I'm writing a run that has an NPC in prison. Which sourcebooks can I find some information on what kinds of security a prison possesses? I could just make it up, but I'm looking for something legit. Not jail, by the way. A bonafide supermax.

As a side note, I was trying to think of a way that a free spirit would have access to this prison for the story without setting off any alarms. I'm sure there is magical security.. and ample amounts of it. The NPC is a mage to boot.. hopefully something details detaining magically active prisoners.

g.s

The old Lone Star source book for SR3 had a bunch of stuff on going to jail and how they deal with magicians. You can get some idea of how they are treated from the creation of such devices as the mage mask and manacles.
I would think dangerous magicians would be treated much as Hannibal Lecter was in Silence of the lambs, only they would always have the mask on. Or at least have it on while the magician that does the wards for the prison puts them up so he can't check out his aura for a Masking sync to get through.
I don't think you will actually find anything on a canon supermax for shadowrun but these should give you some ideas on how to go about setting it up.

Couldn't the spirit just metaplanar shortcut into the prison, avoiding pretty much all wards and everything else?

~Umi

And thoughts on the free spirit angle?

:edit: Mostly pertaining to detection while in the prison. I'll check out that older sourcebook. Have it somewhere..

If it had mutable form it could just look like a guard, mask itself and use the masking trick to bypass the wards. Pretty sure it would have a chance to assence the magician putting up the wards if it needed to. Could use Physical mask spell as well. If a possession free spirit it could possess a guard and use the masking trick.
Most prisons are designed to keep inmates in and not so much to keep others out. So the spirit getting in may be fairly easy but how he gets out again would be the trick.
I'm not sure if Free Spirits can pull of the meta plane trick without having been to the place they want to go to. Bound spirits pull it off because their summoner is there and acts as a beacon for them.

Remember that spirits are particularly vulnerable to background count, and a supermax type of facility would definitely have one.

@mantis

Give the Free Spirit a ritual Material Link. Problem solved.

~Umi

Cool. There is always a way.