Technomancer firing other people's weapons., Erm yeah Options

[Mooseh]

Ok this came up in our session last night. Whilst trekking through a forest we were set upon by a group of lionesses. Needless to say people began shooting instead of running and at this point our technomancer came up with the brilliant idea of shooting someone else's weapon via the wireless smartlink.

So he was trying to shoot someone's gun who had fired on his last round so we figured the weapon was pointing in roughly the right direction but..... what dice to roll. In the end I suggested using Reaction so he basically tell's the gun to fire when he think's its roughly over the target. The reason I'm posting this on here is to find out how other people would have handled this situation.

I'm guessing the majority of people are going to say "Nope wouldn't have let him do it at all its just silly" but whats done is done. ;)

[Voodoo_Aeion]

Probably worth noting that the gun had a smartlink system so has the ability to be fired via that.

[Irian]

As the Technomancer can't influence where the gun points to, it's pure luck, which means normaly, that he doesn't hit. Perhaps I would allow Intuition (not reaction) to wait for the perfect moment, but probably not even that.

If he's got a smartlink, he would get the target symbol, otherwise he could only see through the weapon's camera. In any case he can't move the gun and has to wait until something jumps to the right spot.

Imho the main problem is the "two people firing the same weapon" thing. Probably the smartgun will only allow one to fire it.

[Moon-Hawk]

[FlashbackJon]

Who leaves important electronics on wireless, anyhow? Wired or skinlink, baby! :P

...maybe I'm just overly paranoid.

[JesterX]

Like every luck based rolls in SR4, roll for the technomancer's/hacker edge only

and only allow that roll if the firearm is pointed in the general direction of the target.

Btw, since this requires a smartgun system, the technomancer will be able to see via the gun cam and know when to fire...

[JesterX]

[Mooseh]

So the feeling I'm getting from this thread is... there was little point trying it in the first place :P

[Ted Stewart]

Imagine what it would be like trying to aim a gun that was firing randomly when you weren't pulling the trigger. It would be fiendishly difficult to maintain aim in that situation.

So I would not only have it be a luck roll, but I'd penalize the holder of the weapon as well. It's a nifty idea, just one that I would expect to do more harm than good.

Besides, isn't that what combat drones are for? :)

[Eurotroll]

I personally don't see why the TM couldn't access the Smartlink's targetting function and thus see where the weapon is being aimed. AR vision is part and parcel of the TM deal, no?

[Mooseh]

Yeah but surely the arm is what aim's the weapon?

[Irian]

[Lagomorph]

[Jaid]

[Simon May]

Didn't the TM worry about still being able to run while this is happening? I'd be worried about the negative dice pool to being in AR (via the gun) and reality at the same time.

[FlashbackJon]

It'd probably also be worth ruling that both players suffer combined recoil mods during the same initiative pass in any case.

[stormcrow]

It is also worth noting that the gun wasn't "moving randomly," it was being aimed by a sammy with a smart-link who was probably bringing the gun back to bear on the same target. I'd apply the sammy's recoil penalty (if any) and make the TM hold his action until it was back on target (shortly before the sammy fired again,) then give the Sammy the recoil penalty from that shot on his action and (if he changes targets 'cuz that one's dead) give him the penalty for changing targets. IIRC, that would be -1 recoil from the sammy's first shot, -1 recoil from the TM's pre-emptive shot and (possibly) -2 for changing targets. That's a -4 total before any recoil mods or vision or movement mods and doesn't seem too excessive or punishing. It's not a bad idea and i hate to punish clever or creative players. That tactic will never replace a smart firing platform or a drone and doesn't seem munchkiny or abusive. 2007 guns can easily handle that ROF, too, so 2070 ones should easily. (F$%&%'in stupid ROF rules!)

[cx2]

I could actually see some more interesting uses for this, such as making someone who is aiming at someone/thing but not yet firing actually fire. Perhaps it is a tense moment where two sides are facing off, and you want to push them over the edge? Or perhaps you want to incriminate someone by making their gun fire at someone they're threatening but not actually shooting.

[mfb]

i can't see many uses of this idea that aren't ridiculous, overpowered, or both. the idea that a remote operator can fire your gun for you with any degree of accuracy while you yourself are firing it is just beyond the pale. making someone fire when they don't mean to? sure. setting off someone's gun while it's still in the holster? great. interspersing your own shots using someone else's weapon while they're taking shots of their own with it? that's insane.

[Ravor]

Hells, personally instead of firing the weapon I'd either engauge the safety, eject the clip, or tell the gun to disambell itself for cleaning.

But then again, in my campaigns anyone dumb enough to allow their weapon to be hacked by either a Decker or a Technomancer isn't someone that the Runners would have to worry about in the first place...