Dovin Basal
The dovin basal was in many ways, the secret weapon of the Yuuzhan Vong. A bioengineered creature capable of manipulating gravity fields, the dovin basal serves the same purposes as a whole group of subsystems on a conventional starship or vehicle. The dovin basal serve as insystem propulsion, hyperdrive, shielding, tractor beam, and on larger ships, gravity well projectors. Additionally they are capable of attacking the shields of more conventional craft, an ability used with great effect against New Republic forces during the first half of the war, until countermeasures could be created and adopted.
Later in the war, the dovin basal's weakness became apparent. If pressed into having to serve all of its functions at once, at a high capacity, the dovin basal was subject to fatigue, and could become overwhelmed with its various duties in maneuvering, protecting, and in some cases attacking from the ship.
To emulate the various abilities of the dovin basal, use the following rules:
The Dovin Basal vs. Shields:
As a standard action, the pilot or gunner can make an attack vs. an opposing ships or vehicles shield rating. This reflects the ability of the dovin basal to create black holes that can literally strip shields, . The attack roll is made in the same manner as other attacks. However, the dovin basal does not inflict normal hit point damage. If the dovin basal's damage roll equals or exceeds the target vehicle's SR, reduce the SR by 10. The damage dealt by the ship's dovin basal is dependent on the size of the vehicle or starship. For Colossal or smaller vehicles, the dovin basal deals 7d10 x 2 damage. For Colossal (frigate) sized ships, the dovin basal deals 5d10x5 damage. For Colossal (cruiser) or larger starships, the dovin basal deals 7d10 x 5 damage.
The Dovin Basal as Tractor Beam:
Dovin basals function in all respects in the same manner as a regular tractor beam. See p. 174 of the Star Wars Saga Edition Core Rulebook for the game mechanics and use of tractor beams.
The Dovin Basal as Gravity Well Projector:
Dovin basals, like gravity well projectors (see p. 101, Threats of the Galaxy) can serve as a unique weapon that does not deal damage but instead produces a special effect. Projecting a gravity well is treated like firing a weapon in an area attack; the dovin basal must choose a 3x3-square (starship scale) area within the generator's range and make an attack roll against a Reflex Defense of 10. If successful, the dovin basal creates a hyperspace interdiction field in those target squares. Any starship that starts its turn in a square covered by a hyperspace interdiction field may not activate its hyperdrive on that turn.
Note that with full-round actions and the appropriate feats (Double Attack and Triple Attack), a dovin basal battery can be used for one or more of these purposes at a time. The normal penalties for such multiple attacks apply.
Next up, we'll take a look at a sample Yuuzhan Vong starship.
