[FT] EMP Weapons Recap

So, The discussion is winding down, but we've reached little consensus. We
have a few tweaks to some of the weapons under discussion, but nothing
conclusive. We have people that like damage lists and people that don't. We
have a genre weapon that works well withing the genre, several potential
simple-to-complex threshold mechanics (both chosing how many and which
systems get checked). I feel better able to tweak the stuff I've designed to
get in line with sentiment, but don't want to presume about others'.

In many cases, alot of us will be agreeing to disagree about how these things
actually work. What I'd like, especially from those that have discussed
specific systems (that they've either generated themselves or have a real
interest in) lay out some final ideas i can syntehsize into the WDA entries.

Then we can move on. I think next group will be needle weapons, as the EMP
discussion came close to treading on them anyway, and the yahoo list (which
I haven't yet looked at) seems to be having a to-do with it.

For example, here are my edits to the couple I contributed:

Temporal Distortion Gun:
Added note at the end -  Genre Weapon at best. Too impractical for
normal play.

Scrambler Pulse: Because the Scrambler pulse does not have the aiming problems
of a missile, the effect will be reduced to either:
1) FD-6 on attack. Roll of 4 = threshold at 6, 5= thesh at 5+,
6=threshold
at 4+
2) As MT missile but 3-4 = thresh on 6+, 5-6=thresh on 5+
Most other advantages of a direct fire EMP weapon are mitigated by the limited
range. One other
possible fix is making extra arcs +2 Mass

In message <6B3C0EEAB4FED3119F5F009027DC5E9EA9AE06@spacemsg3.jhuapl.edu>
> "Izenberg, Noam" <Noam.Izenberg@jhuapl.edu> wrote:

> So,

Hmm... as an alternative for the Scrambler Pulse how about this:

Roll 1d6, -1 per full 6 mu of range (max range is still 18 mu), - level
of target's screens.

Consult the MT EMP missile table So, to summarise

Roll ( vs. unscreened)    0-6 mu         6-12 mu       12-18 mu
1-2                     no effect*      no effect     no effect
3                      Threshold (5+)   no effect     no effect
4                      Threshold (5+) Threshold (5+)  no effect
5                      Threshold (4+) Threshold (5+) Threshold (5+)
6                      Threshold (4+) Threshold (4+) Threshold (5+)

* Backwash - firing ship suffers Threshold (6)

Or you could use my alternative EMP table for a slightly reduced effect.

This makes it a quite nasty 'up close & personal' weapon, but with reduced
effects at longer ranges.

It can also be used in a PDS mode - where it has the same effect as a
standard PDS system (question - do you think the heavy fighter bonus
should apply in this case?)