Rant: Concealability isn't automatic

[TheElf]

Concealability is an "ability". It means how well you can conceal an item, a key knife is easier to conceal than a matchete, but if it is in the plain sight everyone will notice it. To benefit from high concealiability you should actually conceal the item. Better your attempts (and yes, you should roleplay it, by telling where you put the item and how do you conceal them) the better your success will be. An ares predator you put it in your pocket isn't so concealable than one you put into a so called book safe, and even book safe doesn't mean 100% concealed weapon. You should make good attempts to conceal things and you should also have good plans and maybe good tools to conceal your items.

The concealibility rating is for cases, when you carefully concealed an item, yet you haven't used any extra tools to conceal it. Say you use "hidden" pocket and have a jacket over it. If you add a specialy designed holster that can hide the "bulge" that ads extras if you use it intelligently. Wearing it in a book safe in your backpack among other books, when you look like a bookworm hermetic who just loves old books and actually reads on? Another case. And with proper tools you can hide it from MAG detectors as well.

I always thought this kind of went without saying.

In fact I seem to recall my rulebook specifically saying that the Concealability Rating of a weapon was only useful if you were trying to conceal it.

[TheElf]

Trying by stating it is concealed when others check for it, and roleplaying how do you conceal it is a bit different

True, I think my players were never ones to decide something on the spot.

If they were hiding something I knew well in advance.

This came from my old habit of "if you didn't tell me you were trying to be quiet I assume you weren't."

[TheElf]

That is a good habit

[Slacker]

You hear a lot of horror stories about this one, yeah.

"What do you mean, Lone Star is pointing guns at me! I'm just walking down the street!" (with a Panther Assault Cannon)

A lot of the times, players forget that packing obviously military and/or serious hardware will get a LOT of attention from Lone Star/Knight Errant/the military/whatever gang's territory you wandered into/etc etc etc.

Depending on where this is, you may or may not get much of a reaction. Bad part of town? Hey, gotta be armed, chummer. Only way to keep your nuyen. But anything even close to a good part of town....

Well, best be for keeping your weapons hidden.

Obviously, the same goes for vehicles, of course. If that car that your rigger is so proud of has gun mounts/pop-out missiles/a turret loaded with a Panther Assault Cannon.... Lone Star isn't even going to bother ASKING questions before calling in the heavy hitters to reduce it and you to smoking ruin.

Though, it is a fun way to give your characters pause, especially if that's the only vehicle they own. Hope they've got a bus pass. ^_-

[TheElf]

Depends, I have characters that can be with heavily armed vehichles in best part of the town, ok it is for a merc. campaign types, and everyone is registered to have his weapons, including the armed and armored vehicles. But we don't want to break into buildings and murder scientists etc. and our presence wasn't secrets, and with Lone Star watching closely it was better for us. It isn't so good for Shadowrunners.

If you play a Mercenary campaign, and your mercenary organization has permits to have military technology, and has a contract with Lone Star to lend help if they need it, Lone Star doesn't say anything bad if you bring a few heavier weapons. They are more pissed in such cases about stuff you left at home.

[Slacker]

Hadn't considered that option, really.

It's a very good point, though. ^^

Most of my games have been straight shadowrunning. Might have to start steering them towards a Merc campaign, just so I can have fun with licenses and whatnot.

[TheElf]

I had more games with these campaign options than straight shadowruns So I know how these things can work

[Lord Byte]

Been toying with the Merc idea for quite some time actually, the problem is how to keep it fresh, as mercs pretty much shoot al that isn't their team and it would be even harder to steer them to make plans or do research in their missions... Mercs are very shooty and rarely covert unless it's in the style of "Covert or Die!"

Hiding weapons is paramount in my campaign, though I have a lawless part of town that runs under the Town... (as they built New Antwerp on stilts over the old part).