SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS (SINs)

System Identification Number or SIN refers to the method in which the UCAS tracks the activities of its registered citizens. These activities include criminal violations, licenses, legal business transactions, purchasing property, and similar activities. Because it ties together all of the information associated with a particular identity, a SIN is one part birth certificate, one part passport, one part credit history, and one part legal record.

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There are four types of SINs: National SIN, Criminal SIN (either Corporate or National), Corporate Limited SIN, or Corporate Born. Individuals with SINs are required by law to always broadcast their SINs. A legal SIN is required for all legal purchases. This makes them very useful things to have, so those who are SINless generally get by with the use of fake SINs just so they can participate in society.

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NATIONAL SIN - 5 KARMA

Only available at creation

At the 5 Karma level, the character has what is called a National SIN. The character’s parents were legal citizens of a nation (such as the UCAS or CAS) and he has been a citizen of that nation from birth. He has the right to vote, qualify for passports issued by his nation, enlist in the national military, or work in the national government. A National SIN is required for any national security clearance or any form of national military career.He is in no way connected to any of the megacorporations. The main drawback to having a legal National SIN is the character is in the system. The nation in the player character’s background has the character’s biometric data (DNA, fingerprints, retinal scans) on file, and that biometric data is shared with law enforcement agencies through the Global SIN Registry. This makes it much easier to track a character should a job go sideways. Also, nations typically sell the personal information tied to the character’s SIN to corporations. Those with a legal SIN get nearly three times as much spam as those who don’t have a SIN or rely on fake SINs, and the spam messages they receive are disturbingly tailored to their preferences (based on their buying and browsing habits).

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CRIMINAL SIN - 10 KARMA

At the 10 Karma level, the character has a Criminal SIN (either Corporate or National); his Criminal SIN replaces any previous SIN. At some point in his life, the character was arrested and served time for a felony-level offense and was branded a criminal for the rest of his life. He is legally required to broadcast his Criminal SIN at all times; failure to do so is a felony and can lead to re-incarceration. He is shunned by law-abiding society. Law-abiding citizens will, if they must, deal with a SINless character before they’d have any interaction with a known criminal. With his Criminal SIN, the character will experience prejudiced views, suspicion, and/or open hostility from most people with SINs. He will often be denied entry to certain locations (high-end stores, car dealerships, museums, galleries, etc.) and will have difficulty finding legal employment. He can expect to be brought in and held up to 48 hours for questioning anytime a crime is committed in his area. The judicial system in 2075 is more an assembly line than institution of justice. Suspects are treated as guilty unless proven innocent, plausible circumstantial evidence is often sufficient for conviction, and sentencing has more to do with the judge’s mood than the crime. In this environment it’s likely the cops will be more interested in closing the case than solving any crime; they may try to pin crimes on the character with the Criminal SIN whether or not she had anything to do with it. Some degree of “adjusting” facts and “interpreting” witness accounts to support allegations is common; fabricating evidence, if only to meet conviction productivity goals, is not rare. Magic users tend to receive much harsher treatment from the judicial system than mundane criminals. If the character is a magic user with a Criminal SIN, he is registered with local law enforcement. He can expect regular—but usually not scheduled—checks to confirm he lives and to ensure he is not using forbidden spell formula, foci, or other magical gear. The nation or corporation that issued the Criminal SIN will keep close tabs on the character, if he fails to update residential information or appears in any way to be trying to evade their oversight, he is subject to arrest. He is also required to pay a fifteen percent tax on his gross income to the entity that issued his Criminal SIN.

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CORPORATE LIMITED SIN - 15 KARMA

At the 15 Karma level the character has the Corporate Limited SIN; he has somehow gained a position in a megacorporation from the outside. He may have been hired as a wageslave (or been the minor child of a person hired as a wageslave), or perhaps brought in by someone in the megacorp who saw advantage in his skill, talent, area of expertise, or some other useful attribute. Under most circumstances the Corporate Limited SIN replaces any National SIN. His Corporate Limited SIN becomes part of the Global SIN Registry, to which law enforcement agencies and security corporations alike have access. Many of these Corporate Limited SINs record whether or not the character is Awakened. The Corporate Limited SIN allows the character to be employed by the megacorp under most circumstances, and it replaces any National SIN that the character may have had previously. With the Corporate SIN, the character can be gainfully employed by the issuing megacorporation as a wageslave, a low-ranking member of the corporation’s security services, or an enlisted member of the corporation’s military. Though he could have a secret-level security clearance to perform his duties, he cannot rise to a leadership position, become an officer, or be part of the megacorporation’s Special Forces (such as the Red Samurai). As a group, characters that possess Corporate Limited SINs are believed to either know something valuable about the inner workings of the megacorporation or have a skill set rival megacorps would want; as such they are considered valid targets for extraction, even if they are no longer active with the corporation. Characters with the Corporate Limited SIN experience prejudice and hostility from those in the shadows who are SINless. The SINless believe the corporations deliberately keep them poor and powerless so they can be exploited. The character with the Corporate Limited SIN may find himself being personally blamed for his corporation’s actions—protesting he has no real authority and no connection with the actions in question usually does little good. To the SINless and neo-anarchists the character with the Corporate Limited SIN has sold out and chosen a corrupt and oppressive system over his own people. The character pays twenty percent of his gross income in taxes to his megacorporation.

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CORPORATE SIN - 25 KARMA

Only available at creation

At the 25 Karma level is the Corporate Born SIN. The character with this ID was probably born into a mega corporation, or belonged to one when it achieved extraterritoriality. At least one of his parents probably had the Corporate Born SIN as well. He grew up in the corporation, his social involvement, education, and almost every aspect of his life was managed by the corporation. His skills and aptitudes were evaluated constantly, and he was groomed for the career path to which he was best suited; his whole world was the corporation. Characters with the Corporate Born SIN had the potential and the opportunity to advance through the corporation hierarchy. He could have been a department administrator, a finance strategist, an agent of corporate intelligence, an officer in a megacorp’s military, or even a member of Corporate Special Forces (Renraku’s Red Samurai or Ares’ Firewatch). With a Corporate Born SIN, he could have enjoyed top-secret clearance within the corporation and access to nearly unlimited resources. Then something happened. An unforgivably costly mistake, the machinations of a rival, a supervisor in need of a scapegoat—something pushed the character out of the corporation and into the cold and unforgiving shadows. In the shadows a SIN that had been the key to opportunity is now a deadly liability. Most in the shadows see the Corporate Born as the privileged few, the aristocrats in the armored limousines who look down on them, oppress them, exploit them and deny them their basic rights. If the SINless discover the character’s Corporate Born SIN, reactions will range from deep suspicion to violent hostility; serious injury and death are real possibilities. The character’s loyalty to his corporation is never questioned, which can be an insurmountable liability in a culture that works against the megacorps. Would-be runners have been killed for holding Corporate Born SINs. Fortunately, Corporate Born records are limited to the megacorporation that generated them. Files in the Global SIN Registry can confirm she has a valid SIN, but do not contain any additional information. Those with Corporate Born SINs pay a tax of ten percent of their gross income to their corporation.