FBI Agents, What professional rating are they? Options

[Iota]

Haven`t found any information on this topic, yet.

What professional rating would be appropriate for FBI agents?
How much Cyber-/Bioware do they have?
What kind of weapons would they use while on an observation mission?

I`d suggest they are pro, so they should probably have a professional rating of 5-6 and a lot of ware, too.

Opinions?

[Kerberos]

Haven`t found any information on this topic, yet.

What professional rating would be appropriate for FBI agents?
How much Cyber-/Bioware do they have?
What kind of weapons would they use while on an observation mission?

I`d suggest they are pro, so they should probably have a professional rating of 5-6 and a lot of ware, too.

Opinions?

Not unless we're talking about FBIs most elite SWAT team. Your average police officer, including in the FBI isn't a combat trooper. I'd say only modest combat skills like professional rating 4 perhaps though perhaps higher mental attributes and non-combat skills than that would suggest. Little if any cyberware. Of cause if you are talking about a SWAT team then they should have augmentation.

[Aaron]

The ones on TV? I'd say 3, maybe 4. The ones I actually know? Two, easy.

[Hatspur]

To be honest, FBI agents shouldn't necessarily be cybered to the gills. Most of the time they tend to be cops who applied for a better paying position serving the government rather than the community (or in this case, corporation). They are typically better trained, better educated and painful to your permanent record if you happen to have one. The FBI is popularized in Hollywood as being a bunch of inept middle aged conservatives who rarely ever do anything except subvert control over operations and say things like "This is now a matter of national security, please move along."

The FBI is also a data mining organization that would make your head spin. If some poor slot has done something to piss off the FBI he will have to leave the country or live under a rock for a year. They are also pretty savvy when dealing with other law enforcement agencies and tend to do a great deal of cooperating rather than subverting.

Your average agent (not SWAT) would be either an ex Lone Star cop or ex military, with a pro rating of either 3 or 4. The FBI's strength lies in its investigative ability, not its overall force. But this is 2070 and the FBI can do whatever you damn well want them to, I'm just giving you an idea of what they do now.

For surveillance they would likely have nothing in the way of extra armament, although agents are usually carrying a .45 as a sidearm. When the Feds do come a knocking, they took a hint from the Gestapo and usually arrive at 4 in the morning with an outstanding show of force.

[Iota]

Thx to all for replys.

Probably you`re right on professional rating 3-4 and low or no cyber-/bioware, because if the FBI would be like 5-6, they`d be more effective.

Another question which came to my mind:
What exactly would happen to a runner team that accidentally killed some FBI agents, because they didn`t know they were agents?

I think my BI agents will have some eye recording unit, which might even send the recorded information in real time to some FBI server, which would mean serious trouble for the runners. Or does this sound too effective again?

[Kerberos]

Thx to all for replys.

Probably you`re right on professional rating 3-4 and low or no cyber-/bioware, because if the FBI would be like 5-6, they`d be more effective.

Another question which came to my mind:
What exactly would happen to a runner team that accidentally killed some FBI agents, because they didn`t know they were agents?

I think my BI agents will have some eye recording unit, which might even send the recorded information in real time to some FBI server, which would mean serious trouble for the runners. Or does this sound too effective again?

Not at all, it's not that they're not effective, just that they're not soldiers. Eye recording unit is quite reasonable, and FBI Would no doubt be pissed to have agents killed. THat is when they might break out the cybered up SWAT team. The main reason to not be to extreme her eis not reaslism but the metagame-consideration fo giving the players a fair chance.

[Hatspur]

It's important not to mix the professional rating game mechanic with actual power. Feds are smart, not necessarily tough. This makes them hard to play because you have to do the hardest thing any GM can do, outsmart 4-5 other people working against you.

[Wounded Ronin]

The ones on TV? I'd say 3, maybe 4. The ones I actually know? Two, easy.

That's hilarious, considering their crazy PT test to be eligible as a candidate. I will never understand the disconnect between rigorous hiring guidelines and the people you actually see working in the office.

[Hatspur]

True, a fresh agent is probably going to be in better shape than an older one. But those tests usually aren't that common past being hired and trained. The only test non-SWAT members have to routinely pass is a firearms skill test for the firearms they are issued. The Bureau doesn't care if you're a flabby desk worker because most agents can still fulfill their roles while not being in herculean shape.

[hyzmarca]

I prefer portraying the FBI under Shadowrun as the FBI under Hoover, with all of its cinematically interesting aspects present at once. As a result, instead of Profiler or Criminal Minds style investigation and analysis or even The X-Files you have a combination of Melvin Pervis and his G-Men taking down the most dangerous criminals with a "shoot first and fuck the questions" attitude, Eliot Ness and his Untouchables conducting serious feet-on-the pavement investigations, and COINTELPRO infiltrating every potentially radical political organization to the point that some small terrorist groups are composed entirely of undercover FBI agents who are unaware of each-other's true affiliation.

FBI agents aren't corrupt - they can't be bribed (easily) - but they cheat to high heaven and essentially make Vic Mackey look like Buddha by comparison. They're far more liberal with their summary executions than even the most trigger-happy Lone Star cop and don't even care if the suspect has a SIN or not. They're idea of justified homicide is if the suspect can't give them one good reason to let him live then they're justified in killing him. When they don't kill without hesitation they manufacture evidence without hesitation, perjure themselves without hesitation, and blackmail judges without hesitation. They knowingly send innocent people to death row in order to protect useful informants. They spy on judges, Congressmen, Governors, and even Presidents and collect large files of blackmail material on these powerful people to ensure that they can always get their way. They commit murder and terrorism in the name of inconvenient political groups to discredit them and make every effort to infiltrate and radicalize any "subversive" organization as early as possible to prevent them from gaining public sympathy. They make deals with drug lords to keep the barrens and ghettos supplied with psychoactive substances so that the poor and disenfranchised masses never feel like organizing mass revolution.

Yeah, the real FBI did all of that under Hoover, most of it as a matter of policy. You did't mess with those fraggers, chummer.

My FBI agent has a professional rating from 3 to 6, with an Untouchable an 8 or more (for the social resistance modifier).
Standard Duty weapon is the HK Urban Combat
Standard Duty Uniform is a Black or Grey Mortirmer of London Berwick suit with a white shirt.
Standard Duty Undergarment is the Victoria's Secret VS Cotton low-rise thong.

[Earlydawn]

FBI field agents wouldn't likely have any more 'ware then a mid-to-high tier corporate employee; implanted commlink, sleep regulator, and a datajack. More then likely only one, if any, unless it's someone way up like a branch chief. Tactical teams would likely be equivalent to a SWAT team, although likely better funded.. perhaps wired reflexes and a skinlink to link up with the safeties in their firearms.

[Adarael]

According to Double Exposure, an investigating agent will have a professional rating of 4, but a threat rating of 3. It's possible that's because Juarez was wired, but not fundamentally as much a brawler as a detective.

[Sir_Psycho]

They would have a penchant for apple pie, cups of soykaf and good motels. They get their inspiration from dreams about midgets talking backwards and the plight of the tibetan people.

The standard issue pistol would be a Colt Government 2066. Actioneer suits and/or secure long coats. Arsenal said that feds like concealable weapons, so a ceramic knife in a concealable holster might work, and you could replace the CG2066 with something ceramic, like the HK Urban Combat. I'd imagine they'd have an internal commlink, sleep regulator, and probably some eye mods or cybereyes - probably cybereyes with recorder, image link, image mag, vision enhancement, lowlight/thermo/flare comp. Physical Attributes around 2 to 3, but with slightly higher mental attributes, around 4. The real threat would be that they have extensive databases, agents, and hackers riding virtual shotgun to assist them. Their threat lies in their investigation ability and logistical capabilities, so they might actually have equal or lower professional ratings than most Lone Star cops.

[Yoan]

They would have a penchant for apple pie, cups of soykaf and good motels. They get their inspiration from dreams about midgets talking backwards and the plight of the tibetan people.

That gum you like is coming back in style.

[Sir_Psycho]

I was wondering how quick Dumpshock could get the reference.

[Wounded Ronin]

If they're 80s FBI agents they're all automatically overbearing and unreasonable. See Lone Wolf McQuade.

[Naysayer]

If they're 80s FBI agents they're all automatically overbearing and unreasonable. See Lone Wolf McQuade.

What do you mean "if"?! What other kind are there?
Except for the occasional mid-90's flavoured, dreamy-eyed paranoid conspiracy theorist softpaw that you just want to hold and cudde and tell that everything will be alright and yes, you DO believe and that you don't ever want to assign a threat rating because then he might get hurt...

But apart from that, overbering and unreasonable all the way.
And - ultmately wrong.

[Wounded Ronin]

What do you mean "if"?! What other kind are there?
Except for the occasional mid-90's flavoured, dreamy-eyed paranoid conspiracy theorist softpaw that you just want to hold and cudde and tell that everything will be alright and yes, you DO believe and that you don't ever want to assign a threat rating because then he might get hurt...

But apart from that, overbering and unreasonable all the way.
And - ultmately wrong.

I can't find the clip on YouTube, but there's the scene from Lone Wolf McQuade where the FBI agent and 2 guys with M16s walks out into the open and tells the bad guys to surrender through a bullhorn, except there's dozens of bad guys and they just immediately shoot the FBI dudes to pieces.

[kzt]

That's hilarious, considering their crazy PT test to be eligible as a candidate. I will never understand the disconnect between rigorous hiring guidelines and the people you actually see working in the office.

I had one of the senior Albuquerque homicide detectives give a talk once. He was a big fat guy, clearly out of shape. But he had a > 85% closure rate and a very high conviction rate on people he had arrested. It took him years to get that out of shape, but he learned a lot about how to talk to people and gather info while he did it.