Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 417) implies that only things with no Availability rating can be acquired through legitimate means, while anything with an Availability rating must be acquired as black market goods[1]. There doesn't appear to be anything in between, and this doesn't make a lick of sense.
Legality
Shadowrun effectively has three classes of legality:
- Legal items have no letter attached to the Availability rating, or no Availability at all. These items are readily available, though it might take some time to find a location with the item in stock.
- Restricted items have an
Rin the Availability rating. They are available for legitimate purchase, as long as the buyer has an appropriate license or a good fake license[2] attached to a fake SIN[3]. - Forbidden items, indicated by an
Fin the Availability rating are not legal for an individual to own. They are generally restricted to megacorporate employees or government agents, with superiors who exercise control over when and how they're used.
Legitimate Purchases
Shopping apps like Clothes Horse, Caveat Emptour, and Guns Near Me provide pricing breakdowns and user reviews for comparison shopping purposes. Shopsofts[4] self-update regularly to stay current. Shopsofts corresponding to each type of Gear Contact exist. When making a legitimate purchase with the aid of a shopsoft, the character receives a +3 die pool bonus and a +1 bonus to the relevant limit.
| Cost | Time | SIN Scan Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000¥ | 3 hours | 1 |
| Up to 5,000¥ | 6 hours | 1 |
| Up to 10,000¥ | 12 hours | 2 |
| Up to 50,000¥ | 1 day | 2 |
| Up to 100,000¥ | 2 days | 3 |
| Over 100,000¥ | 1 week | 4 |
As hinted above, whether or not the purchase in question is attached to a System Identification Number is an important factor in how it's acquired. A character trying to track down and purchase an item legally makes either a Socialize + INT [Social] Extended Test or a Matrix + INT [Mental] Extended Test with a Threshold equal to the items' Availability and an Interval from the Delivery Times table. As each individual roll in an Extended Test represents an interval rather than a single pass/fail attempt, each category is reduced by one step from the table in Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 418).
This Extended Test doesn't require that the character do nothing else for the entire duration — it reflects searching, checking stock, and other tasks that can be mixed into the character's downtime activities.
Once the roll is successful and the search time determined, the character can go pick up the item or have it delivered. Unless they has a legitimate SIN, this is the point where they must submit their Fake SIN for verification — see Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 367–368) for details.
Black Market Purchases
When a character wishes to acquire a Forbidden item or just acquire something they don't want the authorities to immediately know they have, that's where Gear Contacts come into play.
Acquiring an item through a Gear Contact uses the same Extended Test Threshold and Interval as described above, but the die pool is based on the contact's ratings instead of the character's skills and attributes. Except for highly skilled faces or deckers, a contact is almost guaranteed to have more dice than a player character.
When an item is acquired, it can be attached to one of the character's fake SINs or not — the choice is entirely up to the character. Either way, there's no SIN validation involved in a black market purchase. The appropriate datawork to attach it to a fake SIN (if desired) is included in the purchase price. Note, however, that a black market purchase cannot be attached to a legitimate SIN.
References
- ↑ Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 418)
- ↑ Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 443)
- ↑ Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 367)
- ↑ Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 441)