Bypassing Metal Detectors Options

[Leviathan]

Ok, my character has both a set of spurs, and an internal radio, plus a bunch of ear/eye enhancements.
And advice on items/techniques I can use to get through a metal detector without setting it off?

[D.Generate]

Yeah don't go through metal detectors. There is no sure fire way to beat MAD's Any ferrous metal passing through them creates a magnetic field and sets off the system. I can't think of the game mechanics off hand, but I believe that the rating of the mad is tested against the conceal of the weapon or object. As for eyes and ear mods most of them aren't illeagal anyways unless you have eye weapon systems. If you are that worried about it you should talk to your gm and see if you can get your spurs made out of some other material, such as Ceramic which holds a very nice edge. Other than that you only other option would be to have a decker hack into the security system while you were passing through to negate any alarms, that is of course if the MAD is connected to the matrix.

My rule with MAD's are go around them, becasue the chances to defeat them, since they work on such a basic scientific principle, are almost impossible.


Hope this helps some.

[Jason Farlander]

If its a large door-mounted MAD, have your friend Mr. Decker suppress its normal functioning while you pass through. If its a handheld wand, you're probably screwed.

[TinkerGnome]

Most stuff contained inside your body won't set off a MADs unit. Most SR tech is primarily optical, and the rest is likely to be made of non-ferrous metals (eyeglasses and body piercings do not set off metal detectors, for instance). About the only thing that does are the various bone lacings which specificly state that they show up on metal detectors.

The rest requires a cyberware scanner to see.

[Leviathan]

We dont have a decker in the party, so that kinda kills that idea.

[Jason Farlander]

No NPC deckers either? Well, don't be surprised if your team has quite a bit of trouble getting by a good number of standard security systems. My advice: find and hire a decker.

[Kagetenshi]

If you can afford it, two deckers.

~J

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

I agree with Kage, especially since your GM could decide that MAD isn't enough (as it's not in SR...) and use other scanners which detect non-ferrous items (God, I wish I still had NAGRL to explain this), or even a cyberware scanner in the doorway next time.

[D.Generate]

Oh yeah i forgot that most MAD's have some for of chemical sniffer attacted to them to detect things like gunpowder, just incase soemone gets the bright idea to try and sneak past a gun made with little or no metal parts. Like it was said no decker = screwed hand held scanners = screwed. Basically your screwed. So stay away from airports and other places that need such security. So if you need to get out of town look into smuggling riggers. I know a good Scottish rigger who owns a couple aircraft.

[BishopMcQ]

Following the strictest of interpretations, MAD sensors simply roll their rating against the concealability of each weapon. It is up to your GM to determine if Spurs count as weapons or cyberware, as well as to decide whether or not concealable holsters and long coats aid the concealability for this purpose. In the Real World, they wouldn't but MAD sensors operate on an abstract game mechanic--suspension of disbelief effectively.

To detect the other cyberware you mentioned, a cyberware scanner is necessary. Cybereyes and ears can be noticed without the scanner if you had full replacement surgery.

Note: Some MAD sensors also have built in chemical sniffers which detect for ammunition and grenades. The base TN is 10, but that drops off very quickly depending on how much ammunition you are carrying.

Overall your best option would be to hire an NPC decker or find another entrance. Without any details on the location, we can't really help you much with the second option. If neither of these work, one last option would depend on the quality of your SIN and what life is tied to it, but you may be able to purchase permits for the cyberware, and thus bypass the problem by declaring your 'ware. This of course still depends on the nature of the endeavor.

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

Yeah, you're pretty much stuck with the scanner. It will very likely catch your cyber. The question is whether the detector tells the operator that you have a footlong gift for him in your arm. And since it's in the whole system, a decker would help.

[Mimick]

Cyberware scanners have a base TN of 3 (6 for alphaware, 8 beta, 10 delta). More successes reveal more about specific systems. And every full 2 points of essence taken up by cyber bumps that TN down a point.

Chart on p. 100 SOTA2063.

The thing with MADs is how do you assign concealability to your cyberware anyway? Thus for secure locations I tend to bundle the two architecturally. (average rating of 4)

Wands are still good, but they're only rated at up to 3 max, so all they can really do is tell the operator there's something there, and possibly where, a rough number how much, and what category (senseware, brainware, bodyware, etc). More than enough info to get a suspect to walk through a gate for a more thorough scan, though...

So invest in all alphaware or better, and keep your decker contacts (what, you only have one?) happy. :D

[Kagetenshi]

Us folks with the VCR-3 are kinda stuck for a while after chargen, then.

~J

[Kanada Ten]

Just pawn it off as a Simrig and have the permits to prove it ;)

[Leviathan]

Well, I have one Lv 1 contact thats a decker, not sure about the others in the party.
I cannot find a concealability rating for Spurs, and unfortunately you cannot get a permit for them (grr, I have permits for everything else).
I'm currently going with the idea of having another Lv 6 credstick that basically says I was in an accident and badly broke the bones in both my forarms, resulting in me having bone lacing in both forarms.

[Kanada Ten]

Here's an odd idea. One way to help hide the exact nature of the implant might be nano-tatoos on the arms. It should be possible to design the tatoo in both form and structure with the intent of distorting the Cyberware scanning image. While it might cost upwards of 5,000¥ per tatoo, the ability to fool most scanners should be worth it.

How I'd do this: Requiring a cyberware scanner and the subject who desires the tatoos, a tatoo artist uses her Tatoo (Design) skill in an open test or - for those who don't like open tests - against a TN of 4 with every success adding one to the concealability of the ware. The base time to design the tatoo is 5 hours.

[broho_pcp]

If all else fails, Bribe the scanner operator.

[kevyn668]

Or shoot him ;)

[Nikoli]

Well, in the real world, we have MAD scanners, they're called metal detectors.
The body's own bio-electric field has the capability of fooling them, this is how some folks with pins or other metal debris in a deeper portion of their body don't set them off, but someone with a plate in their head (which ouwld only be covered by a thin layer of skin, does.
A simple cupping of the hand over a small offending object can render some scanners useless (friend of mine had her hair in an elaborte setup, held together by an old-fashioned metal barret, the security guy at the airport had her just cover the barret with her hand and she went right through, scanner didn't go off.)

This, to me, explains why they developed a cyberware scanner, something to filter out the bio-electric field of the human body.

If one of my players was taking cyberware like spurs or lacing through a MAD and not a cyberware scanner, I'd use their body attribute to modify the TN of the scanner. But that's me.

[TinkerGnome]

Bone lacing is so prevalent and there is so much of it that I'd wager that no amount of body mass would help. Most other stuff I'd wager just doesn't show up because of its internal nature and the fact that it's not of ferros metal.

On the other hand, cyberware scanners are actually cheaper than MADs scanner, so most security installations would have both. Chemsniffers, I'd wager, are much rarer since they're less effective at the "assassin" level and are very expensive to boot. I definitely wouldn't try sneaking a loaded AVS through one, though.

[Nikoli]

That's why I miss the shadowtalk portions of the old supplements. Hermetically sealing your magazines and brand new fire arm should bypass any form of chem sniffer, unless they start sniffing for slightly melted plastics.

[Kagetenshi]

Amen on the hermetic seals.

~J

[Leviathan]

TinkerGnome - I dont actually have bone lacing thats detectable (I've got Kevlar), I was just thinking of using the story of having some metal lacing in my forarms as a cover story in case they find the spurs in my forarms, however, I am currently in talks with my DM to see whether I can have ceramic spurs instead of metal.

[TinkerGnome]

Hermetic seal is +4 to the detection test. A loaded AVS hermeticly sealed would be 9, which isn't bad at all. It only takes 1 success to spot you, though. A Morrisey Elan loaded with Hi-C rounds hermeticly sealed, on the other hand, is TN 12 to spot. Just wrapping the weapon in plastic is a +1 to the detection TN.

For the bone lacing, I'm talking in general terms ;) It's the only piece of cyber that should show up on conventional metal detectors.

Personally, I don't like the rules for cyberware scanners. They don't implicitly handle multiple grades of cyberware, and don't allow for partial detection (ie, it spots your datajack but doesn't notice your alphaware wired reflexes).

[John Campbell]

Hermetic seal? That'd be a spell-casting selkie, right?

Though that gives me a serious idea... you might be to get your spellcaster to come up with an "Invisibility to MAD" spell. Single-sense illusion... it'd have to be a physical illusion to fool detectors, but you wouldn't need much Force... electronic sensors don't get to resist. I'd work out the full details, but right now I've got places to go, people to kill. I'll do it when I get back, if someone hasn't beaten me to it.