ID and Credit
| CREDSTICK TYPE | MAX VALUE | AVAIL | COST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 5.000Y | - | 5Y |
| Silver | 20.000Y | - | 20Y |
| Gold | 100.000Y | 5 | 100Y |
| Platinum | 500.000Y | 10 | 500Y |
| Ebony | 1.000.000Y | 20 | 1.000Y |
| IDENTIFICATION TYPE | AVAIL | COST |
|---|---|---|
| Fake SIN (Rating 1-6) | (Rating x3)F | Rating x2.500Y |
| Fake License (Rating 1-6) | (Rating x3)F | Rating x200Y |
Certified credstick: Cash for the late 21st century. A certified credstick is not registered to any specific person— the electronic funds encoded on it belong to the holder, requiring no special ID or authorization to use. The bad news is that you can be physically mugged, any money you have on your credstick jacked and rolled. The good news is that certified credsticks are completely untraceable. They’re not even wireless—you have to slot them into a universal data connector to transfer cash onto or off of them. This makes them enduringly popular with shadowrunners and the Mr. Johnsons who love to hire them.
Each type of credstick can only hold up to a certain amount of money, listed on the table. This is the maximum amount it can carry, not the amount it always has on it—so don’t get excited when you see a gold credstick until you’ve slotted it and checked its balance.
Credit account: A credit account is an online banking account that can be accessed at any time via your commlink. Transactions require passcode or biometric verification to be authorized. The good news is no one can (physically) steal your bank account, and hacking credit accounts often requires a run to Zurich Orbital or something equally suicidal. The bad news is that digital transactions leave a “paper trail” that, while it can be hidden or concealed, is entirely too traceable for serious criminal activities. Each account must be registered to a particular (usually fake) SIN, unless the account is handled by an anonymous underworld banking service (with its own risks and complications). The cost of banking services is included in your lifestyle costs if you’ve got a Low Lifestyle or better—otherwise you’ll need to keep all your money on credsticks.
Fake system identification number (SIN): In 2075, you’re just a number. A SIN (or its international equivalents) is what makes a mere metahuman into a real person. Solid citizens receive their SINs at birth and carry them until they die. Not having a SIN means living outside the system, living with restricted or non-existent civil rights. Shadowrunners by default are SINless—they have a SIN only if they have the SINner quality (p. 84 CRB). 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, or in your PAN.
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 (Fake SINs, p. 367 CRB) .
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.
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 have no license available. Licenses, therefore, are for Restricted items. Each type of item/activity permission requires a separate license. Things that require licenses include hunting (bow and rifle), possession of a firearm, concealed carry of a firearm (separate license), spellcasting, and any Restricted gear or augmentations, etc. 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 John Doe, 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 (
Fake SIN
, p. 367 CRB).