I got a weird ass problem you could only really have by being an RPG player in Israel

go in the opposite direction. be hilariously wrong. and when all else fails say "i hit the restart button".

at this point you've failed generic bullshittery so if you really want to ease the embarrassment make it satire bullshittery. hell if your group is chill and has a sense of humor (sounds like that's the case) go all doctor who with it i.e.
>user: hacking this will be like a black transgender cabbie sneaking into the top level of the SS while only using flour and a paintbrush.
>Team: Really?
>user: No absolutely not but if i have to explain everything i have to do we'll be here all week.

>Tell them that you have no idea what's happening with hacking and keep the techno babble flowing.

OP: IGNORE THIS SHIT, IT WILL BE CRINGE INDUCING AND YOU WILL QUICKLY BECOME "THAT GUY" OF THIS GROUP

Make another character...

Geez that was hard. I hope i don't have to make that much effort everyday. I'm going to lie down.

Pretty funny desu senpai.
if they don't mind then fuck it, keep going. But yeah I'd at least take notes on jargon.
Maybe even ask the GM if hacking in the setting really is just firewalls and proxies and all that.

> I start technobabbling excitedly about "proxies" and "firewalls" and "access logs" even though I don't really have a very good idea what those are. You know, in-character and stuff.

Don't ever do this again.

>What do you suggest?

Just tell the GM what your character is doing ("I start hacking into the computer"), and if you need to roleplay then just have a casual conversation while your character is doing the hack. Talk about the mission at hand and stuff.

And to add on to that, I work I.T. in real life and I only "talk shop" to co-workers. If I'm talking to people who have no idea what the hell I'm doing, then I don't talk about it at all. I just talk about other things as I'm getting my work done.

>I was doing the equivalent of entering a room full of genuine Delta Force operators and babbling about the difference between a clip and a magazine.
That's basically my Only War game so I feel you man.

That's a fairly unique and interesting situation you have OP

I get the feeling that in the same situation, I'd want to find out about it OOC by chatting with them...and would then run into problems of comprehension, confusion and possibly even confidentiality.
I'd want to know shit, but without a long background in computing and without anything for demonstrations or visual aides for "this is X, this is Y, this does Z and can be used for W..." I'd probably get lost pretty quick - especially if they're liable to slip into jargon

I'd say you have three main options: to change character - possibly even swapping characters with one of the expert guys if they're amenable, meaning you'd have a hacker and a knowledgeable player behind them - this does mean re-balancing the team, or players (especially yourself, in either case) not getting to play their first choice of characters

The other option to go full wizard technobable: if the setting is friendly to it, the cyberspace and equipment you're interacting with has only a passing resemblance to the real world, making any IRL knowledge of computer operation about as useful as knowing how a steam tractor works. If technology has moved on and changed enough then all players should have roughly equal ignorance of the way it "should" work, which you and the GM can define. The downside is that there may be a lot more work, if you've got to come up with shit that sounds plausible, but it can totally be done. I'd say minimising recognisable things and terminology is a must - consider Johnny Mnemonic, where a "huge" amount of data is a couple of megabytes.

The last is to try and get round it through less IC talking and description, which might weaken the game and lessen your enjoyment a fair bit - having to use broad strokes because you're playing with people who specialise in your character's field isn't the best, but it shouldn't stop you either.

I think the other members of your group are honestly being pretty rude about this, at least from how you describe it. You're just trying to have fun in a game of make believe, just like they are, so things like "because you clearly need the help" are totally unwarranted. It's not even like you're incapable of stringing words together and playing a diplomancer, hacker characters in Cyberpunk should get a free pass for being completely disconnected from the real world ability of their player. It's like saying you have to know how metallurgy works to roleplay a blacksmith.

Seriously, if they can't seperate real world tech knowledge from Cyberpunk bullshittery long enough for you to have your fun they're probably just looking for reasons to be assholes.

The sad thing is that my other group, the one I GM, includes a decorated Yahalom operator (they're kinda like IDF Army Rangers, but with a specialty in demolitions, meaning they're some of the most hardcore fuckers in the IDF and are the ones who go first into motherfucking GAZA during combat), and I've already learned to never, ever try and use tactical terms next to him because I'll end up sounding like a moron.

This was a rookie mistake on my part.

Why am I even playing with so many soldiers? I served in Kirya, all I did in my service was write official sounding letters.

Why not make your character equally as ignorant of the terminology and jargon, but he just knows how to hack like it's instinct for him. He just sprouts tech-jargon because he feels like he has to, otherwise he's just jacked in and saying 'Ooooh, that shiny thing looks important... I wonder what would happen if I gave it a little prod.'

Fellow Israelifag here, for the benefits of silly goyim I would like to comment that Unit 8200 is massive. It's literally the largest single one in the army, thousands of soldiers. Are they elite? Sure. Is it that statistically likely to meet 3 of them in the same place if you hang around the right crowds? Not really.

I didn't know we had so many Israelis on Veeky Forums.

I'm a full-blown civilian, it's just the military is the only way out of this town for most people. Even then they wind up crawling back if they get tired of that shit.

I countered this problem by taking a decent amount of time to ask them to teach me enough to not sound retarded. This got complicated fast and I'm still a million miles behind, but at least I don't make them cringe anymore.

IT guy here. Sorry, that concept doesn't work either because in order for you to learn your job you have to learn the terms we use in the industry as well. Otherwise nobody would be able to learn or understand each other when work needs to be done. I'd imagine it's the same thing for hackers - their "hacker lingo" isn't just to sound cool, but to be able to clearly communicate exactly what the hell they're trying to do.

>Why am I even playing with so many soldiers?
Eh, it's been mentioned before, militaries are a hotbed of people playing RPGs when they're not using RPGs for a lot of reasons, and you're in one of the few proper countries with conscription, so yeah you're bound to get a lot of soldiers.

Consider that East Coast USA (also known as The Only Sane Place On Earth) is 0817 right now.

Israel is at 15:17.

Maybe he's like Lain. Are autistic self taught computer savants really that rare in cyberpunk?

First of all, harsh.

Second, is talking to them about this an option? Like explaining what you just posted here? Or is that too much losing face?

Otherwise I'd suggest just taking on a persona and talking about hacking while not talking about hacking in a sort of "I don't know it's name I just know the sound it makes when it takes a man's life" sort of way.

Like play him like a budhist persona or something, "Their lotus is weak" instead of "the firewalls are a piece of cake", "I am the kwisatz haderach of cyberspace and they will fall prey to my digital sandworms". Just talk another professions jargon or play up the persona or self-taught master thing up.

>"I am the kwisatz haderach of cyberspace and they will fall prey to my digital sandworms"
Holy shit, consider idea stolen.

Thats adorable OP, but you did say you like cyberpunk, William Gibson himself knew jack shit about hacking when making neuromancer. Maybe try using his jargon, you know, ICE, netrunning (though i dont think thats his term), sticking plugs to your nerve endings, its soft science fantasy fiction at least on hacking levels, not remotely close to actual hackz. Alternatively socializing is a big part of roleplaying and if you really cant handle the (sorta bad) atmosphrre i suggest finding another less srs group

Just go full 80a hackerman and make shit up. Acquire and bring a Nintendo power glove. Wear mirror shades. Watch the 90s movie hackers. Go so over the top you're clearly being satirical

I honestly think they are the ones missing the point of cyberpunk if they expect the hacker to not be a hollywood archetype.

Unless you are playing a serious, realistic campaign, but then why would you use SR hacking (or SR at all, but that's besides the point)?

>that concept doesn't work
If he's a non-professional and perhaps a prodigy he might deliberately obscurificate what he's doing - if he wants to be better than everyone else then telling exactly what he's doing wouldn't be conducive to staying on top, and it's not like people don't develop their own system of annotations, abbreviations and things anyway - notes in someone else's code can get very cryptic or unintelligible iirc

Your hacker might speak in jargon, but it might be the hacking equivalent of cockney slang or yiddish, so like even more unintelligible l33tspeak or Padonkaffsky jargon

Fuck your character concept, you just found a goldmine for actual knowledge about cyberwarfare.

That's pretty fucking rare.

Now you just have to pretend stupid and they'll probably accidentally cough up a lot of gold info in an effort to impress you.

>If he's a non-professional and perhaps a prodigy he might deliberately obscurificate what he's doing - if he wants to be better than everyone else then telling exactly what he's doing wouldn't be conducive to staying on top,

Perhaps I worded it poorly. Perhaps I should have said "Speaking the same language" or "on the same sheet of music" or something like that. Because that's the way things HAVE GOT to be in order to learn and fully understand what it is you're trying to accomplish, and if our brilliant hacker here ever wants to rise to the top in the first place he's got to at least understand the common terms before he starts using coded language.

And do remember that OP specifically used industry terms... but he used them incorrectly. Not jargon or coded language. It would be like trying to roleplay a car mechanic who just told you he has to finish mounting the carburetor on the tailpipe but before he canl soup up your radiator to give you a boost of speed.

>also known as The Only Sane Place On Earth
I'm guessing we're excluding Florida...

Also, to help with user, I would say role play without saying all that crap, but if you want to specifically talk about hacking, get out of character and ask what the correct term/method would be. Sooner or later, you can just memorize some hacking vocabulary and THEN get into full character.

Florida isn't even real.

True, in this day and age you have to know your shit, but in a cyberpunk distopian future, full of literal computer spirits and shit, it is completely impossible for someone just to be born with the skills?

It's be better if OP just learned all about hacking and cyber security, but he already said that he can't get to a level that won't be humiliating. And why how elitist most IT guys sound, it's make sense why he has to take shady jobs to bring in income, because no one hiring legit IT personal believes that he's a goddamn network whisperer.

OPs only other options are scrapping the character, or just not saying anything IC. Because we both know that him going full Hackerz will probably end up with him being punched down the road.

>Unless you are playing a serious, realistic campaign, but then why would you use SR hacking (or SR at all, but that's besides the point)?

If it's Shadowrun hacking we're talking about here, then using "real" IT industry terms in the first place was pretty cringe-inducing. It's been firmly established that the ShadowRun Matrix is almost nothing like the internet.

What system are you using? How realistic is this setting supposed to be? How much is the technology supposed to resemble/be built on what we have today? Because if we're talking Shadowrun, the guys are being dicks and failing to grasp that going full Johnny Mnemonic is part of the fun.

Honestly, though, if it's an issue: Just stop technobabbling.

Talk to your teammates as if *they* know nothing about what you're doing and trying to explain what you're doing beyond the most simple terms is largely pointless.

Instead of 'I'm clearing access logs' say 'I'm trying cover my trail'. Just use simple, blunt, layman's terms like an IT guy would use with customers. There's no reason for him to go into detail other than to humblebrag about how smart he is.

Concentrate on the stated goal of what you're doing instead of the ins and outs of how you're doing it.

>rue, in this day and age you have to know your shit, but in a cyberpunk distopian future, full of literal computer spirits and shit, it is completely impossible for someone just to be born with the skills?

Eh, you got a point there. But if that's the case I'll just point you to ShadowRun already has it's own established Matrix jargon he could have used.

Yes it is. I'm living it. I'm also drinking. Take that however you will.

It is. I am from Florida. I just uploaded 4 gigs data into my brain using compression technology, and there is only space for 2 gigs. I've got 24 hours before my brain explodes.

Before that though, lets go to the TacoBell....at the megacorp compound.

You in?

>stdh.txt

You can't throw a lafa around Tel Aviv without hitting an ex-Unit 8200 dude with delusions of grandeur. Assuming he's really Israeli, there's no reason to assume he's lying.

I would be in but I got no ride. I accidentally left the windows down and an alligator got into my car.

>if this was Deus Ex, you'd have just discovered a plot to sell exploding tacos to the masses as a means of population control

Ah, yeah, I understand - using proper terms badly wouldn't work - you'd want to be the equivalent of a mechanic saying that he's "making her sing" rather than saying specifically what each and every thing in the extremely complex process is (half of which he just does by instinct now anyway)

My other point is that he wouldn't be using basic terms at all - the people who'd know what he's on about, he doesn't want them to know

It's a game of make-believe. Just explain to them that you really don't have any idea how computer security actually works and you're having fun playing pretend, no one is going to hold it against you.

Goddamn OP that's comedy gold right there. If I was you I would keep up the act, even dialing it up at times for comedic effect. Play that 80's movie tech wizard angle up for ridiculousness and you'll have a grand old time with your group.

if your playing shadowrun see if DM wont let you shift classes into being a technomancer. You can hand wave it and be like, I just wanted to be legit, but really im techno-wizard. Then spend all rest of the games talking in very emotive terms about the hacking.

Your co-players are being dicks. They should get into the spirit of the game and accept the genre parameters, and whatever limitations the player may have in regards to specialized training that a character possesses.

However, you should stop using current-day techno-lingo, which probably rubs them the wrong way and provokes this reaction, and use the lingo of the game instead. Or make up your own interface. Then it won't bother them so much.

Finally, no matter how cyber-elite-uber-hackers they may be right now, they know shit-all about hacking 50 years from now. They should understand and accept that. 1960s computer engineers would have no idea what malware or a firewall is off-hand unless you explained the concept to them.

You gotta own it. Go full nonsense, use random computer terms as wrongly as possible, BE FUNNY, then tell the GM what you want.

Go all out, make them cringe as much as possible. Talk about hacking and megabites and RAM. Just be self aware and ham it the fuck up brother.

This

>Frankly, I just felt really embarrassed the whole time, and it made roleplaying difficult.

This seems to be the crux of the problem.

Have you imagined, maybe your co-players would enjoy hearing a layman such as yourself bumbling about in territory in which they usually have to be 100% deadly serious?

It'd be like those Navy SEALs enjoying a totally over-the-top Michael Blam action movie.

This. This seems like a problem you're only creating because you like to have problems.

>Buy hacking for dummies and learn what stuff you should do
If they are actually nice people they won't laugh more for you trying to use more accurate terms, and might actually appreciate the effort.
>Change your character
Clearly hacking isn't for you in this game with this group, try something else
>Change your group
Clearly hacking isn't for you in this game with this group, try something else
>Just roll with it
If they are actually nice people they won't keep laughing at you like jackasses

>hacking this will be like a black transgender cabbie sneaking into the top level of the SS while only using flour and a paintbrush.

>Some guy tries to have fun
>Hurr that guy

Yeah I fucking hate it when people with low confidence try to play any sort of communication oriented character.
>I-if y-y-you d-don't t-t-t-tell us wh-what we want to know y-you will r-r-regret it.

THIS OP.

Fucking own it and have fun. They better love you for it.

>What do you suggest?

Do more character research if your going to play a certain character. Hoping that you dont need any actual knowledge puts too much responsibility on the GM.

Also, put more emphasis on the parts of the character that ARNT computer buzzwords. Put more emphasis on style rather than substance. Because your lacking the substance anyway. For example, describe a hacking interface which is visual, that your character sees whenever he puts on his hacking goggles. Stick to your streangths, if creativity is one of them... and it should be...

if it does not ruin the spirit of the game. I would go full csi hacking on them. 4 man on 1 keyboard kind of hacking.

or you can watch Mr Robot and realize that Technical Jargon is only used when you are talking about technical stuff. like a knowledge check.

.... why can't you embrace it, exactly?
Eg: Use two keyboards at the same time so you can hack faster. Comedic shit.

I would suggest rerolling different character, but has some valid points as well.

The only sensible thing to do is to demolish their homes and take all their land for yourself while claiming it's done in self defense.

But seriously, lean into the skid and do it harder, use the term "mainframe" and carry around a pocket full of ram chips to throw in people's faces like pocket sand.

>What do you suggest?
Keep doing whatever the fuck you want, cyberwarfare guys are literally just weaponised autists and weird spastics they can't use anywhere else* anyway- so you may as well keep grinding the satire in as deep as you can!

>former sigs officer

This is a fucking awesome problem to have.

Hacking in fiction is like being a spy in fiction: it's not just unlike the real thing, it's hilariously ridiculously unlike tge real thing.

So I just say relax and play it cinematically. You're a sci fi super hacker. Play it that way. Get stuff hilariously wrong. Once they're used to it, it'll be fun for everyone.

I once ended up giving a lecture to a bunch of college students where I drew a military analogy. Later one of them approached me and let me know he was a former member of the american special operations community. Your story is like a million times better.

You're giving them a rare opportunity to revel in their insider secret knowledge without leaking classified information. Let them enjoy themselves, unless they're assholes they're not going to look down on you for not knowing things you have no reason to know.

Oh and PS, Israel rocks.

That is like playing D&D with a historian or a HEMA guy and having them be cfompletely autistic about the facts and jargon.

The main problem is that you are the minority here if they want you to stop that shit. I'd say go for it, but do it over the top.
Being on this board, you probably heard of Skallagrim. That swede-like guy who reviews swords, other weapons and rambles about inaccuracies of medieval combat in media.
Well, the guy respects the Monster Hunter franchise because it's obvious they don't give a single shit and aren't trying to pass up their big ass weapons as realistic.
You can do that. Come one, go full NCIS and have on of your party members help you fight against other hacker this way
youtu.be/u8qgehH3kEQ

You could always steer into the curve so to speak. Be the parody that gets them all laughing.

This user has it right. "I try turning it off and back on."

your friends are literally JIDF
Maybe find new friends?

What system are you guys using? I'm curious about what cyberpunk game Israelis are playing.

Like different guys already said, I'd avoid using today's technobabble in a cyberpunk game. Those terms will be completely outdated in the 2050's. It's like calling an assault rifle a musket or call a car a chariot.

Yeah,what system, guy?

Just stop using realistic technobabbel and go full camp. "I have to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow to align the flux capacitor with the oscillation overthruster. This should let me hack into their Interocitor."

Capped

Did you have a super rugged laptop for field work?

Meh. It's a pretty low quality one as it is, and the way it's presented makes it really unfunny. Caps rely on a sort of contextless humor or bizarre situations that fit in other threads. If this was in greentext and he stopped at when everyone stared at him (and explained why) it'd have been perfect. Because he put it like that, though, it's hard not to see as just an user asking for advice on a weird event. It's more... I don't know. Eyebrow raising, maybe.

3/10 wouldn't post in cap thread.

>Should I just stop talking in-character?
Hell no! Get several of them to make up random jargon tables. You know, the pick a word from column A, a word from column B, and a word from column C types. Anytime you're trying to do something hacking related roll on the table and go as overboard as you can. 15 or 20 terms in each column.

I'm not near in their league and am in a different field but when one of the group who didn't know what the circle and line button meant wanted to play an engineer that's what we did for him and it was the most ridiculous amazing awesome thing.

Have you considered doubling down and being as cyberpunk as humanly possible when it comes to hacking?

I'd say ork it up, go absolutely stupid with it.

>"The firewall is too strong"
>"Quick i need more ram!"
>*Jam RAM sticks in the CD drive*
>*Type 'RAM' in the terminal*
>*Computer starts freaking out like a washing machine with a weight in the centrifuge*
>"We're through, I rammed the firewall!"

You know who's the most annoying motherfucker you can meet in real life? That guy that watches a movie and bitches the whole way about how it's not scientifically accurate.

^^this^^

>IDF's elite cyberwarfare specialists

Is that what they call college kids being paid to troll nowadays?

>>*Type 'RAM' in the terminal*

Wasted your time.

I'm dying.

You explain to them you don't know anything about hacking or cyberwarfare, but your character does, and you keep on with it and double down. None of them wanted to play this guy, right? But this guy is you.

How are YOU making a fool of yourself? Are they all IRL cyber-augmented street sams? You got a legit fucking spirit shaman summoning up elementals there while you're around the table?

"Hacking too much time!"

>"We've triggered a firewall! It's too hot!"
>Pulls fire extinguisher off the wall and literally blasts the computer with it.
>Goes straight back to hacking

You should give me the links to that reading they reccomended to you

>tfw wrote a cyberpunk book
>first half seems like real handwavey attack scripts
>It's actually just an AI doing the hacking for him
>The one time a human actually hacks it's just a design oversight exploit
>They get their shit smashed down within like ten seconds by the AI

>tfw wrote a cyberpunk book
Link, friend.

...

You got parents and stuff?

Currently querying agents to try and get it published. Except for The Bard Quarterly, I'm an unpublished shmuck who probably needs to bend over and take it up the ass from an editor before I actually git gud. I've pretty much plateaued in my vacuum.

I can link you the first three chapters though.

docs.google.com/document/d/1cf7q3scTuhQPpNWPCrZhv_ssz383wv2ks8aVqQaCJY0/edit?usp=sharing

youtube.com/watch?v=b2OYNMO_mNw

Go blasé. If they start trying to explain concepts that you don't really care to learn about, just say 'Whatever man, I'm not the hacker, my character is though' and keep on going. Don't get embarrassed, but don't try to pretend you know what you're talking about. If you start bullshitting so hard that they actually get frustrated, you've swung it right back on them. You tell them that it's just a game, they shouldn't take your bullshit seriously.

You don't care how hacking works in real life. This is a game. Make sure they know it, because as-is, they're being assholes.

>plays silly game about future hacking
>gets into character by technobabbling
>gets laughed at by actual hackers in the group

There's some kind of disconnect here. Do you or do you guys not want an over-the-top silly action/hacking game, or a super realistic hacking simulator? Because you should be the one laughing at them for taking your random in-game talk seriously.

But I guess you don't become a master hacker by having a good sense of humor.

למה אתה כל כך שמן?