I don't like the way PDS are statted. 2 Defense is very weak and at the same time is disproportionately capable. For example, you are at Short range from someone with a PDS and you fire a holdout blaster at them. You have 4 Agility and 5 Ranged (Light), with True Aim 3. You easily pass through the shield pretty much every time. Then you take someone with an HRB, 3 Agility, and 1 Gunnery. There is a decent chance that their shot will be deflected by the shield. On top of that discrepancy, the shield becomes pretty much useless against anything bigger than a small minion group.

Here is my proposed fix:
The PDS still provides 2 Defense as it can still deflect fire*, but the main protection is provided by 1 point of armor, that is added onto the target's Soak. This way, something with Breach becomes significantly more effective against the target as it can now punch through the shied, though a glancing hit might still be deflected. This means that the shield provides good protection to those using it, but it also values damage over skill.

The shield retains the option to run out of power on a Despair result, and there is also the option to disable pieces of equipment on a Triumph/double Triumph, though that should, perhaps, be limited to shots that deal enough damage to get through the shield.

In the first example, the holdout blaster probably won't get through both the shield and the soak (base 5 damage+6 success as a decent roll), while if the HRB gets a square hit, ought to deal a couple wounds past Soak.

*I'm open to dropping this, though.

What do you think?

It doesn't sound broken, however I simply don't like to deviate from the rules. I don't mind that a skilled shooter can bypass someones PDS. Let them have their moment if they spent xp. I imagine a merchant with PDS is safe from common bandits with low skill and a weapon, but would be still in trouble crossing a professional bounty hunter.

1 minute ago, Rimsen said:

It doesn't sound broken, however I simply don't like to deviate from the rules. I don't mind that a skilled shooter can bypass someones PDS. Let them have their moment if they spent xp. I imagine a merchant with PDS is safe from common bandits with low skill and a weapon, but would be still in trouble crossing a professional bounty hunter.

Fair enough. The point is not to make skill irrelevant, just to make it less overwhelmingly relevant. Someone who is very skilled with a Blaster Rifle is still going to be more effective than someone who is only somewhat skilled with a Heavy Blaster Rifle, just because of the greater likelihood to hit and score more net success. I'm just making the power of the weapon more important.

My perception and opinion is that PDS are supposed to be very rare, and very powerful. So like you say, let them have their moment if they spent credits. With a rarity of 8, it'll be very hard to get your hands on and is quite expensive as well.

12 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

Fair enough. The point is not to make skill irrelevant, just to make it less overwhelmingly relevant. Someone who is very skilled with a Blaster Rifle is still going to be more effective than someone who is only somewhat skilled with a Heavy Blaster Rifle, just because of the greater likelihood to hit and score more net success. I'm just making the power of the weapon more important.

My perception and opinion is that PDS are supposed to be very rare, and very powerful. So like you say, let them have their moment if they spent credits. With a rarity of 8, it'll be very hard to get your hands on and is quite expensive as well.

Well player characters are special. I wouldnt use them as a benchmark

Points of defense dis-proportionally affects the least-skilled shooter, regardless of the power of the weapon (Pistol vs HRB). Soak dis-proportionally affects the less powerful weapon, primarily. The quicker fix is to give it 2 Soak, as well. Your 'armor' idea is basically doing just that. The bigger point is whether the shields are there to avoid being hit or to absorb punishment. I say, "to avoid being hit", so defense seems appropriate.

3 minutes ago, DurosSpacer said:

Points of defense dis-proportionally affects the least-skilled shooter, regardless of the power of the weapon (Pistol vs HRB). Soak dis-proportionally affects the less powerful weapon, primarily. The quicker fix is to give it 2 Soak, as well. Your 'armor' idea is basically doing just that.

Right, and that is what I'm trying to fix. The reason I went for a full point of armor is that it seemed like a suitably large number, and is equal to one point of Breach.

3 minutes ago, DurosSpacer said:

The bigger point is whether the shields are there to avoid being hit or to absorb punishment. I say, "to avoid being hit", so defense seems appropriate.

This is where we differ. While I think that PDS should be capable of deflecting fire, I think that their main point is to absorb damage.

On 1/5/2020 at 9:26 PM, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

Right, and that is what I'm trying to fix. The reason I went for a full point of armor is that it seemed like a suitably large number, and is equal to one point of Breach.

This is where we differ. While I think that PDS should be capable of deflecting fire, I think that their main point is to absorb damage.

Energy shields create a bubble around the user, rather than a form-fitting- field, and, as such, just like a hand-held shield, they stop an attack from hitting the user. Even if an attack can penetrate the shield, it might still not hit the user of said shield simply because the angle of said attack might be wrong.

Just now, Tramp Graphics said:

Energy shields create a bubble around the user, rather than a form-fitting- field, and, as such, just like a hand-held shield, they stop an attack from hitting the user. Even if an attack can penetrate the shield, it might still not hit the user of said shield simply because the angle of said attack might be wrong.

Which is why I left the Defense value. Even if a hit from an HRB would easily penetrate the shield, it has to do more than penetrate the shield in order to damage the target. It has to actually hit the target.