Things that it's weird that Shadowrun 3rd Edition Doesn't Have, Part 2

 Okay, Weaver, Listen carefully: You can hold on to your Red Snapper, or you can go for what's in the box that Hiro-san is bringing down the aisle right now!

What's it gonna be?

I'm fascinated by the number of things a system skates past. It's usually in the spirit of this stuff just not coming up that much: when a system provides a lot of different solutions for problems already, they usually don't care as much about adding the few weird or atypical ones. Book real estate is important, after all. Lucky for me that real estate on this blog isn't important at all, and I can fill it with whatever I want. There's a lot more of this stuff in modern or futuristic settings, and even more of it when your group trends toward calculated or subtle. Here's a random assortment of objects, most of which trend toward that level of careful action.

Gun Cases

Alright, so one of SR3's most memorable jokes is the street lingo "Panther Cozy", which is any pathetic attempt to conceal a very large weapon like the Panther Assault Cannon. I lol'd at this joke for an actual twenty years without realizing something: In the real world, people put guns in locked fucking cases to transport them. I promise you the panther had a case when you fucking purchased it. Now, obviously this isn't a 'gotcha', a gun case often(usually) looks exactly like a gun case and it's not as if Lone Star will skip searching your bags if they stop you. However, a case is a damn sight better than walking down the street with an assault rifle wrapped in a hoodie, and some gun security might even help the party's street samurai from carrying their biggest weapons around like a security blanket for fear they'll be stolen while they're not home. 

Plus, if the players ever find an expensive weapon like an ARES MP Laser III, it would be fucking bizarre if it wasn't at least in a locked case, right? Imagine a 200k weapon just lying on a table. Picture a monowhip tucked into someone's waistband.

	Conceal	Weight	Availability	Cost	Street Index	Legality
Standard	-	2	Always	100¥	0.75	Legal
Large	-	5	Always	200¥	0.75	Legal
Extra Large	-	10	4/48 hrs	500¥	1	Legal

Standard cases are able to fit a single pistol or SMG sized weapon. Large cases can fit four smaller weapons, or a single rifle, assault rifle, shotgun, or similarly sized weapon. An Extra Large case can fit eight pistol, three rifle, one larger weapon such as a machine gun, launcher, or assault cannon. All cases are lined with foam that can be re-arranged into a variety of configurations. Cases come in a variety of styles and finishes, with some even being limited-edition gifts from manufacturers or fashion corporations. While the most cases feature a maglock linked to a keypad, higher-grade cases can feature anything from biometric to facial recognition or voice print locks. 

All gun cases have a barrier rating of 3 and a rating 2 maglock. Additional barrier rating costs 500¥ per point, to a maximum barrier rating of 12. Higher grade maglocks can be installed via the costs and availability on pg 293 of the SR3 core book. Additional information on maglocks can be found on pg 100 of SOTA 63.

Melee Weapon Holsters

The core book says holsters are for pistols, that's it. Cannon companion has a broader view, with defining it as pistol-sized weapons. I'd like to point out that the core book's definition of "pistol sized" is concealability of 4 or greater, which frankly feels pretty wrong in the first place. So with the knowledge that this is already pretty obfuscated, I just wanted to say that I see no reason that a suitable melee weapon couldn't be put in a concealed sheath via the same rules as concealed holsters. The real world has plenty of examples of this, anyway.

Vehicle Smuggler Compartments

So yeah, this is even something the game talks about existing but never actually presents rules for, and smuggler runs sound like a core Shadowrun job to me. It goes without saying that I don't think this should be a stock modification on any vehicle.

Customization Specifications

Parts Cost: 1,500¥ per Rating

Parts Availability: 4/48hrs

Base Time/Skill Test: 16hrs/ Appropriate Vehicle B/R

Target Number: Rating - 3

CF Consumed: See Below
Load Reduction: 15 kg

The CF Consumed is the CF available in the smuggler compartment. A maximum of 10% of the vehicle's CF (before modification) can be dedicated to a hidden compartment. The rating of the modification represents the target number to find the compartment during a search: finding a compartment simply by looking inside the vehicle should be much harder. 

Cyberlimb Internal Storage

Listen I think it's pretty weird to have like, a box inside your arm for your things. I can't deny how useful it'd be, though, and cyberlimbs can use a bit of love(post forthcoming). The cyber holster effectively "eats" a point of ECU with its mechanism, costing 4 but storing 3. I think that's a fine trade-off for a specialized holster(something you can even quick-draw from) but I can't imagine a simple compartment needing that mechanism. Therefore, I think it's easy to just have a player pay 1,000¥ per ECU they want to dedicate to storage and reason what can be put inside it via the usual ECU rules on pg. 37 of M&M. 

Partially Modular Cyberlimbs

This is more an observation than anything else. We have modular partial cyberlimbs, but no rules for fully modular cyberlimbs(I see no reason we can't just use the same rules) or partly modular cyberlimbs. I think something that doesn't cost the player essence could just be made modular via the same rules, 10% extra cost. That way, it could be swapped for a device(or group of devices) that have the same modification.