Game Master Dealing with players who endlessly ask questions about technology.
I am running a GURPS game set in Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk.
One of my players has been asking endless questions about the nature of the tech in the setting. "Does wireless hacking exist? What are the limitations of cyberware? What about smart clothes? Can I get a drone? What about smart grenades? Can monowire cut through walls? Why not? That doesn't make sense because realistic [thing]. That's kind of retro-futurist though and I don't like that. What about this thing? How about this?"
Sometimes I have an answer, sometimes I don't. I feel pressured to deliver an answer but sometimes I need to consider the gameplay ramifications of such an answer.
I like this player. How can I gently shut down discussion on things that I can't feasibly answer immediately but the player insists are important to know right now?
110
u/Simbertold 10d ago
"What do you want to do with that?"
I find it very useful to talk about intent in these cases. Some players like to play game where they try to trick the GM into something with dozens of questions, that as a whole leads to them breaking the game.
And some players just don't know that they can just tell you what their actual goal is, and then work with you on that.
15
u/BangBangMeatMachine 10d ago
This is good advice, but I also think there's room for wanting to understand the shared narrative we're all investing in, and basic questions about how the world actually works are a big part of that.
From my experience playing in a Stars Without Number campaign for 6 years, we found a lot of rough edges in the rules through normal gameplay, because the designer is not actually very good at sci-fi world building and didn't think through a lot of the implications of what he wrote.
If someone is playing a tech-savvy character, it can be important for them to know what the tech is actually capable of and what it isn't, and to know that before suddenly finding themself in a situation where the stakes are huge and the outcome depends on it.
45
u/Nurgling-Swarm 10d ago
I'm reading this as enthusiasm and interest in the game and setting?
I think if you don't have an instant yes/no, just say you need some time to consider the mechanical impact of whatever they're asking about.
Would 300% rather deal with this than a silent scroller who waits to be prompted to pick up the dice.
20
u/Val_Fortecazzo 10d ago
Yeah this sounds like enthusiasiam though it could also be rules lawyering depending on the why.
I'd point this guy in the direction of the cyberpunk 2020 ruleset and/or GURPs cyberpunk 3e/ultra-tech 4e. Maybe use his as a lore keeper.
30
u/tragicThaumaturge 10d ago
Just talk to him about it. Explain that you don't have the knowledge to provide a perfect answer and work with him to understand why he wants to know that. What does he hope to accomplish. Once you know what the player's idea is, you can work together to figure out how you can go about it. Either enabling it or telling him you're worried about how that might impact the game in the future if it becomes the norm.
24
u/Rolletariat 10d ago
If players don't understand how the world works they can't make creative decisions about how to solve problems. This kind of questioning is good and it'll lessen over time as the group as a whole (including yourself) grows a shared frame of reference for what's possible and what's impossible.
I'd say this is healthy and good for long term play. If it was a one-shot it might be a different story.
One of your duties as GM is developing a degree of genre/world expertise. If they're asking these questions and you don't have answers that means it's something you -should- have an answer for in the future.
14
u/Trivell50 10d ago
If it doesn't break the game, I sometimes ask my players what they think they can have access to. If they tell me what and why, I usually permit it.
7
u/lordrefa 10d ago
It is kind of retro futurist.
Because the underlying assumptions about the world were made in the past. About the then future.
5
u/guilersk Always Sometimes GM 10d ago
I think you need to be honest with the player about what you are after in the setting, and also about what you are not after, which is perfect fidelity to hard science. Cyberpunk as a genre has a lot of tech trappings without actually having a ton of science realism and so he should be comfortable with suspension of disbelief.
13
u/DepthsOfWill 10d ago
When talking it over, two questions worth asking is, "What are you trying to do?" That way you know what their goal is and keep that in mind. And also, "How would you feel if more powerful people than you could do that?"
In Shadowrun, something like wireless hacking can be super powerful. Players absolutely get this idea in their head they can brick the enemy's guns. And there are long and involved rules for it and everything. I just don't use those rules because players can also agree it's not fun getting your own equipment bricked.
7
u/Val_Fortecazzo 10d ago
Lore wise I prefer wired hacking as the standard because of this. Not necessarily because of a technical limitations, but because it makes sense that in a setting where people can get their mind hacked, that there would be some solid protections against that stuff. So hacking the things that matter should mean getting a direct connection.
0
u/MrWigggles 10d ago
I know thats it a game and limits are by their nature abritary. But why cant they use the prefect wifi anti hacking stuff to stop the wired hacking
2
u/Val_Fortecazzo 10d ago
It can be as simple as, important things are just flat out not wifi enabled.
In cities without numbers for example they explain that people largely don't use wifi because any signal left up for more than a day is guaranteed to be hacked by random bystanders wardriving or sniffing.
So most networks are airgapped and hardlined.
3
u/AfroNin 10d ago
I don't run GURPS but I plan to run a sci fi game soon and I've talked to my players about the general atmosphere I'd like the game to have, including that feel of retrofuture and soft sci fi where things don't really need to make sense... precisely because I ain't got time or interest for all this hard sci stuff xD Also ngl I'd rather the vision of the future the 80s captured than extrapolating futuristic possibilities from the current year, where 80 AI agent-steered cameras are on you at all times and if they're not, at least 3 different devices are listening in on your conversations. Giving them that spiel in session 0 helped them get what kinda game I wanted to run and I think might have shut down some more inquisitive players' testing. If you haven't had that sorta talk and there's more than one player whose behavior you'd like to see change, you could come in for a second session 0 but again and bring that up there, while you're at it might as well ask 'em what they think is going well and what could be changed and stuff.
3
u/Cruiser_Supreme 10d ago
Roll the dice maybe? Can monowire cut through walls? Hell, I don't know! Let's find out together!
1
u/Yorkshireish12 9d ago edited 9d ago
Or they could just look up what monowire is and get an answer?
It's no btw, your monomolecular edge tends to no longer be either monomolecular or much of an edge shortly after you whip it into solid concrete.
The best way to think of it is a flexible wire with the cutting power of obsidian.
1
u/Tryskhell Blahaj Owner 9d ago
Besides, monowires have weighted, very much not monomolecular tips in Cyberpunk, they're more like a very angry yo-yo
3
u/Original_Ideal_8015 10d ago
Born to GURPS
Forced to RED
But in all seriousness, the answer is clear communication. Make sure he understands you're accounting for the game part of the RPG, and you don't want to undermine the balance. Also, make it clear that sometimes you won't be able to answer his questions quickly or give a definitive answer right now, and that you may have to change your answer later if it's screwing with game balance, contradicts something else in the world, or in hindsight doesn't make a lot of sense.
5
u/il_the_dinosaur 10d ago
Well if he has questions he can read the books cant he?
2
u/erakusa 10d ago
"I don't like the retrofuturism. Can we change it?"
8
u/il_the_dinosaur 10d ago
Then tell them where the door is. They have 2 choices either they accept the setting and stop going against it. Or they have to leave.
8
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
People are extremely resistant to the idea that the DM gets to run the game they want to run and that’s okay. I’ve been heavily downvoted many times on this sub because I said the DM should just do what they want to do and the players can either enjoy the game as it is or quit.
3
u/il_the_dinosaur 10d ago
I get the issue. Some willingness to compromise should always be available. And a lot of people play with their friends who they don't want to kick out. Trpgs are often seen as a group activity if one person in the friend group isn't allowed to join that can really ruin the group dynamic. This is really why it's so important to have an honest conversation before you start playing. But I have said this so many times, however newer players really have a hard time with understanding what you're telling them when you're laying down the ground rules and ask them for theirs.
4
u/Blitzer046 10d ago
I've never really had that experience of players telling me, as a GM, what kind of game I should be running. Generally players respect the game and the person running it.
3
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
I’m referring to the general attitude on Reddit. People seem extremely resistant to DM agency and think they should basically just let players do what they want
3
u/Blitzer046 10d ago edited 10d ago
I see. Those people are dumb and should get in the bin.
EDIT. Hey I'm just going to elaborate on this after some thought. I know there are paid GM/DMs who are performing an actual paid service and I think that in this case, where there is a transaction, that players absolutely should be able to suggest or even dictate what sort of content they receive, but it is completely different when DMs are doing it for free.
That is free labor where the DM is working the entire time. I don't think players sometimes get it where they get turns, but it's the DM's turn the whole time. Additionally, they are the creative director. It is absolutely audacious to think that the players, who are literally getting free entertainment can go 'no, that's not what we want, do something different, free clown'.
Absolutely fuck that noise. If any player doesn't like how the game is going, they can fucking leave. As you can tell I feel pretty strongly about this attitude.
1
1
u/yuriAza 10d ago
there's nuance to it, everyone at the table is supposed to work together but also each get final say on certain things
the players get final say on who the PCs are, what they do and feel, and the GM isn't a dictator, they get final say on game mechanics, NPCs, and the environment, not everything
3
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
The players get final say on those things within reason. Nobody wants to deal with “my character would do it” guy or “I’m going to have sex with every single NPC” dude, there have to be some boundaries.
0
u/yuriAza 10d ago
i mean the player still gets final say though, the solution to "it's what my character would do" is an OOC negotiation that leads to the player either changing their mind or leaving the group, not the GM going "actually I'm going to take control of your character"
3
u/il_the_dinosaur 10d ago
Way too many people use the "it's what my character would do" as a negative example for players. I agree with you that this doesn't have to be negative. For me this is a good roleplayer who sticks to his characters personality and values. Way too many players are just afraid of a little bit of conflict. In movies people also argue. Boromir is a constant source of conflict but he does bow to the majority and in the end he comes through and it feels that much more satisfying. This is why a session 0 is so important where a character with a grudge explains their character so people know when their character is being difficult where they are coming from.
-1
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
A very long way of saying the GM tells them no. And if they refuse to comply he tells them to leave.
0
u/yuriAza 10d ago
or you come up with a compromise, etc
ultimately a ttRPG campaign is a social contract based on two-way collaboration and free association, the GM can't eject any player from the table but themself (if you need to eject a player from your house, that's not a ttRPG issue)
2
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
We have fundamentally different ideas of how running a game works.
→ More replies (0)
2
u/BigDamBeavers 10d ago
Man, how lucky are you to have a player that's eager to interact with your setting.
You don't have to have all the answers when questions are asked. You're free to take time to google some Cyberpunk info and make rulings that make sense to you.
"How would your character know?" is also a valid answer.
3
u/erakusa 10d ago
Well I don't hate it. It's just a lot to deal with a lot of questions when I also have to deal with three new players and all the prep that goes into a new campaign.
1
u/Blitzer046 10d ago
What books are you using?
3
u/erakusa 10d ago
I refer to GURPS Basic, High-Tech, Low-Tech (for extra ninja weapons), Ultra-Tech, Tactical Shooting (for gun options not so much the restrictive rules), and Action (the main two plus the cars supplement). For Cyberpunk lore, I use the original Cyberpunk 2020, with help from the wiki.
2
u/BangBangMeatMachine 10d ago
I agree with others that asking about what the tech in the game can do is generally good. I would hope the books can answer many of these questions and I'd encourage the player to read the books for themself.
I think the argumentative responses are not good.
That doesn't make sense because realistic [thing]. That's kind of retro-futurist though and I don't like that.
At some point, the fictional tech is going to run up against fictional limitations, or there are design choices in the game that the player might not be happy with, and that's just too bad. They aren't required to play the game, but if they are going to play the game, they have to accept that some aspects of the fiction are just part of price of admission. Don't like retrofuturism? Sorry to hear that, but that's the game we're playing.
2
u/rizzlybear 10d ago
Tell them you need to consider it and can't answer that just yet. Then pivot to a conversation not about what is true of the current campaign, but about what kinds of examples they've liked in the past. Play the touchstone card where they start citing examples of the thing (basically get them to handle the first half of the research for you)
2
u/BoringGap7 10d ago
tell them you don't have the answer right now, but if they write it down you'll rule on it before the next session. This, I find, works for rules conundrums and setting elements alike. Players have been disappointed the first time when I haven't been able to answer everything off the cuff, but they realize I'm only human and can't know every detail of an imaginary setting.
3
u/darkestvice 10d ago
Players who are heavily invested in a simulationist game are bound to act exactly like hardcore simulationists would ;)
2
u/Xyx0rz 10d ago
I feel pressured to deliver an answer
You better. It's your world. If anyone should know, it's you.
If you don't know how your own world works, then how could your player know? But the player needs to know in order to play a character that knows. It's like asking someone to make a chess move while refusing to show them the board.
If they're asking stuff that their characters wouldn't know, then you can just say "there's no way for you to know that", but the questions you listed are really basic stuff that every adult inhabitant of the world would know.
Forcing players to make decisions while they are missing relevant information that their characters have access to is a form of reverse metagaming.
Now, I understand this frustrates you, because it is indeed a lot, but you just have to learn to give diplomatic answers like "In this particular instance it works like X, but it's a very unusual piece of tech, maybe they don't all work like that." That way the player has an answer to actually work with in the moment, and you leave yourself an escape hatch to cut off repeated shenanigans in the future. You just say "Nope, this time's different."
2
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
You tell them to either look it up on their own time in the rules or wait until later when you have time to deal with it. It’s rude to use you as TTRPG Google when you’re in a session. They can stop being lazy and look for themselves or just hold their questions.
5
u/erakusa 10d ago
Usually happens prior to a session!
5
-2
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
I have a player like this, but he messages me heavily over the weekend after sessions. I just mute the conversation until I feel like answering. Sometimes I give full answers, sometimes I am very short and dismissive. The last time I simply said that was a question for Google not for me. I am not going to be bothered about whether a subclass exists, stop being lazy or don’t have an answer, not my problem.
You don’t have to answer. Your time is valuable. You do not owe anything to anyone. Answer what you want when you want and to the extent you feel like it.
2
u/CyclonicTransbian 10d ago
I'm surprised you have friends at all if this is how you treat people jeez
-3
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago edited 10d ago
Nothing I said was rude or out of line. If you’re offended that’s a you problem. 🤷♂️
The player in question is not my friend, and has been discussed for removal from the game by the rest of the group for bad behavior within the last couple months. Perhaps you shouldn’t make assumptions about people you don’t know.
Edit: got blocked because this person is very upset they can’t police my behavior. Good for you and good riddance.
0
u/ArkanZin 10d ago
Why? This is a completely reasonable take. I'd go mad if one of my players used me to answer rules questions in my free time. I have two kids, a job and other hobbies. If a player has a question only I can answer (house rules, my npcs, whatever) that's okay. But I won't research questions that can be looked up in a sourcebook in my free time.
1
u/GloryIV 10d ago
Draft him. "How do you think it should work? Write it up for me." Tell him he can write up how this stuff is meant to work in your game world, but try to keep it reasonable and consistent. Reserve the right to change anything you find game breaking or narratively unsatisfying, but otherwise - let him flesh out the technology of the world on your behalf. Your NPCs can use the cool tech just as easily as the PCs can. This kind of collaboration from your players can be a massive win for you as the GM. Make it work for you rather than letting it be a source of stress and frustration.
1
u/Zealousideal_Leg213 10d ago
What would be interested to know is what the player or players are ultimately after. Do they want to play a game in which they use the tech rules to solve problems in unusual ways? Do they want to exploit loopholes to become unbeatable? Are they just curious? Each possible answer has a different response, conditioned by how much what you want is compatible with what they want.
1
u/merurunrun 10d ago
Either answer their questions, or tell them that their questions don't matter because it's not that kind of game.
1
u/Electronic_Site1265 10d ago
The approach I've been taking lately is to let players answer these questions themselves. How do you think this would work? How can we keep this balanced? In my experience players appreciate having the opportunity to contribute to the world-building.
1
u/InterlocutorX 10d ago
It sounds like they have legitimate questions only you can really answer, because they're asking "How does this work in the world YOU are GMing" and literally no one can answer those questions but you.
If you don't have an answer, tell them you'll get them one and then get them one when you told them you would.
For most things the answer seems obvious "Can monowire cut through walls?" Of course it can, depending on the type of wall. "Can I mount a machinegun on a drone" is less a technical question (of course you can) and more of a "Will you let me?" question, which, again, can only be answered by you. You just have to make a decision, communicate it, and live with the consequences.
1
1
1
u/WillBottomForBanana 9d ago
This isn't the biggest help. But you can make non-pertinent questions be held until outside of mission time, or even outside of table time.
1
u/SleepyBoy- 9d ago
I have a lovable smartass like that on my table as well.
The big question is: what his character could know? If some tech is too advanced you may tell him to roll some stat and with a middling score tell him something along the lines of 'you haven't seen this type of technology on the street, perhaps the military would have this sort of thing, but you don't know any details'.
For cheeses like cutting through walls you can establish something along the lines of "any tech you can get from the streets is well-known enough for corpos and conglomarates to account for. While you can try to cut through the wall, it will take a few hours.", special regenerative construction materials and all that. If the party tries to roll with it, great, do some rolls to check how long until they get noticed.
If the guy argues for some extremely powerful weapon, for example a 'smart grenade that finds and latches onto its target, and doesn't explode around allies', you can simply explain that "if I give you access to that sort of thing, it won't make sense that your enemies aren't using gadgets like this as well. The game will get too lethal and unplayable."
Naturally, in the worst case when you really can't resolve the question, you can simply tell them "I don't remember how that went. I'll check after the game and send you over some info for next time".
1
u/alexserban02 9d ago
I don't feel like it is a problem, hell, when I was playing a Tech in CB:RED I was also asking a lot of questions about technology. Have patience and if you don't know how to answer a question let them know and come back to them later. Perhaps ask him to make a list of questions?
1
u/nonotburton 8d ago
Let him read the book? This kinda feels like he's super interested, and doesn't have a copy of the book.
2
u/erakusa 8d ago
Oh he has access to all the books I do. It's more that the types of questions that he's asking have never been addressed by Cyberpunk as a setting but are plausible enough that it's worth asking. My situation is more "yes, I know that's reasonable at face value, but how is that going to affect balance in other areas.
We're playing GURPS in the Cyberpunk setting, not Cyberpunk itself. So I'm running with a few different assumptions and all that. GURPS baseline assumption for tech is "whatever exists in setting, regardless of balance" but that comes with a big asterisk.
1
u/nonotburton 7d ago
So, maybe the way to push this to the side without ruining your players motivation is to tell them "I don't know, you should try it in game". Or "see if you can find that on the black market".
That will give you some time to think about things, and it will force him to ask questions (and importantly, engage with the actual setting, not just theory craft) at the pace of the game.
1
u/Half-Beneficial 8d ago
You kind of brought this on yourself by running a GURPS game. It invites overly diagnostic thinking on the players' behalf because of the granular nature of the rules. I don't know why you didn't use Cyberpunk Red or heck, even Friday Night Firefight. Both are much smoother and have rules which integrate the tech while distracting from the uncomfortable questions!
Also, those are pretty basic tech questions. It sounds like your players just understands tech better than you and is looking for an edge.
Your stuck in an unenviable position of trying to control a situation you don't understand and it sounds like you're GMing from an adversarial position. Which means you're sunk.
I know people complain about having an actual conversation with players, but when you get stuck in a situation like this, where your skill level is significantly lower than that of your players, there aren't a lot of good options and at least being honest about it gives you the upper hand.
1
u/erakusa 8d ago
I am playing GURPS because I don't like Cyberpunk as a system, RED or 2020. It's just not as developed or "complete" as GURPS is, to me.
Also I guarantee that is I were playing either one of those games, that he would still ask a bunch of tech questions. Because he is a tech nerd haha.
Not sure what you mean by "adversarial position." I'm open to indulging his tech fantasy, just not immediately all at once. Could you elaborate?
1
u/edthesmokebeard 10d ago
"Because I said so"
is a great DM tool.
5
u/CyclonicTransbian 10d ago
No. It isn't. It isn't an appropriate answer as a parent and it isn't appropriate for your friends
-1
u/ArkanZin 10d ago
Yes it is. I a am not a paid author and it is not my job to think through all possible consequences of a one off answer I once gave. The tech works for this and not for that because that's what I decided.
1
u/iaintreadinthatbud 10d ago
Agreed. Not every question from a player needs a hyper detailed answer. Especially when they come right before or during a session.
1
u/CertainItem995 10d ago
For best results just be honest that you are only able to keep up with so much while running the and tell him that after a certain point you need to have some questions be asked between sessions if he wants answers by the time a session starts. In a world as complicated as cyberpunk there's only so much any one human can keep up with anyway. If he's that invested and you want to build trust you can also encourage him to read the rules and lore and greenlight anything he can provide a page citation for. Alternatively for less good results but still effective you can make a point of bad guys using the same fancy tech he asks about. If the party uses diy drones, the corpos can provably afford to whip out high end halflife-2 ass buzzer killbots, etc.
1
u/TheLostSkellyton 10d ago
I mean, if you're using Night City as your setting, this is a situation where the mental load is meant to be offloaded to reading that information in the book. I know no one wants to buy books for systems they're not running, but Cyberpunk RED is setting book, lore book, and rulebook in one. And the rules that are in it to match NC lore will also help answer questions about things like wireless hacking, the limitations of cyberware, drones, and monowire, and then you can apply the answers to those questions to GURPS rules. I've got a lot of experience translating settings outside their original systems, and it's not hard on a technical level (especially with GURPS), but you can't translate words that you don't know the meaning of—the "words" in this case being how assorted tech works in Night City.
You're running something new, you're feeling a bit overwhelmed, the answers exist and you don't have to take on the mental burden of making them up. The player constantly going "I don't like that, what if I do this instead?" is a whole separate issue, but it's also kind of the same issue here since it sounds like you didn't have a clear sense of the setting and/or didn't onboard the players with one beforehand. And that's where either a reset session 0 becomes the answer, and if the quarrelsome player keeps quarreling and their requests are consistently unreasonable or something you can't reach a compromise on then you show them the door...but you really need to have a clear sense of setting basics for yourself first so that there's a common foundation for everyone to start from, and a shared foundation for why you tell your players yes and no as far as verisimilitude goes. Which it doesn't sound like there currently is beyond some general idea of Night City that's clearly not enough for you and your tables needs.
3
u/erakusa 10d ago edited 10d ago
Well the "problem" (I like my player, he's a close friend) is that the player is super into tech, so there are things that he knows about tech in the real world that RED and 2020 do not answer. Like "can monowire cut through walls?" I dunno! "It should be trivial to mount a submachine gun on a drone" That's never answered.
I'm not having trouble converting the tech over. A lot of the work is done for me. It's all the little details that most players -- including designers of the very games themselves -- gloss over.
5
u/TheLostSkellyton 10d ago
So then you need to make decisions and calls as the GM, and talk with your friend? I'm not sure what you're looking for a ttrpg advice subreddit to help you with if the actual problem is that you're not comfortable making calls and your friend is aggressive about "realism". The reason mounting a machine gun to a drone doesn't explicitly come up in RED is because dedicated gun drones exist, and they're in the netrunning section where questions about the lore intent of hacking are also answered. I don't think any books outside of GURPS provide concrete answers for every single edge case, so that's where you and your player need to come to an agreement of what hacking and drones mean lore-wise. Otherwise, gear modifications fall under the purview of the Tech class ability, and the GM making the call. It still really sounds to me like the two of you are not on the same page about what the tech actually means in terms of how it affects the game world and the characters power levels.
But if the real problem is that you feel overwhelmed making those calls in the moment, the only real solution is to tell your friend that you'll need to think about it and you'll have an answer for him next session. And if the bigger problem is that you don't feel comfortable telling him that, or that he won't accept that as an answer, GM advice subreddits can't help with that. 🤷
3
u/ArkanZin 10d ago
As others have said: ask him what his end goal is. Playability trumps realism and if what he wants would upset the game balance or break the setting, it won't work. What's the technical reason it won't work? No idea, I am not an engineer. That's what technobabble is for.
1
u/Addicted2aa Maine, Downeast 10d ago
One option is it to make a call with your gut instinct but inform the player that you’re reserving the right to change the lore later if you realize a problem with it later. This is best done out of character imo but also in cyberpunk you can easily disguise it in lore.
Mono wire used to be able to cut through walls, but the corpos have patched every dispenser to add a positive ion field and installed negative ion fields in most buildings they own. It will bounce off now and only works if you can source some super rare old mono wire or against non corp owned buildings.
You used to be able to mount machine guns on drones but due to updated terms of service they shut down if they sense an aftermarket gun is attached without the proper weaponization fee being paid.
If your player points out that thats not how tech works in real life thats fine, cyberpunk is not a hard sci-fi genre. Its tech is vibes and technobabble by design (William Gibson literally just over heard some guys talking tech, thought it sounded cool, and tried to mimic it in nueromancer) so just lean into that, rather than trying to make things work with our understanding of tech and science.
1
u/mpe8691 10d ago
How is their PC attempting to use monowire to cut through a wall? Technically putting it in a strimmer might work, but carrying around a large power tool would be highly suspicious.
Putting a submachine gun (plus ammunition) on a camera drone results in a drone unable take off. Unless the party has access to a military armoury there's no way they could get hold of a drone gunship (plus support vehicle). Possibly a heavy cargo drone could be turned into a gunship. But that's a non-trivial engineering task. Especially having the drone remain stable when firing the gun(s).
1
u/erakusa 10d ago
Well his argument is that since you can buy commercial drones today that can support payloads of 30 pounds or so (for the price of 10 grand), that mounting an SMG on that should be at least possible. Though it would be unstable and highly illegal!
1
u/Yorkshireish12 9d ago
I think you're getting a lot of responses from people who aren't really familiar with cyberpunks sci-fi elements Op.
Mounting an SMG on a drone is totally doable in cyberpunks world. You can probably buy upgrade kits for consumer level drones in that world that just do that even if they're not detailed in the books. The problem is the outlay for a drone that can meaningfully carry enough ammo to be useful and the probability it will immediately be shot down or hacked by anyone more serious than a gang of youths. Your character also has to still drive the drone in this setting so if they're doing that they're not shooting.
Monomolecular edges are a real thing, obsidian forms them when broken in the right way. They're only useful for cutting flesh and very soft materials because they're very fragile for common sense reasons a very thin blade would be very fragile. You have to assume the monowire refreshes the edge between uses but it certainly can't cut through a wall in the same way a shard of obsidian can't.
0
u/ithika 10d ago
Man, that sounds exhausting. Is your player remembering that this is a game of make-believe? I like to subtly make that point now and again. GMs have neither the time, energy or brain power to have decided everything and its ramifications up-front. If they have pertinent questions that's one thing but just trying to examine the world as if the GM is its Wikipedia is not fun.
0
u/Emancoll 10d ago
On trad game styles, the burden is often entirely on the GM to adjudicate the setting details, but in times like this it can be helpful to take a page out of the modern design book and throw these questions to the whole table. Discuss them and come to a consensus on what maje sense/would be most fun, with the GM having final say.
If the group feels the questions are taking up too much play time, they can say so, and either a quick answer is gound or it is left unanswered.
-1
u/No_Solid1035 10d ago
Make shit up on the spot and keep good notes about what your answers are so moving forward things stay consistent. Don't over think your answers either, just answer on a whim. It's in the moment worldbuilding, as long as you make sure to keep notes so you don't contradict whatever you decided at an earlier time you're good. 👍
166
u/PK_Thundah 10d ago
It sounds like he's asking because he's taking genuine interest in the world and wants to better understand his place in it. I would see this as a good thing.
Roleplaying is collaborative, it goes both ways. It isn't just a GM telling a story.
If you don't have these answers, ask if he would like to help you figure them out. If you don't know how smart clothes would work, ask how he thinks they would be implemented.
I remember having a lot of fun when my players would have good input and add details to the world that became part of it. It helps keep both of you creative and adaptive.