Phaser Modes

Phaser stands for PHASed Energy Rectification.

Setting   Setting Name   Charges Used   Notes
1 Light Stun 1 Stun a human for 5 minutes
2 Medium Stun 2 Stun a human for 15 minutes, or a Klingon for 5 minutes
3 Heavy Stun 3 Stun a human for 1 hour, or a Klingon for 15 minutes
4 Light Thermal 5 Cut a 1 meter hole in 10 centimeters of wood in 3 minutes
5 Heavy Thermal 8 Cut a 1 meter hole in 10 centimeters of steel in 3 minutes
6 Light Disrupt A 12 Cut a 1 meter hole in 10 centimeters of steel or rock in 30 seconds
7 Light Disrupt B / Kill   15 Kill a humanoid or Cut a 1 meter hole in a duraminum bulkhead in 10 minutes
8 Light Disrupt C 20 Vaporize a humanoid
9 Light Disrupt D 30 Vaporize resilient alloys (beam ricochets possible)
10 Heavy Disrupt A 40 Vaporize any substance (energy rebound prior to vaporization is commmon)
11 Heavy Disrupt B 50 Explode 10 cubic meters of rock into glowing rubble
12 Heavy Disrupt C 60 Explode 50 cubic meters of rock into glowing rubble
13 Heavy Disrupt D 70 Explode 100 cubic meters of rock into glowing rubble
14 Heavy Disrupt E 80 Explode 160 cubic meters of rock into glowing rubble
15 Heavy Disrupt F 90 Explode 400 cubic meters of rock into glowing rubble
16 Heavy Disrupt G 100 Explode 600 cubic meters of rock into glowing rubble

Note: A standard Type I (small hand) phaser has 160 charges.
Note: A standard Type II (hand) phaser has 1000 charges.
Note: A standard Type III phaser (rifle) has 1500 charges.

Built in safety features: All phasers contain a subspace transceiver which allows the ship/starbase's computer to monitor usage. This also limits all phasers on board to setting 3 (Heavy Stun) or below without special authorization from the command staff. If desired, the firing button can be set to the user's bioelectric field so that only the unit's designated user can fire it. However, skilled tampering can sometimes remove these safety interlocks.

Standard Beam Mode
The standard beam is the default setting for a phaser. It's effects and the charges used are noted in the chart above.

Pulse Mode
A phaser pulse does more damage than other settings, but at the cost of two extra charges of energy.

Continuous Beam Mode
The continuous beam mode provides greater accuracy but continously draws charges of energy even if not doing anything useful.

Wide Beam Mode
The width of the beam of a phaser can be varied from its normal configuration to a special wide-beam mode. When used on wide-beam setting phasers only have a range of 10 meters, but the beam affects everything in a wedge up to 8 meters wide. Using a phaser on wide beam takes three times as many charges as using it on the standard setting. Also, because of the extremely high-power densities in wide beam use, it can only be used on settings 1-6.

Narrow Beam Mode
The width of the beam of a phaser can be varied from its normal configuration to a special narrow-beam mode. When used on narrow-beam setting phasers are basically worthless as weapons, but the beam can be used as a precision tool. Using a phaser on narrow beam takes one third as many charges as using it on the standard setting. Also, because of the extremely low-power densities in narrow beam use, it cannot generate enough power at once to be used on any settings other than 1-5.

Extra Information: Phasers are the standard weapons used by the Federation and its allies. Phasers produce beams of rapid nadions (highly energetic, short-lived subatomic particles). These particles can produce a bioelectric shock which will stun most targets. At moderate settings, the beam heats the targets. At the higher settings, this heating is replaced by large-scale subatomic disruption which can cause moderate-sized objects to vaporize and larger ones to explode.

In addition to being powerful weapons, phasers are useful tools. On narrow beam setting, a phaser can be used as a cutting tool. On standard beam, a phaser can be used to heat rock. On wide beam, a phaser can clear away obstacles like ice, snow, or vegetation.

The energy in phasers is stored in sarium krellide cells (power cells). Phasers can be recharged by plugging them into the standard power taps of a ship/station's electroplasma system, or by attaching them to portable buil sarium krellide units (which are kindof like small portable generators). It takes approximately one minute to restore ten charges' worth of a phaser's energy.