Equip the modern supernatural police officer

[RangerWickett]

A beat cop carries hand-cuffs, pepper spray, a hand gun, two clips, a walkie-talkie, a vest, and various other stuff. A cop car comes with a shotgun, a computer that can track perp records, radio, etc.

Say you're a cop, and you're going to be dealing with criminals who can use magic, and you might just be called upon to take down a rampaging monster or a vindictive ghost every once in a while. What sort of equipment would you have?

Crosses, holy water, a PDA spellbook with a speaker that can play phrases of anathema in all sorts of languages, salt, cold iron, wooden stakes, a ghost-touch weapon, a mirror, a tin-foil hat, a pocket fire extinguisher, some magical offense, some magical defense, a sword, a spare shotgun (for zombies), PKE readers (the Ghostbusters doohickey), a proton pack?

How do you think professionals would be equipped if they had to deal with the supernatural, and they had access to both modern day technology and traditional magic? What sorts of crimes would be committed with magic that they'd have to try to stop?

 

[Rel]

I think that some of that antibacterial hand lotion would be absolutely key. You know, for those "He slimed me." situations.

 

[Mallus]

Donuts blessed by a Catholic priest.

 

[Warehouse23]

In a magitechnological world, I think most "beat cops" would try to steer clear of magical threats and call in for back up which is better trained and equiped for the supernatural.

That being said, a spare clip of silver bullets is never a bad idea.

I like the "Star Wars cantina" approach to the supernatural. Magic doesn't produce that many more heinous new crimes (okay, a few, maybe), but just adds a new twist to existing human vices. What do you do when a werworlf becomes drunk and beligerant at a bar? The stick-up guy at the 7-11 is incorporeal. "The count" is exposing himself to pedestrians....again.

 

[reveal]

How do you think professionals would be equipped if they had to deal with the supernatural, and they had access to both modern day technology and traditional magic? What sorts of crimes would be committed with magic that they'd have to try to stop?

They definitely have a ring of counterspelling. They'd also have to know how to recognize spells so they can counterspell themselves. A couple of scrolls of Dispel Magic would be on hand at all times.

As for the crimes, I think it would be in the same range of crime types you have in the modern world. People could use Mage Hand to smash windows just to commit a petty crime. They could also cast Finger of Death to kill people indiscriminately, just like a serial killer.

 

[Khayman]

"The count" is exposing himself to pedestrians....again.

Because he likes to count things.

Special ammunition would be easy to rig up, in the same vein as Blade or Constantine. Of course, a big honking gun would be proof against high-DR baddies --- think of Supernatural Beast City (which would make a great d20 Modern campaign).

 

[wolff96]

Thought

In a magitechnological world, I think most "beat cops" would try to steer clear of magical threats and call in for back up which is better trained and equiped for the supernatural.

I think Warehouse23 is definitely on the right track here.

A standard beat-cop isn't trained to deal with heavily armed terrorists taking over a building and killing anyone that gets close -- that's a situation for a SWAT team.

I think magic would go the same way.

In addition to the normal stuff the cop carries IRL, add two extra clips of special bullets (silver and cold iron?), a pepper-sprayer of holy water in addition to the normal stuff, an appropriate holy symbol, and maybe a wooden stake.

Finally, I think they'd probably all have a few ranks in some types of Knowledge skills so they can recognize magical threats a bit better than the average joe -- departmental training classes and the like.

Beat cops ARE expected to run down criminals on foot, occasionally, so you can't overload them too seriously.

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On the other hand, in such a situation, I would expect a higher-level, specialized team, SWAT-style, intended only for the take-down of serious magical threats. Those guys (and gals) would be loaded for bear. And probably include spellcasters of their own.

 

[Zappo]

The special teams that deal with supernatural threats and high-CR issues are generally called "adventuring parties".

 

[WayneLigon]

I would assume that there is some means or material that slows or stops magic so that non-magicians have a chance. The orbo that the agents in Witch Hunter Robin carry is something like this: it protects them against most direct use of 'witch' powers against them.

Let's assume that material is silver.

I'd have them carry a gun, a silver-tipped baton that glows blue in the presense of magic (color depends on strength and type - run if it urns black, 'cuase that means someone in it's detect radius just summoned a demon) (some departments with a vampire problem also have the pop-out Mr. Pointy (tm) stake add-on for the baton), regular cuffs, silver cuffs (or, probably, zip-ties with a silver wire running down the center), a 'charm bracelet' enchanted by the department arcanist to protect the bearer against 10 pts of Fire/Lightning/Cold or that it offers some protection (a -2 to hit and damage from certain specific common magical creatures), and a radio. Detectives usually have a ring that grows hot in the presence of evil and cold in the presence of lies (unfortunately, that means it's nor a lot of help in the presence of evil liars but you can't have everything). .

 

[Len]

In a magitechnological world, I think most "beat cops" would try to steer clear of magical threats and call in for back up which is better trained and equiped for the supernatural.

That depends on how much magic there is in the world. If half the criminals have spells or supernatural abilities, the regular cops had better be ready to deal with them. If magic is pretty rare then it can be dealt with by "SMAT" teams.