Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: kirk on <09-21-11/1244:06>
-
No, not counterspelling or antimagic or any of those things.
According to arsenal, a glowand (60¥) is a common security device. I got to thinking about this in conjunction with mind control/mob control and other such mental spells. What if SOP was that if a person's glowand is going off they're assumed to be controlled?
A very minor advancement is a "deadman" switch. If it goes off, the wearer has a short number of combat turns to send a signal or a reaction force responds. Or perhaps the room locks down. Or a security stun (a "safe" version of a cranial bomb) triggers.
There are problems, of course. Adepts and mages will be hitting the button all the fraking time, for example. But for everyone else it's worth pointing out the wand only goes off if the magical activity is within 10 cm (~4 inches), which basically means the spell is targeting (or from) the bearer.
-
I can easily picture corps creating card badges for their security much like a radiation detection badge. Just so they (and their co-workers) know if they were exposed. ;)
-
Seems like a waste, you can have your wage mage make a ward that wont let anyone affected by mind control spells enter unnoticed pretty easily as the spells are actively sustained. It is way more efficient to use wards than it is to assume everyone you gets within 10 centimeters of a mana event is under the influence of mind control
-
Seems like a waste, you can have your wage mage make a ward that wont let anyone affected by mind control spells enter unnoticed pretty easily as the spells are actively sustained. It is way more efficient to use wards than it is to assume everyone you gets within 10 centimeters of a mana event is under the influence of mind control
The ward is great for blocking things moving through that avenue.
The glowand device works for personnel outside the work facility, and internal personnel on the other side of the ward. If the spellcaster starts a mind control ritual on a secretary that starts about fifteen minutes after she's at work, then unless she passes through the ward as a normal part of her business day it's unlikely to happen.
-
Yeah but personnel who walk through areas of importance and have access to critical systems and data probably pass through wards or some kind of mana barrier. I know when designing my perfect lair there is plenty of protection from exactly that sort of thing. I dont care for ritual magic, too little risk for the reward. Make the players earn what they achieve.
-
Yeah but personnel who walk through areas of importance and have access to critical systems and data probably pass through wards or some kind of mana barrier. I know when designing my perfect lair there is plenty of protection from exactly that sort of thing. I dont care for ritual magic, too little risk for the reward. Make the players earn what they achieve.
Either I completely misunderstood what you said, or that made no sense.
You seem to be saying you prefer an expensive, predictable, single-point-of-failure defense over a variable, multiple point of failure, and less expensive option. (Of course, best is layers: these with everyone, wards at critical junctures, etc. But I digress.)
If I understand your point, you also seem to think people will do more risk for the same reward. If I've got a choice of low and high risk for the same reward, I'm choosing low. Yes, it's boring. Unless I took one of the adrenaline junkie negative qualities, however, that's the right choice for roleplaying.
-
My original point is that the glow stick idea was poorly thought out because you assumed that anyone who had contact with any kind of magic would be affected by some kind of spell that required a security alert and should be considered mind controlled. Relying on a device that detects the presence magic in immediate proximity to an individual to equate that individual as a victim of mind control or otherwise being some kind of a threat is resource intensive and ridiculous. You have to have some method of making sure anyone who touched a ward or was close to a spell or patrolling spirit wasnt really mind controlled and every time somebody was around one of these things that is incredibly common in a high security area you spend another 60 nuyen plus whatever the costs are of verification if the person is an actual victim of mind control. Rather, the smart thing is to rely on proven methods rather than an imprecise and utterly non specific detection method. Wards that prevent passage and spirits that detect magic influences with assensing are reliable and cost effective compared to your suggestion
On the other hand, you do have a point where I didnt make my second point distinct about using a lot a of protections in a facility like spirits and wards to prevent easy wins by players with ritual magic. Sorry, I will endeavor to make that clearer in the future.
-
My original point is that the glow stick idea was poorly thought out because you assumed that anyone who had contact with any kind of magic would be affected by some kind of spell that required a security alert and should be considered mind controlled. Relying on a device that detects the presence magic in immediate proximity to an individual to equate that individual as a victim of mind control or otherwise being some kind of a threat is resource intensive and ridiculous. You have to have some method of making sure anyone who touched a ward or was close to a spell or patrolling spirit wasnt really mind controlled and every time somebody was around one of these things that is incredibly common in a high security area you spend another 60 nuyen plus whatever the costs are of verification if the person is an actual victim of mind control. Rather, the smart thing is to rely on proven methods rather than an imprecise and utterly non specific detection method. Wards that prevent passage and spirits that detect magic influences with assensing are reliable and cost effective compared to your suggestion
On the other hand, you do have a point where I didnt make my second point distinct about using a lot a of protections in a facility like spirits and wards to prevent easy wins by players with ritual magic. Sorry, I will endeavor to make that clearer in the future.
Ah. I don't think you grasped.
The only way it goes off is if a trigger (spell, astral body, whatever) came within four inches. Let's use FastJack's location, a badge. So we've got a non-awakened employee, and the trigger goes off.
This is uncommon. It doesn't say "the guard is mind-controlled", it says magic came within touching distance. It might be mind control. It might be one of the astrals on patrol passed near. It might be someone using borrow sense. It doesn't matter, what matters is that we have magic - something rare - that came within four inches of that sensor.
What happens is sort of what happens in matrix space when an alert is triggered. Things ratchet up a notch. A bunch of people (also wearing sensors) start milling around the area to see if it's a traveling spell. The contact for the astrals checks to see if one of them triggered it - and by the way tells one or two to go check out the area to see if there's an uninvited guest.
If the alarm had gone off and CONTINUED to go off, the individual might have gotten dragged into a warded area. He definitely would be watched in case he was controlled or influenced. A mage would get sent to start checking for signature traces.
It's a simple mechanism. The bacteria detects magic/astral close by, and glows. The light-sensor in the wand detects the glow and closes the alarm circuit. The alarm give an audible "beep", and it sends a matrix signal to the security office. All for ~60¥ per staff member, and all of it makes getting into the facility just a little bit harder.
It is not an automatic Maximum Response device. It's a sensor alarm, just as are the motion sensors in the lobby and the heat/fire sensors in the labs and...
-
The problem is within high security areas magic is not uncommon. Wards and spirits are frequent tools in high security areas and even a temporary spike in the background count can trigger glomoss. Since you have frequent triggers you are going to need a mage on staff to check and verify regardless so you might as well go with a serious and reliable anti magic and magic detection system. On the other hand if you dont have a mage on hand, glomoss wont help you anyway because you wont be able to really respond to the magical threat. Seems a pointless waste to me
-
The problem is within high security areas magic is not uncommon. Wards and spirits are frequent tools in high security areas and even a temporary spike in the background count can trigger glomoss. Since you have frequent triggers you are going to need a mage on staff to check and verify regardless so you might as well go with a serious and reliable anti magic and magic detection system. On the other hand if you dont have a mage on hand, glomoss wont help you anyway because you wont be able to really respond to the magical threat. Seems a pointless waste to me
Wait. "High Security areas."
I'll say the words again. Layered security. Surrounding the high security area should be an area of medium security, further surrounded by low security.
Second, I'm going to suggest you're overstating the background count issue. I KNOW you've just introduced a contradiction: either there are mages to communicate with the spirits who can check things out, or there aren't spirits around. One or the other applies.
You're making a classic security mistake done by way too many amateurs. You're focusing everything on the nut, nothing on the approach, and because of the firepower on the nut you find the lesser strength stuff immaterial.
As I already said, they're one more check to go with the pressure pads and motion sensors and IR beams and thermo sensors and all that which are in various places already.
-
The background count issue is specifically mentioned in Street Magic.
Spirits can patrol remote areas as a service without a mage present.
No place has "low security" that a Shadowrunner ever needs to visit.
I am saying that while you need to secure the approach you need a more reliable and useful approach than glomoss.
-
The background count issue is specifically mentioned in Street Magic.
Spirits can patrol remote areas as a service without a mage present.
No place has "low security" that a Shadowrunner ever needs to visit.
I am saying that while you need to secure the approach you need a more reliable and useful approach than glomoss.
I almost get the idea you just don't like it and are reaching for excuses.
Background count does not "just change". It has to be made to do so, whether by temporary action (such as cleansing) or as part of a longer and more drastic change. It does not happen in a vacuum and it doesn't just wander around.
Since if the background count changes it means someone or something is changing it security will want to know. It can discount the effect if it knows the cause. If the cause is unknown, security gets another clue something is going on.
Spirit on patrol. You're right, you don't need a mage. Of course, the only time you (security head) know the spirit's still patrolling is when it checks in (if it checks in) and/or if a mage drops by to talk to it. Elsewise it's got a "beat" it's supposed to walk, but there's no way to know if it got intercepted. Oh, wait - unless you've got sensors that are going off as the spirit passes through them.
Finally, you apparently didn't read what I wrote about low security. Let me be plainer. Picture the security as two concentric hollow spheres around a central ball. The bullseye is high security. The wrapping surrounding it is medium. The outermost layer is low. To get to the center you have no choice but to pass through the low and medium. Every single secured system with which I've worked has that process in place. An outer perimeter with unarmed guards, warning signs, and basic sensors. The next layer requires keys and has armed guards and heavier sensors. And then there's the core.
Oh, and if your gm never requires your runners to see any low security you're missing out. Bars, warehouses, and malls are just the tip of the iceberg of opportunities.
-
You are suddenly trying to switch this topic to low security when you started the thread talking about if the badge is triggered the room going on lockdown and generating response teams. I have never seen anything like that in a low security area. Remain consistent in your scenario if you want a fair critique.
You are right about layers of security for obvious and overt security zones, not so much for secret labs and hidden facilities. Again, I think you need to be more concise in what exactly you are talking about.
Of course, on one point you are right, I do think it is a bad idea. Both in terms of effectiveness, cost and implementation
-
I think it's a good idea that could be used in a few different ways. I mean if one sensor goes off the security might look into it briefly trying to find a logical thing that might have happened and then if more then one employee sensor starts to go off then they might get a bit suspicious.
In the case of a spirit patrolling the area it wouldn't be suspicious to have a bunch of them going off but say someone got rid of that spirit in that area, there's a sudden halt in where the spirit was supposed to be patrolling? Might want to investigate.
Sounds like an interesting idea to say the least. :D
As for the back and forth between you guys, I'm not sure how much more specific Kirk can get.
-
You are suddenly trying to switch this topic to low security when you started the thread talking about if the badge is triggered the room going on lockdown and generating response teams. I have never seen anything like that in a low security area. Remain consistent in your scenario if you want a fair critique.
You are right about layers of security for obvious and overt security zones, not so much for secret labs and hidden facilities. Again, I think you need to be more concise in what exactly you are talking about.
Of course, on one point you are right, I do think it is a bad idea. Both in terms of effectiveness, cost and implementation
I did mention the lockdown and response teams. I also mentioned the layers, and use with outside perimeter patrols, and all the rest. I'm not changing the scenario, I'm refusing to be locked to only one small part.
That said, I can indeed see it in the higher security areas. I can draw a full diagram if you want, but there's no need. You have fluctuating backgrounds and variable wards and multiple spirits randomly but densely patrolling and, well, things that when you add them up cost a heckuva lot more than giving everyone a globadge.
eh. I still can't see how 30,000¥ to purchase badges for 500 employees is "too expensive." Not given the costs that have to go into commlink security and physical security and, well, and other magic security.
-
The specific is about how he first talks about an area that is obviously high security with lockdowns and threat response teams and then suddenly starts getting all up in arms that I talk about high security issues. The problem with this idea is anywhere it is useful there are better options. In low security areas they lack the tools to respond to magic anyway plus glomoss, which is unreliabale at the best of times according to the text, functions based on how dense the material is so putting it on a card is going to make it more or less useless because there wont be enough to be really functional.
-
The expense is hiring a mage to check each and every incident where your unreliable glomoss is triggered not the cost of the badges. If every time there is a shift in the ambient mana or a spirit or paracritter goes through the area or an astral form flips past or any other magical thing has impact on the glomoss you are going to need to call in a mage you might as well just have a mage on retainer already doing something much more useul
-
Hiring a mage itself for a few hours probably is way more than you'd pay for a life time of (glowbadges) lol I keep reading them glowbadges instead of globadge. XDMaybe it's said the same way donno.
Though if the runners were smart they could make a trigger go off in an area they aren't hitting so most of the attention is focused away from them no?
-
I dunno. I think the idea is sound for a low security/low budget Corp or area. But there could be problems in areas that have other magical security in place. Last thing you want is a bunch of false positive alarms going off cause of "interference" with other wards or magically active staff.
However, in a zone/building without wards/spirits/mages it could be quite effective!
-
No, the point is this is a LOW tech device useful for the LOW to MID security areas where the mages/spirits/wards are not present or barely present. This is stuff the guys in the lobby would have for the office building with the secret upstairs research facility. This is an early warning system.
Furthermore, he said that the guard is supposed to check in after the device goes off, which isn't that onerous. Check ins are fairly frequent. Therefore, when the guard passes through known wards or through the patrolling spirit's hallway and it goes off, he clicks the alert off and continues to where he is going. Which a clever shadowrunner can take advantage of to create "false alarms" until the real alarm is interpreted as a false one once deeper into the facility.
This simply serves to add an additional layer to the astral security side of the run, which enhances the flavor of the game and overall experience for the Awakened members of the group.
-
Glomoss is good for low-to-medium security areas because it requires far less maintenance and expense than a wagemage casting or summoning all the time.
Yes, it's going to get false positives, but I'd rather have the guards go on heightened alert over nothing than not be warned that there's possible magic in the area.
It doesn't have to be in a badge. A widget box clipped to the belt or in a pocket is good enough, with moss inside, a light sensor, and a wireless connection to the security grid.
-k
-
Of course, too many false positives can be a negative thing.
Or positive, in a 'Runner's POV.
-
OK, let's walk through the false positives issue a minute. There are two critical points that must be kept in mind.
1) the moss in the tip has different characteristics from moss in the wild (or on a wall). The most significant is range. The tip or badge or whatever has a range of 10 cm. 4 (well, 3.9) inches. Not from the wearer, from the device itself. (For convenience let's make it a badge.) The moss in the wild has a range of up to 60 meters. (10 x Force). The glowand, as described in AR 65, doesn't have as many false positives for the simple fact of range.
2) Neither the wand nor the wild moss have false positives. The misuse of this term is leading to confusion, so let's correct it. A false positive is "it signals but there is nothing there." What the moss signals is that there is SOMETHING there. It may not be a cast spell; instead it may be a change in background or an astral walker passing through it. All those are something that security needs to know.
a) Change in background - is it artificial in an attempt to hide an infiltration attempt? Is it "natural" and the prelude to a major geological or astral event (earthquake? ghostrising?) Security wants to know.
b) astral entity. We think we have the only astral entities here. If there are more we'd kinda like to know. If our astral patrol doesn't mention the entity we REALLY want to know.
c) spell. Obvious, yet apparently the obvious is being missed. The only spells that will trigger an alert are those that are cast or have an effect within 4 inches of the badge. Joe Wyldmage in the lab is tossing fireballs left and right? No hits on the meter. First because of range, and second because there are (I hope) wards between the lab and outside.
Now all those said, it's possible there are 'local artifacts' - local peculiarities that cause the signal to go off. Maybe there's a ley line through the property. Maybe there's an ancient spirit and part of its walk of shame goes right through the donut cabinet three times a week. Security system pros deal with those a lot. The fix is pretty old, too. For the first week a tech - or for this a mage - is on duty 24/7 and checks out every single alert. He notes time and location, and the events get logged and mapped. If necessary this goes for a month, but that's rare.
Bottom line, after a month it's a system. Your spirits' patrols are known, both timing and route, and can be matched if/when signals occur. There's a wobble at 2348 Friday night? Yep, Old Horace right on schedule (and he better leave the sprinkles on the chocolate this time.)
If something new happens and it starts looking erratic, the security techs get called. They look to see if something new has been added. But what everyone figures is really happening is someone's screwing with the system. Why?
Because the moss doesn't go off for no reason.
I wouldn't use the system everywhere. Definitely not in magic research labs. But in the corporate HQs? In the weapons research labs and the nano labs and the...? If it's not using magic, or if the magic to be used is controlled and contained, heck yes. I'm using very precise Force 1 spells on "this", and suddenly the badge of the observer 5 meters away goes off. It ain't my spell, and it means there is a problem.
4 inch sensitive range. It's going off if someone walks through it, if background changes, or the wearer is the caster or target of a spell. Ain't none of that stuff to be ignored.
-
Exactly, in a low magic area they would work great. But, add in roaming paracritters, spirits, wards, magical sentries, and magical evironmental conditions (awaken ivy, etc) and you could have a problem with false positives.
Now, is this really a concern? All depends on the protocol. If protocol says "send a Mage to investigate" then there is no real disruption to the day to day events. If the protocol is "the entire building goes on lock down until resolved" then you have the potential for false positive encounters costing a lot of Money to the Corp.( not a good thing )
The range of the "card" (for ease of argument) would both help and hinder in this regard. Afterall 4inches is CLOSE!
In fact it is so close that it could be easily by-passed by a careful runner who is "in the know" of such tags. And could also lead to too many "issues".
How long does the alarm sound when contact is made? For the length of the magical contact? Until reset after contact? Considering astral forms move at the speed of thought, it is possible for an alarm to be tripped and the culprit being 100 km away by the time the system registers the alert.
Still a good idea for corps on a limited budget that want some magical security.
-
You guy are forgeting ech bage is if I ere using them linked to am employee so if it beeps you know who or that Joe Smith has had an event Pluse every facility should be Mapped so not only do you get a ping on employee locations you also know ward A is still emplace Spirt B is patrolling on schedual And the magical Ive is still alive have not been burned by a mage forcing there way through.
All in all i think it is a good add to the security mix although it would let a hacker in on were magical suff is or might be as the down side.
-
over and over, "false positive" keeps coming up. Generate false positives till they're sick of it, then use the lulled attention.
Coffee time. I've already noted how, with a four inch detection range, false positives are far less common. But let's take a look at this "generate false positives" line so blithely kicked out.
Let's start with a reminder that the moss never generates false positives. If it goes off something happened. The "false" is that the something is benign. So with that in mind, how do you generate a "false" positive?
You have to cast a spell on the wearer, or you have to change the background count. In both cases you leave an astral signature. You clean up the signature.
Congratulations, you've created the dog that didn't bark. The moss only glows in the presence of an astral cue, but there is no astral cue on which it could have gone off.
The counters to dealing with these badges aren't magic. They're tech or physical (social or muscle). When used with tech defenses and physical defenses it creates a more interlocked mesh. They make using illusions or mental spells much more challenging.
A point - a philosophy I hold, if you will. There is no such thing as a perfect security system. All you're doing is ensuring your intruders are those of higher quality. This, in turn, isn't always a bad thing. First, it means the number of people you need to examine to find who done it is much smaller. Second, in the event YOU need to hire a quality team, well, it's a nice qualification exam.
-
over and over, "false positive" keeps coming up. Generate false positives till they're sick of it, then use the lulled attention.
Coffee time. I've already noted how, with a four inch detection range, false positives are far less common. But let's take a look at this "generate false positives" line so blithely kicked out.
Let's start with a reminder that the moss never generates false positives. If it goes off something happened. The "false" is that the something is benign. So with that in mind, how do you generate a "false" positive?
You have to cast a spell on the wearer, or you have to change the background count. In both cases you leave an astral signature. You clean up the signature.
Congratulations, you've created the dog that didn't bark. The moss only glows in the presence of an astral cue, but there is no astral cue on which it could have gone off.
The counters to dealing with these badges aren't magic. They're tech or physical (social or muscle). When used with tech defenses and physical defenses it creates a more interlocked mesh. They make using illusions or mental spells much more challenging.
A point - a philosophy I hold, if you will. There is no such thing as a perfect security system. All you're doing is ensuring your intruders are those of higher quality. This, in turn, isn't always a bad thing. First, it means the number of people you need to examine to find who done it is much smaller. Second, in the event YOU need to hire a quality team, well, it's a nice qualification exam.
"Damn, my badge is inked again."
"How'd that happen?"
"Crazy mages in R&D probably left one of their 'projects' out or forgot to clean up after their shift. Again."
-
over and over, "false positive" keeps coming up. Generate false positives till they're sick of it, then use the lulled attention.
Coffee time. I've already noted how, with a four inch detection range, false positives are far less common. But let's take a look at this "generate false positives" line so blithely kicked out.
Let's start with a reminder that the moss never generates false positives. If it goes off something happened. The "false" is that the something is benign. So with that in mind, how do you generate a "false" positive?
You have to cast a spell on the wearer, or you have to change the background count. In both cases you leave an astral signature. You clean up the signature.
Congratulations, you've created the dog that didn't bark. The moss only glows in the presence of an astral cue, but there is no astral cue on which it could have gone off.
The counters to dealing with these badges aren't magic. They're tech or physical (social or muscle). When used with tech defenses and physical defenses it creates a more interlocked mesh. They make using illusions or mental spells much more challenging.
A point - a philosophy I hold, if you will. There is no such thing as a perfect security system. All you're doing is ensuring your intruders are those of higher quality. This, in turn, isn't always a bad thing. First, it means the number of people you need to examine to find who done it is much smaller. Second, in the event YOU need to hire a quality team, well, it's a nice qualification exam.
"Damn, my badge is inked again."
"How'd that happen?"
"Crazy mages in R&D probably left one of their 'projects' out or forgot to clean up after their shift. Again."
heh. You keep thinking dosimeter. Think geiger counter instead -- except remember the 4 inch range.
-
Oh, I'm thinking dosimeter because that's what I'm recommending. The wand is what it is, I'm thinking that there's got to be Corp that created a dosimeter-like badge for magic. Perhaps one of the early tests with FAB that doesn't devour magic, but does react to it - changes color, dies, etc.
-
I am fairly sure people are using "false positive" to mean "sensor going off on something that isn't actually a breach", not "sensor going off when there no actual mana effect".
-k
-
Probably. But they're not thinking about it and so they're treating it as going off with no mana effect.
This isn't for wilderness use. It's in a stable location. Background doesn't change randomly. If there's a changing background count it's either known (there's a graveyard in that corner of the property) or you have a problem.
You've got a patrolling spirit (or spiritS) who are supposed to report or run off unwelcome astral presences. If it goes off due to unnoticed astral visits you have a problem.
That leaves "wild spells". Now remember I'm using geiger counter not dosimeter model. So you've got a spell that's triggering on an employee (or a group of employees). If there isn't a path of alarms that has one of your mages connected to it (his alarm should be going off frequently, doncha know) then you have a problem.
If the problems happen a lot you bring in the tech, who has fairly high assensing, and she looks for astral signatures. 3 hits is all she needs to know the source, 5 to know what was done, and a repeated absence of success means someone's wiping the trail.
-
Actually, depending on how you want to imply it, "false positive" could mean a lot of things. In this case I meant that the badges could be tripped when no actual theat was there. (yes, there HAD to be a change for the badge to register, but that cause was not a threat)
Also remember (if I read it right) that your "badge" is responding to mana in the trigger, thus a dual natured critter could set it off as well. And so could awakened plants and the like.
With that in mind, I think it would work great in low magic facilities where there is a low chance of running into paracritters, mages, or parafauna. But in a high magic area, or in a Corp with a high number of awakened employees, paracritters and magical plants, your chances of a "false positive" goes up.
I.E: Sam the Mage walks too close to Sally the receptionist at the water cooler with an active foci. Or Mary the flower lover sniffing the awakened roses. Or even Nugget the cerebus hound giving acidic kisses to Paul the gardener. All these things the badge could pick up (again if it came within 4 inches of the badge) and are all examples of a "false positive"
Also, it's only half the system. The other half is the protocol that comes in when an alarm is tripped. This could be anything from a phone call to that employee so he can answer a challenge, to full mobilization of a heavy security team.... And this is where companies can fall down.
If everytime an alert is sounded the building goes on lock down and a HTR team is mobilized... All for a "false positive" (fuckin Jack cuddling the hellhounds...AGAIN!!!) then things get expensive fast (mainly through lost productivity) not to mention stressed out employees.
However, if the protocol is a simple call to the commlink of the tripped employee with a challenge (today's passcode please Tim... And stop smelling the awakened tulips!) then it could be alright.
Again, it think it's a great idea for low magic corps/facilities.
-
You are suddenly trying to switch this topic to low security when you started the thread talking about if the badge is triggered the room going on lockdown and generating response teams. I have never seen anything like that in a low security area. Remain consistent in your scenario if you want a fair critique.
You are right about layers of security for obvious and overt security zones, not so much for secret labs and hidden facilities. Again, I think you need to be more concise in what exactly you are talking about.
Of course, on one point you are right, I do think it is a bad idea. Both in terms of effectiveness, cost and implementation
I did mention the lockdown and response teams. I also mentioned the layers, and use with outside perimeter patrols, and all the rest. I'm not changing the scenario, I'm refusing to be locked to only one small part.
That said, I can indeed see it in the higher security areas. I can draw a full diagram if you want, but there's no need. You have fluctuating backgrounds and variable wards and multiple spirits randomly but densely patrolling and, well, things that when you add them up cost a heckuva lot more than giving everyone a globadge.
eh. I still can't see how 30,000¥ to purchase badges for 500 employees is "too expensive." Not given the costs that have to go into commlink security and physical security and, well, and other magic security.
You know...with every hall warded separately, and with watcher spirit in every hall, every of this 500 eployes triggers an alarm maybe 5 times just going to the toilet. 2 times a day average...thats 10 alarms a day just for pissing. 5000 alarms a day.
Well prepared run, when you are influencing specific personel to carry our specific task, means...Runners taken this into consideration, and provided target with false bage. Using spirits power to kill that GlowMoss is one time trigger. Advanced masking matemagic makes this obsolette, since mage is able to mas his spell and Glow Moss is incapable of noticing it.
-
But pressure pads and beam sensors in relatively high traffic areas aren't a problem? Oh, and light sensors aren't any good because they'll always be going off. GPS? Can't do that, every time a guard walks into a sensitive area those alarms will be going off as well.
Look. It's a sensor; a tool. Like all the other tools if you try to use it everywhere and all the time it's worthless. If you use it with a bit of planning and common sense it creates another layer of security for runners to engage. No more, no less.
-
The weakest link in any security chain is the human on. If an alarm keeps going off for no reason ("Motion Sensor Five is going off again." "Damnit, why can't we just cut that tree down? The branches keep setting it off when it's windy." "It's on city property, we can't legally do it, the city does." "Damnit. And they'll get around to it..." "When they got the budget." "Oh, never.") the likelihood of it being investigated goes down.
Especially if it's cold and miserable out. ... Who has an Spirit or Spell handy to make things miserable outside?
Contacts, recon, and a bit of common sense are all essential.
-
Background count does not "just change". It has to be made to do so, whether by temporary action (such as cleansing) or as part of a longer and more drastic change. It does not happen in a vacuum and it doesn't just wander around.
Unless Astral Hazing is involved...
-
Background count does not "just change". It has to be made to do so, whether by temporary action (such as cleansing) or as part of a longer and more drastic change. It does not happen in a vacuum and it doesn't just wander around.
Unless Astral Hazing is involved...
That's still being "made to do so".
-
Background count does not "just change". It has to be made to do so, whether by temporary action (such as cleansing) or as part of a longer and more drastic change. It does not happen in a vacuum and it doesn't just wander around.
Unless Astral Hazing is involved...
That's still being "made to do so".
A person with astral hazing doesn't necessarily "make it happen" it's kinda just a consequence of them going into that area....
-
Background count does not "just change". It has to be made to do so, whether by temporary action (such as cleansing) or as part of a longer and more drastic change. It does not happen in a vacuum and it doesn't just wander around.
Unless Astral Hazing is involved...
That's still being "made to do so".
A person with astral hazing doesn't necessarily "make it happen" it's kinda just a consequence of them going into that area....
Right, but they're still an additional stimulus coming into the equation and altering the balance. The background is "made to" change, regardless if they actually intend to "make it" happen. Thus the phrasin.