General Shadowrun Questions

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Due to having evidently too much free time, I'm trying to convert the old joke about the CIA, the FBI, the LAPD and the rabbit* for Shadowrun. So far I've got Knight Errant for the FBI and Lone Star for the LAPD, but I'm having a little trouble thinking of something to fill the CIA slot - I suppose GOD or the TT Peace Force could fit the bill, but they just don't feel right. Can anyone think of any Shadowrun security groups that would fit the bill? (i.e. overly methodical and procedural, lacking imagination, and preferably operating in North America)

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The LAPD, The FBI, and the CIA are all trying to prove that they are the best at apprehending criminals. The President decides to give them a test. He releases a rabbit into a forest and each of them has to catch it.

The CIA goes in. They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigations they conclude that rabbits do not exist.

The FBI goes in. After two weeks with no leads they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit, and they make no apologies. The rabbit had it coming.

The LAPD goes in. They come out two hours later with a badly beaten bear. The bear is yelling: "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!'

[Longes]

Can't even tell the joke right!

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[TheTeaMustFlow]

Can't even tell the joke right!

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Actually, I've seen about a dozen different variations for a dozen different countries and groups (the first one I saw involved the SAS, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and the Black and Tans), but I'm fairly certain CIA/FBI/LAPD is the original flavour.

[Lord Torath]

Does the UCSA even have an intelligence service anymore? You'd think they would, but I don't remember hearing about one.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Does the UCSA even have an intelligence service anymore? You'd think they would, but I don't remember hearing about one.

The UCAS has the US alphabet soup agencies. Haven't been able to find any information on what happened to Canadian law enforcement (which isn't surprising, given how half-arsed the union between them was and how the writers mostly seem to forget how it's not just the cyberpunk US)

[Sith_Happens]

The heck, how is being SINless not a negative quality (in 5e)? That makes literally no sense.

[Floret]

Because, since the assumption is you are all playing criminals, being tracable as an actual legal person that does not dissolve under too close a scrutiny (As Fake SINs would be, which everyone should have anyways. Playing without any SIN, real or fake, would be a catastrophic idea, indeed.) has quite some drawbacks, such as famility members being possible to look up and threaten, get info out of them, have actual legitimate biometric data of you in state/corp hands, a registered adress...
Quite some drawbacks for a professional criminal, should anything ever go south. And since most places require a SIN, but don't have the resources to check SINs that would identify the higher level fakes, you can get away rather comfortably without one. Not really that much of a disadvantage to not have that liability lying around, and being required to use an ever-expanding array of fakes. As any professional criminal should probably do, anyways.

Now as to where the insane amounts of people without SIN supposedly come from is another question. But then again, "SINner" is one of the most commonly selected negative qualities in my groups, and that is not necessarily a problem in the rules. Shadowrunners are not the average Joe, they are special, and especially in that regard quite often.

[Arcacius]

I've been looking in the books for 5th and am having trouble finding it. Does anyone know where the rules for used vehicles are if they do exist?

[jindra34]

I've been looking in the books for 5th and am having trouble finding it. Does anyone know where the rules for used vehicles are if they do exist?

They'd probably be in Rigger 5.0 if they existed. But I'm pretty sure they don't.

[Floret]

At least in the German version, I can't find anything (though I might be blind).
What exactly do you want? Prices for used, Statmods? Maybe you could homebrew something up taking the rules for used Cyberware...

[Arcacius]

At least in the German version, I can't find anything (though I might be blind).
What exactly do you want? Prices for used, Statmods? Maybe you could homebrew something up taking the rules for used Cyberware...

I was kind of looking for both, but if they dont have rules they dont have them.

Thanks for the help.

[Blue Duke]

silly 4th edition question: any one happen to know if there are rules for designing new meta types or creatures ? i want to stat up the Gill-men (Creature from the Black Lagoon) for a monster hunting thing i'm runing using 4E but i'm....not quite sure if i even can.

[Floret]

While I don't remember any rules specifically for designing new metatypes, there are rules for creating mutated and toxic animals in Running Wild. So that might cover "creatures".
For metatypes there is always the SURGE-rules, and all metavariants use SURGE qualities to some extent for modelling their respective properties - so taking some of those might work, even if you are not technically creating a SURGEling. Those are in the Runner's Companion.
(Both excellent books to have around imho, esp. for GMs)

[Longes]

I'm not sure what kind of rules you need. Just pick whatever attributes, qualities, skills and critter powers you want them to have. They aren't PCs, they don't need a BP breakdown. Look at your players' dicepools, decide based on that how tough you want the mermen to be.