Critical Damage     Next, determine the object's critical damage. This value is equal to twice the object's weight in pounds, or 2 for an item less than 1 pound. For items such as rope or chain, consider its weight to be 1 pound for this rule. Very heavy objects count only 1/4 of their weight above 100 pounds for the purposes of determining critical damage.

    When an attack's drive is sufficient to damage the object, the object tracks the damage just like a character, adding it to any previous damage. However, rather than taking degrees of injury or failures, the object is unaffected until its damage is equal to or greater than critical damage. At this point, the object is disabled, and the attacker's goal achieved - the object is not useful for its normal function, and/or for whatever function it was being used for.

Attack Rolls & Carried Objects     Objects attacked using these rules do not take critical hits, and unattended objects do not make defense rolls. If attacked with a melee weapon, the object must be within engagement distance of the attacker; any DEX roll that would be required to pick up a dropped item is also necessary to attack it.

    Ranged attack rules normally assume a character-sized target. Therefore, when making a ranged attack on a small item of 2 carry slots or less, a character must add 1 Hindrance to the ranged offense roll, or 2 Hindrance for an item of 0 carry slots.

    If the object being attacked is currently being carried by another character (either in inventory or in the hands), it is more difficult to hit, let alone connect with solid damage. When attacking a carried item, the bearer gets a defense roll, just as if the character themselves were attacked. In addition to any normal Abilities and +TNs relevant to defense rolls, the bearer also receives 4 Easing. Any carried item spotted by the attacker can be attacked. Carried items are considered part of the character when resolving precision levels of energy shielding.

    If you attack an item carried by another character with an excessive amount of damage (either melee or ranged), the extra damage may affect the bearer as well. To determine if this is the case, subtract double the object's critical damage from the damage it received from your attack; if any remains, that amount hits the character as well. The damage's drive is unchanged except for energy damage, in which case the drive is still equal to damage. Energy damage that was shielded in the attack against the object does not continue to the character. For an attack involving mixed normal and energy damage, subtract energy damage first. Injury types are Hand/Arm for an item in the hand(s), or Superficial for items carried elsewhere. If the item was carried with two hands, divide injuries as evenly as possible between both hands (roll d2 to resolve an odd number of injuries).

    If the attack on the item was a direct hit with an AoE or an amount of ranged energy damage sufficient to cause overeffect, the carrying character is hit with area damage; if both this damage and excessive damage from the above rule is called for, only the greater amount applies against the character.

    Objects that occupy carry slots, but 0 slots when worn, cannot be attacked when worn. This includes armor, as well as some devices. Attempting to hit these items essentially amounts to a normal attack on the character. Armor attachments may still be targeted, and are affected separately from armor and from each other. Objects that only partially reduce slots when worn can be targeted. Restraints can always be targeted.

    Energy shielding can be used to protect a carried item just as if the attack was against the character. Abilities such as Bolster Adamant (Arcana) may also be valid, if the material of the item is appropriate.

    Volatite-based explosives, as well as all bomb/grenade devices and ranged weapon ammunition, is not detonated by damage; the detonation process is more complex. Taking critical damage will actually prevent them from detonating normally. Gunpowder-based explosives, however, will detonate from any attack that includes heat damage. If the attack was a melee attack, the attacker is subject to the explosive's impact effect, and takes Core Injuries. If the gunpowder explosive was being carried, the bearer also takes impact damage, with injuries selected in the same manner as the excessive damage rules above (and in addition to any damage from those rules). Other characters may be hit by the area effect, with hit chances equivalent to a successful offense roll without caution.

    Explosives that are set to detonate on impact will also detonate upon taking any amount of damage, whether or not the amount would normally disable them. Normally, this is not relevant, as such explosives are only set for impact detonation in the process of being thrown; however, they can be set earlier. This might be done when preparing them to be flung via pseudogravity, or even for the purpose of detonating them via these rules (for example, if a detonator has been lost).

    Barriers more than around 15 feet thick generally cannot be overcome with damage, and require specialized drilling equipment or General Labor process actions.

Effect of Damage     Unlike damage to small objects, damage to barriers is not continually tracked nor added to previous damage. The damage inflicted by the attack is simply compared to the barrier's critical damage to determine what happens.

    At the GM's discretion, inflicting any amount of damage at least equal to critical damage will typically defeat any type of door; the locking mechanisms are too damaged to continue holding the door shut. Alacrian security doors are an exception; treat them as a wall when resolving barrier damage rules.

    For all types of non-door barrier, receiving damage at least equal to critical damage will break a hole in the barrier. Roll 2d6, and double the result for every multiple of critical damage beyond 1 met or exceeded by the received damage (for example, a result of 7 would count as 14 if the damage was double critical, or 28 if triple critical). The resulting value becomes the narrow passage size of the hole opened by the damage. If desired, future attacks against the same barrier can increase the size of the same passage instead of opening a second passage. If the passage's size exceeds 125, discard narrow passage rules; the opening is large enough for all creatures and even for vehicles. Some obstacles may have a maximum passage size regardless of damage - for example, blowing up a security door over a long narrow tunnel will not expand the narrow passage size of the tunnel.

Repairing Objects     Small objects which have taken damage less than their critical damage are still useful for their intended function, thus the damage is easily addressed. Characters can remove such damage to their equipment during the routine upkeep that all adventurers are presumed to perform. Typically, this means that the damage is removed during a 4-hour rest, though the GM might rule that an unusually large quantity of damage will prevent this time from functioning as rest. No resources are required for such repairs.

    Small objects which have been disabled by critical damage are severely broken, and must be repaired in a city for a price equal to 10% of the object's normal value. Alternatively, an equivalent value of repair materials may be expended at a faction base or ship repair bay, if the party has access to such locations. The GM might rule that exceedingly simple and inexpensive objects (such as a sliced rope) might be fixed easily in the field.

    Unless it makes no sense in context (with the cut rope again as an example), small objects which have taken damage at least 5 times their critical damage are irreparably destroyed.

    Damaged barriers which are part of a ship are patched whenever the ship performs repairs. If the ship is otherwise undamaged, its repair crew can mend the barrier without a DCN roll.

    Damaged barriers of any other type are too broad a category to have precise rules for their repair; they are typically General Labor activities with a point goal determined by the GM. Tougher barriers may require materials to be purchased in order to restore them to their full strength.

    Damage caused via the rules in this chapter is different from damage to techs and vehicles, which is addressed in Vehicle & Tech Repair.