Disguise, Need errata? Options

[FriendoftheDork]

Hey I've got 2nd or third printing I think but the disguise kits in the equipment list seems broken. Basically they have a cost, yet give bonus according to their rating, although the price listed is not for ratings.

And it seems 500 nuyen per use seems a but much for a disguise?

[Da9iel]

I believe the rating bonus comes from a computer+edit test. As for the price? Yeah, that seems a little high, but what do I know?

[Jack Kain]

You can't put a price on not having your face IDed.

A good programed disguise means you can show a false false while on your shadowrun.
For your typical B&B or smuggling job you can just wear your helmet you use paired with your body armor or a mask.

But for those times when your facing being visible can' be avoided with out drawing attention to yourself a disguise is a good friend. Don't want LoneStar passing your picture out to gangers with the words REWARD on it.

[FriendoftheDork]

Ok it doesen't seem anyone understood what I meant... .I wasn't (just) arguing the price.

Let me quote the BBB:

"The Nanopaste disguise rating adds to Disguise tests for 24 hours"

The Latex face mask seems to work as you say, thus you make the rating with edit+computer (maks disguise skill).

Should Nanopaste disguise work like latex face mask?

[hobgoblin]

well the book says that the nanopaste "may be programmed in the same manner as the latex face mask". as i see no other way for it to be used i say its a more advanced version of the latex mask, thats much harder to get hold of.

[FriendoftheDork]

Ah ok ty for response guys must have missed that part.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

[Kyoto Kid]

...what ever happened to plain old regular (theatrical) disguise kits? The nanopaste may be a slick way to do it, but it requires BP expenditure on computer skill & an use of an edit utility to really make it work. In that sense, disguise skill by itself is basically useless. Just because nanopaste is SOTA, doesn't mean that someone very good at disguise using top of the line prosthetics and makeup couldn't achieve the same (if not better) result. Yes it would take more time (basically an extended test), but usually a good disguise can rarely be achieved on the fly anyway. I've been in theatre & seen some pretty amazing stuff.

I could see standard disguise kits being rated like medikits (1 - 4). I'll have to look at SOTA2064, I thought there may have been some mention of them in the Games of State chapter.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

[hobgoblin]

the latex or nanopaste adds dice to the disguise test, and the number of dice one can get out of it is limited by the disguise skill. so even if one is a ACE programmer using the hotest edit program out there, it will do zero if one dont know the basics of disguising oneself.

but if one has a high disguise skill and lucks out on the dice one can effectively double the skill ;)

hmm, the latex have a one use timeframe of unknown length. the nanopaste have a 24 hours timeframe, and comes in two sizes. one covers face and hands, one covers the whole body.

im guessing that the latex version is what kyoto kid talks about as prosthetics and makeup.

[Kyoto Kid]

...exactly.

Not just the latex mask but all the other things that go with it, such as wigs, eyelashes, coloured contacts, risers for shoes etc. I don't see why such a kit cannot be available in various rating grades that augment the test as a medikit does to First Aid.

Went through both SOTA sourcebooks and alas, found nothing on disguise kits (though the skill is first presented in SOTA63).

On thing I can say for an old fashioned physical disguise is that it cannot be hacked. That would be awfully embarrassing if you were posing as say a mid level researcher and suddenly the features on your face started changing while you were talking to the security guard outside the labs.

[hobgoblin]

im guessing that the computer+edit test is there to set up the disguise correctly. then its applied using the disguise skill. and ones applied cant be altered.

as in, i see nothing that say that the nanopaste disguise can be altered at will.

you preset it to a disguise and then use it...

[mfb]

[Kyoto Kid]

...Nanopaste is a 24 hr one time use only at a minimum of 500 :nuyen: . Many components of a traditional disguise kit, even given the same base cost, would be reusable and as pointed out by hobgoblin, wouldn't necessarily expire after 24hrs use. Nanopaste, particularly the large size container (Availability 16), is also difficult to come by. You just don't go down to Bill's theatrical shop & buy a case of it.

Keep in mind, Corp security & Law Enforcement are well aware of Nanopaste and nothing would stop them from developing countermeasures to compromise or detect its use if they are at all suspicious (as I would expect them to be).

I agree that being able to "act" the part is as, if not more, important as the quality of disguise itself. A true covert disguise artist would need a good Con skill (Acting) as well as Artisan (costuming) and supportive knowledge.

Disguise skill is not limited to impersonation, but also can be used as a cover to keep the heat off or simply for anonymity during extended missions. Here is where more conventional forms of disguise would be better (even over spells). 1 week or more at 500 - 1,000 :nuyen: per day can get a tad bit expensive and then there is finding enough paste to make it through the duration.

I see traditional disguise methods still being fairly common, and Nanopaste as more the exception based more on its availability rather than cost.