Houserule: Hardened SINs. Any SIN scanner with equal or lesser rating always fails. However, the modified rating of the SIN scanner can be raised with net hits by the person running the check.
(A bored, none-too-smart tollbooth operator will raise the gate whenever the scanner light flashes green. The receptionist at the Tir consulate, however, will actually look at the ID, look at the person, and if the person's dress and accent are unusual for the nationality/corp issuing the ID, she may ask questions.)
Full Version: The Rules Obscure
If their clothing is unusual? Honestly? So, just because his ID pegs him from japan means he should be wearing a kimono?
Accent I could believe, but clothing? Come on.
Accent I could believe, but clothing? Come on.
Clothing still could have an effect if somewhat extreme however. If their SIN says that they are just a low level office worker who barely makes enough for medium lifestyle why are they wearing the newest novahot designer clothes made from high quality real silk?
Cause they moved out of their medium home and lived low for a while cause they like to have nice clothes more than they like a nice building?
Also, I don't think SINs have your job title nor your salary on them.
Now, if their ID says they're a high manager of a well to do company and they show up in hobo rags, then I could see someone questioning them. But just style differences? Not so much.
Also, I don't think SINs have your job title nor your salary on them.
Now, if their ID says they're a high manager of a well to do company and they show up in hobo rags, then I could see someone questioning them. But just style differences? Not so much.
I dunno about your experience of travelling through high-security checkpoints, but I have done so (legitimately), and the security staff were carefully checking for any inconsistencies. Expecting everyone from Japan to wear a kimono is silly; more people in Tokyo wear suits or jeans than kimonos. But if someone's SIN says they're Japanese, and they're dressed in clothing from Eastern Europe, and their passport visa stamps don't show that they've been in Europe, then it's time to ask a few questions, if you're staffing a high-security checkpoint.
If the subject stammers and seems like they're making up their story as they go along, it's time to call for backup, and to politely apologize for the delay. It's also time to call the JIS and ask "So, did you issue this SIN? Did you issue it to a person who looks like (show photo)? Would you be surprised to learn that they're trying to enter a Tir consulate in Seattle?"
If you would say "oh, there's probably a good reason why they're wearing these clothes, and the ID checks out, go on through sir", then I don't recommend that you staff checkpoints, or at least not in Bagdad.
If the subject stammers and seems like they're making up their story as they go along, it's time to call for backup, and to politely apologize for the delay. It's also time to call the JIS and ask "So, did you issue this SIN? Did you issue it to a person who looks like (show photo)? Would you be surprised to learn that they're trying to enter a Tir consulate in Seattle?"
If you would say "oh, there's probably a good reason why they're wearing these clothes, and the ID checks out, go on through sir", then I don't recommend that you staff checkpoints, or at least not in Bagdad.
Being handcuffed to the steering wheel - another bad sign.
-Siege
-Siege
So just because they bought some clothes on the 'net from eastern europe that means they should have stamps from there on their passport?
I agree on inconsistencies, but clothing is so easily mutable, that I think its a terrible thing to try to nab someone because they're in some clothing thats a different style. (Now, if their clothing is out of class, like your rich clothes example, or some hobo rags, I agree with you, but whether someone likes gucci or prada I don't think really matters.)
I agree on inconsistencies, but clothing is so easily mutable, that I think its a terrible thing to try to nab someone because they're in some clothing thats a different style. (Now, if their clothing is out of class, like your rich clothes example, or some hobo rags, I agree with you, but whether someone likes gucci or prada I don't think really matters.)
No, that means someone should take a closer look. Everything that appears odd gets analysed. Don´t underestimate the power of small-time profiling in police work. I think clothing is one of the hardest things to emulate perfectly.
I´m all for doing SIN checks that way. Request SIN, read data, check consistency with person in front of you. Assess and note threat level of the person (a stuffer shack might value a history theft and robbery higher than one of homicide here).
I´m all for doing SIN checks that way. Request SIN, read data, check consistency with person in front of you. Assess and note threat level of the person (a stuffer shack might value a history theft and robbery higher than one of homicide here).
I'll point out that Baghdad would be classed as a "high risk" zone in all probability, anywhere in Iraq would probably be higher risk than border checkpoints in SR4 NA unless there was some serious political tension going on.
| QUOTE (Tarantula) |
| If their clothing is unusual? Honestly? So, just because his ID pegs him from japan means he should be wearing a kimono? Accent I could believe, but clothing? Come on. |
The locals can never tell who the tourists are... or can they? How do they do it? Is it the Nikon Cameras, the Hawaiian shirts or the Bermuda shorts and untanned legs? Never mind, move along.
| QUOTE (DireRadiant) |
| The locals can never tell who the tourists are... or can they? |
I live in San Francisco, which gets lots of tourists, some of them dressed for Los Angeles weather (and San Francisco is *not* Los Angeles, by culture or climate). For a while I commuted on a bus that stopped at the airport on its way into SF. I got fairly good at picking out the Europeans in their 20s on wanderjahr, and often, between the airport and downtown, I'd offer them a decent (free) map of the city if they didn't already have one (or if they had a bad one).
One time in Guadalahara, Mexicao, at a bus terminal, someone tried to give me a flyer for a class on learning to speak English. I was quite happy that it wasn't obvious that I was Anglo-American... well, at least that it wasn't *painfully* obvious. (If locals see me and think "hey, that's a quiet, polite guy from the USA, who has clearly taken the time to learn some of our language", then so much the better.)
I have talked my way through a post-9/11 airport security checkpoint with a ticket in a name different from the name on my ID. With good reason: the person who bought the ticket for me used my nickname, not my parentally-issued name. I was pleasantly surprised that the guard believed me. It probably helps that I look white and was wearing a light blue dress shirt. If my skin had turned out more towards the Iroquis side of my ancestry, or I wore a spiked leather jacket, they would not have "nabbed" me, but not let me through either.
| QUOTE (Aaron) | ||
Stop that. I occasionally teach Statistics; I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it. =i) |
I said "often", and I stand by that (completely subjective) statement.
| QUOTE (Critias) |
| Laziness is no excuse for incompetence. I'm not just picking on the SR4 guys here, or even just the SR guys in general -- but as a head's up to game designers everywhere, you are designing a game. Do a little math, and make sure shit works the way you think it does, knuckleheads. |
And I completely agree with this.
| QUOTE (Riley37) | ||
I have talked my way through a post-9/11 airport security checkpoint with a ticket in a name different from the name on my ID. With good reason: the person who bought the ticket for me used my nickname, not my parentally-issued name. I was pleasantly surprised that the guard believed me. It probably helps that I look white and was wearing a light blue dress shirt. If my skin had turned out more towards the Iroquis side of my ancestry, or I wore a spiked leather jacket, they would not have "nabbed" me, but not let me through either. |
| QUOTE |
| A five-year-old boy was taken into custody and thoroughly searched at Sea-Tac because his name is similar to a possible terrorist alias |
Here's one I stumbled on last session. In the vehicles and combat section it says that you can take an additional type of called shot against vehicles in order to target and destroy components of the vehicle. The component is outright destroyed if you succeed.
| QUOTE (Zak) | ||
|
Let me get this right:
Similar to a possible terrorist alias.
Translation:
TSA guy#1: Check out the little brown kid.
TSA guy#2: What's his name?
TSA guy#1: It's, ah, Habi....habaj....haa....habajabawabidon'tfrickinknow, man, I can't pronounce this shit.
TSA guy#2: Sounds like a terrorist name or somethin'.
TSA guy#1: Nab 'im.
Keeping the world safe from terror.
| QUOTE (Moon-Hawk) | ||||
Let me get this right: Similar to a possible terrorist alias. Translation: TSA guy#1: Check out the little brown kid. TSA guy#2: What's his name? TSA guy#1: It's, ah, Habi....habaj....haa....habajabawabidon'tfrickinknow, man, I can't pronounce this shit. TSA guy#2: Sounds like a terrorist name or somethin'. TSA guy#1: Nab 'im. Keeping the world safe from terror. |
You laugh now, but you forget two things, one silly, one tragically not.
One: Midgets can be terrorists too...
Two: terrorists have proven quite willing to strap explosives to children and infants in the name of Allah. Point in fact: The attempt to kill Bhutto prior to the successful on involved just such an explosive baby.
So next time you fly, rest easy knowing that kung fu muslim midgets will NOT be getting past security and onto your plane by posing as children....
| QUOTE (Spike) |
| You laugh now, but you forget two things, one silly, one tragically not. One: Midgets can be terrorists too... Two: terrorists have proven quite willing to strap explosives to children and infants in the name of Allah. Point in fact: The attempt to kill Bhutto prior to the successful on involved just such an explosive baby. So next time you fly, rest easy knowing that kung fu muslim midgets will NOT be getting past security and onto your plane by posing as children.... |
One: Anyone not capable of distinguishing a midget from a 5-year old child in a well-lit controlled situation after a physical search should not be working security.
Two: Agreed. And if the adult traveling with the child had been suspected of terrorism I sure hope the security officers wouldn't be so naive that they wouldn't check the child for bombs, etc. But this isn't a case of a child being searched for being with a security-flagged individual. The child was the one flagged as the terrorist, and that's very different.
Honestly, I'd be more worried about zombies than kung-fu muslim midgets, but that's probably just me.
Knowledge of the 'alias' in question could have been received by the authorities through a tip, or nabbed in a decoded email (or other message), and could easily be seen as a 'code word' for a planned terrorist strike. Stranger things have happened.
Honestly, unless we know the whole story (and we never will), it's hard to judge the situation in a totally fair manner.
Honestly, unless we know the whole story (and we never will), it's hard to judge the situation in a totally fair manner.
| QUOTE (Spike) |
| So next time you fly, rest easy knowing that kung fu muslim midgets will NOT be getting past security and onto your plane by posing as children.... |
I sleep easier at night knowing this.
| QUOTE (Moon-Hawk) |
| Honestly, I'd be more worried about zombies than kung-fu muslim midgets, but that's probably just me. |
That's why I own and keep a cricket bat handy. I WILL survive the immenant Zompocalypse!
I still prefer apocabombie.
| QUOTE (Whipstitch) |
| I still prefer apocabombie. |
Alas, for my poor tired brain only works in one direction. I've been saying Zombie Apocalypse for two years, I just can't change that to Apocalypse Zombie without seriously rewiring the entire thing.
Thus Zompocalypse is the only answer for me...
The question becomes then: Which is better? An apocalypse caused by hordes of the shambling dead? or a single shambling dead capable of bringing the apocalypse by itself?
Oh: and to be on topic: What obscure rule really applies in either case?
| QUOTE (Spike) |
| ... or a single shambling dead capable of bringing the apocalypse by itself? Oh: and to be on topic: What obscure rule really applies in either case? |
Bloodzilla?
There is certainly "dead" involved. Bloodzilla may, or may not, shamble, at the GM's discretion.
So in a feeble attempt to get this thread back on topic...
[EDIT] never mind.... I re-read and answered my own dumb question...
We can now get back to discussing bloodzillazombiedropbear invasions....
[EDIT] never mind.... I re-read and answered my own dumb question...
We can now get back to discussing bloodzillazombiedropbear invasions....
Bloodzilla is an obscure rule! I was actually on topic for once.
Horribly Derailed Topic... But I found another obscure rule...
| QUOTE (BBB pg 257) |
| Each character starts off with a Notoriety of 0—people have a neutral opinion of her. Modify this according to the following qualities possessed by the character (plus one point per negative quality, minus one point per positive quality): Positive Qualities: Blandness, First Impression, Lucky Negative Qualities: Addiction, Bad Luck, Combat Paralysis, Elf Poser, Gremlins, Incompetent, Infirm, Ork Poser, Scorched, SINner (criminal SIN only), Spirit Bane, Uncouth, Uneducated |
I wasn't aware that characters actually had a notoriety on creation. More modifiers on the qualities.
Here's a great one that we came across:
Armor and Encumbrance: evey 2 points over body x 2 gives a -1 to Agility and Reaction tests.
This means that Running and Climbing (both strength) are unaffected by lots of armor. Also, swimming, another strength skill, only has modifiers for #kilos carried/worn for treading water. Equipment doesn't list kilos and there is no modifier for trying to swim in armor (just stay there and float does).
Armor and Encumbrance: evey 2 points over body x 2 gives a -1 to Agility and Reaction tests.
This means that Running and Climbing (both strength) are unaffected by lots of armor. Also, swimming, another strength skill, only has modifiers for #kilos carried/worn for treading water. Equipment doesn't list kilos and there is no modifier for trying to swim in armor (just stay there and float does).
| QUOTE (Feshy) | ||
Actually, you should have. I was wrong, it is around 3%. I forgot that critical glitches would overlap with the 0 hit rate (actually, I forgot that my statistics printout didn't subtract them from the 0 hit odds, which it probably should. 0 hits is different from a critical glitch! It handles this properly for extended die rolls, but leaves it in for normal rolls.) Oh well. I need to add opposing rolls to the statistics calculations in my die roller, that would make this quicker. I guess what it comes down to is, try to use your fake SIN as seldom as possible -- or SIN costs will rapidly outpace your lifestyle costs! |
I wonder if the rule was changed to having the SIN roll first. And take it's successes and subtract them from the die pool of the scanner. In that case the odds of no successes for the scanner are fairly low, and even if the ID gets not hits the scanner still only can roll 1 die.
| QUOTE (Cheops) |
| Here's a great one that we came across: Armor and Encumbrance: evey 2 points over body x 2 gives a -1 to Agility and Reaction tests. |
Actually, it's a bit weirder than that. If the armor rating exceeds BODx2, then then it's -1 for every 2 points above straight Body.
Gah.
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