I'm a newbie to SR4A, so any help you can offer is appreciated.

When a character uses a Fake SIN or license, the rules state that it's an opposed test against the rating of the verification system. Where are the stats for the verification system..? Considering how often a persons' SIN must interact with the world, how often do you as the GM make those tests? How often should a 'Runner go through SIN's/Licenses?

Thank you!

The way I ran it as a GM is not quite RAW, but I found it worked out quite well. I had it so that most actions had a SIN check. Buying something from the Stuffer Shack? Potential Test. Getting on a Bus? Potential Test.

But what I changed was the way detection actually worked. Instead of rolling every time I looking at the Verification Device Rating. If the rating of the checker was equal to or higher than the Fake SIN then I asked for a roll. If the checkers rating was less than the Fake SINs rating then I didnt.

This basically meant that with a decent Fake SIN catching a Bus to get about town isnt going to cause any problems, neither will buying a burger. But if you walk about with a crappy Rating 1 Fake SIN it might. It also means that a Fake SIN being checked by the police if your pulled over has a chance of being detected as a fake simply because they use more indepth checking.

That sounds decent, but where are the rules in the Core book..?

its 2X rating on each side IIRC in SR4 this is teriable as well you SIN gets busted WAY too often.

Hmm, wow. Not sure what you mean here. I can easily determine the rating of the Fake SIN/License - it's whatever the player paid for (Rating x 1000Y to buy a fake SIN, for example). But what is the rating of the verification system? What is the verification system at a Stuffer Shack vs. a Lone Star officer vs. a corporate high rise? Are there any rules for setting these ratings?

Doing a quick looksie through the rulebook (PDF files + Search is so useful) I cant find any hard numbers. But I run it Stuffer Shack (Rating 1, maybe, they probably dont check every SIN that walks in) Lone Star (Rating 3-4) Secure Corporate Building (Rating 5-6).

I think alot of the ID rules are left open to the GM how strictly they are inforced. However one of the more experienced GMs might be able to give you more insight.

I use the rating of the SIN as a minimum rating the Verification system needs to have in order to be able to say its a fake. If so i make an opposed roll between the two, whoever gets more successes wins and, yes, Edge can be applied to the roll.

It gives freedom to characters who pay for good ID's and Licences, who can merge into the SINner society well enough, and makes the Fake SINs a very desired object. Sometimes my players go on runs just to get that shiny nice rating 5 fake ID. They are like teens all hyped-up for getting fake documents so they can buy alcohol.

In any case I deffinitely make any rating 4 fake license or SIN rare (more than the availability establishes, I simply say if there are any on the market or no, as this incetivates the use of forging their own documents), 5 is worth a lot more than the meager 5000 it is worth, and a 6 is "Panacea" for criminals.

I also downgrade -GM fiat- or upgrade Fake SINs according to use, since credit history is built, and a larger amount of data is available to cross-reference when someone checks the validity of the ID.

**Edit as two posts up doesn't state uny rule to be used... Hmm, maybe I misread or something.

You want a custom rating 10+ SIN to survive by RAW that will set you back the wage of a group of hacker for a few months.

Just there is no such thing by RAW.

As a houserule, I change every verification system versus fake opposed test into a verification system vs fake threshold test. Saves a lot of dice-rolling, too - if you got less dice than a threshold, you automatically fail

Roll a SIN check about as often you make a character make a Logic test every time they think.

License and Security Thread

Searching Dumpshock

I have been doing a straight Verification rating (a la Device ratings) versus the Player's roll of his Fake SIN, and I did not allow Edge on the roll, as it was external to the person. The players found it a bit harsh, and I found that a lucky roll on a crap verification system would tag them WAY too often. I have been toying with the player not rolling at all, but using the SIN/License Rating as a Threshold for the Verification System Rating x 2 test. This idea I stole from Dumpshock, can't remember who it was... I have also thought of a more Matrixy Device(System?) + Verification Software Rating as a roll, so that it might be possible for a hacker to break into it if you had a little more fleshed out "Verification Node".

I like the Threshold because it makes the players nervous for me to roll behind the screen so they have no idea if their SIN was good or not until the fallout hits them, and I am not too crazy about auto-win for high Rating SINs. They should be somewhat disposable, but not overly so. Finding the balance by a set of rules is the tricky part.

We only roll when it would be dramatically appropriate, Saves a lot of time that way... Standard Roll (Device Rating vs. SIN Rating)

This I like. Even so, SINs vs equally rated Verification Systems fail about 33% of the time. Hmm. For my own personal taste I'd prefer that to be a little lower, but I think it does a much better job of eliminating the annoying possibility of a low level check defeating an unlucky R5/6 SIN.