Unless one is using the ablative damage rules, Star Frontiers™ does not use a hit location system, but there are two ways in which shield use can be represented in game play including in passive defense and active defense.[1]

Passive Defense. If played as a passive defense, a shield is treated as "cover" if the shield-bearer is attacked. Depending on what the shield is made of, the cover modifier will either be for "hard cover" (-20 percent) or "soft cover" (-10 percent).

The cover modifier is only applied if the defender is aware of the attack and actively using the shield for defense. If the target is aware of the attack and defending itself, then the cover modifier is applied to all incoming attacks except those from behind.

Even if the shield cannot stop a bullet, for instance, it obscures the shooter’s view of the target which may cause a miss. If the attacker misses the to-hit roll by an amount that would have hit the target without the shield's modifier, then roll damage as normal and apply that damage to the shield itself.

Example: An attacker needs a 60 percent or less to hit an enemy with a shot from his gyrojet pistol. His to-hit humber becomes 40 after applying the “hard cover”     -20 percent modifier for the defender’s riot shield.

The attacker rolls a 54, which would have hit if the shield had not been used. This means the shot was caught by the shield and it will take damage. The attacker rolls 2d10 and gets a 20 damage result; half of that damage – 10 points – is applied to the shield. Since the riot shield only has 10 pointshit points, it is shattered and useless.

Active Defense. If shields are treated as an active defense, they are used by characters to block attacks directly and can only be used to defend against melee or archaic missile weapons. The shield will only absorb damage if used to successfully block an attack.

A block is successful if the defender rolls below half of his Reaction Speed score. If the shield user is fired upon by missile weapons, the shield will block an attack only if the user rolls under one-tenth of his Reaction Speed score (if successful, the user is able to anticipate the general area of the incoming fire or is simply lucky).

Note that if a shield is used to block an attack by a melee weapon which causes damage by electricity (such as a stunstick or electric sword) a block will have no effect, as the electrical damage will pass right through the shield into the defender.

Costs. If the price is in parentheses this represents the cost on Frontier worlds to buy shields from specialty craftsmen. Since archaic shields are not widely available and must be specially ordered, they are priced accordingly.

Riot Shield.Type: Inertia. Points of Defense: 10. Cover Type: Hard. Mass: 2.5 kilograms. Cost: 50 Credits. Effects: Reduces damage from melee, projectile and gyrojet weapons by half.

Shield (soft). Type: Archaic Inertia. Points of Defense: 5. Cover Type: Soft. Mass: 2.5 kilograms. Cost: (20-50 Credits). Effects: Reduces damage from melee and archaic missile weapons by one-forth. Soft shields may be made by a character who has the “Making Tools/Weapons” environmental subskill if the right materials (wood, leather, etc.) can be found.

Shield (hard). Type: Archaic Inertia. Points of Defense: 10. Cover Type: Hard. Mass: 5 kilograms. Cost: (50-100 Credits). Effects: Reduces damage from melee and archaic missile weapons by half; reduces all other inertia damage byone-fourth.