The problem with both bone lacing and muscle improvements is that they both potentially put you at an unnatural level of fitness, and should you get into an altercation, you could cause serious harm to the other party. The same reason that a competent enough martial artist has to register their hands/feet as weapons, due to the damage they will inflict during a confrontation. It's a precaution, nothing more.

Um, right. Can you actually say where it is required and under what authority?

Competent martial artists are not required to register their hands and feet as deadly weapons. That is a silly myth propagated by 80s McGrandmasters to make themselves seem more badass.

The notion of "registering as a lethal weapon" is an urban legend.

Although, "killing hands" could put an entirely different spin on things.

Factors to consider in military upgrades:

1. Is the Army still based on conscript, mass-produced troops?
2. How much does each "upgrade" actually cost the Army? Book price? Military-discounted rates?
3. How much money is ultimately spent on each Soldier? Canon already implies the Navy SEALs vibrate like blenders.
4. Complexity of installation - boosted reflexes versus wired. Datajack versus muscle lacing.

Spec Ops - almost definitely, although the specifics will vary by mission.
Rangers - certainly.
Rank and File Infantry - some basic upgrades, but probably not all that much. The cost-benefit analysis just isn't there to support intensive wiring, although there would probably be some sort of program to accomodate or even encourage individual purchases.
REMFs - some upgrades, but not high priority for anything more than basic upgrades like a datajack and possibly a retinal display.

Pilots - combat pilots (fighter jocks, Apaches and so on) will likely have the best possible based on how much each vehicle costs. LMTV drivers? Probably not - too expensive, too common in the field and too easily damaged for casual use.

The answers will vary based on GM preference, personal experience and world view - as far as I know, there still isn't much by way of canon definition.

For my own experience - I'm not combat arms. Before deploying to Iraq, I was never issued a flashlight, knife or multi-tool. I bought that and a great deal of my gear out of my own pocket - other Soldiers in other units had different experiences. One guy was telling me about the last time he was deployed, his unit gave away Gerber multi-tools like candy; a maintenance unit I inspected had boxes of flashlights for the taking.

I say that to say this - there isn't a wrong answer to the question.

-Siege

And pick up chicks in bars.

-Siege

Over here in Germany for example . . i know a former Boxer in the Heavy Weight class who now owns and tends his own bar . . once a drunken customer attacked him, and he defended himself . . and had to face charges afterwards because in his case simple hitting the other guy with his level of training and experience was considered assault with a deadly weapon . . absurdly enough, the next time he got into trouble with a drunk custumer and used a wooden stool-leg to defend himself, no such thing happened . . even the judges said that it's absurd . . but them's the breaks it seems . .

S'what I hate about the law - because it has to be flexible means what happens in one place doesn't mean the exact same consequence will happen in another place, even given the exact same circumstances.

I will submit, however, the bar owner was never registered as a lethal weapon by his local law enforcement.

-Siege

Was the boxer Jewish?

I'll have to see if I can turn up any hard and fast laws that support it, but I did know a person personally who was skilled enough in the arts he knew that he had the registrations, and I've heard of a number of people who were trained in boxing running into the same problem that was listed above. Once you pass a certain level of competency (the exact level is a bit of a mystery to me, as I'm barely an amateur MA myself), you become a deadly weapon in the eyes of the law. If I can dig up any laws regarding that specifically, I'll post them. It's possible I may be going off of hearsay, but we'll see. I'll post again on it one way or another.


EDIT: That didn't take long. I stand corrected on my information. Registered hands/feet is definitely a myth. The only reality it has is that courts have ruled battery cases as assault with a deadly weapon based on the damage inflicted, not necessarily based on the level of training of the attacker. You have my apologies for my naïveté.

dude, not cool . .

Give the military has been the 'poor man's university' for a long time, I think you'd have a large number of troops who'd have joined for basic cyberware (and SINs!) So cyberlimbs for those who've lost limbs in accidents, datajacks and basic education for soldiers hoping for white collar work, and so on. Any politician foolish enough to change that is going to be voted out next election.

For the American military, I would think that high quality cyber would be available at discount via Ares: but only if you agreed to work for Ares after your military tour was over. The army gets better soldiers, the soldiers get cool equipment, Ares gets disciplined employees.

You'd be surprised - apparently, a lot of people enlisted for the institution of "The Army" without realizing the inherent function of the Army. Which results in the situation the Army finds itself now - having to offer enlistment incentives to recruit personnel. Additionally, age limits have been rolled back to expand the eligible pool of enlistees and waivers are flying fast and loose to get people in. For that matter, education requirements and benefits are fast and loose.

The Army still offers great opportunities to people smart enough to take them, but just as many people ride the institution for all its worth without ever meeting their obligations (I'll stop ranting now).

As for the corp ties - I dunno. There is no canon precedent for SR and only the really nasty sorts like me believe the military-industrial complex exists today in the form of bed partners and guaranteed contracts. That would probably be a matter for individual GM use.

The Army (for argument's sake) has several advantages working here:

1. Buying in bulk for discounts ("I'd like to buy 10,000 datajacks. What kind of discount will I get?")
2. Having the resources to dedicate personnel to mainstreaming simple implant procedures ("No, I'm not a doctor - I'm a Physician's Assistant, MOS-qed to install datajacks...now, turn your head...this won't hurt a bit...")
3. "Training" options are expanded with basic cyberware like chipjacks, datajacks and so forth.

I can see arguments both ways for mainstreaming cyberware options to Soldiers.

-Siege

I imagine that it would be easier to get a medical drone and train someone to push the button with the picture of a datajack on it.

Entirely possible, all things considered.

But you did get the gist of "manufacturing line implantation."

-Siege

Clearly you don't live anywhere close to DC. I believe the DC 'restricted' list includes lockpicks and knives over a certain length. The 'forbidden' list includes a whole slew of firearms as well as tazers and stun batons (yes, you cannot bring a tazer into DC for any reason, whether you're police, military or anyone else). But then again, no one ever said DC politicians had any of that 'common sense' stuff.

The DC law about against "burglary tools" requires that one actually intend to commit burglary with them and such intent must be proven. Meaning, if you aren't caught actually using them to break into someone's home, you've got no problems with lockpicks or pliers. The same is true for most laws against "drug paraphernalia". DC knife laws are against carrying, not against possession. Most jurisdictions have laws against carrying concealed knives in public. DC's handgun ban has been declared unconstitutional and is thus currently unenforceable, though that might change when the Supreme Court rules on it. So, really, now is the time to get a handgun if you live in DC.
Tasers, I don't get that either, its just silly.

Military soldiers lose their weapons every three seconds. Just as long as they know where it went the military doesn't particularly give a toss. The loss has to be documented, but 'dropped it into a swamp' is a perfectly acceptable answer that happens all the time

You wouldn't believe how many rifles and handguns are dropped out of helicopters, into swamps, rivers, oceans, off boats, run over with tanks, trucks and APCs and all sorts of other shit. It's quite funny really.

As for SR, my thinking is that nothing over 12 and nothing F that isn't really easily removable isn't installed, and you can walk with your gear that is installed and is not removeable. You can then buy a license for whatever R gear you have and no-one cares.

I'm told that "I left my pistol on my tray when I pushed in into the dirty dishes window in the civilian run mess hall" isn't considered an acceptable explanation....

As one who witnessed a M-14 rifle "Almost" sliding over the side of my ship, the Petty Officer 3rd Class Gunners Mate who was issued said weapon for the duration of the sea detail.

The words of the Petty Officer 1st Class Gunners Mate who also was a witness, the non profane/obscene words used "paperwork" alot. All in the the diatribe was most educational from my point of view, never heard such profane/obscene words used with such eloquence and vigor before.

WMS

Well, hell.

If one of my people lost a weapon in a swamp, I'm pretty sure my CO would have us trying to drain the damn swamp.

Career-minded, political mother-frogger that he is.

-Siege

so it's actually plausible to get military equipment(wel, not 'ware of course) that fell of a truck? O.o

We had to spend hours looking for a missing grenade training throwing object in basic training. Cheap plastic stuff.

On the other hand, a company lost a light machine gun when it fell of a tank, and the search was called over relatively soon (During the last day out on that particular field, one of our company found the LMG buried in the mud. We got some free beer and stuff for it from the other company.)

Since in our system, loss of materiel (as opposed to destruction of materiel) comes out of the company's money (It's subtracted from the payment for everyone) there's a certain incentive not to lose expensive gear.

Anything is possible - but at the end of the day, stuff happens.

Planes go down. Ships sink. Trucks get blown up.

Were there really five crates of weapons or four? Dunno...the Army might be concerned enough to check, but sometimes you just can't get enough parts to accurately verify everything.

"Off the back of a truck" is harder because weapons and sensitive items tend to be more enthusiastically tracked. If your count of ACUs is off, people aren't overly concerned. Your count of M2 Browning .50 caliber machine guns is off...well...as a means of making sensitive items disappear for resale later...its not a trick to try more than once. CID, IG and other acronyms are likely to be crawling all over something like that - enough scrutiny that the casual profiteer would think long and hard about even trying it once.

Having worked, indirectly, in Supply, I know a lot of shady crap can and usually does go on. But there's a massive jump from an extra box of pens to weapons and munitions.

For that matter, the more common wares might not be so hard to acquire either - datajacks, smartlinks and so on. TacComps are another matter entirely.

And, I'm sorry to say, there isn't too much by the way of "military" gear that you can't buy on the civilian market - and buy it legally. The seriously difficult gear to obtain would be something along the lines of classified intel, cutting edge NODs and other specific techs.

One thing to remember is: the Army has a much, much bigger bank account to tap for equipment. But it has to spread that bank account across a lot of hands. Which is why you still see units trying to make do with ALICE gear instead of, say, the high-speed MOLLE/PALS issue.

I spent a year on Anaconda with a stock M16A2 rifle. I bought my own 3-point sling and buttstock magazine pouch. By comparison, units deployed from the same post I came from, sent to the same LSA, came back with high-speed rail adapters, mounted weapon lights, M-4 carbines and so on.

-Siege

P.S. Shadowrun tends to work in broad strokes. In reality, in North America, California is far more restrictive on firearms than, say, Georgia. The same principle can also be applied to smartlinks or other "restricted" gadgets - not every location in the UCAS would take the same view of the same gear.

That's the case in most states, but no, really, in DC you are not legally allowed to own lock picks unless you're a registered locksmith. I do picking for fun and commute through the DC area, I researched the law, it sucks.



The law is still being enforced as well as they can. You still can't buy a handgun any easier in DC than you could before. Plus, I'm pretty sure they're going to go the way of Maryland, which has a list of handguns no one can buy for any reason in MD, period, absolutely. All handguns need to go through a special board and get approval before it can be bought or sold. DC likely has laws like that on the books already, although I am not certain. I'm thinking common sense may also be restricted in DC...

And of course, saps are heavily forbidden in a number of places for anyone, including police or military. There's a fun one to enforce.

Hmm...

Just thinking through some ideas here.

I'm going to suggest a fairly simple house rule; just a small addition to the price list.

As written Licenses can only be acquired (either by having them legally, or faking them) for Restricted items, not for Forbidden. This would appear to assume that the person attempting to acquire the license has no special dispensation to do so. Perfectly reasonable. All we need to do is add a mechanic for acquiring said special dispensation.

The list and the prices are entirely off the top of my head, so feel free to suggest adjustments as you feel appropriate. These are "modifications" to the cost of a Fake SIN.

Ex Military: Allows you to possess Licenses for Lacing, Smarlinks, Move-By-Wire, and all combat spells.
Ex Police / Security: Cops, Bodyguards, CorpSec, etc. You can get licenses for stuff like Smartlinks, Lacing, and non-lethal combat spells.
Special Dispensation: This allows you a License for one total "No no" item, like a voice mask or a spur
Diplomatic Immunity: This gets you pretty much whatever the fuck you like, but good luck keeping anyone from prying. Price for this one is per month. That's the cost of keeping all the appropriate databases properly faked and up to date. Also remember that the way Diplomatic Immunity works is that the country can't do anything directly, but they will complain to your country, who will either spot that your SIN is fake, or else they'll just call you in anyway to explain what the fuck you were up to. Use this wisely, and with care. This might let you acquire certain licenses, but it's unlikely they'd ever be justified.

You can go ahead and get "Active" versions of the Mil or Sec stuff, but you'll need to fake where you're working, who you're reporting to, and all of that stuff. Same price. More risk. More legwork.

Note that the first three only give you the right to acquire a license for the items in question. Now since these licenses would be issued by your employer, who would have to file a bunch of paperwork, you're going to want to get Fake Licenses for those. If you can find a clever way to get the license legally on your modified Fake SIN, well done. That's a roleplaying challenge.

There's no exact list of what Mil or Sec get you, because I'm figuring GM's can just play it by ear. Maybe Police get's you Plastic Lacing, but not Titanium, that kind of thing.
Like I said earlier, prices are just made up on the spot. Please suggest adjustments.
All these modifications have to be applied to a Fake SIN, so you're paying this cost for each SIN you want to modify.

Some prices;

Ex Military - 10,000 / 12F
Ex Police / Security - 5,000 / 8F
Special Dispensation - 4,000 / 16F
Diplomatic Immunity - 20,000 per Month / 24F

All of these are listed as "F" because they are additions to a Fake SIN, so obviously they're going to be illegal no matter what, just like how Fake SINs and Fake Licenses are both F.

If you have a Legal SIN, feel free to pay the cost for these modifications, however I would personally rule that doing so turns your Legal SIN into a Rating 6 Fake SIN for the purposes of SIN checks. Failing the roll means they notice that it has been edited.

If a player wishes to possess any of these legally as part of their genuine SIN (obviously requiring the SINner quality), no problem. There's no price to be paid (because you're not paying anyone to fake it). However any license you acquire using your real SIN obviously therefore traces back to you, so again, be careful with this. I won't try to cover what's already been said so far on this matter, just play it however you see it.

The relevant law is DC Code 22-2501, which reads as follows.





So, it is just as simple as walking into a neighborhood with a large African American population and telling a random black person that you want to buy a gun?



The controlling law there is 22-3214 (a), which reads



So military, cops, prison guards, bank employees, and postal carriers may possess saps and machine guns in DC. There is a reason why its called "going postal".

Wait wait wait... Military, cops, prison guards, BANK EMPLOYEES and POSTAL CARRIERS?! Since when does a Bank teller get the ablility to pack a friggin' machine gun?! Holy crap, remind me to stay in New Mexico where it's safe.

Tellers rarely get machine guns, but armored car guards need firepower because such vehicles are obvious targets for thieves. The Post Office has its own cops, the Postal Inspectors. I imagine that they have some baddass postal SWAT teams to go after criminals who interfere with the delivery of the mail (which is a federal crime enforced by the Postal Inspectors).

Edit: Yes, the Postal Inspectors do have a SWAT division. They get cool patches.

http://namtiti.free.fr/ecusson%20usa/feder...ator%20SWAT.JPG

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

LOL That's awesome. "Postal Inspector" "Ma'am, that package looks dangerous!" ratatatatatat! Woman looks at her now swiss-cheesed package in shock. "Looks fine now. Have a great day and thank you for choosing US Post as your delivery service." Then they depart with a synchronized "Hup hup hup hup" a la Blues Brothers.

I really have to get me one of those patches...

Too soon?

For real, though, a trained martial artist (and boxing certainly counts) is held by a judge to a higher standard regarding how he judges the severity of the situation to which he's responding. Because if you've actually trained to snap some guy's neck like a twig, one hundred times a week for twelve years, it's hard to say "I didn't realize that his neck would snap like a twig when I did that, your honor". Even if what really happened was that you panicked when you saw his knife.

Or whatever.

Anyway, it apparently derives from a common publicity gimmick from martial arts demos in postwar Japan. Sort of akin to Houdini's straitjacket and chains being inspected by the mayor, a rabbi and a minister.

Edit: Yes, the Postal Inspectors do have a SWAT division. They get cool patches.

http://namtiti.free.fr/ecusson%20usa/feder...ator%20SWAT.JPG

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night shall stay these carriers from the swift completion of their appointed 800 friggin' rounds per minute.

The cyberware thing leaves the interesting option of a backstory where a person was supposed to have it disabled/removed (like weapons, for example), but instead skipped out on the procedure and is on the run from said former employer (and at this point, probably the law). That would provide all sorts of mayhem and mischief when times were slow.

You know, I always thought of it more like this:
R means that it needs a license, but said license is common and relatively easy to get, and are legal for any actual
citizen.
F means that the licenses that do exist are for Security, Law Enforcement, and/or Military Personnel only. These
are licenses that, basicly, only allow those doing the performance of their jobs, and you get stopped by the Star
carrying that Assault Cannon you have that license through Knight Errant for, you are likely in trouble, but you
have that Ware that can't be taken out? Then they might not look too much at it.

Kind of like how, in 3rd edition, you could get a license for all sorts of guns, but you got stopped with a knife, and you WERE going to jail, because the legality code did not allow licenses for knives.

Honestly, I miss the old Legality Rating, and feel that the Availability codes are just way over simplified with things being "Common", "Restricted", and "Forbidden." BUT those are just the availability, and modifiers on how easy/difficult it is to get. That is how I have always figured it was treated, and how my GM is treating it(then again..she has all guns labeled as F for the Neo-tokyo game based on the fluff).

I guess, though, when all is said and done, common sense has to have its way. If there was no way to get permits, for instance, when you have Lone Star SWAT coming at you with weapons with an Availability code of F, then they should be being arrested for those weapons, as well. (NOTE: How my GM handles the ex-military issue: You can have F gear legally, but you gotta pay for it while you were in the army, and you have to justify it as mission enhancing, though mission essential is covered by the military.)