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Old 12-26-2014, 06:49 AM   #7
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Counterfeiting and Forgery

Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerBW View Post
My default for this sort of thing is that Forgery/Counterfeiting is all about the painstakingly accurate physical object (banknote, document, etc.), but if you're in a world where people check that stuff against databases you need some sort of computer intrusion skills as well.
That seems to be in houserule territory:
GURPS assumes that skills are about doing things the way they're done at a given TL. E.g. Forward-Observer at lower TL is mostly about working with smokes, mirrors and semaphores, while at higher TL it involves using target-designating LASERs and other such stuff. Mathematics/TL0 works with stones and beads, TL1 with the abacus, TL7 with a sliderule, TL9 with an implanted calculator. Traps is Traps whether it works with pits with spikes, or setting up proximity-detection monowire spool quick-spreaders in closets. It's what a skill does, not how.
For Counterfeiting, 'what' seems to be 'make fake currency'.

Also, Soldier covers the soldierly aspects of lots of skills; it seems the intent was for Counterfeinting (and Forgery) to also cover fakerish aspects of relevant skills, such as Artist or Electronics Operation (Card readers/editors).

Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerBW View Post
"Faking a digital certificate" is something that basically doesn't happen in realistic worlds: if they can plausibly be faked by someone, they aren't trustworthy for anyone, and so they don't get used. Getting a dodgy registrar, domain and cert (like using a Unicode Cyrillic о rather than a Latin o) is basically a combination of criminal knowledge (where to go) and computer skills. I think it would be fair to argue that this doesn't really come under Forgery/Counterfeiting at all.
Well, fake credit cards are apparently something from the real world.
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