[Teknodragon]

Had a question come up in a game, as to whether you can get the benefits of an emotisoft when the interaction is just over a commlink that the software is being run on/from.

Nonrandom example: The face is hiding behind a dumpster from a group of street sams and pro bodyguards; nearly all of that group just got stunballed unconscious, and the face coms the guy the pros were guarding to negotiate his withdrawal. She can't see him from where she is, the only direct interaction is via comm.

[joe15552]

Oh, that's a good question because it leads to a in-character discussion that all shadowrunning teams should have: What kind of network are they going to set up?

1) Will the team members allow other team members to access their image-link?
2) Will the team members allow other team members to access their sound-link?
If the GM wants to let players figure out they need to ask these questions in-character by themselves, that's cool, but if the GM wants to help out some new players or remind old players how important networks are, then maybe the GM should ask the players to ask their characters those questions. The answers would help decide who perceives what when the pew-pew hits the fan like it did in your example.

If it were my game, and the players answered "yes" to all those questions in-game, and the unconscious characters were close enough to pick up a visual or audio on the target of negotiation on their cybereyes and cyberears, I'd say the emotisoft helps.

[Ultra Violet]

@joe15552
You kicked another question in: Why should the cyberware still sending, if the character is unconscious (eyes closed, no control of audio or visual)? And if you say that you play it like that, than I will give you a thought... If you and your PC can do it, the NPC can do it, too! So every dead or unconscious grunts can hear and see everything, and send it to his guys!? That would be a really though complication on ever Run, don't you think?

@Teknodragon
If I understand you right, your question is: Do a video call via Commlink give the software enough to work with? If it is a real call than yes, if it is an Avatar/Persona/Recording than no. The difference is easy to tell, a real call is real, you see the real opponent face to face, the other options are artificial solutions like an advanced answering machine and your program will get artificial (and sure fake or error) results.

[Bradd]

Hm, even if a character is completely knocked out and not recording anything himself, his commlink might pick up sound or even video. Commlinks actually have a scary amount of standard equipment. Many people will only turn on the comm features on demand, but others might use a running recording (much like police using video cameras to record traffic stops).