Ethical question from a GM, I need feedback from DumpShockers Options

[Velocity]

I have a question on gaming ethics for you. Again, my players should hit "back" on their browser right about now. :mad:

[ Spoiler ]

I have a PC with the Flaws "Scorched" and "Mysterious Cyberware." I've already decided that the cyberware is a cranial cyberdeck running a particularly advanced Agent. The "Scorched" is what's preventing the character from recognizing the signs and doing a serious diagnostic on his headware: he's been psychotropically conditioned.

(I realize that there's game-balance issues inherent in allowing a PC to have a "magical" 0-Essence craniel 'deck, but since he'll never actually get to use it and it's basically just a plot device, I'm handwaving it.)

The Agent has been surreptitiously guaranteeing that the PC develops an addiction to Long Haul. For those of you who don't know, LH is a drug that allows the user to stay up for 3 days straight and then forces a hard crash where the user spends almost as much time sleeping it off.

While the PCs sleeps it off, the Agent is free to do whatever it likes. :vegm:

My ethical question is this: eventually--at the conclusion of the plot arc--the Agent will escape the confines of the cranial deck and break out into the wider Matrix. Is there anything wrong with using GM hand-of-godness to swap out the four points of Flaws (Mysterious Cyberware and Scorched) for a four-point Addiction to Long Haul? If you were this player, would it piss you off?

Thanks for input.

[Grinder]

If the player gets a chance to free his character of the addiction it's ok imo.

[Jrayjoker]

That is a tough one. Did the character agree to the flaws and use the extra points? Then yes, go ahead. But hit him for the essence (delta grade to be fair).

[Velocity]

The player built his character and freely chose "Scorched" and "Mysterious Cyberware" as Flaws. He got the points for them and spent them on stuff. :)

The cranial 'deck is Epsilon-grade and it costs 0 Essence.

[Slacker]

I'd have to agree with jray. I would at least take away the essence of delta-grade cyberdeck.

Don't see a problem with switching out the flaws.

[Edge2054]

Yeah. I'd hit him for the essence loss as well. As far as the addiction 'flaw' goes, I'm pretty sure if you're hooked to a substance as a flaw you have to buy it off with Karma as oppossed to using the addiction rules. I could be wrong on that though, it's been awhile sense I read the addiction flaw. He may have to overcome it using the addiction rules as well as buying it off. Effectively he'd be hooked in two ways, once by the flaw and then once more by the substance values.

The reason I'd tag him for the essence loss is because presumably he'd have access to the deck after he found out about it and the Agent bailed.

If you decide to give him a different flaw though he should still be hooked just off the addiction values from the substance rules.

[Bearclaw]

If I got a hot cranial cyber-deck in exchange for a long haul addiction, I wouldn't bitch. That's the plan, right?
Once the Agent is gone, the deck belongs to the character, but he's got a harsh addiction. Hell yea, I'd consider the character to be coming out way ahead.

[Nikoli]

Swap it for "Borrowed time" as the addiction rules are very deadly on players. However, the change of flaws should be at the players choice, not the Gm's expect in certian situations. BTW, I am a big ffan of 0-essence plot devices like this, but I rarely let them into PC hands.

[northern lights]

if your player gets pissed, he should go back to d&d. especially since he made this character with those flaws. basically he gave you the leeway to do it.

the only thing you are obligated to do is, as grinder said, allow him a means to kick the habit. you might also look into another flaw, such as amnesia, say the agent didn't want the character to remember anything, so it attempted to wipe his memory to keep him from seeking revenge.

i'd also hit him for some essence. the amount could be small, but you don't get mysterious cyberware and have essence6. i'd also let him get checked out by a doctor for his habit and maybe get scanned. then give him the option to have surgery for a useable pieceo f cyber since the "flaw" portion of the cyber has played it's part and is being replaced with the addiction or whatever.

do what you feel you need to do to advance the plot, but don't make it an absolute. if he wants to get the deck out, or use it as it is, allow it to happen. make it hard if you must, but don't say "no, because i said so."

i'm sure you'll both enjoy wherever it leads.

[Velocity]

Actually, I should have mentioned this as it's pretty damned important: the Agent will completely burn the deck on the way out. No zero-essence cranial deck for this PC. It will be scrap.

[northern lights]

there you go.

i'd make something indicative of that process, maybe drop his intelligence by a oint. that's easy enough for the player to deal with, he just needs an extra 12 karma and it's over with.

who knows. but in answer to the first question, i'd say you're fine. and if he does get pissed, too bad. it's a game.

[Velocity]

[JackDaddy]

[Edge2054]

:evil:

I like the idea of amnesia too. I've never seen it picked up in game before.

*Imagines telling said player, "By the way, you now have a four point amnesia flaw, hand over your character sheet. Here's a blank one, as you start to remember your skills you can fill that one out."*

[fistandantilus4....]

sounds like if the agent is plotting against the character, it's more along the lines of an advanced SK. If it can plot against a character, that's border line sentience. I'd say leave him addicted, but not with the flaw that he has to buy his way out of with karma. He did take the flaws, so he gets the points, but make them in mental flaws, such as amnesia, or combine a few, like uncouth (he begins to act erratically) and jack itch, or a severe phobia, megalomaina, OCD, something to that effect. And make him work off the addiction in game with role playing and some rolls to see if he can beat it. If not, he ends up a burned out junkie.

it's just that mysterios cyber flaw doesn't make a character unplaable, and a drug addiction that he needs to buy off with 40-odd karma does. So give him something in it's place that he can roleplay with, and have him go to rehab for the drugs, or whatever.

[hermit]

Don't give him the deck. Have it burn out. Also, give it the essence rating of all the sessence the player has left minus 0.1, or 1 if he has more than one point left.

Also, I like the idea of a mixed addicition/amnesia flaw, especially taking his character sheet. :)

[Velocity]

fistandantilus3.0: Those are all excellent points, thanks for bringing them up. You're right, an Agent isn't nearly advanced enough to do this. An SK who's one small "X-factor" away from becoming an AI is more appropriate.

I also like the creative use of psychological and behavioural Flaws...

[fistandantilus4....]

I'm just glad you didn't call me 'Fist' :D

Another thought I was having btw, a fragmented personality. Could be a total pain in the hoop, or a lot of fun, depending on how it's done.

Are you planning on not letting them access the cyber still? Could be an interesting way for the character to develop into a decker, especially in SR4 with the augmented reality. Assuming you cross over of course.

[Velocity]

Actually, he's already a decker--with his own, fully functional cranial cyberdeck no less. :)

[toturi]

I feel that you as the GM is doing something that is, while canonically correct, is min-maxing in an opposite sense. You are taking 2 Flaws and using them together in a manner to screw a player. Perhaps it is not your intention, but story wise it reads that way to me. Yes, you did not choose those Flaws. Yes, it is your job as a GM to choose how those Flaws manifest.

But does those 2 Flaws have to be related? Looking at the list for psychotropic conditioning, while there is an entry for positive conditioning, I read that as an open-ended catch-all that the authors decided to put in. You could just as easily could have made the Scorch Flaw a positive conditioning to resist interrogation or other attempts to make the PC do things against his will. Just like you could have just followed canon and chose to use cranial bomb for the mysterious cyberware(0 essense).

Unless your player has used his backstory to deliberately min-max his Edges and other abilities far out of proportion to what they are supposed to do, I think you might want to reconsider your interpretation of Scorched and Mysterious Cyberware. If not, you are only making your job harder down the road. Any player of yours would see that you pulled this type of thing before and think that it should perfectly fine if they do it.

[Mortax]

Hmmm, I like this plot idea.

I think you have to give him essence loss, deltaware, but still. As long as it's burning out when the SK leaves, that sounds good. fistandantilus3.0's sudjestions for psycological disorders sounds good. I think it likely should be a simmilar effect to getting burned by Black IC, probably psycotropic, just because it's causing addiction. You could have it burn out via a small kink bomb designed to only destroy the headware (I think I remember a similar example given in cybertech.)

Cool idea. :-) Morty like.

[Velocity]

[Mortax]

[Velocity]

[fistandantilus4....]

I like it better with the player not knowing about the cyberware. Makes it more... oh, I dunno, mysterious! Other wise they can just walk into a street docs and get a scan. Kinda takes the thrill out of it. And yeah, I think a cranial bomb as a myst cyber is kinda weak. Not as creative as this flaw should be (IMO). And let's remember that this is a flaw, it's supposed to be hard on the character!