Light Shift Screens. A light shift screen (LSS) sets up a light-bending shell around the individual or unit using it. The effects of the shell differ for each type of screen – there is the Blackout Screen (Type I), Displacement Screen (Type II) and the Doppler Screen (Type III) – but their energy consumption and ways to penetrate them are the same.
All light shift screens use SEUs at different rates in different types of lighting. Because of how the emitters are attuned, the wearer is able to see around him without any distortions. LSS screens also provide a measure of protection against laserf ire. One SEU is drained each time the screen absorbs one point of damage.
Visible penetration of the LSS shell is impossible while the device is on, but opponents can detect the wearer in one of several ways. For example, infrared (IR) optics and radar always show the proper heat image and location of an individual using a LSS. Other sensors such as ultraviolet (UV), electromagnetic (EM), etc. can detect the area where a LSS is operating.
Of course, a character can wear defensive suits – such as the Dead Suit – which will block the wearer’s IR signature. The referee could keep in mind different environmental conditions may alter the effectiveness of these screens. For example, if a character with a displacement screen is running across a sandy desert, his image will appear to be one to three meters away from his actual location, but observers may notice the tracks in the sand he is making.
LSS models are rare and expensive. Most civilized worlds forbid their use as they are the preferred devices of criminals, Sathar agents, etc. though the Type II and III screens are often used by a character to draw fire away from themselves and confuse the enemy.
| Light Intensity | SEU/ 10 turns |
| Artificial darkness | ¼ |
| Natural darkness | ½ |
| Dusk, smoke, thick gas, etc. | 1 |
| Average room light, cloudy day, minor smoke, etc. | 1.5 |
| Bright room light, partly sunny day, etc. | 2 |
| Intense artificial light, floodlight, sunny day | 3 |
| High intensity concentrated light, powerlight, close proximity flare, etc. | 4 |
Blackout Screen (Type I LSS). This screen bends all light away from the shell, thus creating a totally black area. This screen is usually used at night or by a character masking his identity. The size of the shell can be adjusted by the wearer to be anywhere from just projecting an aura around him to a sphere that is up to three meters in radius.
If used at night, the wearer not only receives the benefits of soft cover, which provides a -10 percent penalty against attackers, but attackers also receive an additional -10 percent modifier to-hit (for a total penalty of -20 percent to-hit the wearer). If used at dusk or a shadowy environment, the wearer receives soft cover while attackers have an additional -5 percent penalty modifier (a total of -15 percent to hit).
The screen can provide stealth benefits at dusk (-5 percent for an INT check) or night (-10 percent for an INT check) versus opponents who are only relying on their visual senses, but as noted earlier, many sensors will detect the presence of an energy screen.
The size of the screen's shell begins playing a role in an average lit room. If the Blackout Screen is only set as an aura, the character appears as a black silhouette figure to onlookers; the wearer receives no benefit for cover. However, if the screen’s shell is adjusted outward, it will surround the wearer in a sphere of blackness, which will provide the character soft cover.
Another character can enter the area covered by the blackout screen (if it is set to be larger than an aura); such a character can receive the benefits of soft cover from any attacks coming from outside the screen’s shell, but he would suffer a -10 percent penalty in return whether he is attacking a character outside the shell or going after the screen’s wearer.
For example, Ieva the Moog is using a Blackout Screen while trying to infiltrate the perimeter of a Pan Galactic facility at night. In addition to using the screen, he has slipped on a Dead Suit to mask his infrared signature. A security guard patrolling the grounds passes an Intuition check, hearing the rustle of plants as the Moog passes by, but then fails to notice the spy’s black silhouette in the darkness. Yet, as the Moog approaches one of the buildings, a new security robot with electromagnetic sensors detects the outline of the screen and sounds an alarn.
Displacement Screen (Type II LSS.) A displacement screen shifts the wearer’s image away from his actual location to a distance of one to three meters from the wearer’s actual position. This position is set by the user. Opponents receive an initial -20 percent penalty to-hit as if the character had hard cover.
Opponents may make an Intuition check after the two turns of combat to adjust their fire. An attacker can keep making an INT check until it succeeds; when that happens, the displacement screen will only provide the wearer the benefits of soft cover (a -10 percent penalty to the attacker’s to-hit number).
If the defender can duck behind a corner, close a door, etc. he can adjust the direction and distance of the displaced image; this takes 5 turns (30 seconds). The character can still engage in combat and perform other tasks, including activating a different defense shield, but will not receive any benefits from the displacement screen until it is done cycling.
Once the screen is reinitialized, the wearer again receives the benefits of having hard cover. Again, opponents can make an Intuition check after two more turns of combat to adjust their fire, as the process repeats itself.
When a character is taking cover, the benefits of taking cover is only half effective (soft cover willonly provide an additional -5 percent penalty to attackers while hard cover only provides an additional -10 percent modifier),[1]
For example, Hurloop the Dralasite is a Star Law agent and is dodging fire from a HUSP terrorist on the planet of New Pale. Activating his Displacement Screen, Hurloop’s image appears two meters to the left and behind his actual position. The terrorist spends more than four combat turns firing at the wrong target, but then Hurloop accidentally splashes through a muddy puddle. The referee decides that gives the terrorist a +10 percent modifier to his INT check, which he passes and then starts firing at the approximate location of the Dralasite. Instead of having hard cover, Hurloop now receives the benefits for soft cover.
Doppler Screen (Type III LSS). This unit is similar to the Type II LSS but instead ofshifting a single image of the wearer it creates up to five images (at the wearer's option), all exactly the same. The Doppler Screen can create the images in a side-by-side line or front-to-back, with up to one to three meters between each image. Any time the wearer is successfully hit, there is an 50 percent chance that the attack will actually miss.
After four turns of combat, an attacker can make an Intuition check to adjust his fire. An attacker can keep making an INT check until it succeeds; when that happens, the displacement screen will only provide the wearer the benefits of hard cover (a-20 percent penalty to the attacker’s to-hit number).
If the defender can duck behind a corner, close a door, etc. he can adjust the direction and distance of the displaced images; this takes 5 turns (30 seconds). The character can still engage in combat and perform other tasks, including activating a different defense shield, but will not receive any benefits from the Doppler Screen until it is done cycling.
Once reinitialized, the wearer again receives the screen’s full benefits. Again, opponents can make an Intuition check after four more turns of combat to adjust their fire, as the process repeats itself.
When a character is taking cover, the benefits of taking cover is only half effective (soft cover will only provide an additional -5 percent penalty to attackers while hard cover only provides an additional -10 percent modifier),
