Damage and Damage Classes

Description
Damage resistance comes in two forms, provided in the same way at all scales of combat. Additionally, for those two resistance types, there are two types of damage, for a total of four combinations. Shields, produced by shield generators of all sizes, serve to reduce the energy on an incoming attack, be it kinetic energy or thermal energy, by a static amount. Armour, provided generally by physical plates of metal, provides a percentage reduction to damage, applied after the effects of shields. Both resistance types can apply to both Ballistic damage, generally applied from melee combat and physical bullets, and Energetic damage, applied by thermal attacks, lasers, magnetics, and similar weapons. Often a piece of armour or a shield will work to different degrees on Ballisic damage versus Energetic damage. Additionally, different scales of weapons work differently against armour. At a certain level of damage, weapons excite different failure modes than they did at lower damage, and armour will often suddenly fail to hold up as well against attacks as it did previous. Further details can be explored below.

Class N
Equipment of this class generally falls under the following bounds: Class 1 Weapon Damage (Min - Max): If a weapon's average damage falls within this range, it is this class of weapon. Anti-Armour Weapons Class Modifier: When using a weapon of this class, multiply the armour stat of the defender by this value before calculating any damages. Armour (Typical): Expect to find most typical units of this class with this much armour, but don't rely on it. Shield (Typical): Expect to find most typical units of this class with this much DR, but don't rely on it.

Class 0
Equipment of this class generally falls under the following bounds: Class 0 Weapon Damage (Min - Max): 0 - 49 Anti-Armour Weapons Class Modifier: x1 Armour (Typical): 0 - 25 A Shield (Typical): 0 - 15 DR

Class 1
Equipment of this class generally falls under the following bounds: Class 1 Weapon Damage (Min - Max): 50 - 109 Anti-Armour Weapons Class Modifier: x1/2 Armour (Typical): 20 - 50 A Shield (Typical): 10 - 35 DR

Class 2
Equipment of this class generally falls under the following bounds: Class 2 Weapon Damage (Min - Max): 110 - 349 Anti-Armour Weapons Class Modifier: x1/4 Armour (Typical): 35 - 90 A Shield (Typical): 15 - 50 DR

Class 3
Equipment of this class generally falls under the following bounds: Class 3 Weapon Damage (Min - Max): 350 - 999 Anti-Armour Weapons Class Modifier: x1/8 Armour (Typical): 50 - 160 A Shield (Typical): 20 - 70 DR

Class 4
Equipment of this class generally falls under the following bounds: Class 4 Weapon Damage (Min - Max): 1000+ Anti-Armour Weapons Class Modifier: x1/16 Armour (Typical): 120 - 250 A Shield (Typical): 35 - 100 DR

Examples
-A player is firing a weapon at an enemy. Their weapon, a Class 0 rifle, rolled 40 B damage. The enemy has 11 B-A and 7 B-DR. Thus, the damage that reaches their armour will be 40-7, 33 damage. This, at a 54% percent reduction, means they will take 33 * 0.46 damage, or ~15 damage. A solid hit, but probably not lethal.

-A player is firing a weapon at an escaping ship. Their weapon, a Class 0 rifle, rolled 40 B damage. The enemy has 28 B-A and 15 B-DR. Thus, the damage that reaches their armour will be 40-15, 25 damage. This, at a 98% percent reduction, means they will take 25 * 0.02 damage, or ~1 damage. It hits, but barely by enough to scratch paint!

-A player is firing their ship's weapon at an alien that's about to eat their friend. Their weapon, a Class 1 laser, rolled 95 E damage. The enemy has reflective scales giving them 20 E-A and 10 E-DR. However, they're simply outmatched by the size of the turret, and the alien's armour is cut in half, to an effective 10. Thus, the damage that reaches their armour will be 95-10, 85 damage. This, at a 50% percent reduction, means they will take 85 * 0.5 damage, or ~43 damage. It hits, and would take out all but the most extremely durable enemies!

-A player is at a shop, wondering if the experimental weapon before them could effectively pierce a fighter's hull. It does 13B and 5E damage. Each die is worth 3.5 average damage, so a quick check tells them that 18 * 3.5 = 63, and that they're looking at a staggeringly powerful Class 1 weapon. Let's just hope they can afford it!