I've always enjoyed the 'play to their flaws' method of screwing PC's. We had a character two campaigns ago that had flashbacks when he heard kittens mewing. I have never seen so many damn kittens as when that guy was around.

In our current campaign, Troll street sam took sea madness and a clown phobia, figuring he'd just run on land and avoid circuses. Our first run was to intercept a ship full of some cargo that was being protected by the Scatterbrains.

Good times.

Oh yeah. If you take a flaw, you better be slapping yourself with it repeatedly, or expect the GM to hit you harder. I have no sympathy there.

"Wait, wait, you're addicted to MURDER? And allergic to blood? Seriously? Okay...."

I do love me some flaws. I actually double the value for flaws that are more amusing for me, things like amnesia, invisible friend, split personality due to chronic insomnia, etc.

yeah but then you get the players who use their flaws as edges.

Clank, Human street sam, Flaws: Uncouth, Liar,
this guy has absolutely no charisma or negotiation skill but gets more action than our Tech wiz/face who has charisma out hoop and could negotiate the fangs from a vampire.

SR3 page 244 has a reference to "slot[ting] the Lockpicking skill", but no actual listing of that skill. Man and Machine describes the skill on page 27 during the course of describing the body compartment. The closest thing to "lockpicking rules" would be p100, SotA:2063.

Yeah.

~J

I don't have my SR3 books handy, but I'm sure the actual Skill was listed somewhere in one of the SR3 supplements. I remember a small figt breaking out here over whether it should really be an Active or Knowledge Skill. Hmmmm ...

Its listed in the SR3 BBB as an example of Karma Reward for "the right skill at the right time" and involved a team running in a firefight into an alley and someone picking the lock on a door to get away.

If my memory serves me at least.

I thought the skill was introduced in Cannon Companion along with the lockpick gun - but don't have that book handy anymore.

Ah, you're right, SOTA63, page 104, introduced next to disguise (which no one uses).

An amusing note, the locks listed are 'cylindrical dimple locks'. I imagine the key is a cylinder covered with dimples. The amusing part is that this seems like it would be a far easier design to pick than current locks, both because it offers a wider keyway to access and many dimple locks can be "picked" by some very simple methods. The only tough part would be finding something to apply torque against. To illustrate this, a runner can pick one of these locks with a single bent piece of wire, pitting his lockpick skill against the rating of the lock.

Next time I manage to pick a lock of any quality with a single wire, I'll be sure to tell you.

It's specified in one of those locations that it's an Active skill. It's never formally introduced the way other skills are in a little block, though.

~J

there are sooo many ways to do it. some from my past that my current players have not seen yet (well the ones they have I will point out).

1) play the players in a foreign denomination like instead of nuyen, pay the in CAS bucks, or British Pounds or what not. Then they have to find someone to convert it from ?? to nuyen and of course they are not going to go to a bank since no one is sinned and they will have to pay a premium for the conversion process. Like 30% give or take.

2) have the johnson send in a squad to do a "hit" on the team at the meet of the end of a run. (the have seen this).

3) variation if number 2, have a hit squad take out the johnson as they arrive at the meet so the team doesnt get paid. or "credit" for completing the mission.

4) for a place that is supposed to be very secure, make a single path or single area very very to get into. This will start arguments at the table between players waiting on how they are being screwed.

5) for a milk run, or other walk in the park type runs, through in some odd really hard part someone where in the middle. Just something that will through them off their guard.

6) if there is a rigger, or hacker/TM that has lots of drones, etc, have a security helicopter, car, boat, whatever driving/flying/etc in their general direction at high speed. Dont make it the same corp as they are running against but that wont matter to them. The vehicle is not part of the run nor reacting to the run, they just happen to be in the same area as the runners. I even did this during a shadowrun missions mission at dragoncon this year to throw some extra flavor to the group especially since they are just power chugging through the mission. I was hoping it would distract them a little. This did only for a second. Other groups it was a bigger distraction.

7) put a random corp wage slave or security guard in some random room that the runners are running though that is not suppose to be there. Generally doing something that person shouldnt be doing, sometimes they are just working/sleeping.

and the list goes on... my sinus medicine is kicking in and my brain is not as clear as it was at the beginning of the message....

dog

As far as flaws go, I've definately seen some that dont really affect the character much (like that mention of the guy who had Uncouth and liar). The latter may get him into trouble now and then, but being a tiny step off from a cyberzombie, he's likely to be uncouth anyway.

I'm sure there are still some ways you can mess some one over with that abit though. Afterall he might do something and offend the J at a meet or something. ANd if they have the liar trait and arnt lying about things on a regular basis.. well...

And if they are you can at least try the odd setup. Try to come out with some deal where maybe he'll lie to say.. little timmy the cripple just to get the kid to leave him alone. "Yeah if you go into the park on fith street durring a full moon an swim to the bottom of the lake there you can find a stash of gold!"

And then little timmy drowns or gets mugged or soemthing and the kids parents/brother what ever goes after the runner for revenge. It's a little hard though to come upw tih something like that that actually works mind you.

no, but then i've watched the player use the same bit in the bar that i worked at at the time and walk out with a hottie on each arm.

He had sex with them IN THE BAR??

no, he took them home with him and had sex with them, i know, he was also a housemate of mine

If he managed to talk them into bed, then he has high charisma. He may have poor etiquette (or perhaps it's simply street etiquette as opposed to the etiquette you're familiar with), however he clearly has confidence and knows how to make himself interesting and intriguing. Uncouth didn't really apply because he knew how to keep it in check. He was rowdy enough to catch their interest, but not so much that he drove them off. I have seen other men who are like that, they'll squeeze breasts and make outright come-ons, but get the girl. It's because they have very high charisma despite their direct methodology.

Yes, I said it was confidence. Confidence is charisma. The person in question therefore obviously has high charisma. I don't think uncouth or liar came into it. Liar only applies when his lies are applicable, uncouth means he works against accepted standard to his own disadvantage (which this fellow clearly does not). I didn't actually say 'despite' anything.

The Liar flaw doesn't actually mean that you lie, though it certainly doesn't preclude that. It just means that something makes everyone assume that you're lying most of the time.

~J

and then due to your uncouth flaw, once they reply to your comment by saying you are lying, or something to that effect, you blow up and say shit that would get you in trouble.
Uncouth and Liar are a terrible combination to have for a character because he would react in the most undesierable manner to stimuli.

Player : Ok, we finished the job with no deaths, like you wanted, Johnson...

Johnson : Sorry, but you dont sound very convincing... do you have any proof?

Player : WTF!? You calling me out? If you were out on the streets I would have capped you for that!

Johnson : 'Mental note : Do not hire this guy again...'

Didn't they prove on mythbusters that a high powered weapon like an SMG can shoot a lock off?

ALso:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot5.htm

Keep in mind, a shotgun is not stealthy.

I have no idea how a pistol would work against a standard brass lock, which is much softer than steel. Unfortunately I suspect it would mostly just compress the brass and make it harder to break upon and impossible to pick. There's a reason locks are drilled, not exploded.

Whenever you shoot a firearm at a metal object, I would hope you have already discarded any hope of being stealthy.

Come on, everyone knows that as long as you have a silencer equipped, no one can hear anything...
I've been in a game where one of the guys on my team fired a shotgun in a hospital and due to the dicerolls, no one heard it. We were really surprised...

I gave my character a lockpicking skill and we made up a house rule for lockpicking. You just roll your skill against the lock's rating, with TN modifiers for what you're using to pick the lock.

the ultimate authority on shooting padlocks is : The Locks 'O TRUTH

/also check out box 'o truth while you are there.

Psssttt... hey Fix-it, look up to where nezumi posted the same link.

So how would we figure the barrier ratings of locks?

But again, most locks are made out of brass, or have brass components within a steel body. I don't know of a lot of actual steel lock cylinders.

So yes, a padlock would be like a wall of steel, because you can actually destroy it to the point where it falls off. But a door lock would be both softer and need to be more completely destroyed WITHOUT twisting everything up so much that you can't withdraw the latch.

IRL I believe they don't try to shoot out the lock so much as shoot out the latch. By destroying the door around the latch (or around the hinges), you can then open the door normally. With most doors, it's easier just to use Boot Mk 1 a few times or a battering ram. The weakest link will naturally break first. Even a steel door will bust if you hit it with a battering ram often enough. I think the only advantage to 'shooting the lock out' is speed.

Regardless, I guess the TN would be based off the barrier rating of the door or the door frame, whichever is lowest.

Yes, desptewhat movies would have us beleave, drilling a lock i not fast or silent. You can make it quite if you use a lot of lubrication and very slow speeds, but youwill be there forever. If you do it fast at all... thermite would be more stealthy. Actually, so would the battering ram, for that matter.

As far as learing to pick locks, I learned how to pick most of the better padlocks they sell at home depot in about 20 min. (We were in a steak and shake, and board, so we all sat ther and practiced.) After a few hours, using only a torque bar and a rake (type of pick) I could get through any of the locks in under 30 seconds. The skill is not the problem. Having picks...nw there is the rube. Yes, you can pick a lock with 2 paper clips. I would not recomend it though, it takes a lot longer, and you need thin metal, and a pair of plyres to bend them into the right shape. However I don't know if you can do it whith decent lock, particularly door locks. I never could get it, but then I didn't keep trying. It was way too hard, I just usedthe real picks.

A rake is sort of the "brute force" of lockpicking. Sort of a manual lockpick gun. I realize I'm stretching the analogy here a bit, but bear with me.
The similarity is that it will usually work relatively quickly, but if it doesn't work relatively quickly and in the first couple of tries, you're humped.
Using a more standard pick is generally slower and requires more skill, but there is a higher "upper bound" of locks that you can get through. In other words, if you can't get it with the rake in a few minutes, odds are you'll never get it with the rake, but if you spend a little bit more time with the pick that lets you move individual pins you've still got a chance at getting it.
Lockpicking is fun and handy. I recommend it as a hobby to anyone.

edit: Just to clarify, this post was not meant to disparage Mortax's lockpicking skill. Learning to pick locks, even with a rake, in 20 minutes is still good. The tension wrench requires a delicate tough. I'm just suggesting that if he (or anyone) enjoys it, there is much more depth to the hobby to persue.

Yes, it's one I practice every lunch

I never got into padlocks (for a number of reasons) and I'll admit I'm pretty bad at lockpicking. Or more specifically, I lack the incredible natural skill my wife has, so I need to make up for it with actual practice. I think it's related to the fact that after four years of handwriting classes, I still write like a retarded ape.

That said, there is a world of difference between what they sell at home depot ("This is our top of the line, $35 dollar lock. It is unpickable.") and what is a genuine security lock ($150 medeco with angled pins, false notches, sidebar, security pins, narrow keyway, restricted key access and very, very tight machining standards).

I can pick the "unpickable" home despot lock. I have spent hours on my medeco, and I am not even half way to picking it (personal best, 5 pins no sidebar, 2 pins with sidebar).