CYBER-PULP FANTASY CORE-Syndicates and Identification

CYBER-PULP FANTASY CORE

© Jerry Harris 2013

Published here as Open Game Content.

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THE SYNDICATES

Given that the government has decriminalized many activities, such as drugs and prostitution, and the protection racquet is very hard to pull off when large Corporations own everything, the Mob had to go somewhat legit. 

Fencing, or as they refer to their industry, Discrete Merchandising and Services, is their prime industry.  The lower classes needed some sort of clearinghouse for the buying and selling of their stolen goods.  Far from being underground, the various competing Syndicates actually have franchised storefronts all over town.  Except for truly “hot” items, the characters will have little trouble buying or selling whatever they want.  Syndicate franchises also provide Credit Laundering services.  They can pay third parties for a customer through a series of blinds, making even legal transactions very hard to track.  They are essentially the “bank” for Zeroes, where you pay bills, receive payments, and even transfer stolen funds.      

Why does the Corpo-state allow this flagrant violation of the law?  Well, the Syndicates are fully, legally registered, and they pay their taxes.  They’re not the ones directly stealing the stuff after all.  As long as that crime doesn’t touch the Elites, it’s acceptable.  The characters are probably going to run afoul of this unwritten rule, so they’d better be discrete themselves when hitting high-value targets, especially considering that the Syndicates are one of the few legal entities that will deal with Zeroes.

IDENTIFICATION

All transactions, licensing, voting, operating a communications device, tapping into the Net, and even getting a job requires a Real ID.  It is a bio-metric card (the Mark of the Beast is still in development) matched with a national database, and all monetary transactions additionally require a code (a signature).  Every citizen is issued an ID by the government.  The ID is tamperproof and useless to any thief. 

Unless you have a Burn ID.  It’s a legal ID that’s been tampered with to allow anyone to use it.   Generally they’re only good for one use before they’re shutdown.  There’s no way an ID could be forged for long-term use.

Unless you have a Faker.  These are ID’s from unreported dead people, expatriates who’ve illicitly sold off their ID before leaving, and people who have just disappeared.  If you have the right friends in the government, you could even be set up with a totally fictional ID.

The characters all have Fakers, which they can get by on for daily living.  If they’re on a job and especially if they’re going to have to make purchases during it, they’ll need Burn ID’s to effectively cover their tracks.  Your friendly, neighborhood Syndicate store is your one-stop shop for this necessity.  However, because your ID’s are all fake, there’s always that possibility they can get shutdown at any time.