Stars, Knights and Policlubs...Oh My Options

[mechagm]

Alright I wanted to see how every likes to run their secrutiy forces. You know like tricks, standards and the thing that make your players go WTF I HATE THESE GUYS!!. ME personally I got none to much aside for the ida of having standard thresholds instead of having to roll all the time. anyways lay it on me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[kzt]

KE just kills people who seriously annoy them. Their car explodes when it's hit by an air-ground missile, etc. Sometimes KE takes credit for "killing the band of terrorists", and sometimes they don't. Typically they try to minimize collateral damage to innocent bystanders, but sometimes you gota do what you gota do.

[CanRay]

Yeah, "Oh dear. Sorry all you Supernatural people, you're just collateral damage from Chicago using our new toy that didn't work out as well as we'd hoped."

[Delta56]

I usually try to run them in a way you would hope to see trained combatants fight. Not like thugs who hide behind a car standing up, but like the hunkering down behind cover and using smartgun-visual links to look around corners, have the drones relay targeting and location information so on so forth.

You know... something, that should the players ever get into a fracking mess they made, to punish them accordingly.

[CanRay]

You know... something, that should the players ever get into a fracking mess they made, to punish them accordingly.

Bah, Bubba the Love Troll is punishment for those kinds of screw-ups.

[toturi]

Bah, Bubba the Love Troll is punishment for those kinds of screw-ups.

But what if the screw ups are the people Bubba has nightmares about? And what if these screw ups love Bubba and what he does for them?

I run them the way they are statted in SR4. If they are smart, then they act accordingly. If they have the skill, they will try to use it. If they have the gear, they will try to use it.

[BRodda]

Alright I wanted to see how every likes to run their secrutiy forces. You know like tricks, standards and the thing that make your players go WTF I HATE THESE GUYS!!. ME personally I got none to much aside for the ida of having standard thresholds instead of having to roll all the time. anyways lay it on me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Lone Star I run like cops in the future should act, with EXTREME caution. I usually have backup of 2-3 cars there in @3 min even if its a routine traffic stop. All interactions between the cop and the suspect are handled by a drone, its rare that the cop will get out of the car. As for the cars, they are all custom built jobs with a drone rack in the back. Standard drone payload is 2 SMG equipped Ford LEBD-1s (Gel rounds). SOP is the cop send in the drones and perform all the questions and scans through the drones. They then pop the car's turret which has a Stoner-Ares M202 MMG to cover the suspects just in case. If the drek hits the fan the Swat team shows up in a 10 man squad in heavy amour to take control of the situation.

I'll have to post the stats for my standard Lone Star cruiser sometime. It sure as hell makes runners go "Oh shit, its the cops!"

[Wesley Street]

I run them the way they are statted in SR4. If they are smart, then they act accordingly. If they have the skill, they will try to use it. If they have the gear, they will try to use it.

Ditto. I don't generalize by saying Security Force X acts a certain way while Security Force Y behaves in another. Just depends on the Professional level of the NPCs.

[kzt]

There is a beautiful example of professional security in a missions file
http://shadowrun4.com/missions/downloads/S...FORCEdRECON.pdf
Look at the examples of how the KE guys handle a bunch of approaches starting on page 19.

[HeavyMetalYeti]

I like BRodda's use of drones. Police today would use them if they had em in the same way. Cuts down on getting hit by rubberneckers on the side of the road too.

[hobgoblin]

I like BRodda's use of drones. Police today would use them if they had em in the same way. Cuts down on getting hit by rubberneckers on the side of the road too.

yep, makes sense. treat the person at the other end as a potential mad bomber (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

that, and one way or tinted windows, so the potential mage cant just turn around and manabolt the officer.

that is if a pullover would be done by a cop at all. i can see them use drones dotted around the area as a first line. only if the vehicle runs and gridguide cant do anything does the cruisers start rolling. and at same time gridguide starts diverting traffic away from the suspected path of the vehicle, and maybe pop up automated barriers, ghost in the shell style.

this all would depend on the area one finds oneself in tho.

if its a stretch of highway claimed by some motorcycle gang, then the drones and barriers may be broken or taken over by the gangs resident script kiddie.

hmm, are there patches of highway that one can consider lawless? as in, the biggest risk driving there would not be cops, but roaming gangs. as in, do not, for what ever reason, stop your vehicle in that area!

hmm, barrens messenger service. ouch!

[kzt]

hmm, are there patches of highway that one can consider lawless? as in, the biggest risk driving there would not be cops, but roaming gangs. as in, do not, for what ever reason, stop your vehicle in that area!

There are supposed to be, but it makes absolutely no sense. Drones and spirits are too effective and too cheap. It's 200 hours of OT and 20,000 rounds ammo weekend project to exterminate a gang that is doing hundreds of thousands of nuyen a month in damage to corp assets.

[BRodda]

yep, makes sense. treat the person at the other end as a potential mad bomber (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

that, and one way or tinted windows, so the potential mage cant just turn around and manabolt the officer.

that is if a pullover would be done by a cop at all. i can see them use drones dotted around the area as a first line. only if the vehicle runs and gridguide cant do anything does the cruisers start rolling. and at same time gridguide starts diverting traffic away from the suspected path of the vehicle, and maybe pop up automated barriers, ghost in the shell style.

this all would depend on the area one finds oneself in tho.

if its a stretch of highway claimed by some motorcycle gang, then the drones and barriers may be broken or taken over by the gangs resident script kiddie.

hmm, are there patches of highway that one can consider lawless? as in, the biggest risk driving there would not be cops, but roaming gangs. as in, do not, for what ever reason, stop your vehicle in that area!

Thanks for the idea about the one way glass. That is a cheap solution that Lone Star would implement to help keep cops safe.

As for drones doing the arresting, I don't think that they can legally. Don't think the laws have caught up to remote arresting.

However roaming gangs on the highway, not on the major routes in my game. Most gangers are scared to death of Lone Star in my game. The nice areas are protected with minimal force, but the C class areas have lots of patrols. It's "The front line on the war on crime."

The Z areas however have almost NO cops. They do an occasional show of force or raid on a group that is affecting the better areas(BLT and such). They show up in force. The only cops you'll meet in a Z zone are undercover detectives.

[BRodda]

There are supposed to be, but it makes absolutely no sense. Drones and spirits are too effective and too cheap. It's 200 hours of OT and 20,000 rounds ammo weekend project to exterminate a gang that is doing hundreds of thousands of nuyen a month in damage to corp assets.

Thats my point, Lone Star is a corp. They need to react in the most cost effect manner posible. My monster patrol car costs @70,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) . One dead cop costs close to 250,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) and people tend to forget that.

Lets say that the average patrol man makes 50,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) per year. Death benifits are usually 3-5 times salary: 150,000- 250,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)
To train a replacement will take 10 weeks at the acadamy: 25,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)
New gear for the cop: 5,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)



Then you have the recruitment costs, loss of moral, man hours spent trackign down the killer. It all adds up. It's much better to have cops be given an additional 50,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) in gear and cyber/bio to make sure that you protect that investment.

[hobgoblin]

As for drones doing the arresting, I don't think that they can legally. Don't think the laws have caught up to remote arresting.

i dont think there would be a problem if the drone basically held on to the suspect until some patrol could come around to verify and either take the person in or be released from the drone.

also, a drone could basically do this, then ask a controller back at hq or someone similar to review a recording of the events up to the arrest.

if the controller finds that the drone have "overreacted" he can then trigger a remote release.

but this would probably only be used in the A or similar areas.

kinda line something happens, a drone comes up and goes "please put your hand in the marked claw".

hell, one could argue that a drone would be better at following "correct" procedure then a cop, given the same tools.

[Jaid]

i dont think there would be a problem if the drone basically held on to the suspect until some patrol could come around to verify and either take the person in or be released from the drone.

also, a drone could basically do this, then ask a controller back at hq or someone similar to review a recording of the events up to the arrest.

if the controller finds that the drone have "overreacted" he can then trigger a remote release.

but this would probably only be used in the A or similar areas.

kinda line something happens, a drone comes up and goes "please put your hand in the marked claw".

hell, one could argue that a drone would be better at following "correct" procedure then a cop, given the same tools.

in the original example given, the drone is making the arrest while the officer is, let's call it 20 feet away in his squad car.

it's not that the drone decided the person needed arresting, it's that the drone is cheaper to replace if the person being arrested pulls out an SMG and puts half a dozen APDS rounds into it.

[hobgoblin]

ah yes, true. i keep forgetting my own ideas 5 min after i put them up on the forum (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)