II) Intrusion and associated skills
Breaking and Entering
B&E involves getting around non-living security measures, whereas the Stealth and Observation rules cover living ones. Assuming that there are no living guardians, or that they have been dealt with, the rules for mechanical and electronic security can be dealt with.
Locks are the easiest way of securing a building or vehicle. These are usually mechanical, but sometimes have electronic sensors which can detect tampering. The level of difficulty in overcoming the mechanical lock (Intrusion) is determined by the type of lock itself. In addition, several kinds of tools can assist the intrusion, but the right kind of tools must be used (Lockpicks don't work on a tumbler dial).
Electronics and Observation are necessary enabling skills to detect and overcome electronic sensors. Computer skill will be of some help in certain kinds of keycard or thumbprint break-ins, but only if the necessary computers (laptops with detecting keycard, PlugnPlay card extensions) and usually this also means breaking into the electronic area to get access to the wiring and bus. Mainframe computer breaking and entry will require an access terminal (for open systems this is a phone line), as well as a password (there is no such thing as a password detecting program, mainframes will reject the same user after 3-5 logon attempts, and ring a few bells for the syop).
Detection of Security systems
Each type of security system requires one roll to detect it, and a second roll to defeat it. The presence of simple mechanical systems may be automatically detected, but not the exact type, that requires a roll.
The skill to use depends on what's being looked for. Simple locks and trip wires require OBS, while determining the nature of a locked vault requires lockpick and/or electronics skill.
Cutting VS Picking
After the electronic portion of the lock is defeated, the mechanical portion remains. This can be done two ways. Picking is an attempt to simulate a key, or determine the correct position for a dial tumbler. Cutting is cruder, but often more effective, and involves drilling through the locking bar, cutting open the mechanical lock box, or just burning though the side of the door.
Simple picking-
This works on simple key locks and is Average:INTR. It requires lockpicks, which can be professional (-1 level difficulty), average, or makeshift (+1 lvl difficulty). Such locks include door locks, vehicle locks, and key-padlocks.
Complex locks-
The pipe-key lock requires specialized picks, without which the job is Difficult. More sophisticated key locks have +1 to +4 difficulty ratings.
Tumblers-
The lock box (mechanical component) is often inside a heavily armored door, and the armor will have to be penetrated in order to defeat it physically. However, a second intrusion subskill (Tumbler locks) allows the use of a stethoscope to hear the clicking noise when the tumbler falls into place, allowing the dials positions to be recorded. This is a difficult task normally, but sophisticated electronic hydrophones and an oscilloscope make it one level easier provided an average electronics roll is made.
Hearing the clicks by ear makes it one level more difficult. Some tumblers are complex, making entry +1 to +2 levels more difficult as they have false clickers, soft components, and multiple disks.
Drilling or burning into a tumbler makes it a Average to Difficult task to open the lock after the lock box has been exposed.
Time locks-
These have to be drilled, at least enough to expose the lock box. After that, they have a base difficulty of Average to Difficult depending on complexity.
Drills-
Drilling a hole into the lock box reduces the level of difficulty by one. Extensive copper plating on the lock box can jam a drill, effectively tripling the armor value. This causes delays, and will wear out 3 or 4 drill bits before it gives up. Each drill has a rating, giving the number of minutes to cut through each armor value equivalent of steel, concrete or wood.
Thermite-
This requires heat-shielding and long rods, but is an effective way of cutting into the lock box, and exposing the components. Thermite burns through almost any armor quickly, but setting it up requires some planning.
Types of devices:
Locks:
A) Simple Mechanical
These simple locks are found on car doors, engines, house key-locks, and simple door locks. They are designed to prevent casual entry, but won't stop a determined theif. Car theft is so common that specialized tools exist to allow quick entry. Simple locks can even be broken with improvized tools (coat hangers, credit cards, etc).
Detection: Ezy:LP or OBS
Defeat: Ezy:LP, Avg:Agl
Tools: minimum-std. lockpicks/tools
Specialized tools: -1 dif
Drill: -3 dif
Improvised tools: +1 dif
Time: Critical success: 10sec
Normal success: 1min
Failure: 5min before another roll allowed
Critical failure: lock jammed
B) Complex mechanical
Complex locks still use the same principles as simple locks, but are carefully designed to prevent intrusion. They include copper plates to retard drilling, counterbalences which jam the lock shut if broken, and other pick-defeating mechanisms. These usually include dead-bolts, padlocks, handcuffs, and serious door locks (usually on metal doors).
Detection: Ezy:LP or OBS
Defeat: Avg:LP
Tools: minimum: std lockpicks
Prof. Picks -1
Improvised +1
Drill -1
Time: Crit: 1min
Normal: 5min
Failure: 15min
Crit Failure: lock Jammed (must be burnt open)
C) Tumbler/ dial
Found on most wall-safes, or small strong boxes, and some padlocks. The simplest of these are somewhat easy to listen and defeat (-1difficulty) and are available as padlocks. Those found on high security safes can be quite difficult (+1 diff) and usually have to be cut open. An oscilloscope, connected to a listening device is employed to record the positions of each tumbler as the dial turns. This is only usefull in wall safes usually (with heavy tumblers). A drill or thermite can be used to cut open the lock box, partially exposing it, and allowing a borescope or other device to moniter the tumblers.
Detection: Ezy:LP
Defeat: Dif:LP
Minimum tools: none
Drill: -1
Thermite: -2
Oscilloscope:-1
Time: Crit: 2min
Normal: 7min
Failure: 20min
D) Time lock box
Time locks are employed on most bank-safes and are impossible to open normally. These must be cut or blasted open, to expose the lock box, or sever the locking rods. Usually, after the door has been cut or blasted, it still needs to be worked on with heavy tools, to cut through retaining rods and force them to retract. Each lock is slightly different, and if the original blueprints can be obtained, it makes location of the lockbox easier.
Detection: Avg:LP
Defeat: Imp:LP
Drill: -1
Thermite: -2
Having original Plans: -1
Blasting door: -3
Time: crit: instant open, it literally falls apart after cutting/blasting
Normal: 10min
Failure: 1hr, will have to re-blast
Notes: simple padlocks can be removed with a long metal pipe or bolt cutters. Simple door locks on wooden doors can be axed, chainsawed, or smashed (Avg-Dif: str depending on door material). A sledge or log will make door smashing avg:STR. Big Deadbolts will make this one level more difficult, as will bars on the other side (Doesn't effect an axe or chainsaw).
Explosives:
These can be used two ways; 1/ in small amounts to open a hole in the lock box, or to break a critical bolt, 2/ To blow the whole lock/door apart. Small amounts are usually around 1dp of explosives, depending on the size of the box. Plastic explosives are placed around the lock box itself, and exploded to produce a hole into it. Once inside a lock box (Say by drilling or cutting) placing explosives on the main bolt and opening the lock that way is an Avg:CBE roll. Catastrophic failure will usually mean that the lock is jammed in place, and needs to be cut away (which could take days on a big vault). Some catastrophic failures (say 30% chance) will mean that the explosives have detonated prematurely, causing injury (but at least the lock isn't jammed).
Small amounts of explosives can be muffled down to a level III noise as per the Merc:2000 rules. Thermite is quiet, but gives off a lot of light, drills are level III or level IV noise depending on muffling. A good anti-noise tactic is to generate Grey noise in the workroom (an air conditioner or Fan is perfect). This will reduce noise from level III to Level II, but won't mask Level IV noise.
Large amounts of explosives make a lot of noise, use standard penetration rules vs armor to resolve. Some enterprising theives have set off explosions in nearby buildings to cover the noise of the break-in.
Equipment:
Plans are valuable, and may be supplied as information from patrons. They may also be purchased, along with the identity of the particular vault you are interested in from a dishonest member of the security company that built it (or by breaking in to their files). Cost is generally 5k-10k$ cash.
Worm Gear Saws (Rare, 2k$) are useful at cutting into roofs, walls etc. They will cut wood, aluminum, steel, at a rate of around 1ft/2min, and stone at 1ft/5min a maximum of 6" can be penetrated in this way, they produce LvL:III noise if muffled.
Drills are the big, electromagnetic types that clamp onto the surface of the vault/safe/door. They cost from 800$ for one that will cut through cheap steel (Drill value 1), to 2k-5k$ for a good electromagnetic drill press to cut through titanium or molybdenum steel (Drill value 2-5). Drills are defeated (slowed down to 1/3 or less) by sticky metals like copper/brass/bronze. Special drill bits can be purchased (5-20$ per bit) and you will probably go through 1 bit per 10 min work, or 3 min work in sticky metals.
All these power tools draw roughly 2k watts or more, Big batteries are a must. Examples are a car battery, generator, or connection to a power line and a converter.
Torches are also sometimes useful, if you can get a good cutting torch. They are used in the place of a drill, but are less precise and will hopelessly fuse the lock if there is a critical failure. They can also be used to seal a door (same effect as a metal bar) in around 10 min.
Concrete can be slowly chipped through, with concrete drills, and chisels. The rate of penetration is around 100mm per hour with drills, 50 with chisels. Use the same rules as with explosives to determine the size of the hole. Big concrete saws and jackhammers can dig at 1000mm per 10 min, but make a lot of noise (level:IV at least).
Man sized tunnels through dirt can be dug at around 100cuft/hour or so. They need wooden shoring (Ezy:Mne) every 5 feet.
Cutting through windows requires a suction cup glass cutter setup (500$, rare). It takes 10 min to produce a man sized hole in a single pane (Avg:AGL) each failure means another 10 min, crit failure means broken glass and level 3 noise.
Electronic Security devices:
Simple Detection Devices:
Magnetic door catch Detection: Avg:Elc or Obs
Defeat: Avg:Elc
Window Tape Detection: EZY: Elc or Obs
Defeat: Avg:Elc
Sentry Devices:
Motion sensor: These are usually using ultrasound or electromagnetic field changes. To spot this kind of device by eye is a For:observation task, assuming that the PC has some knowledge of what these sensors look like (Avg:Intrusion to enable). Using a ultrasonic detector or a electromagnetic field detector will make the task Easy: Electronics, sensors, or computers (defaults to education). Once detected, they must be avoided. If one can approach them, it is a difficult:electronics to deactivate them without sounding an alarm. It is also likely that the detector is wired into an alarm system, disconnecting the sensor and feeding a false signal to the system is the best way around these sensors.
Remote Camera: The camera's most vulnerable part is that it requires a human to watch the screen. Someone dashing across the camera view will be Difficult: Observation to spot in a typical security room. If on alert status, this reduces to Average, and to formidable if the security is particularily lax. Cameras are also not nearly as good as eyes (though they can see infrared, or have light amplification). Thus Watching an area through a remote camera is one level more difficult than if a person was there. Treat sneaking up to a camera as a Observation: VS Stealth task. Once at the camera itself, It can be rigged to send a continuous feedback of the same digitally recorded scene. This is Average:Electronics.
Electronic eye: These are Formidable:Observation (enabled by Average: intrusion) to spot, as they can be recessed, covered over with wall, etc. Infra-red eyes can be spotted at Average:Elec by using infra-red detectors, or IR goggles (which see the spilled light to the sides of the eye.
Tripwire: Avg:Obs to spot. These are usually hastily constructed, temporary position defenses, connected to signal flares or mines. Unusual ones can be hooked into electronic sensors, but once someone has tripped the wire, it is detected as Easy:observation. Running across terrain +2 difficults, Trotting/walking +1 difficulty. Very well emplaced trip wires (Success at Dif:CBE or stealth when emplacing) +1 difficulty to detect.
Ammonia detector: This sensor is used on aircraft to spot insurgent campsights in forest or wilderness. Dif: Sensors ( or electronics) detects only campsites which have been in use for 100 man-days (100men for 1 day, or 1 man 100 days).
Magnetic Anomaly detector: Detects presence of ferrous metals (iron and steel) from large distances away. Again used by aircraft to detect submarines, hidden tanks, bunkers etc. Used by treasure hunters in a smaller version to find shipwrecks, burried man-made structures. Used by geologists to find ore deposits.
Security Systems:
Every detector in a building is usually hooked into a security system. This is located secretly, or in a special manned security room (or front desk). Wires from the system connect directly to security companies and police stations. Often silent alarms are used, to alert the police early enough to apprehend the criminal who has unknowingly been spotted.
The weak point of such security systems is the reliance on wires to transmit the information. If these wires can be accessed, it becomes an Difficult:Electronics to detect that they are security lines (-1 difficulty if oscilloscope/line detector is available). Deceiving them by feeding a false signal down the line is also Dif:electronics (-1 difficulty if a prepared BlackBox is available).
Sophisticated security systems will also have a Radio-transmitter backup, which puts a signal to an antenna. Area Jamming will prevent transmission, and fake "all clear" transmissions can be made if the existing transmissions are received and recorded (Dif electronics, Avg: Communications). In addition, the wires going to the radio antenna (which must be outside the building usually) can be accessed in the same way that security lines can.