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Message no. 1
From: Lady Jestyr <nholmes@***.edu.au>
Subject: SINs - help a newbie?
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 95 09:32:28 -1000
Hi! I'm sorry to start a thread that's probably been done to death,
but I'm a relative newbie to Shadowrun (ie playing experience = months
rather than years) and when we started we leapt straight into play, and
our GMs didn't really explain background concepts to us.

I'm having trouble with SINs - I can't quite grok their impact.
Specifically, who has/doesn't have SINs, what do you need them for, what
hassles do you have if you don't have one, and how can you get around
them?

Our GMs don't hassle us too much with them, but I can see a day when
I'll get some savage brute who'll tear me to shreds over it.

Help please?

TIA

___________
Lady Jestyr
Message no. 2
From: "Gurth" <gurth@******.nl>
Subject: Re: SINs - help a newbie?
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 12:01:35 +0100
Lady Jestyr said on 29 Dec 95...

> Hi! I'm sorry to start a thread that's probably been done to death,

Another question I can't remember having seen before...

> but I'm a relative newbie to Shadowrun (ie playing experience = months
> rather than years) and when we started we leapt straight into play, and
> our GMs didn't really explain background concepts to us.

Hmm... I'd ask them some questions about that if I were you. I usually
spend a few hours explaining the background of the game to new players...

> I'm having trouble with SINs - I can't quite grok their impact.
> Specifically, who has/doesn't have SINs, what do you need them for, what
> hassles do you have if you don't have one, and how can you get around
> them?

If you (or someone you can borrow it off) own Shadowbeat, there's some
stuff in there that might help out. It's not so very much, but it's a
start.

Anyway, a SIN is basically a number of things in one: social security
number, passport number, that sort of thing. It's linked to just about
any official records and things applying to you, and serves as an
identification number (a bit like a military registration number, I would
guess). If you don't have a SIN, you don't exist as far as the government
is concerned. Simple.

So if you drive through a red light and get a ticket for that, cop asks
you for your SIN to put on the ticket. Some time later they get you for
drunk driving, and by typing your SIN into a computer, they find out you
have also been fined for driving through that red light. Just to name
something, of course.

Also, if you have a real SIN, you pay taxes. Which means it might be hard
to make shadow-money (like, you might have to explain where it comes from
to the taxman), but if you don't have a SIN you won't get much anywhere
when dealing with government agencies -- they want to know your SIN so
they know who they are talking about.
The best solution in most cases would be a fake SIN, I think.

> Our GMs don't hassle us too much with them, but I can see a day when
> I'll get some savage brute who'll tear me to shreds over it.

No big deal, just buy yourself a gun beforehand ;)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth.
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Character Mortuary: http://huizen.dds.nl/~mortuary/mortuary.html <-

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Message no. 3
From: Mike Loseke <mike@***.sc.colostate.edu>
Subject: Re: SINs - help a newbie?
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 08:55:53 -0700
Lady Jestyr wrote:
>
> Hi! I'm sorry to start a thread that's probably been done to death,
> but I'm a relative newbie to Shadowrun (ie playing experience = months
> rather than years) and when we started we leapt straight into play, and
> our GMs didn't really explain background concepts to us.
>
> I'm having trouble with SINs - I can't quite grok their impact.
> Specifically, who has/doesn't have SINs, what do you need them for, what
> hassles do you have if you don't have one, and how can you get around
> them?
>
> Our GMs don't hassle us too much with them, but I can see a day when
> I'll get some savage brute who'll tear me to shreds over it.
>
> Help please?

OK; I have a work in progress called the "Shiny Metal Tome" for exactly
this purpose. It's URL is:

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~loseke/swo/tome.html

Everyone is welcome to look at it and the SWO page as well:

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~loseke/swo

If anyone has anything to add just let me know and I'll stick it on
there!

BTW: some of the stuff is out of a couple of our campaigns and should
not be taken as canon.

--
Mike Loseke * Webmaster & |
System Administrator | Biology is the only science in which
mike@***.sc.colostate.edu | multiplication means the same as
http://www.sc.colostate.edu | division.
Message no. 4
From: sedahdro@*****.com (Victor Rodriguez, Jr)
Subject: Re: SINs - help a newbie?
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 95 13:29 EST
>Hi! I'm sorry to start a thread that's probably been done to death,
>but I'm a relative newbie to Shadowrun (ie playing experience = months
>rather than years) and when we started we leapt straight into play, and
>our GMs didn't really explain background concepts to us.
>
>I'm having trouble with SINs - I can't quite grok their impact.
>Specifically, who has/doesn't have SINs, what do you need them for, what
>hassles do you have if you don't have one, and how can you get around
>them?
SIN, I believe is an accronym(sp?) for Social Idendification Number. A SIN
allows people (primarily police) to know that you are a legal (registered)
citizen. Without one you don't exist as far as the government or corp is
concerned. In game terms it determines whether you get arrested or killed
if you get caught (a SINner gets arrested; a sinless person more than likely
will get killed), how easy it is for you to get a permit for that Predator
II you might be carrying, how much you pay for certain legal things, how
easy is information about the character to obtain (SINners probably have
their fingerprints, their medical history, and other personal information,
on a database somewhere; sinless people don't have this information on a
database, they don't exist). Both options have their advantages and
disadvantages and neither is better than the other. It's usually a players
decision whether his character has one or not, and it's up to the GM of how
much an impact a SIN has in the game.
---Sedah Drol
--
ATTN: Due to lack of interest, tomorrow has been canceled.
GC3.1
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Message no. 5
From: Adrian Mink <psu01071@****.cc.pdx.edu>
Subject: Re: SINs - help a newbie?
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 12:12:19 -0800 (PST)
On Fri, 29 Dec 1995, Lady Jestyr wrote:

> Hi! I'm sorry to start a thread that's probably been done to death,
> but I'm a relative newbie to Shadowrun (ie playing experience = months
> rather than years) and when we started we leapt straight into play, and
> our GMs didn't really explain background concepts to us.
>
> I'm having trouble with SINs - I can't quite grok their impact.
> Specifically, who has/doesn't have SINs, what do you need them for, what
> hassles do you have if you don't have one, and how can you get around
> them?
>
> Our GMs don't hassle us too much with them, but I can see a day when
> I'll get some savage brute who'll tear me to shreds over it.
>
> Help please?
>
> TIA
>
> ___________
> Lady Jestyr
>
>
>
We treat SIN's as beefed up Social Security Numbers. Without one you
can't get legal credit, gov't benifits, legal I.D., an apartment, a bank
account, a car, ect, ect. If your pulled over by a cop and you don't have
a good fake I.D. your screwed. You need to go through a fixer to get a
decent place to live, vehicles, the basic amenities of life.
Of course, any good runner has acsess to a fixer and the money to do
these things so it's usually not to much of a problem. There is some good
info on getting fake SIN's and credsticks in the NeoAnarchists Guide to
Real LIfe that you can look at also.


-adrian
Message no. 6
From: The Kumquat <LAYBROWNJT@***.CUIS.EDU>
Subject: Re: SINs - help a newbie?
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 16:34:34 -0600 (CST)
In response to the query regarding SINs, here's the lowdown.
SIN : System Identification Number - A number assigned to all registered
citizens of the UCAS, acts as a social security #, personal ID#, and it is both
a ticket to gobs of government benefits, and a way for that same government to
keep tabs on you. Almost anyone (except for the poor souls who "slip through
the cracks" at birth) is assigned a SIN, if he/she is born in UCAS. The SINless
do not officially exist, meaning they don't pay taxes, can't get travel visas,
and have a hard time buying anything legally. This is because a SIN accompanies
all legal credit transactions, including many credstick transfers. This is why
certified cred is so important. It, along with cash, can be legally tranferred
with no SIN "paper trail" leading back to Mr. Johnson (or Mr. Samurai, for that
matter.) If a SINless person (runner) is arrested, they will be assigned a SIN,
which will follow them around, letting government agents bug them about taxes,
a real job, etc. The easiest way to get rid of an unwanted SIN is to convince
the system that you're dead, by either faking it, or having a decker work his
magic.
Hope that helps...

Just My Two Pence.
The Kumquat.

Support Whirled Peas.
Message no. 7
From: Robert Watkins <robertdw@*******.com.au>
Subject: Re: SINs - help a newbie?
Date: Sat, 30 Dec 1995 12:58:11 +1100 (EST)
>I'm having trouble with SINs - I can't quite grok their impact.
>Specifically, who has/doesn't have SINs, what do you need them for, what
>hassles do you have if you don't have one, and how can you get around
>them?

SINs are all-purpose identity "papers". You need them for various sorts
of legal things, but you can live without them.

The biggest problems a lack of SINs will get you are:
a) No bank accounts. Which in turn means no general purpose credstick.
You can still get certified cred, but that raises the risk of muggings.
You can also run cash, but it's got similar problems. Of course... bank
accounts run the risk of being traced.
b) No licenses for weapons (or for your car). Again, a mixed
blessing... you don't WANT licenses for the bang-bang you use on your
runs. You do want licenses for the weapons you carry around in
"self-defense".
c) No passports, visas, etc.

The best idea: it doesn't matter a damn if you've got your REAL SIN or
not. You'll only use it for legal type stuff, anyway. It's a good idea to
get several false SINs, 3 or 4 of various ratings, and pass the bank
accounts/passports/arrests around on them.


--
Robert Watkins robertdw@*******.com.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers
are around at 9 am, it's because they were up all night.

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