ID AND CREDIT

Fake System Identification Number (SIN)

In the 2080's, you’re a series of numbers and letters connected to biometric and personal history data in the Global SIN Registry. Most citizens, be they national or megacorporate, receive their SINs at birth and carry them until they die. 

Not having a SIN means living outside the system with restricted or nonexistent civil rights. Shadowrunners by default are SINless, having a SIN only if they have the SINner quality. Most runners don’t have one, either because they were unfortunate enough to be born poor, or because they lost it or ditched it somewhere along the way. SINs are digital, not physical objects. They exist on your commlink as data and are broadcasted as part of your PAN but are only accessible to legal entities with special access codes. Getting by without a SIN can be a pain, so most runners settle for the next best thing: a fake. High quality fakes are difficult for the Man to spot; low quality fakes are … less good. The rating of the fake SIN is used in tests against verification systems. Just like a real SIN, anytime you use a fake SIN for legitimate activity, you leave a datatrail in your wake. The fact that criminal activities can be tracked to fake SINs makes fake SINs inherently disposable. 

Most runners operate two or more fake SINs at a time - one for legal activity like paying rent and going shopping, another for shadier activity, and possibly a third to be used only when it’s time to get the hell outta Dodge.

• Rating 1 Fake SINs contain randomized information and biometric data, no supporting metadata. 

• Rating 2 Fake SINs contain a 'rough match' and match the user's gender and metatype. 

• Rating 3 Fake SINS contain a matching age, gender, nationality, and ethnicity. The supporting metadata is present, but clearly falsified upon inspection.

• Rating 4 Fake SINs are considered the most casually plausible. The metadata passes a cursory inspection and the data 'on the page' will match the metatype, ethnicity, and so forth of the user.

• Rating 5 Fake SINs are considered a good fit. Metadata passes a thorough inspection, a falsified but unique host of biometric data is associated with this SIN, and all of the basic data matches.

• Rating 6 Fake SINs are the apex of the craft. For all intents and purposes, the biometric and basic data are ripped from the individual's appearance and the supporting metadata is flawlessly crafted even under all but the most thorough - and lengthy - inspection.

Fake License

For those who can’t or won’t go through the standard legal channels, fake licenses are available for all kinds of restricted items and activities. Items with no letter next to their availability don’t require licenses. 

Items that are Forbidden (Forbidden) to own privately have no license available. Licenses, therefore, are for Restricted (Restricted) items.

Just as SINs essentially exist on your commlink, fake licenses exist on your SIN and are linked to it. When you buy a fake concealed-carry license, you don’t buy it for Murderman the professional shadowrunner, you buy it for Joe Chummer, one of Murderman’s fake SINs. 

Each license must be assigned to a particular (fake) SIN of the player’s choosing. Use the fake license’s rating against verification systems. License ratings cannot exceed the rating of the fake SIN to which they are attached.

Example licenses include: driver's, pistols, rifles, augmentations, hunting, concealed firearms, security-grade weapons, military-grade weapons, demolitions, cyberdeck, transport, magical, magical security, paramedical, or a "professional" license which allows the legal practicing of a certain type of skill such as medicine, law, or teaching.

Media Gear

There are some press credentials that are free, such as those given out to an event photographer, but legitimate cred costs nuyen. A press pass (which is registered to your SIN, of course) can be purchased from any media organization that’s willing to have you, giving some special access to areas. The press can enter a crime scene (but will always have an officer at their side to make sure they don’t disrupt anything), get into government functions, attend high-class parties (as long as they’re working), and gain some bonus legal protections. Note that many corporations don’t have a “freedom of the press” law in their corporate charter, so this is by no means a “get out of testimony free” card, but every real reporter carries one