The current strip of Freefall (will likely be located here tomorrow) presents a system that looks quite workable and has nice adventure possibilities:
Gel rounds that might do limited stun and/or gluing, but in particular contains microtransmitters. These can shut down equipment, vehicles and robots by ordering them into maintenance mode, and allows site security to track the now hostile-designated intruder. Which of course allows automated systems to target them, with some pre-set program of lethality.
I expect this is how many Core security systems work: a mixture of nonlethal weapons, advanced tracking, automated defences and perhaps robots. Security guards are expensive (but harder to fool than robots), innocent bystanders can sue, and intruders are always more valuable alive than dead.
Building on top of this could be RFID constellation tracking. As soon as a round has been fired and is found to be moving, local RFID receivers are used to find RFID tags that move with the hostile. This means that the system can both automatically build up some image of what it is (1 vehicle tag, 5 wheel tags, several unidentified military-type tags as well as the tags of employee 874-387-38) and track the tag constellation even after the transmitters go silent. The PCs might think they are smart by throwing the hit armour west overboard, but the automated system now tracks the tag constellation too...
Conversely, faking the signals from the transmitters can produce all sorts of fun mayhem (my players love to get anti-ECM micromissile emplacements to overreact and perform friendly fire). Normally equipment are not supposed to obey maintenance mode orders without the right cryptographic keys, but many organisations and nations demand override keys (e.g. so police can stop vehicles, intelligence agencies can turn on recording/tracking functions and the military turn off civilian broadcast equipment). Stealing such keys could make a good adventure or a McGuffin for an adventure (Imagine having a set of Trilon override keys on Kie Yuma, a place where practically *everything* is manufactured by them).
My guess is that the microtransmitters are chemically powered from the glue and will last for a few hours. Another fun idea is of course to coat certain objects or places with transmitters in the form of dust or goo (anti-climb paint!) Intruders or thieves will leave a trail that can both be followed and triangulated.
Needless to say, my players love Faraday cages and electromagnetic pulses. But you have to be meticulous to wipe every little microtransmitter to be safe...
Gel rounds that might do limited stun and/or gluing, but in particular contains microtransmitters. These can shut down equipment, vehicles and robots by ordering them into maintenance mode, and allows site security to track the now hostile-designated intruder. Which of course allows automated systems to target them, with some pre-set program of lethality.
I expect this is how many Core security systems work: a mixture of nonlethal weapons, advanced tracking, automated defences and perhaps robots. Security guards are expensive (but harder to fool than robots), innocent bystanders can sue, and intruders are always more valuable alive than dead.
Building on top of this could be RFID constellation tracking. As soon as a round has been fired and is found to be moving, local RFID receivers are used to find RFID tags that move with the hostile. This means that the system can both automatically build up some image of what it is (1 vehicle tag, 5 wheel tags, several unidentified military-type tags as well as the tags of employee 874-387-38) and track the tag constellation even after the transmitters go silent. The PCs might think they are smart by throwing the hit armour west overboard, but the automated system now tracks the tag constellation too...
Conversely, faking the signals from the transmitters can produce all sorts of fun mayhem (my players love to get anti-ECM micromissile emplacements to overreact and perform friendly fire). Normally equipment are not supposed to obey maintenance mode orders without the right cryptographic keys, but many organisations and nations demand override keys (e.g. so police can stop vehicles, intelligence agencies can turn on recording/tracking functions and the military turn off civilian broadcast equipment). Stealing such keys could make a good adventure or a McGuffin for an adventure (Imagine having a set of Trilon override keys on Kie Yuma, a place where practically *everything* is manufactured by them).
My guess is that the microtransmitters are chemically powered from the glue and will last for a few hours. Another fun idea is of course to coat certain objects or places with transmitters in the form of dust or goo (anti-climb paint!) Intruders or thieves will leave a trail that can both be followed and triangulated.
Needless to say, my players love Faraday cages and electromagnetic pulses. But you have to be meticulous to wipe every little microtransmitter to be safe...
