Screwing over your players, for being stupid Options

[Mister Book]

Also some dumb things that people do might shock you when you look at the reason.

The last Shadowrun online game I was a part of we were all setting in a crowded bar. Lots of PCs there generally meant that staff would show up at random and run a scene.

So I was sitting by myself, a little oddball decker that everyone thought was frankly, stupid. I cultivated the image for my meat self, a totally inoffensive, carefree and clueless image as opposed to the ruthless and cunning Matrix self.

Staff showed up, and a group that was after some of the more higher tier runners threw in a grenade of Neuro-Stun. Half the room ran at the door to get at the people who were attacking, the other half went to the back to try to escape. When I said, "I am running into the women's restroom," people started laughing OOC.

Well the laughing stopped when a few things happened. The ones at the front encountered HMG fire and the gas knocked them out. The ones in the back found the exit door barricaded.

Me, I barricaded the door as best I could, hunkered down under cover with my roomsweeper out. Stuffed tampons at the bottom of the door to keep out the gas and turned on the fan that helps with the natural actions that take place in the room.

The laughing stopped, all but the targets survived the attack, but I was the only one the gas didn't knock out.

[Warlordtheft]

When did someone trip an alarm? If the characters don't know they did it, it's reasonable to continue the mission.

You weren't paying attention. But then again they did not inform the group. The matrix alarms got tripped.

[Cardul]

As a GM, I operate on 3 simple rules:

1) There is always a way out. It might not be fun or pretty, but there is always a way out.

2) Keep the players off balance by asking "Are you sure?" for both really good and really stupid
ideas.

3) Stupidity kills. And, no, I do not mean in the "I am going to be a dick, and kill your character for
somthing trivial." No..I mean, if you do something really stupid, like, when you are TOLD that the building
you are passing is a Ghoul Warrens, running in there to escape Tanamous goons after you...Or,
my personal favourite, trying to talk reason to Wendigo....(When you are the only party member there,
and you just watched the thing eat someone)

[underaneonhalo]

I know how not to piss off my players. I know that, if they do something stupid, I should have consequences happen, but it shouldn't be game-ending unless they are obviously committing suicide (I jump off the 20 story building roof with no 'chute and no bungee.)

Are you kidding? The rules for severe wounds in Augmentation will make them wish they'd died. And just imagine the medical bills! *evil hand wringing* Yep, that is one time I would really screw a player. And no they could not make a new character.

I'm of the opinion that a lot of the security stuff in Shadowrun has always been way overblown. Seriously, every character should be prepping for runs like they're starring in their own personal Gattaca. I keep the security pretty light. Sure a lot of everyday goods are tagged, but as long as you keep your running gear swept and buy your everyday gear on a throw away SIN RFIDs shouldn't even come into play in most cases. Outside of a run I doubt anyone would even give a crap about anything you're broadcasting other than your comm. Hell, most RFIDs are probably ads anyways, the one in your boxers is probably broadcasting "Fruit of the Loom". The food thing is just insane, if anything the RFID in an edible good would only contain lot No. and expiration date.

I guess what my sleep deprived brain is trying to convey is that you should look at the rules, decide if you think something is stupid, and then talk to your players.

[StealthSigma]

Consistency on the GM's part is also essential. Granted my example is from my current D&D game, cant find anyone TO run Shadowrun..


My Gm drives me a little crazy with how sometimes he'll gloss over things and then other times he's so anal it makes you want to shoot him in the foot. You'll come to a cliff and if no one has rope he'll say, "You find a thick vine and make your way down." Other times your party finds a magic compass that is clearly the McGuffin, almost has "Plot Hook" in bright neon. Everyone investigates it, everyone concludes that the party will follow where it leads. You set off in the compass direction only to have the GM smile like a cat with a open can of tuna and say, "You get about ten miles down the road and then you notice you all left the compass behind." You say, "We're following the compass," only to have him say, "No one SAID they picked it up!"


So yeah, if you want to "screw your players over for being stupid," you sort of have to have a contract where you're not a complete pecker-head to them in return.

I think it comes down to a disconnect in player vs PC knowledge. As a player, you aren't going to know everything about a particular topic, especially if it's a skill that your character has such as.... climbing....

Dammit, that reminds me how much I want a 'Bag of Holding Full of Random Mundane Stuff' TM for Shadowrun.

GM: "Do you have pitons to secure your grapple line."
Player: "....pitons?"
GM: "Do you?"
Player: "Hold on, let me check in my bag full of mundane stuff."

[Paul]

It's a fine line to walk. I encourage my players to ask questions when we're in situations like this, like "Say Paul, if I rolled XYZ skill, could it help?" But obviously there's always going to be a disconnect here and there.

[Traul]

Dammit, that reminds me how much I want a 'Bag of Holding Full of Random Mundane Stuff' TM for Shadowrun.

GM: "Do you have pitons to secure your grapple line."
Player: "....pitons?"
GM: "Do you?"
Player: "Hold on, let me check in my bag full of mundane stuff."

Play an SR3 troll. A 80kg carry load should do.

[nezumi]

1) Find out what would make the game fun. Do the players want to play black shadowrun? Or do they want pink mohawks? Adjust YOUR style to what THEY enjoy (within reason, you need to have fun too). Feel free to nudge it a little way back to where you think it 'should' be, just as long as it's not too far.

2) Explain the expectations of the world. It's reasonable to expect PCs to EMP themselves if you explain that's part of the world they live in.

3) Explain the expectations of the world. They probably forgot. Illustrate with something not too harmful.

4) Explain... Getting the point? Make sure, if you frag them over, it's not because you failed in your job as a GM. Consider throttling back on the first interactions with the results of their actions, if they don't seem to be getting it (but not by much).

5) Don't punish, allow for the natural results of their actions. Some of the best games I've had are when the PCs do something stupid, I let the dice fall, and they came out the other end better for it (but definitely wiser).

[Zormal]

Dammit, that reminds me how much I want a 'Bag of Holding Full of Random Mundane Stuff' TM for Shadowrun.

GM: "Do you have pitons to secure your grapple line."
Player: "....pitons?"
GM: "Do you?"
Player: "Hold on, let me check in my bag full of mundane stuff."

One of my characters, a crazy, smelly rat shaman living on the streets, had a homebrewed quality called 'Pack Rat's Pockets' (Someone ripped it from here or GURPS).

Pack Rat's Pockets (5 BP)
You are forever picking up and storing minor items in your pockets, bags and pretty much anywhere you can. Any time you need a non-combat item that costs less than 20 nuyen, you can find it in one of your pockets. If the GM rules that the item is particularly uncommon, or you are unlikely to have it, you must roll at least one success on an Edge test.

If you spend a point of Edge, the limit is increased to 50 nuyen, as you just so happened to pick up a white noise generator that you saw in a trash can last week....

Doesn't fit to a realistic campaign, but we had fun with it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Wacky]

Pack Rat's Pockets (5 BP)
You are forever picking up and storing minor items in your pockets, bags and pretty much anywhere you can. Any time you need a non-combat item that costs less than 20 nuyen, you can find it in one of your pockets. If the GM rules that the item is particularly uncommon, or you are unlikely to have it, you must roll at least one success on an Edge test.

If you spend a point of Edge, the limit is increased to 50 nuyen, as you just so happened to pick up a white noise generator that you saw in a trash can last week....

Hee, I like this one...

Sign--

Wacky