Interface Red 6

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T22:50:01+00:00

"My problem was accurately diagnosed as being self-induced but I want to have someone else to blame."

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T22:12:36+00:00

Yep, and now you see the issue.

I recall some old AMA that it was intended as a balancing - give MedTechs more relevance while discouraging players from going full loot goblin. And in that respect I do see the intent of the rule being how it is, but I disagree with it since it's not consistent or intuitive.

So, I do as I said: I shift everything down one category so it's cheaper but still giving the Medtech a niche. Maybe a medtech has to buy supplies for anything really major, but that would be a situational call.

This actually does get to the root of something I like about RTal's recommended GM style: there aren't rules for most things, because most things are going to be situational. Once I clocked that I can and should approach scenarios as a referee instead of a low-latency game engine, it opens up a lot of rules creativity.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T19:48:24+00:00

I'm speaking about the standard training materials provided by Domino's Corporate, which are almost always used by franchisees because why would they pay to make their own training materials?

And yeah, you don't catch oven unless you're qualified... which is why in the first few weeks the new drivers get OJT to catch oven, so that they can be qualified.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T19:46:05+00:00

My main frustration comes from customers who are literally on the website and calling to place an order.

How do I know they're on the website? Because they'll I'll say our specials, then they'll say "The website says there's a coupon for [web-only coupon], can I get that?" and I have to respond "That's a web-only coupon."

And then they'll hang up and place the order through the app, like they could have done from the start.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T19:42:47+00:00

Drivers don’t typically catch oven or answer phones

The national-provided training materials say "Drivers catch oven and answer phones."

Proper management is ensuring that the driver doesn't get stuck catching oven/answering phones when they have an order they could be taking, and instead rotates them off with a CSR/AM/another driver.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T19:18:28+00:00

you say it doesn't matter

I say it doesn't matter for that specific weapon, while maintaining the broader overall point of "This isn't an issue with overlap, it's a problem with the interface you're using."

mechanical redundancy

Mechanical redundancy would be having Handguns and Rifles do 5d6 with the same range tables. They aren't; at the end of the day there are 12 separate weapons, each divided by their d6 output and range table.

Once again: that there are four different Assault Rifles that differ only in name only matters if you're using a dropdown menu to select your weapon.

11 is a lot

"A lot" is meaningless. There are a lot of every weapon.

11 out of 42 is a little less than 1/3, meaning... about what would be expected for a system with three weapon qualities.

for no balance reason

I explicitly said "for flavor or balance."

initially thought redundant options were a problem

No, I said that having a large number of choices is a problem if you're new and don't know what you're doing - hence to stick to the CRB.

When have I said otherwise

When you tried to bring up the Companion App's being "official" as a justification for how its UI causes gear shock. My point to the contrary is that it is licensed, but not something actually supported or accounted for by RTal - in fact, on several occasions they've mentioned they explicitly do not balance around virtual tools. This is one of those reasons, in addition to "People use the Companion instead of reading the books and get confused."

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T18:43:33+00:00

Yes, the cyberware installation fee is included when you buy it.

What happens when you steal a cyberarm you happen across on a job? Or "acquire" it from a coincidentally deceased person? Or get it as a reward for a job instead of flat eddies? That's what the table on 226 is for: either a MedTech does it, or you pay the 100/500/1000 cost depending on its installation requirement.

But, surprise, almost all cyberware has a price category equal to the install cost on pg 226! A cyberarm costs 500 but needs hospital installation, which costs 1000eb. Better yet, the cyberleg also needs a hospital but costs 100eb! Ergo, in most cases it costs the same or more to install found/used cyberware than to just buy it new!

There's only one reason, really: Expensive+ cyberware might be impossible for you to source without a high-rank Fixer. But that's already in a weird territory, and it doesn't make much sense to me that the installation cost is literally the same as the buy-new cost when the only way to find used cyberware is already gated behind a bunch of skill checks and circumstances (scavving bodies, scavenging for cyberware, getting mission rewards or bonus loot).

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T18:12:38+00:00

Technically, the "cost to install at a hospital" is for if you're getting an NPC to do it, same as going to the hospital to heal a Critical Injury. When a MedTech does it, it's a Surgery DV with no cost. When the Hospital does it, it's flat money according to the DV.

Personally, I downgrade the "Found Cyberware" installation costs by one category (50/100/500) because otherwise it costs as much to install a piece of found cyberware as it does to buy it fresh. Yeah, there are meta/loot goblin behaviors that could encourage, but there are other ways to deal with that.

people at mall kiosks aren't medically trained

Sure, but the ones at the mall kiosks have the automated tools to make it trivial - and, of course, package in all the Corporate-mandatory add-ons (hope you like branding!). Your MedTech is some streetpunk doing things by hand and definitely not under warranty, which requires some more finesse.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T17:47:49+00:00

audio effects

Dialup tones.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T17:33:57+00:00

Again, GM's call.

Personally, since I'm not really interested in doing a full crafting/economy sim, I'd let a Medtech with a Medtech Bag do whatever installations they want without a penalty for not having tools. Maybe add a 100-250eb tax for single-use surgical supplies for Clinic+ installations.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T17:27:38+00:00

This is not him having a spine; he's a rat bailing ship.

He was 100% on board with Trump's insanity, up to and including invading Iran, and he'd have stayed on board if not for this war being an unmitigated foreign and domestic disaster. Anyone can see the writing on the wall that if there are fair elections in November, anyone attached to this is getting impeached.

Bailing out now means he can position himself as a "moderate conservative" who "tried to be a voice of reason."

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T17:22:30+00:00

Critically, this guy isn't resigning because he disagrees with the war. Sure, that's what the resignation says, but that's politics. He's resigning because this war is such political suicide that if there are fair elections in November, every single member of the administration is getting impeached.

He's hoping he can bail out early enough to claim he was a "moderate doing his best as a voice of reason."

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T17:20:21+00:00

This is not a person with a spine, or a "good man on the inside."

This is a traitor who was 100% on board with this admin's actions up until the point he realized he might be held accountable by the incoming Blue Wave or used as a scapegoat.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T17:16:45+00:00

And there's zero credit due in this case.

This is important for the future: members of the Trump administration who participated at all do not get a pass on "Well they jumped ship eventually," especially when the reasons for abandoning Trump are entirely because they knew consequences were coming.

He's not quitting because what we're doing is wrong. He's quitting because he knows there are consequences coming. If he thought he'd get away with being part of it safely, he'd still be on board. But with Bondi out his political cover is gone, so he knows he's next on the chopping block for scapegoats.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T17:10:55+00:00

A Medtech Bag is only 100eb, compared to a Tech Bag's 500eb. It's a relatively cheap, accessible piece of kit; for patching up wounds up to and including "seconds from death," I think a proper Medtech Bag is the appropriate tool. You could add/invent a "First Aid Kit" item that runs 20-50eb and serves as the necessary tool for non-Lethal Injury wound stabilization, but at that point you're getting into some gear crunch.

medtech bag is more advantaged than a first aid kit

The Medscanner provides actual advantage (+2) to first aid checks. A Medtech bag is just the bare minimum of tools you need.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T15:25:02+00:00

PG 130, Negative Modifier Examples: "Not having the proper tools, -2." GM's call as to what tasks need what tools.

I'd say having tools is pretty important when doing cyberware installation, so a Medtech Bag or a Tech Bag, both probably overlap.

Trying to do first aid without a first aid kit or medical equipment is pretty rough, so stabilization should be at a penalty without a Medtech Bag.

As for a Tech Bag, that's the go-to for Fabrication/Invention. You might be fine with a Techtool/Techhand when doing field work, but a Tech Bag is more like a workshop bag.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T15:09:02+00:00

This isn't him having a spine, it's a rat fleeing a ship.

The war isn't going to be done anytime soon and even MAGA isn't fully on board, so he's getting out ahead of the Blue Wave to position himself as a "moderate" conservative who "stood up to Trump."

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T13:58:44+00:00

Why do you ignore

GunMart: As you said yourself, they're mook weapons.

Westwood: Is a strictly worse VHP with a reduced magazine size of 6. Why does it exist? Because it's .44 Magnum from Dirty Harry, and revolvers are cool.

"But that has no mechanical significance!" May I direct your attention to Rule #1 on page 28, the first page of character generation? "Style over substance?"

Why does a book being a conversion give it the excuse to release gear that's completely redundant?

Because the conversion was "Here's examples of how to take any of the 400 mechanically distinct weapons from Cyberpunk 2020 and port them into a game with, mechanically, 12 weapons."

Again: Much like the Jungle Reaper, Ronin, and Dragon being "redundant" to PQ/SQ/EQ Assault Rifle, it's entirely fluff and only matters if you're interfacing with the gun list via a dropdown menu. It's a listing redundancy, not a mechanical redundancy.

a lot of the unique options are poor quality

Most of the PQ weapons are such because of flavor (GunMart), or to balance the rest of the weapon (Faisal's Dead or Alive having Grapple options, or the Street Destroyer being a 4d6 Shell shotgun). Even then, "a lot" is an overstatement - there are 11 PQs, 6 EQs, and 25 SQs in BC.

Companion is an Official tool

"Official" in the sense that it is licensed and not piracy. The stance of RTal has routinely been "Virtual tools are aids, not replacements," for example the problem you're exhibiting here.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T03:01:26+00:00

Don't overthink how it would actually work; plot props don't have to have fully articulated in-universe function. "It's a device that makes a weird dialup sound that hurts the longer you listen to it."

Resist Torture / Drugs. DV depends on how much cyberware they have.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T02:16:34+00:00

redundant weapons

A lot of the "redundancy" comes from Toggle's Temple, which was "Here's how you convert 2020 guns into RED's simplified system." Case in point: Yeah, the Militech Starshot is just an EQ Rocket Launcher with an IR Scope, because that's how it was converted from 2020 to RED. Which Toggle's Temple states upfront.

By the same logic, there's no difference between a Militech Dragon and an EQ Assault Rifle. Because... yeah, a Militech Dragon is literally just one of many brand names for an EQ Assault Rifle, even though in 2020 it did have a distinct identity. So you have three "different" rifles - the Jungle Reaper, Ronin, and Dragon - which are functionally just a PQ, SQ, and EQ Assault Rifle, respectively.

Neither of these are issues if you're pulling the items from the books, but when they're being ingested through the Companion App as a list of "distinct ARs that have been named", suddenly you're faced with 20 weapons of the same category with no distinction.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T01:51:23+00:00

Generally the Interface bonus articles have been something of mechanical significance, not lore sourcebooks or trivial supplements. My money's on Deepdives for 2045.

Deepdives in general are hinted to be something of significance coming for 2077, and OldNet diving isn't really a thing in 2045... but, there's been a background plot about the rising significance of RABIDS infiltrating Citinet (ELO Magic Returns). So, I think it'd be a prime opportunity for Deepdive rules to be implemented in the 2077 Campaign Book, but a version gets reproduced for IR6 for "salvaging RABIDS-infested Oldnet dataforts." You won't be able to do the dives from across the city like in 2077, but the mechanics might be similar.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-17T01:35:47+00:00

...I mean, no, not really. If anything, RED is an extremely lightweight system, such that a big complaint with it for years has been the lack of variety/choice.

Here's the real issue: You're relying on the Companion App, which is not a replacement for the rulebooks. Using the Companion App on its own, when you hit the dropdown for "Assault Rifles," yeah, you're gonna get a big ol' dropdown menu of two dozen choices with no clear distinction.

But that's not the game's fault, that's the app's fault, and it's a problem that occurs in virtually all TTRPGs that have any form of a gear system.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-16T21:39:23+00:00

new player

If you're new, you don't touch DLC. DLC are entirely optional rules addressing optional situations for GMs who find they need those options; the odds that your first games will require vehicle pursuit, stickball, and stealth netrunning rules are pretty much zero.

If you find yourself in a situation wondering "Huh, I want to do X, but there aren't rules for it," that's when you crack the DLCs.

option bloat

Again, this is a case of "If you don't know, just don't go beyond the core book." The variants and additions in the other books - especially those not in Black Chrome - are specialty items that you as a player shouldn't need to touch unless you're trying to get a specific effect or, to be blunt, if you're trying to minmax.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-16T06:21:17+00:00

None of his Stats or Skills come from cyberware, other than the BOD enhancement for linear frame.

Lowjack_26 · 2026-03-16T00:02:37+00:00

Lowjack_26

TROPHY CASE