% to track targets, and +15% to identify targets.
| Sensor Class | Tiny | Small | Medium | Large |
| Class I | 0.5 light-years | 0.75 light-years | 1 light-years | 1.25 light-years |
| Class II | 1 light-year | 1.5 light-years | 2 light-years | 3 light-years |
| Class III | 3 light-years | 4.5 light-years | 6 light-years | 7.5 light-years |
| Class IV | 4 light-years | 6 light-years | 8 light-years | 10 light-years |
| Class V | 5 light-years | 7.5 light-years | 10 light-years | 12.5 light-years |
| Class VI | 6 light-years | 9 light-years | 12 light-years | 15 light-years |
| Class VII | 10 light-years | 15 light-years | 20 light-years | 25 light-years |
| Class VIII | 14 light-years | 20 light-years | 26 light-years | 32 light-years |
Most ships are designed with the ability to detect Radar, Laser, Microwave, Radio, and all other electromagnetic frequencies. This can be done at 200% of the range of the transmitter. For example, if a ship is in the path of an active radar transmitter without any major obstacles between the two and the transmitter has a maximum range of 27 million miles (43.5 million km), then this sensor system could detect the transmitter at a range of 54 million miles (86.9 million km). With all signals, the ship attempting to detect the signals must be in the path of the signal or it will be unable to detect that signal. This means that a wide beam radar cannot be detected on the other side of a planet from the detecting equipment and tight beam signals, such as laser communications, can only be detected if the ship attempting to detect them is in the middle of the beam. This sensor provides a modifier of +100% to detect targets, +80% to track targets, and no modifier to identify targets.
Probably the most sought after passive sensor, gravity sensors are nearly impossible to hide from, although it is possible to make them think that an object is more massive then it actually is. Another way to spoof a gravity sensor is to be located near another gravity source; if the other source is large enough, the first source may not be detected, or the two sources could be merged into a single source by the sensor. These sensor are popular for several reasons not least of which is the fact that they are very difficult to hide from. Most ships in the Three Galaxies use some form of gravity manipulation, which generates some pockets of gravity fields that are considerably larger then a ship of a given size would normally generate. As such, the numbers listed below are for ships with active gravity technology, such as external, but not internal, gravity fields, active anti-gravity drives of any type, and even a few inertial compensator. If these sources of gravity manipulation were deactivated, then reduce the maximum range to detect a ship of that size by half. Another advantage of a gravity sensor is that it is instantaneous, unlike radar, across huge distances, but more primitive systems cannot compensate for large gravity sources such as planets and stars, preventing the sensor from "seeing" past such an obstacle. This sensor provides a modifier of +40% to detect targets, +40% to track targets, and +25% to identify targets.
| Sensor Class | Tiny | Small | Medium | Large |
| Class I | 10,000 miles (16,093 km) | 100,000 miles (160,934 km) | 200,000 miles (321,869 km) | 300,000 miles (482,803 km) |
| Class II | 20,000 miles (32,187 km) | 200,000 miles (321,869 km) | 400,000 miles (643,738 km) | 600,000 miles (965,606 km) |
| Class III | 100,000 miles (160,934 km) | 1 million miles (1.6 million km) | 2 million miles (3.2 million km) | 3 million miles (4.8 million km) |
| Class IV | 250,000 miles (402,336 km) | 2.5 million miles (4 million km) | 5 million miles (8 million km) | 7.5 million miles (12.1 million km) |
| Class V | 500,000 miles (804,672 km) | 5 million miles (8 million km) | 10 million miles (16.1 million km) | 15 million miles (24.1 million km) |
| Class VI | 750,000 miles (1,207,008 km) | 7.5 million miles (12.1 million km) | 15 million miles (24.1 million km) | 22.5 million miles (36.2 million km) |
| Class VII | 1.2 million miles (1.9 million km) | 12 million miles (19.3 million km) | 24 million miles (38.6 million km) | 36 million miles (57.9 million km) |
| Class VIII | 2.4 million miles (3.9 million km) | 24 million miles (38.6 million km) | 48 million miles (77.2 million km) | 72 million miles (115.9 million km) |
Neutrinos are generated by all fusion, fission, and anti-matter reactors. These neutrinos can travel through nearly any obstacle, including stars, and can be easily detected, but they travel at the speed of light, limiting their usefulness at extremely long ranges, even if it were possible to detect neutrinos at such long range. Stars and several stellar phenomena also generate neutrinos, but it is possible to filter out such sources to allow ships that generate neutrinos to be detected and tracked. The sensor is able to differentiate between neutrinos generated by fusion, fission, or anti-matter reactions. This sensor provides a modifier of +30% to detect targets, +15% to track targets, and +10% to identify targets.
| Sensor Class | Tiny | Small | Medium | Large |
| Class I | 500 miles (804.7 km) | 5000 miles (8047 km) | 10,000 miles (16,093 km) | 15,000 miles (24,140 km) |
| Class II | 1000 miles (1609 km) | 10,000 miles (16,093 km) | 20,000 miles (32,187 km) | 30,000 miles (48,280 km) |
| Class III | 5000 miles (8047 km) | 50,000 miles (80,467 km) | 100,000 miles (160,934 km) | 150,000 miles (241,402 km) |
| Class IV | 15,000 miles (24,140 km) | 150,000 miles (241,402 km) | 300,000 miles (482,803 km) | 450,000 miles (724,205 km) |
| Class V | 25,000 miles (40,234 km) | 250,000 miles (402,336 km) | 500,000 miles (804,672 km) | 750,000 miles (1,207,008 km) |
| Class VI | 40,000 miles (64,374 km) | 400,000 miles (643,738 km) | 800,000 miles (1,287,475 km) | 1.2 million miles (1.9 million km) |
| Class VII | 60,000 miles (96,561 km) | 600,000 miles (965,606 km) | 1.2 million miles (1.9 million km) | 2 million miles (3.2 million km) |
| Class VIII | 100,000 miles (96,561 km) | 1 million miles (1.6 million km) | 2 million miles (3.2 million km) | 3 million miles (4.8 million km) |
Radar systems use both radio waves and laser light to send emissions out from the ship where they will bounce off of targets. The bounced waves become signals that the sensor can track with a high degree of precision. Unfortunately, radar systems travel at the speed of light, so at long ranges the information returned to a ship can be quite old after the time it took the emissions to travel to the target and then back again. Also, like radio communications, the radio waves used by the a radar system can be easily blocked, although, while the laser light system is much harder to block in this method, it can be blocked as well. This sensor provides a modifier of +30% to detect targets, +30% to track targets, and +15% to identify targets.
| Sensor Class | Tiny | Small | Medium | Large |
| Class I | 3000 miles (4828 km) | 30,000 miles (48,280 km) | 60,000 miles (96,561 km) | 90,000 miles (144,841 km) |
| Class II | 30,000 miles (48,280 km) | 300,000 miles (482,803 km) | 600,000 miles (965,606 km) | 900,000 miles (1,448,410 km) |
| Class III | 150,000 miles (241,402 km) | 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) | 3 million miles (4.8 million km) | 4.5 million miles (7.2 million km) |
| Class IV | 450,000 miles (724,205 km) | 4.5 million miles (7.2 million km) | 9 million miles (14.5 million km) | 13.5 million miles (21.7 million km) |
| Class V | 750,000 miles (1,207,008 km) | 7.5 million miles (12.1 million km) | 15 million miles (24.1 million km) | 22.5 million miles (36.2 million km) |
| Class VI | 900,000 miles (1,448,410 km) | 9 million miles (14.5 million km) | 18 million miles (29 million km) | 27 million miles (43.5 million km) |
| Class VII | 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) | 15 million miles (24.1 million km) | 25 million miles (40.2 million km) | 40 million miles (64.4 million km) |
| Class VIII | 2 million miles (3.2 million km) | 20 million miles (32.2 million km) | 32 million miles (51.5 million km) | 50 million miles (80.5 million km) |
Weapons are vital to a ship's survival in the harsh realities of space. From pirates to wars, combat is a danger that lurks over most spaceship captains. Most civilian ships have little in the way of weapon systems, often limited to point defense weapons, but military ships are almost always built around the most powerful and most effective weapon systems.
Capital ship weapons is a very broad category of weapons that includes any direct firing weapon that is not considered to be a point defense weapon. There are two normal sizes for capital ship weapons, the heavy anti-capital ship weapons and the normal capital ship weapons. The anti-capital ship weapons are designed to inflict very heavy damage on ships of the same size as the firing ship and will often destroy ships that are smaller then the firing ship. For example, many dreadnoughts are equipped with anti-capital ship weapons that can gut a cruiser in just a few shots and destroy anything smaller then a cruiser with a single well placed shot. Some examples of direct fire weapons includes lasers, rail guns, and plasma cannons. An optional rule to use for energy weapons is for Energy Dissipation, which reduces the damage inflicted by an energy weapon the further it travels away from its source.
Missiles come in many sizes and shapes; there are the low range mini and short range missiles that are designed for point defense, there are the medium range missiles that are designed to destroy enemy fighters and robots, and there are the long range, cruise, and intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to be used against enemy ships. The larger missiles have very long ranges and are perfect for attacking an enemy at very long ranges, generally outside the range of direct fire weapons, but the problem with attacking an enemy at such long distance, is that the enemy has a much greater chance of intercepting and destroying incoming missiles. See Modern Missile Design for more details on how missiles are designed and function.
Points defense weapons are designed to be used against small targets such as enemy power armor, robots, fighters, and missiles. Generally there is nothing to stop these weapons from attacking an enemy ship, but point defense weapons usually have limited range and damage to be much use against another spaceship. Point defense weapons are direct fire weapons and cannot be intercepted before they strike their target. Some examples of direct fire weapons includes lasers, rail guns, and plasma cannons. An optional rule to use for energy weapons is for Energy Dissipation, which reduces the damage inflicted by an energy weapon the further it travels away from its source.