Sins

“Let he who is without SIN dwell deep in the shadows” - Old Street Proverb

Credits

This article is dedicated to Dan Murphy, for always pushing me to the outer limits of my skills as a GM. Dan has the distinction of being the only player I’ve ever had that had a character purchase both a parasail and a snowboard purely for recreational purposes. Dan is a constant source of amazement, wonder and sometimes outright exasperation. The day I actually manage to anticipate one of his plans in advance is the day I will be able to call myself a good GM.

Author’s Notes

I would just like to take a brief moment to welcome Lightfinger to the Graveyard. Lightfinger has agreed to take over the monumental task of proofreading my copy before it is posted, to improve the overall quality of the column and hopefully keep my foot from entering my mouth on a weekly basis. Lightfinger is a good friend, a long time player and gamemaster of Shadowrun and a wonderful source of both ideas and inspiration.

Introduction

As any veteran runner will tell you, a good false SIN is far more useful than any gun or spell ever devised. Too often I see runners neglect to purchase any false SIN’s whatsoever, as if no one would ever dare ask them for some form of identification. This of course, is a very dangerous way to live. All it takes is one routine traffic stop and suddenly your cooling your heels down at the local jailhouse, and the docs there are sizing you up to remove all of that fancy cyberware you spent all that nuyen on.

Of course, you get a lawyer right? Think again chummer. Were talking Lone Star here, and they are a corp just like any other. If you are arrested without a SIN, then technically you don’t exist. If they run your fingerprints through the matrix and come up with nothing, then you have become what a famous author of yesteryear once referred to as an un-person. Since you don’t exist, you are not entitled to any of the same rights and protections that someone with a SIN would have. So be prepared to get yourself sedated and then dissected, your cyberware sold aftermarket and your various organs going to the highest bidder.

So as long as you stay away from the law, you don’t really need a SIN. Wrong. Without a SIN you can’t buy a rent an apartment, buy a house, open a bank account, purchase a plane ticket or even rent a car. A good SIN is required to perform thousands of everyday activities.

A good shadowrunner will have a variety of false SIN available. Each time you use a particular SIN as identification, that identity is logged somewhere in the matrix. A good runner will always keep multiple SIN on hand to provide adequate identification without giving anyone too much information about the runner in question.

Game Master Information

The current system allows for players to purchase false SIN, but doesn’t really go too in depth about their usage. According to the Neo-Anarchist’s Guide to real life, when ever anyone uses a false SIN it is an opposed roll between the level of the SIN and the level of the detector being used. This makes low level SIN a very chancy proposition indeed.

Rather than making an opposed roll each time a SIN is used, I use a chart that has the minimum SIN level required to perform an activity. If the SIN level is equal to or higher than the one on the chart, no roll is needed and the SIN is accepted as genuine. Higher levels of SIN simply contain more data and background information stored in the Matrix. A level one SIN, for instance, is usually just a Name, Address and LTG number, much as a modern day drivers license. A level 3 or 4 SIN, on the other hand, would have bank account and credit information, diploma’s and degrees, that sort of thing. The higher the level of the SIN, the more data that is present and the more convincing it is. Since a patrol officer would have no need of accessing your personal credit history for a routine traffic stop, as long as the basic information is present no opposed test should be required.

One other thing important to note about a SIN is that all of the permits for cyberware, weapons and other equipment are also stored in the Matrix with your SIN. The listings in the back of Shadowtech describe the types and costs of permits required for various cyberware, equipment and weapons.

You should require your players to provide you with a listing of false SIN they wish to maintain, with such information as the name, address and LTG# listed, occupation, and any other information that may be appropriate. Permits must be purchased separately for separate SIN. Imagine what would happen if the character is pulled over by a Lone star patrol and hands the officer a Level 1 SIN that does not have a permit for the Ares Predator he happens to be carrying.

The officer would check the SIN, and see that he doesn’t have a permit for the weapon. More than likely he would question the character, and if the poor soul couldn’t come up with a convincing lie very quickly or bribe the cop in question, he would be arrested and taken to jail. It’s not like he could hand him a different SIN with the permits on it at this point. Once he’s arrested and booked his credentials would be looked at more carefully and discovered to be fake. This can lead to some serious trouble.

Keep in mind that each time he presents a particular SIN that use is logged somewhere in the matrix. If you have someone using the same SIN constantly more than likely somewhere along the line he will start tripping some serious flags somewhere. There are far too many situations and problems that may arise from the improper use of SIN to detail in one article or even a series of them, but for the most part a judicious application of common sense should suffice.

While introducing this element into your campaign might seem at first to be a bit more time consuming, it does give your players a much better sense that they are indeed in the shadows and must take some precautions to keep their true identities a mystery. I’ve also found that having the characters maintain there various SIN can be a great deal of fun for both me as the GM and the player. It’s rather humorous to have the big nasty street sam present a SIN to his landlady that says he’s a mild mannered construction worker.

One other thing to note about the table below. It is possible to use a lower level SIN that the level required to perform these tasks, but if the character attempts to use a lower level SIN then an opposed roll is required.

A false SIN does require a certain amount of upkeep in order to maintain current and believable. The upkeep cost for the SIN is 1/10th the purchase price of the SIN per month. If the upkeep cost is not paid, then reduce the level of the SIN by 1 for each month the cost is not paid. Once a SIN has dropped in level because of failure to maintain it, it is not possible to raise the level of the SIN back to it’s original level. If they need a higher level SIN they will have to purchase a new one. A SIN may not fall below Level 1 in this fashion.

Level Of SIN	Transactions possible without opposed roll
1	Register a vehicle, purchase unrestricted items online
2	Rent a vehicle, open a bank account
3	Purchase Medium Lifestyle, Travel across local borders
4	Travel overseas or across national borders
5	Purchase Class A Restricted Items legally
6	Purchase High Lifestyle
7	Purchase Class B Restricted Items legally
8	Purchase a Luxury lifestyle, purchase valid security end user certificate
9	Purchase Class C Restricted items legally
10	Purchase valid military end user certificate

Be sure to check back next week when The Graveyard will present a look at permits, end user certificates and topics of related interest.