Rotes & Procedures

Anyone with the right tools and know-how – which, granted, are much harder to obtain in this age of magnetic strips and instant-access data – can craft a fake ID without using magick. Such mundane IDs will pass most forms of casual observation, especially if the mage adds a mental push to the transaction. A mage who wants to be sure about getting through, however, or one who needs to ghost up some fake credentials on the spot, needs a little extra mojo…

• A simple Entropy or Forces 2 Effect will keep the ID card from scanning. While this won’t let a person get past security in itself, a mage could then add a mental “push” to convince a guard to just let her pass through. (“Stupid scanner’s on the fritz again… go on ahead!”) This won’t grant access to high-security areas, but might let her pass though the first line of bank, club or airport security.

• A Data 2/ Forces 2 Effect can fool most ID-scanning equipment if enough successes get rolled by the mage who’s trying to bypass security. This trick will NOT work with the Correspondence Sphere; only Data will do, as that Sphere works directly with the principles and contents of computerized information.

• An Entropy 3/ Forces 2 Effect can alter probability so that the ID card reads right even when it’s not supplying the correct information. A failed roll, however, rejects the ID, and a botch probably wrecks the ID and disrupts the system itself… which is bound to set off alarms.

• The Black Card/ Little Black Box Adjustment (referred to above) allows a mage to hack the system itself. This tactic, though, generally takes more time than a simple ID scan, and may go horribly wrong.

Unless the mage is being a complete idiot (like trying to use a paper card instead of a magnetized plastic one), these tricks are essentially coincidental.

Most mundane security scanners (used at banks, airports, clubs, and police traffic-stop checks) can be fooled with three successes or more. Special security scanners (like those used in restricted-access facilities or Technocratic installations) demand five successes or more. This, of course, assumes that the mage has the right kind of ID – a bank-card won’t function as a fingerprint-based ID badge.

A failed roll rejects the ID, and a botched roll sets off an alarm. Certain places, like Technocratic installations, will have alarms go off if anything fails to pass the ID scan… in which case, the would-be trespasser is kinda screwed.