So talking through SINs and licenses, I've started thinking about the ways that a shadowrunner keeps their identity secret. Here re several areas, just off the top of my head.
- Visual: Masks, cosmetic disguises, physical mask spell, adept powers (melanin control, face sculpture, etc), nano paste disguises.
- Biometrics & DNA: Sterilize spell, spray bottle of bleach (Boondock Saints), DNA Bomb (Almost Human), Fake fingerprints (numerous movies), rubber or latex gloves.

So my thoughts are, Shadowrun seems a little light on ways to:
- Deal with leaving your DNA at a crime scene
- Obfuscate your DNA
- Misdirect DNA

Other thoughts:
- With everyone/most peoples fingerprints being in the GSR (Global SIN Registry), spreading fake fingerprints should not be tough. What about technologies, like programmable fingerprint gloves?
- What about a drug that stays in your system for hours that fouls blood samples quickly once exposed to air?
- Black market in hair trimmings for a variation on the DNA bomb.
- A variation on the DNA bomb that fouls DNA or acts like a chemical version of the sterilize spell?

Thoughts?

A couple of things from SR4 along these regards.





Still some hand waving, but it is slightly less pronounced.

Very good catch. I had missed both of those. :hat tip:

Leaving out magic, there are a few ways. Some of these were detailed in older supplements, but there are a few options.

-- Try to confine things to public areas.

I know, easier said than done. But, if you accidentally leave DNA is a high traffic area, they'll never be able to sort out who belongs there and who doesn't.

-- Gene therapy.

Also easier said than done. But, it does work: DNA tests don't check the full sequence, they only look for certain markers, and you can use 2070 gene therapy to change those markers without altering your own makeup.

-- Don't have a SIN.

According to SR5, all SIN's require biometrics on file, and include DNA. However, the higher rating the SIN, the closer match the DNA on file is-- tho book example is that a low rating fake might use chicken DNA, whereas a high rating one is more closely matched to your actual DNA. That said, being SINless means you're not listed anywhere, or at least your info can't be easily sorted and tracked. So, if someone finds your DNA, they won't be able to match it anywhere.


- There was a false palm/fingerprint item in one of the books, but I can't remember it right now. Still, something like that does exist in Shadowrun, IIRC.
- I don't know about a drug, but like I said earlier, gene therapy could do what you describe.
- DNA bombs are a good idea, but you don't have to use DNA. Anything that covers the area in confusion will work. Even a flour bomb will cover so much evidence that they'll never be able to find all the DNA at a scene, let alone track who left it.
- Well, there are a couple of possibilities. One of my characters has an MO of entering as a janitor, so arranging an ammonia spill isn't too hard.

One more thing to consider: leaving DNA isn't that big of a deal. Unless you have a SIN or other records on file, they can't trace it back to you. Sure, if you're caught, they could run your DNA against the samples from every crime scene they think you might have done, but otherwise there's not a real risk. The rules are somewhat vague on how much DNA is required for a good sample-- sure, theoretically they could do it from a single skin cell, but that's not likely or practical.

The real risk is ritual tracking. Still, even that isn't a big problem. It also requires an unknown amount of DNA, but presumably requires more than a DNA sample. It also requires ritual components/reagents, and the services of skilled magicians. Even though magician's aren't quite as rare to shadowrunners as the demographics would indicate. they're still rare enough that no one will waste a magicans time chasing down dead ends, unless they have a good idea you're responsible for something serious.

The reason this matters is that, in the fiction, the methods of dealing with DNA and dealing with ritual tracking are pretty close. Anything that ruins the DNA also ruins the ritual sample, so they overlap quite a bit.

These things are already a concern in SR, they're just abstracted behind the mechanics for all the other ways you can get caught.

Always carry a splash grenade with a bleach/C3 cleaner cocktail.

Or, yeah, spray bottles.





-k

So your party's been shot up and left behinds a couple of pints of blood at the scene of your last run. Or, let's say you were smart and avoided an armed confrontation, but you rolled a glitch and a drop of your character's sweat splattered unseen on the floor where it was later noticed. Perhaps your GM assumes that characters are constantly drooling, shedding, or spewing their samples all over the place. What now?

Don't panic. Your target isn't going to call the police. Even if you were so reckless that they can't explain away your public spectacle as anything other than a shadowrun, it's hard to imagine them not handling it internally.

But what about the target? Surely they will come to exact revenge. Why should they? You don't know the real perpetrator, which is hiding behind someone named Johnson. They aren't going to "make an example" out of you, because they don't want anyone to know that anyone was able to compromise their security. Why would they spend a bunch of money to eliminate a crew of slippery pawns, and possibly make resourceful enemies in the process while getting nothing in return, unless they've seen too much or in possession of something valuable? The best they can hope for is to be able to link the same runners to multiple runs so they may take further action against repeat offenders who may be doing it out of some sort of vendetta or ideological purpose.

So now they have full DNA sequences of your entire team. Are they now going to "run" it through some sort of 2070s Google Reverse Genomics search? Just strike out any official text you've read about all the megas having access to the world's DNA and you're now down to those SINner characters who have corporate SINs issued by the target. That small minority should never knowingly go on runs that target the issuing body of their real SIN. So even if the target is looking for vengeance, they're still down to investigational procedures. The DNA will tell them when they've found the right people.

Tell me what you think of this very non-canon point of view. In what cases would motivations (other than having or knowing something important) cause relentless pursuit? When would various targets inform the police or otherwise come together to link together various runs and build a file against the PCs? In what situations (other than the target being the issuer of a real corporate SIN) would DNA enable the PCs to be physically traced?

Magicians constantly face the threat of being linked to runs, as all of their magic leaves behind an astral signature that is easily recognizable when assensed. You can't just look at someone and know if their DNA matches your sample.

If you've got a bit of time, there's the spell Sterilize (Street Magic, page 174 or Street Grimoire, page 119). Add to that a little astral cleanup, or have an initiated magician with Flexible Signature, Extended Masking, and the Astral Chameleon quality, and even the astral trace of the spell won't last long.

Added: Guess I missed the spell being mentioned already. Personally it's a favorite of mine.
Probably thinking of the Genewipe and Print Removal genetic treatments (Arsenal, page 89-90). Genewipe triggers an accelerated cell death for anything leaving your body, making epithelials, hair, and such worthless after five minutes, and explicitly says such samples are useless for ritual casting after that five minutes. Print Removal does just what is says, eliminating the ridge detail of your hands and feet.

First of all, the SIN system should not permit reverse lookups, i.e. from fingerprint or DNA to SIN, as that would cut short any illegal identity games. But of course the cops and various other parties may still run separate databases with the data of known criminals, and even tying nameless traces from different crime scenes together can form an uncomfortably close profile...


For DNA, the DNA bomb from Almost Human sounds like a better bet than trying to scrub your traces, since you might always miss a few spots when cleaning -- and those would stand out even more if everything else is squeaky clean. Or if you want to be really sure, use both: First the DNA bomb, then the C-Squared (Arsenal) for wiping most of it. The result is that nobody whose DNA was found can be guaranteed to have been at the scene, but neither can anybody whose DNA was not found be excluded.

Fingerprints are easier to avoid (and remember that many people don't even have their natural fingers anymore), for extra points you could wear the gloves produced by the Cellular Glove Molder. And as a backup solution, grab a fire extinguisher and thoroughly spray the place...just remember not to leave traces on the extinguisher

For faces, balaclavas should be standard issue for every runner. Since that book (reprinted in R&G) there also is the ballistic mask, which does not just spare mankind from seeing your ugly visage but also has space for mods, an armor bonus, and it appeals to the Payday fan in me

This is good, and also, don't forget to take advantage of the dystopia. Under megacorp rule, pollution is awful, and repeated plagues on par with the Black Death have ravaged the setting in its recent history.

Walking around with a respirator, or at least some kind of paper surgical mask, won't be out of place at all in most public places, it's probably been de rigueur for the last 50 years. People are probably much more likely to wear hats and hoods; the rain is disgusting, and when the sun is shining you've got to worry about excess ultraviolet now that the ozone layer is fucked. The latter provides an excellent excuse for big sunglasses, and, if you've got bad enough smog, people might even resort to goggles to avoid the stinging in their eyes.

Why not? Why should the cops and corps need to maintain separate databases?

The only times this would become an issue is if you have the SINner quality (which is bogus, it should be replaced with a variant of Records on File) or have done enough extralegal activities that the various law enforcement agencies/corps have started a profile on you. In the first case, with several billion people, it'd still take a long time to track you down-- and even then, it's not certain. Most DNA checks don't test the full strand for a match, they just compare certain markers. This is much faster, but less accurate-- and when you're dealing with billions of samples on file, they'll likely take the fast and cheap option.

As for if people have started a profile on you? There is a mechanism in place for that, your Public Awareness. You can use those rules to help LE with identity checks on a runner.

What about fake SINs? Well, while they require there be DNA on file, there's nothing saying the DNA has to be yours. For a low-rating SIN, you can use chicken or dog DNA, and the system won't notice until someone asks you for a DNA check. Higher rating SINs are supposed to be matched to you, but that can mean that not only is the DNA closer to yours-- similar markers in similar places-- but there is enough difference that it can't be positively traced back to you.

Wow, I'm picturing sneaking in to several blood banks, stealing a couple hundred pints of blood, mixing them together and creating a bunch of home made DNA bombs. Rather than leave a scene bleached, leave it covered in blood.

For reasons outlined in several threads you participated in already...


Public Awareness is generated by high-profile events like fighting off a SWAT team and publishing the trid recording. But forensic traces can form a profile even on the lowliest mugger.


Eh, not really. A DNA scan works the same as checking DNA found at a crime scene against a database. If one matches, the other does, too.

For sources of DNA, thanks to the wonders of polymerase chain reaction you don't really need liters of blood, a sharps box or even a few doorknobs would suffice. Hair trimmings on the other hand would not, since hair itself does not contain DNA, only the root...so wax strips would work. I'm also not sure about blood packs, red blood cells (which is what the typical blood bag contains) do not carry DNA, but I'm not sure how perfect the separation from the other blood contents is.

From wikipedia on white blood cells: "The name "white blood cell" derives from the physical appearance of a blood sample after centrifugation. White cells are found in the buff, a thin, typically white layer of nucleated cells between the sedimented red blood cells and the blood plasma." Sounds like it's not all that difficult to separate out.

On top of that, blood packs will have an anticoagulant in the mix to keep the blood from clotting before being used, which is something that modern forensics can easily detect even today. Still, it might not be a bad idea, as if enough samples from a crime scene come up as contaminated (especially if there's a mix of all blood types) then the whole batch just might be thrown out as useless. Though you'd have to plan this in short order, as blood packs don't exactly have the shelf life of a twinkie.

And with arguments that don't hold up to the SR5 fluff.



Well, sorta. Here's what SR5 says on the topic

Public Awareness represents how well the character
is known among the media, authorities, and public
at large. With only a few exceptions, shadowrunners
are always working to ensure that the public doesn’t
know anything about who they are or what they have
done. Corporations and other power groups hire runners
when they want something taken care of quietly
without a great deal of public attention drawn to it. So
if a runner is doing their job, the public should never
know about them. The best shadowrunner is one that
Joe Wageslave has never heard of. Only when something
goes wrong, or the situation is unavoidable, do
the actions of a runner become public.
In much the same way as Notoriety, the gamemaster
determines when the actions of a runner should be awarded
a point of Public Awareness. Some examples include:
• Fighting with law enforcement or some other
High Threat Response team
• Extracting a well-known person
• Blowing something up in a populated area
• Leaving significant physical evidence
• Being seen by many eyewitnesses
• Broadcasting or posting videos of your crimes
on your Matrix fansite
How well the public actually knows a runner is determined
by the level of their Public Awareness. Whether an
individual person knows a runner can be determined
using the Public Awareness Level Table below.

So, it can cover high profile runs, or even enough low level ones, if the GM thinks it should. I had a Missions GM slap a team with a point of Public Awareness just because they had their faces caught on camera, on an otherwise routine run. It is rather subjective, but it can apply.


Not in this case. A SIN has a DNA sample on file. When they do a check, they don't run your DNA against the global database, they run it against the DNA on file. If they don't match, then an alert is filed. And since it's done with portable scanners, it's not likely they'll even try to match whole sequences. They'll probably just check the standard markers, and if it's close enough, it'll pass.

Sure, but what I'm wondering is how perfect that separation is. Does the standard hospital blood bag only contain red cells, or do a few leukocytes remain in the mix?

Anyway, anticoagulants or remains from the PCR should not be a problem: If the cops analyze a DNA swab and the result is a few dozen different DNA sequences plus traces of something characteristic of a DNA bomb, what do they know? That between one and all of the traces were planted. Assuming you follow the DNA bomb with a cleaner bomb even the one planted DNA wouldn't be certain, the cleaner could have wiped the DNA from the bomb and all remaining DNA is a legit trace...


@Cain:What does not hold up to SR5 fluff would be the logical consequence of your idea, namely that fake SINs can no longer exist. Sorry we have a SIN with those prints already, would you please follow the officer to the lockup?

And where do you expect the file with the sample to be, on your commlink? "Well, I have this random file here and I swear it belongs to my SIN, honest!"

According to SR5 Negative Qualities, national SIN biometrics are kept in two places: the issuing nation and the GSINR, which is in turn shared with law enforcement. Issuers of criminal SINs register awakened offenders with local law enforcement. Corporate limited SINs are part of GSINR, which is shared with security corporations and law enforcement, which I take to mean the biometrics, but that isn't mentioned explicitly. Corporate born SINs are kept with the issuing corp and filed in GSINR as being valid but without additional information, which I take to mean without biometrics (but I could be wrong).

Do you object to the idea that some runners would be SINners, or is it incompatible with your worldview on widely available information? Naturally, the SINner quality is bogus as you describe it.

I would expect sixth world DNA checks to be really good, especially if the SIN checker can spit out "chicken DNA" as output.

Good find on the "leaving behind evidence" portion of Public Awareness. I imagine that people start building profiles even the first time something major happens. After several things can be linked to one character or group, then it's reasonable that those people would be more motivated to take action.

That mechanic applies to all characters, not just SINners, so should be limited to evidence which makes the character traceable. Merely having a way to verify they've found the right person should not be enough. It should be evidence that actually leaves a trail leading to the character. In my worldview, DNA does not provide that path except when it's a) with the police (or possibly a security corp) and the character has a real sin with biometrics in GSINR along with real info on how to reach her, or b) with the issuer of a valid SIN with biometrics and info on how to reach her. Then maybe more Public Awareness would be in order. Outside of that, DNA by itself should not provide a way to find out who or where people are. Even if did, my expectation is that the evidence would be compartmentalized, i.e. not accessible to the public or between corps.

There are two kinds of blood stored. Plasma, or white cells only, and whole blood, which is whole blood. so if only white blood cells carry DNA, then stealing a few dozen pints of plasma would do the trick. If you mixed it all together into little which could be fired from a squirt gun, or add them in to a flashbang (most grenades have empty space inside), and just spread it around anywhere that looks like a crime scene, you'll be able to rule out any DNA evidence at the crime scene. Yes, there would also be anti-coagulant at the scene, which would make it obvious what happened, but that doesn't change the fact that many different people's blood was found at the scene. Meaning it's useless to try to use blood to place anyone at the scene.

hmm.. how hard would it be to replicate some blood cells from a sample?

Not talking full cloning, but say someone obtained some of a high up's blood, say a hypothetical incident involving Damien Knight and a nasty paper cut from the last budget meeting, could one modify some bone marrow to produce premium grade K blood that would show up under a DNA test as being his bloodline if not him directly?

Not at all. I object to the inconsistency in the setting-- how it veers from "Shadowrunners are ghosts in the machine!" to "Big Brother is Watching, shadowrunning is impossible."

Starting with SR4, Shadowrun has stopped being about a vision of the future. Instead, it's an extension of the present. Joe Average lives in a world with widely available information, today-- and since they're making things pretty similar to today, it follows that information on Joe Average is widely available. Privacy is for the wealthy, who can afford to be more anonymous... and, ironically, for the most downtrodden, who are ghosts in the system.


At any event, the SINner quality is basically a freebie. It can be turned onto a player, but if you do, you might end up with a lynch mob chasing the entire team just because one player picked the wrong flaw, and you decided to send a too-strong message.

I don't necessarily think a low rating DNA scan would tell if the DNA sample on file belongs to a chicken or not. I'd imagine it's more that you get your DNA scanned, get a 2% match rate, and then a report is lodged. Then, the system that stores and maintains all the data would check the sample, and try and verify it.

I think DNA evidence can vary a bit. Even if you're SINless, eventually you're going to leave enough clues behind that a profile on you can be built. Exactly how often that is, depends on the game and the GM. At some point, you are going to be stopped and questioned; and if they scan your DNA and compare it against the unsolved crimes database, they'll get a match. Of course, there are lots of ways around or through that, but it is an ever-present danger of being a shadowrunner.

I'd say that is a cultured organ, costs 9000 ¥ and three weeks to grow.


@Bearclaw: Plasma is not leukocytes but the liquid parts. And the standard blood bag you see in hospitals is just the red cells.

Shadowrun has always been an extension. I don't agree that having a SIN makes shadowrunning impossible. Don't broadcast your real SIN while running. Hopefully the GM doesn't assume ubiquitous surveillance. Consider having the surveillance in high-end public areas defeatable through technical means.


Assuming that every place you hit will be open about it, file a report, and allow outside investigators to come in to gather evidence, then yes, eventually they will catch you. But that's not what happens. The places you hit don't acknowledge getting owned. The police don't find out about it. There is no one to connect the dots. You are describing general criminality, not shadowrunning. Burglaries are reported; runs are covered up.

So my question is, is there anything wrong with changing the game world to match the above?

It's not about the SIN. It's about the ever-present Big Bother that makes shadowrunning impossible.

The SIN concept has been these since the beginning of Shadowrun. Ordinary people were tagged and bagged from birth, so only shadowrunners could move through the shadows undetected. There were lots of ways to move about in public and not be noticed, and smart shadowrunners used them all. Shadowrunning worked great, because being SINless had advantages to a shadowrunner.

Now? You are required to have a SIN, fake or real, to buy food. To go to the mall. To even walk about in public. It's actually more suspicious to go about without a SIN than it is to have a crappy fake. Having no SIN is a serious disadvantage, and being a SINner is effectively free points as written.



There are several problems with that idea.

First of all, there's the shadow rumor mill. Even if you didn't leave any traces, you get bonuses to your rep, which means someone knows what you did and is talking about it. By itself, that's not enough to make you worth tracking down; but in combination with other factors it can add up.

Second, you're assuming that runners will hit a different target every single time. Given the corporate ownership tangle, it's entirely likely that they'll hit related companies fairly often, and they *will* share information. Now, back in the old days, some of this would be written off as the cost of doing business. But if you hit them enough times, then they will start digging-- and in 4e-onward, they can dig up a lot. After a certain point, they *will* take the effort to trade data with other organizations, because the damage you're causing exceeds the value of getting said information.

Third, even if they don't share too much, a megacorp has resources no runner can touch. If they want a runner found, they'll find them-- it's just a matter of cost vs benefit. If the corp thinks flushing you out is profitable, they'll run you ragged. All that's saving runners is that they're not worth the hassle... except, when your Street Cred and Public Awareness reach a certain point, it becomes much more worth it.

That is only useful if they can't just run a fingerprint or surveillance shot through the SIN system and get your real ID.

To me, this is why the SINner negative quality is a negative quality. Even more than your SINless counterparts, you have to guard your identity with disguises and countermeasures to leaving biometric/DNA data behind.

Well, every SINless who once had an R6 SIN is in the same boat...

Partially agree. Since so many fake SINs have fake DNA/biometrics attached, I would think there is some grey to play with there.

I just get images of CSI:2070 trying to run a DNA test and coming up with 15+ SINs (mostly fakes that have built up over time and maybe even a real one) all with that particular DNA match attached to them.

Just remember the process is actually

DNA Sample 1 == DNA Sample 2

DNA Sample 2 == X jurisdiction SIN

Both matches are subject to an error rate and confidence level.

SIN checks are really

Personal Code + SIN == Code + SIN