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Message no. 1
From: Karl Low <kwil@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 12:21:54 -0700
From: Da Twink Daddy <twinkie@*******.DMSC.K12.AR.US>
>How about script? One of my GM's has this annoying habbit of using script
>far more than I think the SR world uses them. I mean they are as common as
>cash now. Credsticks for him seem just to be suped-up credit/debit cards.
>
>This there's on GM that has his credstick as cred-cards. No credstick to
>credstick transfers here, you've got to go through a read reader for any
>transfer.
>
>What is your (or FASA's or the common) mixture of Script, Registered Cred,
>and Credsticks? Plus, how do you work registered cred? Like a registered
>check (all or nothing...) or a bag 'o money?
>

Personally, I love scrip and don't think as many GM's make use of it as they
should.

A Personal credstick is right out for the SINless, I think everybody pretty
much agrees on this (after all, without a SIN how do you register your credit
rating?) and as far as I'm concerned, needs a reader for every transaction. I
view personal credsticks as not even having an amount attached to them, just
your account address.

Certified Credsticks are a little dicier.. sure you can just hand it over to
someone and boom, they're paid. But to do any transactions with it, say you
only want to give half to some shmuck, it needs to go through a reader
somewhere and get transferred to the shmuck's account. Of course, if you don't
have a SIN or the shmuck doesn't have one, then the transaction can't go
through because the banks need to have your account to transfer the money from
the account of the person who bought the credstick to you and then the right
amount from you to the shmuck. So at that point it's an all or nothing
situation.

Scrip is for the lowest of the low. It's a lot easier to counterfeit and hence
isn't trusted by the bigger merchants.. but for people who deal with the
SINless, they probably do take it.. albeit at a significant price-hike to
cover their risk. And some of the shadier merchants probably wouldn't take
anything but scrip. What good is a certified credstick to someone who doesn't
know anybody who has a SIN or will take it? The little chinese grocer down the
street doesn't bother taking credsticks because he doesn't have a SIN and it's
too much trouble to get the right amount of certified credsticks together to
pay his suppliers with.

What does this mean? Somewhere along the line someone with a SIN takes in the
scrip to the bank and adds it to his credit rating.. again with an extra
charge for the associated risk.

What I still haven't quite figured out though is where does the scrip come
from? Who makes it? The banks? Or the guv'mint? Neither one of those
organizations really has any desire to provide the SINless with a way to
live.. they'd much rather get them a SIN.

Karl
Message no. 2
From: Lehlan Decker <decker@****.FSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 16:00:13 -0500
On Wed, Mar 04, 1998 at 12:21:54PM -0700, Karl Low wrote:
> From: Da Twink Daddy <twinkie@*******.DMSC.K12.AR.US>
<SNIP>
>
> What I still haven't quite figured out though is where does the scrip come
> from? Who makes it? The banks? Or the guv'mint? Neither one of those
> organizations really has any desire to provide the SINless with a way to
> live.. they'd much rather get them a SIN.
>
This is answerd in Corp Shadowfiles. Many Corps use scrip. It is supposedly
only legal in "corp stores" and by corp employees. But a booming shadow trade
exists.

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Lehlan Decker 644-4534 Systems Development
decker@****.fsu.edu http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~decker
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Uh-Oh Toto, it doesn't look like we're gods anymore."
Message no. 3
From: MgkellyMJ7 <MgkellyMJ7@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 16:36:02 EST
In a message dated 98-03-04 12:53:43 EST, you write:

<< What is your (or FASA's or the common) mixture of Script, Registered Cred,
and Credsticks? Plus, how do you work registered cred? Like a registered
check (all or nothing...) or a bag 'o money?
>>

i hardly ever use it in my games or accept it as payment, usually, Corporate
Scrip can only be spent on goods and services offered by the issuing corp. not
only that, but they usually look down on anyone but employees having their
Scrip (ie, present Fuchi Scrip in a Fuchi store while not being a Fuchi
employee [how can they tell? lots of corps issue ID cards in the present day]
and the cashier makes a quiet call to the sec-gaurds who would like to talk to
you concerning how you got Corporate Scrip when you aren't an employee).
try corporate bearer stock. you don't have to be a suit or a wage-slave to
have it, and it means that you own just a little chunk of the corp in question
(which would really piss them off knowing that their beloved corp was
partially owned [even just a little bit] by a scum-bag {cop word! ;] }
Shadowrunner).

Mgkelly
Message no. 4
From: Bruce Ford <shaman@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 15:15:27 -0700
On Wed, 4 Mar 1998, Da Twink Daddy wrote:

> How about script? One of my GM's has this annoying habbit of using script
> far more than I think the SR world uses them. I mean they are as common as
> cash now. Credsticks for him seem just to be suped-up credit/debit cards.

I use scrip to some degree in my campaigns...as most of the sinless deal
in it, trade, or favors though more often then not, my players currently
go with a practice in between when dealing with those that do not use
credsticks, they often purchase dinner or supplies for the informant and
that way do not deal so much in excess forms of cash.

> This there's on GM that has his credstick as cred-cards. No credstick to
> credstick transfers here, you've got to go through a read reader for any
> transfer.

I tend to use this for personal credsticks be they real or forged.
Without at least a small verifier reader no transactions can occur between
personal credsticks, however this is where certified comes into play.

Certified credsticks are worth the amount they are encoded for without any
verification needed. They can be and often are used as a means of payment
between individuals as it is not limited to the original person it was
issued to...so it's an easy way to pay for services without getting traced
and even a person without a SIN can use one.

The problem comes in obtaining a certified credstick and this has created
a thriving market in the shadows for them but it is a market that is
watched to some degree as it is another method of laundering money IMC>

-----
Bruce Ford aka Rendar, the educated Ork Street Samurai.

"The Shadows are your friend. Intelligence, your ally. Negotiation, your
companion. Violence, your lover...but frag, chaos is your wife!"
-Summary of the run's results to a Johnson.

E-mail: shaman@*******.com ICQ#: 4804267
Message no. 5
From: Bruce Ford <shaman@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 15:28:21 -0700
On Wed, 4 Mar 1998, Karl Low wrote:

> A Personal credstick is right out for the SINless, I think everybody pretty
> much agrees on this (after all, without a SIN how do you register your credit
> rating?) and as far as I'm concerned, needs a reader for every transaction. I
> view personal credsticks as not even having an amount attached to them, just
> your account address.

Standard credsticks have a cash limit based upon their level be they basic
through ebony and certified come in similar levels as well but either are
basically out to most SINless unless they have the appropriate contacts to
obtain such through the black market trade.

> Certified Credsticks are a little dicier.. sure you can just hand it over to
> someone and boom, they're paid. But to do any transactions with it, say you
> only want to give half to some shmuck, it needs to go through a reader
> somewhere and get transferred to the shmuck's account. Of course, if you don't
> have a SIN or the shmuck doesn't have one, then the transaction can't go
> through because the banks need to have your account to transfer the money from
> the account of the person who bought the credstick to you and then the right
> amount from you to the shmuck. So at that point it's an all or nothing
> situation.

Certified credsticks don't deal with any form of verification, if being
transferred to a personal credstick it would have to go through a reader
but since there are portable readers, it usually isn't too difficult to do
this IMC's. However, at least when I am dealing in using certified cred
for payment on a run, the Johnson usually has access to several credsticks
so he can give over the right amount or he makes certain an independant
reader is available at the meet site.

> What I still haven't quite figured out though is where does the scrip come
> from? Who makes it? The banks? Or the guv'mint? Neither one of those
> organizations really has any desire to provide the SINless with a way to
> live.. they'd much rather get them a SIN.

Predominantly the corps but the government and hence the banks associated
with that government has some interest in non-tracable funds if various
agencies within that government need information or services within the
SINless masses.

-----
Bruce Ford aka Rendar, the educated Ork Street Samurai.

"The Shadows are your friend. Intelligence, your ally. Negotiation, your
companion. Violence, your lover...but frag, chaos is your wife!"
-Summary of the run's results to a Johnson.

E-mail: shaman@*******.com ICQ#: 4804267
Message no. 6
From: James Lindsay <jlindsay@******.CA>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 03:02:56 GMT
On Wed, 4 Mar 1998 16:36:02 EST, MgkellyMJ7 wrote:

> In a message dated 98-03-04 12:53:43 EST, you write:
>
> << What is your (or FASA's or the common) mixture of Script, Registered Cred,
> and Credsticks? Plus, how do you work registered cred? Like a registered
> check (all or nothing...) or a bag 'o money?
> >>
>
> i hardly ever use it in my games or accept it as payment, usually, Corporate
> Scrip can only be spent on goods and services offered by the issuing corp. not
> only that, but they usually look down on anyone but employees having their
> Scrip (ie, present Fuchi Scrip in a Fuchi store while not being a Fuchi
> employee [how can they tell? lots of corps issue ID cards in the present day]
> and the cashier makes a quiet call to the sec-gaurds who would like to talk to
> you concerning how you got Corporate Scrip when you aren't an employee).
> try corporate bearer stock. you don't have to be a suit or a wage-slave to
> have it, and it means that you own just a little chunk of the corp in question
> (which would really piss them off knowing that their beloved corp was
> partially owned [even just a little bit] by a scum-bag {cop word! ;] }
> Shadowrunner).

I believe there was a M*A*S*H episode based around this. While it may not
be true, the episode depicted the US Army using its own script. Civilians
weren't allowed to have it, and the script was sometimes swapped for
different script to keep the black market on their toes. It may have been
done to keep the American "sawbuck" out of Korea all together...



James W. Lindsay Vancouver, British Columbia
"http://www.prosperoimaging.com/ground_zero";
ICQ: 7521644 (Sharkey)

Mano au mano, the "Professor"
would kick MacGyver's ass.
Message no. 7
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 11:59:41 +0100
Da Twink Daddy said on 11:52/ 4 Mar 98...

> How about script? One of my GM's has this annoying habbit of using script
> far more than I think the SR world uses them.

Please note that the word is "scrip" without the T at the end. A script is
something totally different, and you had me confused there for a moment
until I looked at the quoted text and noticed this was about money...

Anyway:

> I mean they are as common as cash now. Credsticks for him seem just to
> be suped-up credit/debit cards.

Then that's probably his view of how money works in SR. It's the GM who
makes up most of the world, after all.

> What is your (or FASA's or the common) mixture of Script, Registered Cred,
> and Credsticks? Plus, how do you work registered cred? Like a registered
> check (all or nothing...) or a bag 'o money?

I tend to handle money via credsticks, though I have been known to give
PCs hard currency (like a suitcase with 500,000 UCAS dollars in it).
Johnsons often pay the runners by certified credstick, or by putting it
onto the runner's account (if he or she has a SIN, which isn't common
anymore). I'm planning on paying them in either corporate money or bonds
for a run, just to see how they handle turning it into money they can use.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html - UIN5044116
I want to see the ground give way, I want to watch it all go down.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

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Message no. 8
From: Da Twink Daddy <twinkie@*******.DMSC.K12.AR.US>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 09:10:29 -0600
-----Original Message-----
From: Lehlan Decker <decker@****.FSU.EDU>

<snippet: where does scrpit come from?>

>This is answerd in Corp Shadowfiles. Many Corps use scrip. It is supposedly
>only legal in "corp stores" and by corp employees. But a booming shadow
trade
>exists.


Ah, the longer I'm on this list the more book I have to buy. But, thanx for
the info. Would the government ever issue script? I mean we have cash today,
why not 'cept for counterfieting and evidently the corps can defeat most
conterfieting measures for a small cost or they would/could print script. So
again I ask, would the government print scrpit and is it as wide spread as
cash today?
Message no. 9
From: Tony Campbell <tbacampbell@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Script and Credsticks (Was: Re: Credsticks [was Re: SINless
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 17:38:57 PST
>> In a message dated 98-03-04 12:53:43 EST, you write:
>>
>> << What is your (or FASA's or the common) mixture of Script,
Registered Cred,
>> and Credsticks? Plus, how do you work registered cred? Like a
registered
>> check (all or nothing...) or a bag 'o money?
>> >>
>>
>> i hardly ever use it in my games or accept it as payment, usually,
Corporate
>> Scrip can only be spent on goods and services offered by the issuing
corp. not
>> only that, but they usually look down on anyone but employees having
their
>> Scrip (ie, present Fuchi Scrip in a Fuchi store while not being a
Fuchi
>> employee [how can they tell? lots of corps issue ID cards in the
present day]
>> and the cashier makes a quiet call to the sec-gaurds who would like
to talk to
>> you concerning how you got Corporate Scrip when you aren't an
employee).
>> try corporate bearer stock. you don't have to be a suit or a
wage-slave to
>> have it, and it means that you own just a little chunk of the corp in
question
>> (which would really piss them off knowing that their beloved corp was
>> partially owned [even just a little bit] by a scum-bag {cop word! ;]
}
>> Shadowrunner).
>
>I believe there was a M*A*S*H episode based around this. While it may
not
>be true, the episode depicted the US Army using its own script.
Civilians
>weren't allowed to have it, and the script was sometimes swapped for
>different script to keep the black market on their toes. It may have
been
>done to keep the American "sawbuck" out of Korea all together...


I heard that the Army used scrip in Vietnam. It looked a lot like
monopoly money, and the print style changed every few months because it
was easy to counterfeit. The story I heard was that some GI's got some
monopoly money sent in from the states and ripped the local black market
off royally, because it looked so much like the real stuff they were
issued.

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