From: nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov
Subject: Re: Cyberpunk (was: SR: SRII combat mods)
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md, USA
	<wilder.711507993@mik.uky.edu>
	<NIGEL.92Jul21145224@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov>
	<wilder.711830380@mik.uky.edu>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 22:08:47 GMT

In article <wilder.711830380@mik.uky.edu> wilder@mik.uky.edu (jeff wilder) writes:

>In <NIGEL.92Jul21145224@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov> nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov writes:

>(jeff wilder) writes:

>|[lots deleted]

>|I'd say that you're star example knew which end of a gun was the
>|business end and spent his 4 points in Firearms eh? 

>You might say that...if you're in a hurry to be laughed at.

>I've touched two firearms in my life:  a Ruger 9mm, and a .22 rifle.  I've
>fired only the .22.  Yet I guarantee that I know "which end of a gun [is]
>the business end."  I guess by your logic I've got Firearms 4, huh?

Gee...an amusing way to twist sarcasm eh?  Not.  Firearms 1 maybe.

>If you remember Case buying the Cobra, you probably also remember that he
>as terrified by it.  If you remember him buying the cheap Chinese knock-

I don't recall this...but it's been a while.

>off of a Vietnamese imitation of a .22 pistol (or whatever it was, but that's
>pretty close), then maybe you remember him being fairly clueless as to its
>specifics.  (The fact that he bought (rented, actually) a tiny-caliber
>weapon on the assumption that it might do more than tickle his tail speaks
>volumes to me about his ignorance.)

Eh...a .22 is better than nothing...and despite the wimpyness of a .22
it will do more than tickle if you hit a live human being in the real
world.  It probably wont kill the person but they will not be laughing.

>A gun in the hands of anything but an expert, in a world like Shadowrun or
>Cyberpunk, is more dangerous to the wielder than to his target, because it
>turns the wielder INTO a target.

Not really..assuming you pump even 3 points into Firearm/SMG/HK227S
you'll have a skill of 5 in your one weapon.  A weapon that you get to
fire at burst and do some real damage.  In most game systems you
usually simply miss rather than hit yourself...and anyone in a combat
zone who doesn't think he or she is a target is deluding themselves.
A lot of times I roll randomly to see who the guards shoot at...heck
do you really think these guys are doing target recognition and
verfication before shooting?  Any vaggue shape or moving body gets
shot at...and more than once I've managed to get runners and guards to
own goal themselves.

>As for someone's earlier assessment that corps fire on non-armed characters
>first, in the assumption that they're mages:  gee, I guess they musta missed
>that nice cyberdeck, huh?  I know if I were a corp, I'd be much more inter-

That's worse...if I was a corp official and I saw someone with a
cyberdeck my first orders would be to shoot him.  The sammis and mages
can cause property damage but the decker could do millions of nuyen
worth of damage in information loss or electronic fund transfer.  Plus
there is no hassle in finding the little bugger this time...he's right
there cowering behind his cyberdeck...kill the decker and anyone that
looks important and let them extract.  The sammis and mages are mostly
hired guns anyway...who really cares?  The run is blown and they're
out major assets...and if you can't geek the decker then geek his deck
if he's dumb enough to carry it...considering the brain dead rules for
deck construction he's out of luck for years...and out fo your hair.

Besides...hauling around your cyberdeck is like advertising you're on
a run.  At least long coats and SMGs are a tiny bit more subtle
although anyone walking around in a long coat will get more than a
passing glance from security.

>ested in *capturing and questioning and *maybe* even converting* any decker
>that might be worth the trouble.

Hmph...any interesting information would be in the deck.  And most
corps have competent deckers regardless of what street scum think.  Who
do you think makes decks?  Who do you think writes software?  When
programs take man years to complete you need teams of programmers to
write them before they're hopelessly out of date.  The cutting edge
deckers are in corps because staying cutting edge requires more nuyen
than most GMs are willing dish out.  

>And I know if I were a *decker*, I'd be much more interested in *being*
>captured, than in being blown away because I was plinking away at an
>armored guard.

Maybe...maybe not.  If you've burned the corp before they're more
likely to find an interesting way to make your end memorable...so the
next scum bag decker will think twice before making a run on them.  You
really think the corps like the Azzies takes prisoners for anything
other than sacrifice?

>One final point:  With regard to your hypothetical threat from a Samurai to 
>a Decker...don't be surprised when one of your Decker "friends" makes life
>VERY hard for you in the future.  Like, say, impossible.

Right...you can't jack in from hell...if the decker runs with all the
reserve ammo and that's where he'll end up ;-).  'Sides what's he
going to do?  Nuke my SIN?

Nigel
--
Nigel Tzeng
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