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Tell me about: Why Corp SINs are "worse" than Criminal SINs

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Stainless Steel Devil Rat:
Reference: SR5 pg 84.

Now, I understand why SINs are considered a negative quality.  Shadowrunners can largely get away with their crimes because any forensic evidence they might leave behind just ends up being from a SINless person and therefore not tied to any identity databases.  (this is also why Fake SINs don't incorporate your real DNA...)

The National SIN makes sense as the cheapest drawback, as all it does is put your character "in the system".  Criminal SINs OTOH do that, PLUS put a giant bullseye on the character in everything he does in "legit" society.

The part that is a headscratcher for me is why Corp and Corp Limited SINs are worth more/considered worse to have.  On interacting with law-abiding NPCs, Corp SINs certainly don't have the stigmas that are carried via Criminal SINs.  They're described as being stigmatizing with shadow community NPCs, sure.  But from a game mechanics point of view, what makes them worth the extra karma?  On one hand, in a Missions environment (or any home game I'd consider "sane") non-consensual PvP is not allowed, so you don't even have to worry about what the other PCs might do even if they did learn your character has a Corp SIN.  So being seen as linked to "the Man" will in practice only affect interactions with NPCs, which might be considered a bigger deal than being penalized for interacting with "straight" NPCs as Shadowrunners tend to interact with shadow community NPCs more often than law-abiding ones.

But not really, there's not a bigger disadvantage in practice.  Any and every character should have at least one Fake SIN.  If you have a real SIN, you just don't broadcast it while you're doing shadowrun stuff.  You'd have to be crazy to not use your Fake SIN, so for the purposes of pretty much everything but having to explain yourself to cops/security after your Fake SIN has been sussed out, your real SIN pretty much has the same practical impact on play (next to none unless you're caught) but yet they don't cost the same.  What makes having a Corp Limited or full blown Corp SIN mechanically worth the extra karma you get for them?

Bewilderbeast:
I've always assumed this is because corporations will try to get you back. The implication is that corporate citizenship (and, by extension) corporate SINs are not given lightly. If you have one, it's because you were on file somewhere, at some point in time, as being an official employee of a corporation. Maybe you were born into it, maybe you have some very expensive and specific skills, whatever. And while you might have slipped into the shadows temporarily, they're eventually going to try and drag you back to the office.

How hard they try, and how unpleasant and persistent their attempts, will depend on if it's a limited corporate SIN or a full corporate SIN. Seeing as how a full corporate SIN is a full 25 karma NQ, it's safe to assume the corps will move heaven and earth in their attempts to hunt you down and coerce you into "fulfilling your contract."

Of course, the core rulebook doesn't really spell this out, and makes a criminal SIN sound much, much worse than a corporate SIN, despite being less karma. It's left up to the GM to make the corporate SINs actually worse and more of an inconvenience in play.

Consider that one of the classic types of run is the "extraction," forcibly kidnapping someone the corp personally wants. Where do you suppose those jobs come from, hmm?

Mollari:
Hey there Devil Rat.

So there are a number of reasons why a Corp SIN are difficult to maintain as both a Shadowrunner and a normal citizen.

A SIN is an alphanumeric code of around 16 figures. The details that are linked to this SIN sits in two locations.
a) The Global SIN Regristry
b) The Country/Corp that issued it (as corps are extra-territorial)

If you have a Corp SIN this means whenever your SIN is scanned that corp (the one that threw you out) will know about it. If they threw you out on your ass, then good luck trying to get a new job in any of the corps/subsidiaries because they'll know, and corps are typically vindictive.

If you're a Shadowrunner and there's any forensic evidence, whilst the Corp may block the release of your information to law enforcement (because if they didn't that'd mean having a corp sin as a runner would def be a death sentence) they would immediately know you're basically a runner. The Corp will use you, frame you, own you. Not fun for a runner.

The final element that comes into play are all the behavioural data that's collected on that SIN. You have to pay taxes when you have a Corp SIN... but funny that. You appear to have an income but no discernible employment attached to that SIN. You seem to be walking around the main city in the city pinging shops with your SIN as you buy your fancy suits, but how did you afford that. Are you buying a legal to own gun?!?!?! Hmmmm... someone who has income but largely undeclared, has a growing asset base and yet isn't employed by any corp... RUNNER!

This is just my opinion, and the game doesn't really account for what happens when your tax is audited or what happens when flags are raised.

Marcus:
So the question is what does a Corp sin Represent?

The Down side of the Criminal SIN and the normal sin is fairly obvious. The Normal sin, your in the data base to be found. It just means that at some point, your gonna have something go wrong and there will trace some piece of evidence back to your SIN. Now that doesn't mean they can find you, or that your gonna end up guilty as charged but it makes it a big step easier. The Criminal SIN is the largely the same, but now your an Ex-Con, and so your already on the usual suspect list. You might get brought in just b/c you did something similar to a crime that was just committed. In the eyes of the Authorities your already guilty as charged, they just haven't connected all the dots yet.

Ok. So that's easy to understand the danger they represent are the Authorities.


This brings us to the CORP SIN. If you have one these odds are you grew up in Archology, educated by and for the CORP, raised to be part of the corporate Elite. Someone who would ether was will someday a valued member of Mega corporation. The haves of the world. The character could maybe even by part of the 1%. But now here where it gets dangerous. Why is someone who could be making great money in corp world, running the shadows? Can you actually believe the SOB story the character tells about falling from grace, running away from her/his super rich family? Or is just another trap by the corps, a corp agent, looking to jump a couple play grades line by spending sometime in the Shadows spying for his/her Mega? Maybe you do believe their SOB story, but your team has run go wrong, and you need to get your hands on some cash in a hurry, a Corp SIN means someone is probably willing to pay for you. Maybe your characters parent, or maybe character parent's enemies. But a CORP SIN, means people with money might well pay attention and spend more the just attention on the character.

So the threat from the CORP SIN, isn't from the authorities, though there maybe some degree of that, depending on whether the character can be used a pawn in someone agenda. But mainly the danger is your fellow runner, deciding that your a better pay day then whatever Mr.Johnson is promising. There are other layers to it as well, the character's family is now fair game to come up as whole set of issues, and odds are have the resources to be a serous problem, if the GM wants them to be.

ShadowcatX:
I've never met a PC yet who was like "Oh, that person's sin says they are Mr. Smith, that's obviously their real ID and I definitely shouldn't do any further digging." And if that's how PCs are, what makes you think NPCs who have more experience in the shadows aren't the exact same way, only better at it. Mages can read it in your aura, Decker's can find it in the 'trix, and a face can charm it out of you during a night on the town, samurais can discover it after a night in.

And then what you ask? Then anything. You're fucked, massively most like, but how is up to the whim of whoever found out. You are one of the enemy, after all. You pay taxes to your Corp. Hard earned creds. You think anyone is going to believe that's all you send back to them every month?

And then, ya, there's the Corp. You are one of, at most, a handful of thousands of people with a Corp SIN. You're someone. Your actions, if you are called to account for them, will reflect on your Corp. Do they want you back? Want you dead? Want to use you where you are? Probably all of the above depending on who you talk to. Whatever happens, you can bet it isn't good for you. 

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