Having just gotten my hands on the B5 RPG books, I've been studying them in preparation for a campaign I've had rattling around in my head for years. But I have a question regarding Beam Weapons in starship combat.
(I apologize for Americanized spelling, but that's where I'm from.)
The rules state that a Beam XdX weapon does the listed armor damage in addition to normal damage whenever it hits.
So, if a laser weapon that has an offense of 40 and Beam 2d6 hits a ship with 30 armor, you apply the normal offense, dealing a total of 10 damage to the ship, then roll 2d6 getting, for instance, 10, and then the target ship's armor is reduced to 20 until it is repaired or another beam weapon hits it, further reducing the armor? Or do you apply the beam's damage first, reducing the armor to 20 and thus scoring 20 points of damage against the ship, instead of 10? Do beam weapons really permanently reduce a ship's armor rating?
Likewise, if we take an Omega Destroyer's twin-linked lasers, which are listed as Beam 2d6, is this 2d6 per beam, or a total of 2d6 for the whole weapons system? I'm inclined to think the latter, since that seems to be how the rules for linked weapons systems work, but the beam rules are nebulous enough I'm not sure, and know my players will argue interpretations.
Thank you for your time.
(I apologize for Americanized spelling, but that's where I'm from.)
The rules state that a Beam XdX weapon does the listed armor damage in addition to normal damage whenever it hits.
So, if a laser weapon that has an offense of 40 and Beam 2d6 hits a ship with 30 armor, you apply the normal offense, dealing a total of 10 damage to the ship, then roll 2d6 getting, for instance, 10, and then the target ship's armor is reduced to 20 until it is repaired or another beam weapon hits it, further reducing the armor? Or do you apply the beam's damage first, reducing the armor to 20 and thus scoring 20 points of damage against the ship, instead of 10? Do beam weapons really permanently reduce a ship's armor rating?
Likewise, if we take an Omega Destroyer's twin-linked lasers, which are listed as Beam 2d6, is this 2d6 per beam, or a total of 2d6 for the whole weapons system? I'm inclined to think the latter, since that seems to be how the rules for linked weapons systems work, but the beam rules are nebulous enough I'm not sure, and know my players will argue interpretations.
Thank you for your time.
