Build:Warp Engines
7.1 Warp Engines
(Also known as: M/AMI, M/ARA, intermix chamber or warp core)
(Required on most FTL vessels)
Cost: Varies
Power Generation: Varies (see table)
Available: 2063
Ref: Ship Recognition Manual v4, p 12; Spacedock, p 40
As discussed previously, the warp engine provides power to the ship. The accompanying table indicates the classes of warp engines available, as well as their base SU cost.
The base SU cost listed in the table indicates the SU cost for the lowest figure in the “Power Generated” column—for example, 350 Power for a Class 7/M engine. For each +10 Power (or fraction thereof) beyond that, the engine costs an additional +1 SU. Thus, a top-of-the-line Class 7/M engine, which generates 399 Power per round, costs 85 SUs. (For the Class 1/A engine, add +1 SU per +20 Power [or fraction thereof].)
Table
| Warp Engine Type | Base SU | Power | Year |
| Mark I | 20 | 10 - 49 | 2063 |
| Mark II | 30 | 50 - 99 | 2091 |
| Mark III | 40 | 100 - 149 | 2148 |
| Mark IV | 50 | 150 - 199 | 2215 |
| Mark V | 60 | 200 - 249 | 2226 |
| Mark VI | 70 | 250 - 299 | 2245 |
| Mark VII | 80 | 300 - 349 | 2270 |
| Mark VIII | 90 | 350 - 399 | 2284 |
| Mark IX | 100 | 400 - 449 | 2292 |
| Class 1/A | 20 | 10 - 99 | 2313 |
| Class 2/B | 30 | 100 - 149 | 2313 |
| Class 3/E | 40 | 150 - 199 | 2313 |
| Class 4/G | 50 | 200 - 249 | 2313 |
| Class 5/H | 60 | 250 - 299 | 2313 |
| Class 6/K | 70 | 300 - 349 | 2313 |
| Class 7/M | 80 | 350 - 399 | 2313 |
| Class 8/N | 90 | 400 - 449 | 2313 |
| Class 9/O | 100 | 450 - 499 | 2326 |
| Class 10/P | 110 | 500 - 549 | 2339 |
| Class 11/Q | 120 | 550 - 599 | 2352 |
| Class 12/R | 130 | 600 - 649 | 2365 |
| Class 13/S | 140 | 650 - 699 | 2378 |
7.1.1 Romulan Warp Core Ejection System
Cost: 1 x Size
Power Requirement: none
Unlike Star Fleet vessels, which eject their damaged warp cores ventrally to get them as far away from the ship as possible, Romulan ships eject theirs in a dorsal forward arc—to use them as a weapon. The Romulans believe that if a ship reaches the point where it’s so badly damaged it must eject its warp core, it’s probably too badly damaged to salvage or save, so it should make one last, devastating strike against the enemy.
When ejected, a Romulan warp core travels up to 200 kilometers forward of the ship per round. An appropriate officer—typically the Tactical Officer or Chief Engineer—must make a Moderate (8) Shipboard Systems (Tactical) Test to hit the target. Since the explosion of the warp core causes damage to ships over a 3 MU radius (see Spacedock, pages 93-94), the character need not make a direct hit to damage the target. But if he does score a hit, increase the damage caused to the target by the explosion by 50%.
Romulan ships with AQSDs can use this weapon to eject their engine cores.
7.2 Romulan Artificial Quantum Singularity Drive
Cost: Varies
Power Generation: Varies (see table)
Available: 2348
During the late 2340s and early 2350s, the Romulans began scaling back their development of matter/antimatter warp drives in favor of developing a more powerful, albeit potentially more dangerous, energy source: the artificial quantum singularity drive (AQSD). As described on page 68 of Book One of the Way of D’era boxed set, an AQSD functions by creating a collapsar—a collapsed star, a singularity—and containing it within a subspace containment field (so that the ship can move despite the singularity’s mass). While this type of engine generates enormous amounts of power with comparatively little fuel, it carries with it a significant risk: the user can never turn it off, or else the containment fields holding the singularity release it, causing a black hole to form instantly. For this reason, the Romulans build their AQSDs to be extremely sturdy and difficult to damage. Even when, as in the Dominion War, a Romulan ship becomes so badly damaged that the Empire cannot salvage and repair it, the safety features on its AQSD usually maintain power to the containment field.
In most other respects, an AQSD functions similarly to a warp drive. It contains a segment, the engine core, that the ship can eject to save the rest of the drive if its containment fields are in danger of collapsing.
The system has a battery capable of supplying this power for up to a year, and it can recharge itself via solar energy or many other methods. (The Romulans use the battery for emergencies only; even in desperate combat situations they keep providing power to the AQSD every round.) If an attack or event destroys an AQSD, or disrupts the power to its containment field, the battery activates immediately. If something (for example, sabotage) prevents the battery from activating, the artificial quantum singularity immediately becomes a real black hole, destroying the Romulan ship (through either gravity or the creation of Hawking radiation) and affecting nearby vessels as if a total catastrophic failure of a warp core had occurred (Spacedock, page 93). Thereafter a black hole exists where the ship was destroyed, assuming there’s sufficient matter nearby to feed it; otherwise it may vanish quickly. (See Spacedock, page 174, for rules on black holes, a.k.a. quantum singularities.)
Many Romulan ships continue to use standard matter/antimatter warp drives, for safety and technical reasons. They buy these using the normal Spacedock rules. Vessels with AQSDs use standard nacelles, PISs, and upgrades thereto (see Spacedock, page 35 et seq.).
Ships of Size 4 and smaller cannot have AQSDs; the mass of the drive is too large for it to function efficiently aboard such vessels.
Romulan ships with AQSDs can use the Romulan Warp Core Ejection System (above) to eject their engine cores.
Table
| Type | SU | Power | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type I | 45 | 50-149 | 2348 |
| Type II | 60 | 150-249 | 2350 |
| Type III | 75 | 250-349 | 2350 |
| Type IV | 90 | 350-449 | 2354 |
| Type V | 105 | 450-549 | 2359 |
| Type VI | 120 | 550-649 | 2371 |
| Type VII | 135 | 650-749 | 2376 |
| Type VIII | 150 | 750-849 | 2379 |