Societal Benefits

No Police Record (1 point benefit) By some miracle, you have never been arrested nor even picked up by the police. This means that your fingerprints are not on file (except with the FBI if you legally own a firearm), and the police have no records of your primary genetic markers and don't have a mugshot of you in their computers. Obviously characters who haves served jail time in their lifepath cannot purchase this benefit. Professional License (1 point benefit) You have managed to acquire a professional license for something in which you are skilled. Some licenses are obviously more useful than others, but all of them are quite beneficial for getting work anywhere outside of the combat zone. You must have the appropriate skill(s) for this merit, of course. Sample Licenses include Doctor (MedTech 6+), Nurse (MedTech 4+), Mechanic (Basic Tech +5), Lawyer (Interview +5, Law +6), Architect (Architecture +6), Engineer (Engineering +6), Electrician (Electical Engineering +5 or Electronics +6), etc. Well Travelled (3 point benefit) You have travelled far and wide, and have met people with crash pads, contacts, or in similar lines of work. Any time there is a city you have reason to visit or even have to make contact with someone therein, make a luck roll, dif 14. If successful you know someone in that city. You get +3 on this roll for major cities, and -2 for small cities, -6 for towns. Connection in the Police Dept (2 point benefit) As the result on the LifePath table, you have made a strong connection in the Police Dept. Through this connection you may be able to get evidence hidden or misplaced, get information on current investigations, etc. Connection in the District Attorney's Office (3 point benefit) As the result on the LifePath table, you have made a strong connection inside the D.A.'s office. This could be a family member working in records, or perhaps a friend who is an assistant D.A.. Regardless, you can influence events in the D.A.'s office, perhaps changing bail amounts, or how much evidence it will require before they issue a warrant for someone (such as yourself). Connection in the Mayor's Office (3 point benefit) As the result on the LifePath table, you have made a strong connection inside the Mayor's office. You now have the ear (directly or indirectly) of the city's policy makers. The mayor can put pressure on the various utilities, emergency services, police force or even the D.A.'s office. Nomad Friends (3 point benefit) As the result on the LifePath table, you have made friends with one of the more local Nomad or Pirate packs. Usually this is in the form of a single friend who is a member in good standing with the pack, but it can also be that you have done the pack itself a service or perhaps ran with the pack for a while and they remember you. Regardless you may use this as if you had the Special Ability of Family at +2, about once a month, when the pack is nearby. Local Wildlife Likes You (3 point benefit) As the result on the LifePath table, you have made friends with one of the local Booster (or other) Gangs in town. This could be anything from a few old droogs of yours having joined the Steel Slaughter Slammers, to having saved the life of a member of the Silver Slash or having fought beside the Black Queens. Regardless you may use this as if you had the Special Ability of Rank at +2, but don't overdo it or you'll piss off your erstwhile allies. Contacts or Friends (variable point benefit) You have made contacts or friends in the "right" places. What these places are, of course, depend on what you need. You may purchase 5 points worth of contacts from the WildSide Big Time method for every point spent on this benefit. Biosculpt Job (1-4 point benefit) You have recently had major Biosculpting. You may not even resemble your original ethnicity or gender now. Unless you are SINless or have a second SIN, your records have all been updated to your new look / gender. As a 1 point benefit, you have had simple facial alterations and you may select new hair and/or eye colour. It would require a Dif 12 INT check to recognize you now. As a 2 point benefit, you have had a full body job, from head to toe. Skin tone might have changed, in addition to cheekbones, ears, eyes and hair. It would require a Dif 16 INT check to recognize you now. As a 4 point benefit, you could have changed your ethnicity (including ethnic-based characteristics like facial features), your sex (including all obvious sexual organs), your height, weight, etc. If would require a Dif 20 INT check to recognize you now - even for your closest friends. Fake Weapon Registration (1 point benefit) You have a fake Weapon Registration. The weapon appears to be registered to you according to the paper work, but in reality the weapon's serial numbers don't match up to any REAL numbers or ballistics in the NSA computer system (but it is linked to one of the false sets planted by some dirty cops in the past). This false registration will hold up to routine inspection, and may (1-6 on a D10) hold up to a full security check. Once a month a roll should be made to see if the false set has been flushed out of the NSA systems (2 in 10 chance), in which case the first time you use this registration thereafter will result in a notice that the weapon was using a stolen ID sequence. For a 2 point benefit, the chance of the files being flushed drops to 1 in 10 and the chance of it holding up to a detailed security check becomes 8 in 10. Falsified Net Access Code (2 point benefit) You have a Net Access Code that was registered to someone else. You do not have the legal right to use this account, and it will be shut down if you are traced to it. This Access Code will hold up to routine logins and LDLs, and will hold up to even Netwatch inspection 6 times out of 10. Otherwise treat it as the Fake Weapon Registration above. The enhanced version is a 4 point benefit. Hidden Account (1 point benefit) You have a bank account under a false name and address. It cannot be traced to you unless you are caught using it. This could also be a blind account through a face bank. Illicit Account (2 point benefit) You have a "bank" account with one of the illegal banking operations. This could be with one of the larger organized crime syndicates (especially the Yakuza since they went legit a few years ago), or a private "bank" operated by one of the more liquid megacorporate entities. Wherever this account is, it is incredibly unlikely that you will have this account shut down, unless you do something to piss off the organization in question.