Keeping Your Weapons Close, Guns, Mag Scanners, and More Options

[DreadPirateKitte...]

The same girl with the easy breakdown weapons is also a master of Muay Thai, Boxing, and more, and is more than happy to make do with an old fashioned 5 knuckle sandwhich beatdown, or better, a headbutt to your nose beatdown!

Her fists actually do more damage than her sniper rifle!

[PlatonicPimp]

Well, that's the problem. This thing is linked to potential national security issues so the realio-dealio info was pretty sparse in the show I saw it on.

It must be some sort of EM wave, or more likely a combination of waves as it also acts like a standard security x-ray machine. This is assuming, of course, that the guard can help visually ID an object that the database misses. Shielding would probably be a Hugh Jass red flag as who carries around random daily items that randomly stop EM waves what with everything being cheap plastics anymore? You'd get hauled into the Cavity Search Paradise Room for sure if you had stuff that was shielded unless you had a very good reason for it.

It's not only looking for complete compounds, btw. It's also looking for potential combinations of compounds that can be used for nefarious uses and are pre-set as red flags. You couldn't walk in with the separate components of Thermite, as an example, for a correctly set machine like this. I can easily see ladies who use a combination of beauty products that might red flag as "these combined makes bad stuff" getting the ol' turnaround at the gate if the machine picked it up. It would actually be ubiquitous enough that people would start to expect it from time to time for high-security areas.
The base factory settings might not get the truly exotic stuff but just about anything you can home brew, buy from a mil-spec supplier, use in civilian construction/demolition, is radioactive, is a known chemical weapon, or is using similar compounds will almost certainly pop up pretty damn close to 100% of the time. The main limitation here is that there are only so many ways to make things burn or explode (which is simply burning really damn fast). You get those combinations in the DB, not a hard thing to do really, and you've covered a whole mess of ground in one go.

p. 255 of the BBB has the cyberware scanner. It uses "Some sort of EM wave," specifically in the millimeter wave sepctrum, to image in 3d the person scanned. Any non-biological item is identified by it's shape and composition, and is checked against a preset list of objects (the database) that are not allowed. I'm not trying to be argumentative with this, but have you actually read the description for the cyberware scanner? I'm getting increasingly worried here because you are insisting on making new rules to cover something already in the book.
The chem-sniffer that looks for -Potential- compounds is different than in the book, but only in what it looks for. The one on p. 254 only talks about scanning for nitrates, but right under it is a variant that searches for human pheremones. I would assuem you could make one that looks for anything you want from household cleaners to cake. In all cases, it's roll rating vs. threshold, with the threshold bing 2 at the lowest in the examples. I suppose if you want your scanner to just be that good, you could lower the threshold to 1, but no matter what it looks for, hermetically sealing it and using the ares low intensity laser to clean it will up that threshold.

YOUR SCANNING TECHNOLOGY IS RIGHT THERE IN THE MAIN BOOK ON PP. 254-255.

[kzt]

Actually you're wrong about corporations wanting to help stop them. Because the corporations will only care about stopping crimes against themselves. Why would Ares make it easier for say Renraku to stop Shadowruns against them if they're also going out and funding Runner teams to go steal things?

If Renraku is buying Ares scanners, yes they would. If Renraku isn't buying Ares scanners, then no it isn't in their DIRECT interest to do this.. But I'd expect there are legal agreements between the various vendors to share data, as it's to the advantage of both the Renrku and Ares board if they can stop people smuggling weapons into the boardroom. They don't really see much upside to making assassinations easier.

[kzt]

They'll let you bring your weapons in if you're a cop, or have a reasonably accurate fake ID which says that you are a cop.

Corporate Court investigator.

[Oenone]

If Renraku is buying Ares scanners, yes they would. If Renraku isn't buying Ares scanners, then no it isn't in their DIRECT interest to do this.. But I'd expect there are legal agreements between the various vendors to share data, as it's to the advantage of both the Renrku and Ares board if they can stop people smuggling weapons into the boardroom. They don't really see much upside to making assassinations easier.

Except perhaps for all those times they're paying for the assassinations?

Sharing data seems far less likely than stealing it, after all this /is/ Shadowrun after all. One of the main points behind the setting is that the corporations /don't/ all play nice with each other.

[Mäx]

p. 255 of the BBB has the cyberware scanner. It uses "Some sort of EM wave," specifically in the millimeter wave sepctrum, to image in 3d the person scanned. Any non-biological item is identified by it's shape and composition, and is checked against a preset list of objects (the database) that are not allowed. I'm not trying to be argumentative with this, but have you actually read the description for the cyberware scanner? I'm getting increasingly worried here because you are insisting on making new rules to cover something already in the book.
The chem-sniffer that looks for -Potential- compounds is different than in the book, but only in what it looks for. The one on p. 254 only talks about scanning for nitrates, but right under it is a variant that searches for human pheremones. I would assuem you could make one that looks for anything you want from household cleaners to cake. In all cases, it's roll rating vs. threshold, with the threshold bing 2 at the lowest in the examples. I suppose if you want your scanner to just be that good, you could lower the threshold to 1, but no matter what it looks for, hermetically sealing it and using the ares low intensity laser to clean it will up that threshold.

YOUR SCANNING TECHNOLOGY IS RIGHT THERE IN THE MAIN BOOK ON PP. 254-255.

Thanks for makig that point, couldn't have said it better my self.

[hobgoblin]

You try carving someone up with a glass knife. Easier just going with a fiberglass knife.

-Chrysalis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_knife

[Chrysalis]

Unless you are carving a knife from plexiglass the thickness needed is not enough for a knife that you want to use. I need something that can withstand some bending and is not only sharp, but can also go through clothing without snapping. Obsidian is acceptable, plate glass is not.

[psychophipps]

YOUR SCANNING TECHNOLOGY IS RIGHT THERE IN THE MAIN BOOK ON PP. 254-255.

NO, IT'S NOT!

If you read the description on pg. 254 the chem sniffer tests the air for elements of the compounds in question. This works completely differently but often results in the same information.
It's like a different solution to the problem of "I want some of this guy's brains out of his head." You can walk up to him with a .44 magnum revolver and blow a hole into his head with a 240-gr boat-tail slug. You can also hook a hand valve up to a high-pressure vacuum system and spike a probe through their skull to suck some of it out. Same problem solved, just different methods.
A chem-sniffer takes an air sample and then runs the sample through a filter that is in turn tested for recognized compounds. This machine uses a series of EM waves, not just millimeter-wave radar, to bounce energy from, not only an object, but also the contents of an object to determine it's shape, composition, and density.
A chem sniffer can say, "This stuff is explosives" only if residue, fumes, etc. of the explosives are getting into the surrounding air that the chem-sniffer is sampling. A cyber-scanner only says, "Hey, that's not biological, is a weapon based on it's shape, or (if it's in the database) a cyberware implant based upon it's shape".
This new machine can scan a solid object that is hermetically sealed and say, "There's explosives inside that" based upon it's combined EM return. It can also tell you what the casing around it is made of if you ask for this information and it's in the database. Cyberware? Sure, it can find it and it can also tell you what brand it is not only by shape but by the carbon content in the stainless steel or other materials based upon it's EM return, and shape, and configuration.
Yeah, this new-fangled do-dad does the same end result but it also does it better, more accurately, while providing a lot more information in more difficult circumstances, and for a whole hell of a lot more money.

[PlatonicPimp]

doing the same thing but better is known as having a higher rating. It is a high rating chemsniffer and cyberware scanner.

[psychophipps]

Doing the same thing but better is known as having a higher rating. It is a high rating chemsniffer and cyberware scanner.

That is immune to many of the in-book countermeasures described in great detail in the BB and sourcebooks. I agree.

Besides, if you don't like it? Don't use the damn things! I'm just tossing this thing out there so people can see where the technology is headed in terms of RW security systems. You still get to decide what exists and doesn't in your SR games, after all. I inform, you take it because you like it or leave it because you don't.

As an aside, the CIA and other high-risk security agencies currently use a version of pheromone sensors that instead detects the minute amounts of ammonia that all primates (including meta-humans) emit. It seems that primates are the only critters who do this in the natural world so they be pretty damn tough to beat without a full-body sealed suit. Place your important thing in a good safe in a weather-sealed positive pressure room so external ammonia doesn't get in once you lock up and see who enters the room looking for goodies *evil grin*. Maybe set the threshold on how long and how many of the character(s) are in the room? Of course, if it's right by the door frame with multiple people walking passed, it might be real damn quick...

Just a little something else to add to the mix in case you run into the "Well, they've bought every counter-measure in the book at rating 6. Now what?"

[Oenone]

Just a little something else to add to the mix in case you run into the "Well, they've bought every counter-measure in the book at rating 6. Now what?"

I suppose it's a considerably less evil approach than having someone steal the counter-measures from them before the run, meaning they have to re-buy /everything/ again.

[CanRay]

Simple, a new development in security software is announced allows for the security systems to be able to be triggered by the counter-measure equipment and technomantic hacking.

Which is complete bupkis at the time, but makes the Corporators feel safer, and makes the Shadowrunners sweat.

[Oenone]

The big trouble then is when your players decide the counter counter measure of choice is the highest rating explosives they can find, plus a cheap drone.....

[CanRay]

Which is what I love.

'Course, I grew up in a mining town, and loves me my explosions!

[Oenone]

Which is what I love.

'Course, I grew up in a mining town, and loves me my explosions!

It's not /always/ the best idea. I had to talk one of my players through all the reasons why rating 10 foam explosive was /not/ a good way to sneak into a warehouse(during a massive ork rock concert) to steal a commlink.

[CanRay]

Not a good way, but damned fun!

And probably mistaken for part of the special effects!

[DreadPirateKitte...]

It's not /always/ the best idea. I had to talk one of my players through all the reasons why rating 10 foam explosive was /not/ a good way to sneak into a warehouse(during a massive ork rock concert) to steal a commlink.

Our Shadowrun team just had to sneak into a 1000+ person apartment complex run by a gang, to steal or destroy commlinks n such.

They had to talk me out of destroying the entire building with rating 15 foamex! =P

[Oenone]

Not a good way, but damned fun!

And probably mistaken for part of the special effects!

He was trying to set it up in a way which would have blown up half the crowd. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[CanRay]

He was trying to set it up in a way which would have blown up half the crowd. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Possibly mistaken for DethKlok's Special Effects!

[CanRay]

Our Shadowrun team just had to sneak into a 1000+ person apartment complex run by a gang, to steal or destroy commlinks n such.

They had to talk me out of destroying the entire building with rating 15 foamex! =P

And just how did they do that?

I ask so I can tell the group if I ever get a chance to play Shadowrun. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Chrysalis]

I believe I told her that she was still in trouble for throwing the purse full of foamex in the nightclub the last time. And that it would be nice on not having a repeat of Escape from Corp Island. She drops the bomb she ends up having to walk home.

[CanRay]

In a huff and a pout, I bet!

I've seen that a number of times from people coming back from Prospecting.

"Unca Joe didn't let me use the whole crate."

[Cyntax]

Just wondering, couldn't a technomancer just hang out in the lobby and make sure the machine doesn't register their team's weapons?

[Sir_Psycho]

So could a hacker. Or an AI.

However it's more likely that this thing is an enclosed system. So you'd need to either be stealthy enough to attach a dataline tap inside the machine without the guards noticing, or use a drone to do the same thing. Or maybe hack the commlink of the guard operating the machine and use it as an entrypoint into the machine.

Then it's just a matter of Hacking + Edit (or Computer + Edit if you get yourself Security/Admin privelages) every time some-one goes through.