[RumblySleet365]

Hi all,

I have a burning question on my mind; given the ruling behind forbidden gear it is likely to assume that if i was to drive say, a BMW Blitzkrieg (or some other forbidden vehicle) that lone star would at the very LEAST pull me over and detain me. So that got me thinking, how do players use forbidden vehicles in shadowrun? What methods are there of avoiding the lonestar patrol car when driving too and from runs?
Will spoof chips simply save you from cursory inspection by law enforcement?

Thanks in advance.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

In the barrens, there are no Line Star patrols.

Aside from those Mad Max style situations, yeah.  Sometimes some sorts of vehicles/gear are statted more for NPC use rather than for shadowrunners.  If you want to get away with using security/military grade stuff, then in most circumstances you'll have to be able to convincingly pose as/pass for legit security/military personnel.

[Michael Chandra]

So fake being military, or confuse them with vehicle mask.

[CanRay]

Fake License, paint it a bright colour, and put in a removable plug in any weaponry to show they've been "deactivated".

"This tank?  Oh, yes, got it surplus.  I have a permit for it."

When you are going into something like that, you gotta go Pink Mohawk, because Black Tenchcoats are coming off.

[Hobbes]

Yerzed out and other Cosmetic modifications so it's not immediately visually recognizable as a "Forbidden" vehicle.

Spoof chips, Running Silent or Wrapper Program to help with the Matrix side of things.

Nothing you do will get a Forbidden vehicle through a check point though without a little help from your friends.  Generally not worth the trouble as there are vehicles with similar stats that won't get you arrested.

[Ghost Rigger]

So that got me thinking, how do players use forbidden vehicles in shadowrun?

Most forbidden vehicles aren't worth using, especially when there are near-equivalent civilian vehicles available. Let's take that BMW Blitzkrieg and compare it to the BMW Trollhammer. The first costs 46000 nuyen and the latter costs 12500 nuyen. Despite that, they both have the same Handling, Speed, Acceleration, Body and Armor. What's more, what differences they do have don't justify the price difference: 1 extra seat (2000 nuyen), a higher Pilot (6000 nuyen), a higher Sensor (15000 nuyen) and two obvious fixed remote heavy weapon mounts (8000 nuyen). A BMW Trollhammer modded to be identical to a BMW Blitzkrieg would cost 43500 nuyen and would be available at chargen. Though, if you're concerned with getting pulled over by Knight Errant (in case you haven't noticed, Lone Star hasn't policed Seattle for quite some time now), maybe you should try driving vehicles that don't have obvious weapon mounts.

[Marcus]

So you have to think about how the world interacts with cars as different from how we do. The grid keeps cars driving legally, "all" cars report in. So cops don't setup speed traps. They respond when the grid says something is amiss.  So as longs are you not dumb enough to drive something F without spoofing the grid, then you have made it past the first major hurdle. So then all you need to do is not take some place that cops keep a sharp drone eye view on. That means don't get F rated vehicles in Neo-Tokyo. But in other settings it's probably reasonably doable.

 

[Voran]

heh yeah its on my wishlist of, "man, I wish you could actually use some of the vehicles they show in sidebars/page art"  you know the ones, that supercar with the assault cannon obviously bolted to the roof, heh the minigun hood BMW, etc.  I mean sure, you can have concealed stuff that pops up and does the same, but sometimes you want to run cars like Deathrace (2008).

[CanRay]

I mean sure, you can have concealed stuff that pops up and does the same, but sometimes you want to run cars like Deathrace (2008).

Certain highways in Shadowrun require you to drive vehicles like that.

That's just survival, neh?

[kyoto kid]

...the Roadmaster still can get unwanted attention from the authorities and it's fully "legal" (Avail. .

[mcv]

I think the Germany sourcebook mentioned that at night, German motorways are popular avenues for road wars of some sort. You don't want to bring a legal vehicle there. I'm sure authorities disapprove, but in the right circumstances, it may not be sufficient priority for them to put a stop to it.

I guess there are about 4 different categories:

• Places where you need an armed vehicle (war zones, road wars, deep in the barrens)
• Places where you can get away with an armed vehicle
• Places where it's illegal, but who's going to stop you? (that could be the same as the first category of course)
• Places where they will stop you, and only throw you in jail if you're lucky (most civilised areas that have more than token law enforcement)