*sigh* Munchkin riggers., Piss me off. Options

[sunnyside]

I don't know MitS so well. Wasn't there some kind of EMP spell? A spirit could have that as an innate spell, if it does something relevant. That would be more mechanically sound.

[Whipstitch]

Street Magic has both a Pulse and Interference spell. Pulse can fry the non-hardened RFID tags and knock out electronics (albeit very temporarily) and Interference is basically just a magical version of a signal jammer. Yet another reason why Spirits of Man are just plain versatile.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

[Rotbart van Dain...]

[Gargs454]

Frankly it seems that at this point, the RAW with regard to Accident are really beside the point. The problem here isn't really the GM's interpretation of the rules.

The problem, as Fist pointed out, is the relationship between the GM and the player. Until the relationship gets worked out, this situation is just a bomb waiting to explode. At some point in the future, the GM will make another "bad" ruling that likely will have a detrimental effect on the player. If the relationship has been patched up, then the player will/should politely point out the error (perhaps even out of game) and the GM will realize the error and thank the player for pointing it out. If the relationship hasn't been patched up, the player will assume that once again, the GM is trying to screw him over.

As for the actual encounter, I find plenty of faults with both the player and the GM. As to the player, it does appear that he is trying to make the game about him as opposed to being about the team of runners. Then, when things don't go his way, he cries foul.

As for the GM, my first question upon reading the scenario you set out is why the heck did Sticks agree to meet at the rigger's bunker? As you pointed out, Sticks knew that the rigger had a killer drone that was both very efficient and very nasty about its business. Add to that the fact that Sticks is presumably fairly street wise to have been able to build and maintain his little empire, its really hard to imagine that he would agree to go to the bunker. Rather, it would have been more along the lines of "Well, I'm always interested in acquiring new toys, but I'm really not interested in walking into a potential deathtrap. If you want to do business, you (or your representative) will meet me at Location X. And if you want to do business, you'll leave the drones at home."

Now, in all likelihood, the player will be upset as this will potentially foil many of his plans. He can try to negotiate a better location, but I imagine that Sticks is a pretty good face as well. A player's goals are not always achievable at the outset. Still though, you should allow rolls to be made so at least you can point to the dice and say "Sorry, but he's not willing to meet your request."

As for the railroading bit, anytime a GM says "YOU ARE NOT WINNING THIS ONE!" it is going to sound like railroading whether you intend it to be or not. Like some of the others here, I agree with what the GM was attempting to do, but his implementation needs work.

In the end though, all that really matters for now is whether or not the GM and player can work together. The player needs to consider that the GM is new, and be understanding of that. The GM also needs to make sure that he doesn't confuse this with a "Them against me" situation. The GM can't beat the players because the GM is not competing against the players. Talk it out between the two of you, share a couple of beers (or colas, etc.) shake on it and try to see things from the other perspective. If you can't do this, then you should just go your separate ways.

[Ddays]

I can see Sticks going, I'm so BA, fuck common sense. ;)

But yeah, I agree that by RAW accident can do anything up to summoning a can of beans, but me and few others seem to agree that causing drones to malfunction seem to be a bit too "convenient" for the GM.

I see where you're coming from Sterling, but I don't believe that players necessarily have to follow a GM's lead on the universe if it makes it unfun for them. For me, the GM's goal should be to make sure the players have a good time, not to enforce his view on where a story should go (Though strong story telling does help most players have a good time),

[Wounded Ronin]

[Cain]

As bad as the GM went, I can't say that the player's post makes me feel any more sympathetic. Am I thr only one who finds the "Choo Choo" comment to be more than a little immature?

[Whipstitch]

Things like that is why I love my GM. It's hard to find people who believe their role is to mostly be an amoral arbiter of the RAW. I've ran into one too many GMs out there who feel their role is to defend the sanctity of their npcs, for whatever reason.

[Crusher Bob]

Heh, I remember one time when the GM set out to screw us because we were half-assing the run. (What do you expect when you offer a pack of runners with 3-500 karma each some milk run for chump change).

Our antics in that run involved: using physical mask to look like a polar bear, then using improved invisibilty on top of that and taking a walk though a hospital emergency room, looking for clues. Our reasoning: if anyone managed to see through the invisibility, they would then be confronted with a polar bear wandering around the hospital.

Mr. death-sam is breaking into an apartment we though was empty for some reason. But is surprised to find a plumber with his head under the sink, working on the garbage disposal. The sam thoughtfully considers this, then takes the time to put on his stylish new sap gloves (from NARGL? the same thing that had all the stylish armors in it) before hitting the plumber. Due to stun overflowing to physical damage, the poor plumber is maimed, and we forever after started calling our sam "plumber slayer".

[Sterling]

[Ddays]

It does sound like your game is far more story telling based than the lateral thinking challenges my group has gotten used to, must be all the Heroscape and Descent we play. :wobble:

[Particle_Beam]

The point is, the game should be fun for everybody involved, GM and players. That clearly wasn't the case with ShadowDragon8685 and Jtuxyan. At least, they sorted it out now.

[fistandantilus4....]