Star Trek Starship Missile Weapons

Missile Weapons

Weight: 50 + (Spread divided by two, round down, times ten) for basic launchers; 100 + (Spread divided by two, round down, times ten) for advanced launchers

In addition to beam weapons, most ships carry at least one missile weapon - the torpedo launcher. Though many different types of torpedoes, such as photon, plasma, quantum, and gravimetric, are used, the launchers themselves are basically the same from one ship to another. They typically consist of tubes about 30 meters long made of tritanium, sarium farnide and similar materials. Sequential field induction coils and launch assist gas generators provide power to fire the torpedo.

One important difference between different torpedo launchers is the spread they can fire, meaning the number of torpedoes a launcher can fire in one round (either at a time, or more multifire bursts). Most launchers are limited to one to five torpedoes in a spread; advanced models can fire spreads of up to 10 or more torpedoes or more. (As of 2376, the maximum Spread is 12.)

The standard Starfleet torpedo launcher - type used to launch Type II photon torpedoes or Mark I quantum torpedoes - costs a base weight of 50 metric tons plus its Spread divided by 2 (round down) times 10. Thus, a launcher with a Spread of 10 costs 100 metric tons; one with a spread of 1 costs 50 metric tons; one with a Spread of 7 costs 80 metric tons.

For high-yield torpedoes, such as the Type VI photon torpedo, a special type of launcher is required (the normal launcher cannot fire them at the high-yield level). It costs a base of 100 metric tons, plus its Spread. Thus, a launcher to fire ten Type VI torpedoes costs 200 metric tons.

The standard Ranges for most torpedoes are Space: 1-150/500/1,750, Atmosphere 2-300/1,000/3,500 km. however, recent advances by Starfleet (and perhaps other powers) have increased the fuel tank size of the individual torpedo, extending the range of the missile to Space: 1-175/750/2,025, Atmosphere 2-350/1,500/4,050 km. (See individual ship descriptions for which type of torpedo is carried; switching from one to the other, or from one type of torpedo to another, does not change the weight cost of torpedoes or launchers). For every 1 Space beyond Long range increase the Difficulty to hit the target by +2.

To determine the accuracy of the torpedo launcher, buy a Torpedo Targeting System. This is the same as an Auto-Phaser Interlock or a Disruptor Targeting System (depending upon what type of beam weapons the ship uses) in terms of weight cost and effect, and applies to a single torpedo launcher. Torpedo launchers must also buy a 541+ degree firing arc (50 metric tons), to reflect the self-guided nature of torpedoes.

High-Yield Torpedoes

Generally, because all photon and quantum torpedoes use the same casing, one system or payload can easily be swapped out for another if necessary.

Some types of high-yield torpedoes suffer from certain firing restrictions even though they use the same casing as basic torpedoes. They may be fired at an effect equal to a Type II photon or a Mark I quantum torpedo, as appropriate, from a basic torpedo launcher. To fire them at their full effect, a ship must meet the following requirements:

It must fire them from a high-yield torpedo launcher
It must have a crewmember spend one hour and make a Difficult (18) Capital Ship Weapons Repair test to convert the torpedo to high-yield status. Combined tests may reduce this time, but the minimum time required is 10 minutes. For game balance reasons, ships are not allowed to prepare high-yield torpedoes substantially in advance of a potential combat situation (i.e., to carry them around, ready to fire at full yield, for days or weeks) without the GM's permission.
It can only fire one high-yield torpedo per launcher per round, regardless of the launchers Spread Rating.

Explosive Yield

If necessary, a torpedo can be set to explode and do its normal damage over a blast radius of 2 Space, with a drop off of 2 pips per 0.5 Space beyond that. Properly configuring the torpedo to work this way requires a Difficult (18) Capital Ship Weapons Repair Test. Failure indicates the torpedo is a dud and does not explode at all; Dramatic failure that the torpedo explodes in the launching tube, damaging the ship which launched it (only Hull applies to reduce this damage).

Photon Torpedoes
Quantum Torpedoes
Plasma Torpedoes
Pulse Wave Torpedoes
Statospheric Torpedoes
Gravimetric Torpedoes
Chroniton Torpedoes
Microtorpedoes
Tricobalt Devices
Chemical Rockets
Mines

Torpedo Storage