Post by Rodimus Prime on May 10, 2008 17:34:18 GMT -5
We'd like to make a few notes on EMP. We didn't clarify these before, but that's because we had made the mistake of assuming everyone was already on the same page about it. We apologize for the assumption, and are now putting out the following clarifications.
You will recall that in the 2k7 movie, Blackout is never seen using his EMP attack against other Transformers. One explanation for this (and the explanation we are assuming on Deadzone) is that Transformers (or at least military-grade Transformers) are hardened against EMP. It is difficult to believe that in the millions of years they've been fighting (depending on continuity), no one's come up with a way to create a machine that's EMP resistant, especially since human beings already have multiple methods of doing so (methods that tend to get overlooked in flashy movies because they're Not Awesome and, in fact, generally pretty mundane). When approving Blackout, we were not intending to approve a character with an undodgable auto-win weapon usable every round to every other round. Again, back to the fact that he never uses it on other Transformers.
This does not mean that EMP is completely useless on other Transformers, but its effects are minimized and vary from Transformer to Transformer. Some might be affected not at all, others might be stunned for a round or more. We're leaving that up to the players who are put in that situation and what they think is the most fun at the moment. What EMP is more useful against is non-Cybertronian technology, and don't worry: there will be plenty of opportunities to use it in that way.
Now, there are other more reliable stun effects in the Transformer reality, such as Starscream's Null Ray or Needlenose's Zigzag, but to app one you're better off either coming up with an appropriately TF technobabble name for it or just calling it a 'stun' effect. However, stun effects that work reliably against everyone they hit are grounds for getting a character classified as "high power," as they are considered one-hit-win weapons. Being unable to respond for even a few seconds in the course of the battle can easily spell defeat, make it for longer and things go from 'easily' to 'certainly.'
A final note needs to be made of the use of EMP in Transformers: Animated. First off, please note that by the end of the episode the 'EMP pulse' was more slowing down the Dinobots than taking them out of the fight, but second, it's rather difficult to make inferences from that usage that would apply to all Transformer realities because the way it worked in that episode really says more about how wonky Transformers: Animated physics are than anything else. They appear to be giving G1 a run for its money in the wacky physics department. At least no one's driven to Africa yet.
You will recall that in the 2k7 movie, Blackout is never seen using his EMP attack against other Transformers. One explanation for this (and the explanation we are assuming on Deadzone) is that Transformers (or at least military-grade Transformers) are hardened against EMP. It is difficult to believe that in the millions of years they've been fighting (depending on continuity), no one's come up with a way to create a machine that's EMP resistant, especially since human beings already have multiple methods of doing so (methods that tend to get overlooked in flashy movies because they're Not Awesome and, in fact, generally pretty mundane). When approving Blackout, we were not intending to approve a character with an undodgable auto-win weapon usable every round to every other round. Again, back to the fact that he never uses it on other Transformers.
This does not mean that EMP is completely useless on other Transformers, but its effects are minimized and vary from Transformer to Transformer. Some might be affected not at all, others might be stunned for a round or more. We're leaving that up to the players who are put in that situation and what they think is the most fun at the moment. What EMP is more useful against is non-Cybertronian technology, and don't worry: there will be plenty of opportunities to use it in that way.
Now, there are other more reliable stun effects in the Transformer reality, such as Starscream's Null Ray or Needlenose's Zigzag, but to app one you're better off either coming up with an appropriately TF technobabble name for it or just calling it a 'stun' effect. However, stun effects that work reliably against everyone they hit are grounds for getting a character classified as "high power," as they are considered one-hit-win weapons. Being unable to respond for even a few seconds in the course of the battle can easily spell defeat, make it for longer and things go from 'easily' to 'certainly.'
A final note needs to be made of the use of EMP in Transformers: Animated. First off, please note that by the end of the episode the 'EMP pulse' was more slowing down the Dinobots than taking them out of the fight, but second, it's rather difficult to make inferences from that usage that would apply to all Transformer realities because the way it worked in that episode really says more about how wonky Transformers: Animated physics are than anything else. They appear to be giving G1 a run for its money in the wacky physics department. At least no one's driven to Africa yet.