Shanghai is a heavily regulated city… As such, all items are given a Legal Category. Anything those in charge don’t want you to have is given a Category 2 or higher. If one wishes to have one of such items legally, then one needs to attain a Permit for it. If one wants many of such items legally, they will need Permits for each of those items.
Are Permits necessary? Well, that depends entirely on your playstyle…
There are Checkpoints set up between the Districts, and Public Transit is also monitored for illegal items and activity. So if one does not wish to be hassled, there are essentially three ways:
Having a Permit will allow the ownership and carrying of a specific item. For example: If you attain a Permit for a Handgun: Medium, its serial number is tied to the Permit and will not be valid for any other Handgun: Medium.
Consumable items are the exception to this rule. The following shows how many of specific item types are covered by a single Permit. Each type would need separate Permits.
Ammunition - 30 (Ex. Ammo: Smart: Handgun: Medium | Ammo: Arrow: Disruption)
Rockets/Grenades - 3 (Ex. Grenade: Smoke | Grenade: Incendiary | Rocket: Armor Piercing)
Pharmaceutical/Drug/Program - 1 (Drug: Synthcoke | Program: Hellbolt | Pharmaceutical: Speedheal)
Multiple Permits allow for multiple of such items.
Modifications:
Tech Upgrades - Upgrading an item changes the base item fundamentally, and will invalidate a permit for the base item. If you want an upgraded item to be Legal, you will need to get a permit specifically for that version of the item. If the upgrade has a different Legal Category than the item, use the higher of the two.
Attachments - Attachments have their own Legality Category. For the item to be Legal, you will need a Permit for the base item and a Permit for all Attachments.
Attaining a Permit
You may attempt to attain a Legal Permit using the Bureaucracy Skill. This takes time and resources as explained in the table at the bottom of this document.
You may attempt to make a Forged Permit using the Forgery Skill, The rules remain the same except that it only takes ½ the NY. If a Forgery is discovered, it is permanently revoked.
When acquiring a Permit, a failed check will result in the money and time being wasted. The check can be reattempted by spending the time and money to try again.
Traceable vs Untraceable Permits
Permits, as a standard, are tied to your ID.
Taking a -4 to the Skill Check allows one to get an Untraceable Permit that does not trace back to anyone in particular. These Permits are still perfectly Legal, just unbound, allowing for multiple people to use the same item so long as they hold the Untraceable Permit. (Excellent for Corporations that need replaceable workers to be able to use various types of equipment)
New Identity
You can create a new Legal Identity following the same process as creating a Traceable Permit. It counts as Category 5 for the purpose of DV, NY, and DT. IDs can not be untraceable.
Category 1: Legal
Authority Reaction: None, they are unlikely to even bother checking. Lack of Permit will see the officers remind you to get a permit, and maybe dock you a Civic compliance point.
Bureaucracy DV: 9
DT per attempt: 1 hour [0 DT]
NY per attempt: 0
Category 2: Somewhat Restricted
Authority Reaction: Authorities might check to see if you are allowed to carry the item. They might attempt to arrest or extort you if you are not permitted to have it.
Bureaucracy DV: 9
DT per attempt: 12 hours [0.5 DT]
NY per attempt: 100
Category 3: Restricted
Authority Reaction: Authorities will check to see if you are permitted to carry the item. They will attempt to arrest or extort you if you do not have a Permit.
Bureaucracy DV: 13
DT per attempt: 24 hours [1 DT]
NY per attempt: 500
Category 4: Highly Restricted
Authority Reaction: Authorities will check to see if you are permitted to carry the item. They will attempt to arrest you if you do not have a Permit. They will keep an eye on you even if you are permitted to carry the item.
Bureaucracy DV: 17
DT per attempt: 168 hours [7 DT]
NY per attempt: 1.000
Category 5: Restricted (Illegal)
Authority Reaction: Authorities will check to see if you are allowed to carry the item. They will shoot to kill if you do not have a Permit. They will still be heavily suspicious of you even if you are permitted to carry the item.
Bureaucracy DV: 24
DT per attempt 336 hours [14 DT]
NY per attempt: 5.000
Category 6: Illegal
Authority Reaction: Authorities, upon seeing the item, will shoot to kill while calling Backup enmasse.
No Permits can be obtained for these by Players.