Maybe it’s the corps with their seemly unlimited resources and thirst for revenge. Or perhaps it’s the house of cards that is organized crime, where a runner inevitably gets burned first and buried last. Or it could be the nest of vipers that populate the shadowrunning underground. With everyone potentially an enemy, paranoia is a necessary survival skill.

I’m working on a checkpoint list of a “runner’s best practices.� I’ve been reading the forums for clever ideas, and I’d like thoughts and contributions. Ideally, this list could be handed to my GM as a kind of Standard Operating Procedure. So, what tricks would a runner have in place to watch his back, outsmart problems before they arrive, and generally keep as safe as possible?


Cyberware
• Cyberware: Skillwires, Skillwire Expert System, Cyberhand, Nanohive, Autoinjector & Datajack are hardwired, no wireless connection. These are hardwired connected to internal Commlink, with a connection that is disabled until activated with a manual switch hidden inside fingertip compartment.

Commlink
• Internal Commlink is turned off via DNI until needed. When activated, defaults to run encrypted and in hidden mode.
• “Public� Commlink contains no files and secure wipes after every communication. Public Comm is physically turned off on runs.
• Sensors records are all encrypted and stored at secure anonymous off-site. Files are protected with data bomb, and can only be accessed by providing approved biometrics within the correct 1/4 second time period per day. Content auto-deletes after two weeks unless specifically saved.
• All software code and interface is in Arabic, and uses personalized, nonstandard OS with custom input protocols.
• Facial/Image/Gait analysis software continually compares sensor records looking for potential tails. Alert is posted if unrecognized, improbable matches are detected.
• Radio Signal Scanner and Scan program continually and automatically run passively, and work to identify, catalog, triangulate and associate transmissions in area.
• Agents on Commlink constantly scans with Analyze to detect signs of intrusion. Alert posts if intrusion detected.
• Separate instance of Analyze runs continually on Commlink to detect intrusion and status of Agent. Alert posts if intrusion detected.
• Agents will initiate dynamic (re)encryption if decryption attempt detected.

Gear
• All gear has RFID tags physically removed.
• Admin access required for all devices. All other levels disabled.
• Signal transmission power for all gear automatically scales down to minimum distance based on proximity.
• All signals are encrypted.

Procedure
• During meets, no food or drink is consumed, even if ordered. Surfaces are wiped down afterwards to remove fingerprints.
• Every night, gear is cleaned and tag erased. Gear is weighed to identify hardened and stealth tags.
• After every run, all software (including BIOs) is scanned and compared against backup copies at secure anonymous off-site.

wow. really? I mean really?.

I think a better idea would be to avoid pissing off people with the ability to do ritual magic. and whom you have dinner with regularly.

as for fingerprints: wear gloves.

Really.

Aiming for a level of high paranoia while keeping some professionalism.
Track what you touch during the meet, and I figure a quick wipe off with a small prepared cloth wouldn't be noticed (After all, I know I've certainly lifted Johnson's prints after he's left the building).

Always, ALWAYS edit video footage of a 'run.

Wear (nano)masks and have (preferrably) nanotattoos, as they can easily and quickly change shade/color/image/shading to radically alter your profile.

Homeground/Adaptability your personalized Agent program surfing you're PAN. If possible, use a Sprite instead.


AKA: Slave all sensitive gear to Master-node PAN. Preferrably run all other sensitive peripherials on Hidden mode as well.

EDIT: Instead of wiping everything down, wear AR gloves. They're commonplace and useful.

Also, wear a respirator at all times and if asked, say something to the effect of "My allergies are acting up again." Reinforce this with random coughs. The respirator will break up your profile, making it more difficult to trace you. Respirators are also commonplace in the 6th world (especially in Aztlan), so this tactic shouldn't draw any attention.

Wear masks and gloves when doing things you don't want people to know about. Avoid having people put holes in your body. It hurts and it's really hard to get all traces of your blood off the ceiling.

Avoid making personal enemies. No matter what you made on a run if it involved pissing off a director at Knight Errant or the chief of detectives at Lone Star it didn't pay enough. Ritual mages are not cheap, but when you become a pain in their multimillion budget they can afford them.

All great stuff... Exactly what I was looking for!
Keep em coming!

Seriously with my nano-tat idea. Have you ever seen an image of a popular movie star without makeup on and been like "who's that?" Amplify that a couple times.

Adding to the list:

Don't forget that an armored jacket adds for encumberance: normal ones don't. Preferred armor is based off the Evo HEL Suit (just pure awsome for cost), augmented with FFBA and PPP system supplements. Wear normal clothes over it (preferrably multiple layers), ending in a jacket or two (normal jacket, trench-styled). In the event that you really need to change your look, remove some of the layers.

Don't be afraid to carry some dirt-cheap RFID tags to create dummy DOTs, simulating clothing brands, foodstuffs recently eaten, and other such "backround noise" in order to not be a hawk against the starlight (easier to find by the absence of light). RFID tags can in this way help you hide in plain (and annoying) sight.

These should be the available options when it comes to things involving fingerprints as related to physical evidence and security devices. I would favor using my own fingerprints, as they are required for various legitimate reasons, as opposed to relying on always trying to disguise or hide them which can draw attention in itself. Numerous books (Runner's Companion, Lone Star, Corporate Security) include further info which can help in creating new operating procedures depending on the situation and actors involved.

Altskin (Newprint) / Nanopaste
Cost: 1,500 ¥ + (Rating x 200 ¥) / 500 ¥ (small container) or 1,000 ¥ (large container)
Benefits: Does not leave physical fingerprints.
Drawbacks: Only lasts for 24 hours. Unsure if the "flakes" or the use of this in general can be traced back and if so to what extent.

Cellular Glove Molder
Cost: Rating x 200 ¥
Benefits: A very nice option in my opinion for activating personal equipment especially in the event it has to be hastily discarded.
Drawbacks: I can't really think of any off the top of my head.

Dynamic Handprinting
Cost: Rating x 1,000 ¥
Benefits and Drawbacks: Bypassing is based on the quality of both the security device and the Dynamic Handprint.

Fingerprint Removal
Cost: 100 to 2,000 ¥
Benefits: Should not leave a fingerprint (see drawbacks).
Drawbacks: As with all biosculpting procedures, you get what you pay for. A major issue here is the lose of legitimate fingerprint biometric access or a completely new defining print in the case of a sloppy sculpt job. This in itself makes this one of the worst options unless you live completely off the grid.

Magic Fingers (Spell)
Benefits: Doesn't leave a fingerprint, at least not a physical one.
Drawbacks: Possible astral signature detection.

Now that the easy issue is covered, how do you plan on handling the real pesky stuff like hair, skin, fluids and all the other stuff that could possibly identify you?

My advice:

Watch your back.
Shoot Straight.
Conserve Ammo.
Never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon.

That's all the advice I was ever given.

Wear pink mohawks.
Solve payment issues with arm wrestling.
Be on as many drugs as you wish, you're not in it for the money after all.
Hurl beer cans at guards.
Defecate in the CEO's office.

• Skinlink EVERYTHING.
• Use programmable RFID tags that can be turned off, so you can use them to appear as the normal wageslave (or whatever is appropriate) and tell them to shut up when radio frequency emissions are undesiderable.
• Use a crappy (or whatever is appropriate) comlink to reroot your true comlink, whoever analizes the node sees a crappy firewall but if he tries to hack it he/she/it is rerooted to the true firewall (mainly to provide a minimum of cover and blend better with the bacground, could Joe Wageslave afford a rating 6 firewall?).
• Make extensive use of software suits and ergonomic options, and make sure that you system and all your programs are approved from the competent quality control institution (your hacker).
• Use multiple layers of encryptation.
• Refusing to eat might result in pissing off Mr. Johnson, but taking no steps to protect yourself is unwise; use wide spectrum antidote slap patches/nanites (and keep a spirit of the man ready with Detox and Heal Spells just in case).
• For fingerprints there are cellular gloves so you can frame someone else (my enemy is my best scapegoat).
• Use latx mask/Altskin, contact lenses, or cover yourself with respirator, AR goggles and maybe a hooded jacket.
• Disable the right of erasing the main log of your comlink for users with an amministrative account (that can be restored in secure places if necessary), do the same for your subscribed node and for the right to tell them to slave to another PAN (so no more having your ID spoofed and smartgun/drone slaved to someone else).

No the mohawk has to be purple, pink is out of style.

Knowledge Skill: Shadowrunning(or similar) Procedures 6 (or as high as you can get it)

Everything else is fluff. Even if you know that a runner should do something, doesn't mean that your PC knows that. Using out-of-character knowledge like those presented above to gain an in-game advantage(preventing NPCs or game world circumstances from screwing you over) is cheating in my book.

• Local area, politics, history, law, and customs knowsofts are mandatory if you're not a local.
• Linguasoft in a local accent. Even if you are a local.
• Reread your SIN details on a weekly basis.

Well, it's a little beardy if the character isn't a raving paranoid. If the character is that paranoid, he's going to have his own problems. I've known Johnsons that would have been quite offended (and probably stopped the meeting then and there) if runners refused to eat a meal provided for them.

Recent hacker paranoia in our group. He won't hack unless he's set up two rooms with los to each other. Uses laser link with rfid camera to catch anyone thats traced him to the first room so he can make his getaway.

Virus to wipe out any trace of teams actions before logging out of a system. Constant hacking of patrol drones and traffic systems to assist in clean getaways.

I was about to post about how this "hard core professional that never screws up and always does everything the same way" nonsense gets kinda old after a while, but you have prevented my nerdrage asplosion.

But trust me on the dragons.

yea, the reality is, the GM is gonna throw whatever he wants at you anyway, so have a beer, smoke, and wear your guns in quick draw holsters

Win.

What is beardy about not allowing the player to skate pass in-game using his knowledge instead of his character's?

My feelings on the subject can be quickly summed up with one picture.

http://mirror.servut.us/kuvat/motivation/shadowrun.jpg

That made me laugh like crazy. I don't necessarily agree with that picture though (paranoid: yes, shadowrun-y: not really).

It fits in with a hardcore black-trenchcoat game.

I have skipped this one because dragons aren't standard runner's fare, but having already been brought up the dragon theme:

Never sexualy harass a dragon.

Laughing heartily at that one. This picture is every player that I've ever had in my games.

I'm interested to know how having a dead-slow commlink fits with your image. You're talking:

Encrypt
Scan
Analyze
Data Bomb
Facial Recognition
Gait Analysis
Visual Spotter
At least one Agent
That Agent's copy of Analyze

That's already slowing your commlink down hugely.

Reread what I wrote, we are in agreement. I merely pointed out that calling it cheating is a bit harsh if the player is playing a character that is truly that paranoid, and mentioned that being that paranoid in game and in character brings its own problems.





I may not entirely agree with that, but it's funny, and does bring to mind stories from my buddies' high school campaign where sleeping in the bathtub with a gun pointed at the door was de rigeur...





I'd say it's fair to assume that someone running at this level of rote "professionalism" is likely to be running at least some of that as Ergonomic programs.

You're right. Not well.

The thought was that the Public commlink just broadcasts a disposable SIN and passcodes required in mandatory areas, and contains the contact number. The hidden rating 6 jobber does real work.

Hoping to push the Facial Recognition, Gait Analysis and Visual Spotter onto the offsite system.

While the picture I posed may not be standard fare, being paranoid in Shadowrun IS healthy.

At the end of the day, you have to remember a few things.

1. You are disposable
2. You have gear that's probably illegal
3. The Better Business Bureau doesn't have a Shadowrunner division.
4. Double-crossing someone is A LOT cheaper than making with the loot.

Software Suits and Ergonomic option are your friends, put Facial Recognition, Gait Analysis, Visual Spotter, and any other Sensor soft you have in a single suit and splat an Ergonomic option over it, do the same with all the agents and the programs they use; obviously none of this is aviable on the market (something might go around shadow networks or corporate internal security networks), but after the rules for obsolescence have been errataed hackers can go out of their way in showing their coding prowess without wasting time in worthless manner.
On the top of that no shadowrunner should run corporate made software on his/hers/its comlink, you never know what the hell the corps put into them along the code that you want and pay for.

There are also the node clusters if you want to run alot of programs simultaneously.

Without resorting to the Ministry of Silly Walks guidebook, how does one beat Gait Analysis sensors/softs? I've been mulling over some kind of ActiveSoft or standalone neuralware that constantly tweaks the PC's gait patterns... like the Fremen learn to do to avoid attracting Makers.

Any ideas on how small a RFID eraser can be made? I've been thinking about having one installed in my PC's cyber-forearm.

How could a Mr. Johnson (or enemies/rivals) resist mentally f**king with the PCs when he finds this out? Maybe easier for everyone to wear gloves, and the Face wears latex/nano gloves with someone else's fingerprints.

I didn't think hardened/stealth tags weighed that much.

1) It isn't harassment if the dragon is willing (shudder), 2) If the dragon is willing, you are in serious trouble.

You got my point.

"You want me to what in this cup?"

Wasn't that dragon's piss?

You obviously haven't seen some of the porn that I have.



I always thought of it as...another liquid.

Though that may be because I had just finished reading the new spells (Orgasm/Orgy)...

They didnt say, it was part of a description for the magical nature of various natural substances.

Wow - Monty Python and Frank Herbert in 2 back-to-back sentences!

That was a joke.
Originaly I thought that "bodily fluids of a dragon" meant its blood.

"bleed in a cup" just doesn't have the same ring to it. I'm thinking pee or dracospooge

If you're trying to beat gait analysis software, the best thing to do is become another person for a little while. Just chip a personafix and blam - suddenly you aren't you anymore. They're also great for social infiltration purposes.

Agility + Disguise. Training for traditional skills gets updated to incorporate an understanding of modern technology. The end of The Usual Suspects includes someone dropping a gait disguise.

You just need to become aware of your own walking style. I play about with the way I walk as a distraction when I've nothing else to do on a long journeys by foot.

Well, my group has a planning system that we called A-F. It's not a true grading scale since that is only really measurable by objectives are accomplished, but it more or less represents the level of problems occurring.

A is for Awesome. Everything goes perfectly. No one, friend or foe gets killed (unless that is the objective) and nothing gets destroyed (unless that is, again, the objective). Quick, clean and quiet should be the hallmarks of a successful plan A.

B is for Backup. Like plan A was ever going to work. At this point, a little bit of destruction and mayhem is acceptable, but it should be relatively subdued. Nothing obvious, and no extracurricular killings.

C is for Combat. If things go badly enough, it doesn't matter who you kill. At a plan C level of execution, property destruction is to be kept to a minimum, but this involves a firefight.

D is for Demolitions. Nobody likes modern architecture anyways. Grenades around every corner. If you need a door, make one. That five pound brick of C4 you were saving for a rainy day? That is today. That subcompact stuffed to the rafters with a fertilizer bomb could be useful. Short term survival is more important than making a mess, albiet a bloody, rubble covered mess.

E is for Escape. If absolutely everything goes to hell, get out. At this point, the mission doesn't matter. Get out alive. This part can be partially extracted from the A or B escape plans, but it should be beefed up due to the increased nature of the threat.

F is for Failure. Not everyone is going to make it out alive. Accept it. Salvage whatever you can and get out with whatever you can. Someone might have to make a last stand. Someone might have to volunteer a friend's area effect cranial bomb for the job. Life sucks.

I have personally witnessed plans jump from A to D in a combat turn, and having explosives in place beforehand was the only thing that kept it from being an F.

Granted you may not have time for all this planning, but when it comes down to it, the Face, Hacker and Infiltrator can plan A&B. The gunmen can best plan C, or at least have some group tactics handy. D has to be handled by a demo-man for it to work out. E is handled by the rigger, vehicle experts, or even pilot programs hopefully protected by a good firewall. F is a handful of sketches, a short straw drawing contest, and just about the grimmest thing you may have to plan. but F is jus tsome ideas since when things get that bad, no one knows what the colossal mistake will be.

Otherwise:
1. Don't screw your fixer.
2. Copious amounts of plastique couldn't hurt.
3. A good decoy is worth his weight in gold.
4. If things get dicey, shoot first, grab some swag, GTFO, then ask questions.

Edit to...
4. If things get dicey, shoot first, shoot second, shoot third, grab some swag, pop smoke, GTFO, blow the preset charges, get to a secure site, then ask questions.

Personafix is a paticular type of BTL, using it may cause undesiderable sideffects, maybe it would be better using a skillsoft (it requires skillwires thought).

Wouldn't be easier just to kill everyone and don't ask any question later? Or failing that to use a subtactical nuke a distraction for your getway? (ask nothing later.)

To be honest, a lot of things in this thread don't resonate with me. I think most of these hyper-paranoid protection measures are discrepant with how runners are known to maintain their security. Runners aren't running around scrubbing fingerprints off counters and wearing nanopaste disguises over their latex facemasks; they're relying on their fixer's judgment to filter out the majority of Johnsons who are likely to screw them, and are taking relatively basic "gentlemen's agreement"-typed precautions to cover their asses, like bringing a blank commlink to the meet, and meeting at places that are runner-friendly. It's pretty reasonable to think that most corporate Johnsons have the resources to bring you down regardless of what kind of safety measures you take at the meeting.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that people generally don't hedge their bets against the extreme. I could get hit by a micrometeorite on my way to class, but I don't drive an MRAP to college. The professional portion of the shadow community is self-regulating. I see total paranoia measures being taken for runs in the governmental espionage sub-sector, but not at large.

[Edit: If it's not clear, I'm very specifically referring to the job meeting segment. I know this is a universal thread, but that's what particularly galvanized me, for whatever reason.]

Typo fixed.

Man you would be the perfect mentor for sprawl children...lol