Anything to Declare?
by By Ted Rabinowitz (Tuvyah@aol.com)
They’ve eaten at the Glass Onion, danced at Dante’s Inferno, and run the Seattle shadows until dawn. Now it’s time to step out, take a new direction, maybe shake that fraggin’ band of MCT payback specialists who’ve been dogging them for the last couple of days...Yep, it’s time to flash. Sooner or later the time will come when your players want out of Seattle...or Chicago...or Detroit....or wherever the heck you’ve been putting them. At one point, it looked like I had players who’d be splitting their home ‘Plex for the California Free State...and that’s when I realized I had no material on how they’d get there. "Hey!" I said to myself. "I’ve got no material on how they’ll get there!" Even today it’s kind of hard to get that automatic rifle past Customs and the metal detectors. What will airports be like when half your body parts make the MAD ping like sonar? With that in mind, here are descriptions, security procedures and target numbers for a large international airport in the UCAS (Sea-Tac); a smaller international airport located in a Free City (Long Beach International); a cross-border maglev train (the Ressah maglev connecting Seattle and San Francisco); a NAN border crossing (Seattle to Salish-Sidhe Council); and a NAN-operated cross-border bus line (Whippet Bus Lines). They can easily be generalized to other venues. These tables aren’t meant to be fully realistic; instead, they’re a handy thumbnail guide for a GM who feels that runners should have a little trouble at the borders, but doesn’t want to spend two game sessions getting them through Customs. |
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Sea-Tac is the archetypal Big City UCAS international airport, with helicopter and plane flights for the Seattle environs, HSCT (high-speed civilian transport) flights out of the metroplex, and semi-ballistic direct flights to Asia, the East Coast, and Europe.
With all this traffic, security is tight: A lot of people don’t like the UCAS, or the potential passengers on Sea-Tac flights: Japanacorp execs, Yakuza, Tir Tairngire elves, NAN citizens, Russian free-lancers. There are also a lot of illegal, easily concealable goods that would make a tidy profit if smuggled through Customs.
Outgoing passengers face scanners for cyberware, weapons, chemicals, luggage, and ticket validity that are all located in the terminals between the front doors and the airplane gate areas. Incoming passengers face a SIN visa check and another chemical scan. Both incoming and outgoing passengers are likely to face profiling - the outgoing passengers to see whether they fit the "terrorist" profile; the incoming passengers to see if they fit the "smuggler" or "illegal entrant" profile. (cf. the section on "Profiling", below.)
In Gnasher v. UCAS, the Supreme Court defined aura checks as a form of search requiring a warrant, so they are not used in routine civilian UCAS airport screenings...at least not so far as anyone knows.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | |
Cyberware Scanner | Level 5 |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | Level 7 |
Chemsniffer | Level 3 |
Luggage X-Ray | Roleplay |
Incoming Profiling | Level 4 |
Outgoing Profiling | Level 6 |
SIN Check/ticket ID | Level 3 |
SIN Check/visa | Level 5 |
Aura Checks | None (Officially) |
Long Beach International Airport
Free Cities have less political baggage than the UCAS, more of an interest in seeing that traffic flows freely, and more of a laissez-faire attitude toward weapons and shadowy commerce. They also have less money to enforce security, and this is reflected in lower scan and profiling levels.
However, they are also unconstrained by recent UCAS court decisions. LBI, LaGuardia, and John F. Kennedy airports are all rumored to use random aura sweeps by talented mages. Such sweeps are Level 5 Assensings (cf. p. 171, Shadowrun Third Ed.). They can reveal general emotions, health, essence and cyberware, and the presence of spells and foci. No matter how good a 0.01 Essence Street Sam looks on the outside, an assensing will show him for what he is, and guarantee some unhealthy attention. Of course, a good profiler can spot low Essence without any of that fragging wiz-bang drek. There’s just something in the way they move....
Long Beach International Airport | |
Cyberware Scanner | Level 3 |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | Level 7 |
Chemsniffer | None |
Luggage X-Ray | Roleplay |
Incoming Profiling | Level 3 |
Outgoing Profiling | Level 3 |
SIN Check/ticket ID | Level 4 |
SIN Check/visa | Level 4 |
Aura Checks | 1/12 chance; Level 5 |
Seattle Port Authority
The Ressah maglev train is something of a special case. It connects a relatively free-wheeling UCAS enclave (Seattle) with a racist corporate occupation zone (San Francisco), passing along the way through a repressive feudal hierarchy (Tir Tairngire). The only people who profit from the maglev’s presence are those who do business with San Francisco - and they’re not exactly beloved by their fellow Seattlites. So the Seattle Port Authority has little political incentive to make the maglev secure, or to protect the Japanese Imperial Marines on the other end from any random policlub members who might want to go out in a blaze of glory. They also know that security on the San Francisco end is very tight indeed, and they rely on that to some extent to deter criminals.
In addition, the maglev’s relative banality - it is essentially a commuter train that spends its time in the Tir traveling down a blank concrete tunnel - has made it less of a target for terrorists...so far, anyway. Although it’s probably only a matter of time before some Clever Dick realizes just how spectacular a crack-up could be if it involved thousands of tons of metal speeding through a constrained tunnel. Like a bullet in a gun barrel....
When the train is inbound from SanFran, it’s a slightly different story.
Seattle Port Authority
All outgoing security checks are fully automated
Outgoing to Seattle | |
Cyberware Scanner | None |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | Level 3 |
Chemsniffer | None |
Luggage X-Ray | None |
Profiling | None |
SIN Check/ticket ID | Level 3 |
SIN Check/visa | None |
Incoming from Seattle | |
Cyberware Scanner | None |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | Level 4 |
Chemsniffer Dogs | Level 3 |
X-Ray | None |
Profiling | Level 6 |
SIN Check/ticket ID | None |
SIN Check/visa | Level 5 |
San Francisco Ressah Maglev
Nobody leaves their heart in San Francisco anymore - not unless they’re a metahuman caught in one of the Japanacorps’ little "hunts". (Check out the California Free State sourcebook for more information.) Unfortunately for all concerned, the maglev train stops in San Francisco proper (an Imperial enclave), and not in one of the outlying areas which are still under the control (such as it is) of the California government. This means that San Francisco maglev security is handled by the Imperial Marines, and they are not happy campers.
The Imperials have their own version of profiling that applies specifically to metahumans. It’s simple, really. All metahumans are automatically taken to one side, and subjected to full, thorough searches of person and property. A second SIN check, at Level 7, is made. Once the search is concluded:
The security drops if the train is outgoing.
San Francisco Ressah Maglev
Outgoing to Seattle | |
Cyberware Scanner | Level 3 |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | Level 3 |
Chemsniffer | None |
X-Ray | None |
Profiling | None |
SIN Check/ticket ID | Level 3 |
SIN Check/visa | None |
Incoming from Seattle | |
Cyberware Scanner | Level 5 |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | Level 7 |
Chemsniffer Dogs | Level 4 |
X-Ray | Roleplay |
Profiling | Level 7 - Special |
SIN Check/ticket ID | None |
SIN Check/visa | Level 4 - Special |
Border Crossing: Salish-Sidhe - Seattle
A border station isn’t a public target like an airport; and both the S-S Council and Seattle/UCAS, despite their resentments, have a mutual interest in keeping freight and cargo moving as freely across the borders as they can. With some exceptions, they’re not looking for terrorists; they’re checking for smuggling and illegal agricultural products. The security procedures (at least from the NAN side) reflect this. No scanners; just a SIN check, sniffer dogs trained to detect explosives and/or other chemicals...and a Wolf or Dog shaman working security.
Of course, if the border soldiers feel they have a reason to search a player’s vehicle, it will be a VERY thorough search indeed. To the point of destruction, in fact. And that Barrett sniper rifle in the trunk will be evidence in your trial, wasichu gun-runner.
Salish-Sidhe - Seattle | |
Cyberware Scanner | None |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | None |
Chemsniffer Dogs | Level 5 |
Luggage X-Ray | None |
Profiling | Level 5 |
SIN Check/visa/travel pass | Level 5 |
Dog/Wolf Shaman | 2/6 Chance |
Border Crossing: Intra-NAN
The border crossing is light between the UCAS and the NAN, but between two NAN
states, the security is even looser:
The above doesn’t necessarily apply to all NAN states: For instance, the Haida
and Pueblo nations are known for tight borders, and the Cascade Ork region of
the S-S Council is known for the corruption of its "border guards".
Intra-NAN | |
Cyberware Scanner | None |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | None |
Chemsniffer Dogs | Level 5 |
Luggage X-Ray | None |
Profiling | Level 5 |
SIN Check/visa/travel pass | Level 3 |
Dog/Wolf Shaman | 1/12 Chance |
Busses (Whippet Bus Lines)
Most runners don’t even think about the NAN-owned bus companies. But for getting out of the ‘plex quietly, quickly, no questions asked, you could do worse. Because the ticket prices are low, the travel time is high, and the destinations are primarily those that would interest only NAN citizens, the bus lines’ major clientele are lower-income NAN citizens, tourists, workers, and seniors. Because they are NAN-owned, the bus lines have the right to conduct their own border, customs, and security procedures. And because their clientele is low-income, low-threat, and low-profile, those procedures are correspondingly lax.
Whippet Bus Lines | |
Cyberware Scanner | None |
Weapons Scanner (MAD) | Level 5 |
Chemsniffer | Level 5 |
Luggage X-Ray | Roleplay |
Profiling | None |
SIN Check/visa/travel pass | Level 3 |
Weapons Bond | Special |
Nobody’s going to take your Pred III away from you in the S-S Council. You say it’s yours and you’ve got a permit, that’s good enough for the driver. What he WILL ask you to do, though, is store it in the bus weapons locker for the duration of the trip. And that "request" is more like an order. Hold something out on the driver, and you’re apt to find yourself tossed from the bus at some point of maximum inconvenience - two hundred miles from the next town, say. And think twice before pulling on the drivers - they’re a fairly tough bunch, and they ride in pairs.
ProfilingAh, profiling. It’s been around in an informal sense ever since there were cops, but in its modern version, it dates back to the Israeli anti-terrorist procedures of the late 20th Century. Supporters describe it as a vital tool to minimize security risks while still allowing the free flow of traffic; opponents, including decades of civil-rights activists, claim that it’s nothing more than an excuse for cops to exercise their prejudices by detaining and harassing anyone who "looks funny". In game terms, it means that runner characters can be singled out for special attention by Security depending on their dress, their race, their manner, or their travel plans.
Each runner is assigned a base TN of 9. Deviations from the "Human Corporate" profile result in modifiers to the TN. The Star-boy doing the profiling makes a Security Procedures roll (or Border Guard Vindictiveness roll), and if he or she makes it, the runner is "taken to one side".
Profiling Modifiers | |
Elf/Dwarf | -1 |
Ork/Troll/Other metatype | -2 |
"Odd" dress | -1 to -3 |
"Enemy Alien" | -3 |
Gang Dress | -3 |
Mob/Yak dress | -1 |
Tribal Dress | -1 |
"Enemy Destination" | -2 |
Visible Cyberware/Extreme Low Essence | -3 |
"Odd" dress is anything the Profiler might find unclassifiable and thereby threatening (so a Renaissance Faire minstrel costume would be odd; but a Japanese corp-kimono, though unusual, fits neatly into a category and gets no modifier).
"Enemy Alien" means that the passenger fits into whatever ethnicity has been deemed a threat by the local profiler — Tir Elves in CalFree, Orks in San Francisco, Azzies just about anywhere.
"Tribal Dress" applies only in non-NAN airports.
"Enemy Destination" applies if the passenger’s destination or point of origin fits a hostile or high-crime area in the profile - Vladivostok, Tir Tairngire, Chicago, Aztlan, etc. A failed Profiling Test means the runner is pulled aside for a luggage and personal search. The severity of the search depends on the number of failures in the Profiling test.
"Standard" and "Deliberate" refer to the time spent on the search. (p. 236-237, Shadowrun Third Edition) If the search is thorough, the searcher can bring in search equipment (X-Ray, cyberware scanners) that is of a different level than what’s listed in the Checkpoint Table.
Profiling Results | |
One Success | Questions/Visa SIN check |
2-3 Successes | Standard Search |
4+ Successes | Deliberate Search |
Final Thoughts
What’s the point of all this drek? After all, your players didn’t buy SR3 just to wait in line at the airport. They want to kick dragon-butt and play with corporate toys, right? These tables give your PCs an excuse to finally use their concealable polyresin single-shot Derringers. Their toothpaste tubes full of C20. Their combination fountain pen/laser torches. All those tricky little James Bond devices that are so much fun and so useless in a full-on, go-anywhere, free-brawl anarchy. It’s also nice to remind them on occasion why most people don't have gleaming metal torsos. Why carrying that combat-rated auto-shotgun in plain view is a bad idea. Why they should be paranoid. Every runner hates The Man - so it’s incumbent upon GMs to ensure that now and then, the Man reminds the runners why they hate him so much. And it’s a peachy way to mellow out your gun-munchkins. |
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Langöscz
Mixed Greens
Paprikash
Sorbet of Awakened Oranges
Walkabout Petit Sirrah 2055
|
» Aww, DREK, what is this? Cap, can’t ya keep the fraggin’ nonsense to a
minimum?
» Bullet
» Heavens, Bullet. I thought you’d be glad to get a glimpse of the High Life.
After all, Gundel is the ne plus ultra in Seattle fine dining.
» Captain Chaos
» Yeah, it’s the only way he’ll get it.
» Wiz Kid
» Ne what?
» Radovan
» Ne plus ultra. So chic it tries to discourage business, not encourage it.
Notice no prices on that fancy menu.
» Social Light.
» Langoscz? Remoullade? Que?
» Ermal
» Awakened Thyme? That’s interesting....
» GrimNoire
» And as is so often the case, the perceptive Ms. Noire gets the No-Prize for
why I posted this item. Not all Awakened changes are from armadilloes to
Juggernauts. Some are subtle, and the latest craze in fine dining is using
these mutations in food.
» The Smiling Bandit.
» Any one actually eaten this stuff?
» Wiz Kid
» Yes.
» John Hedwig.
» Hedwig? The columnist for Hello Seattle?
» Social Light
» Yes. The cuisine is remarkable. The sorbet, for inst- [message interrupted 3.4 MP lost]
» Looky, looky, we got a visit from the Straight World.
» Bullet
» Say goodbye to Bullet for the evening, folks. Sorry about that.
» Captain Chaos.
» Not a problem. As I was saying, the sorbet of Awakened oranges made me
remember a visit to my grandmother....something I hadn’t thought of for years.
The Awakened thyme in the macédoine (which means a "finely chopped" salad, by
the way) worked with the kelp to create a potent hallucination. I felt as
though I were diving in a kelp bed, water running through my fur, searching for
abalone clams. Make of that what you will. The tuna in Awakened herb sauce
didn’t have the same overt effect, but the sauce did seem to intensify the
flavor of the fish and the side dishes, giving them a peppery sort of
vividness. Although I was impressed by the pyrotechnics, I wouldn’t do it
again. Food should affect your palate, not your mind. Judging by the crowds, I
seem to be in the minority on this issue.
» John Hedwig
» Okay, that’s the Awakened stuff. I get it. But what’s a "remoullade"?
» Wiz Kid
» In this case, an endive stuffed with shallots and mushrooms. It had a
soothing effect, and sharpened my appetite. The langoscz is a Hungarian
fried-dough pastry, opped with cheese. Paprikash is a spicy hungarian beef
stew, and bruschetta is slices of hard toast topped with mozzarella cheese,
tomatoes, and vinegar. Gundel has added a sharp paprika to its version.
» John Hedwig
» What about the steak?
» Social Light
» Fresh-killed buffalo hump steak, certified free of disease and parasites. It
was sweet, almost too rich for my taste. My dining companion, raised in the
Sioux nation, thought it delicious.
» John Hedwig
» I think I’m gonna yarf....
» Radovan