My first rigger, Any glaring holes or flaws Options

[Joker9125]

Im trying my first rigger and here he is. Please inform me of any glaring holes in character design

Race Dwarf

Attributes
Body 2
Quickness 6
Strength 3
Charisma 5
Intelligence 6
Willpower 6
Essence 2.15
Run Mult. 2
Magic 0
BioIndex 0
Reaction 6
Init. Dice 1

Pools
Combat 9
Control 10

Skills
Computer(INT) [4]
Computer B/R(INT) [3]
Electronics(INT) [4]
Electronics B/R(INT) [3]
Gunnery(INT) [5]
Gunnery B/R(INT) [3]
Car B/R(INT) [3]
Car(REA) [5]
Mechanical Arm Operation(REA) [3]
Rotor Aircraft(REA) [4]
Rotor Aircraft B/R(INT) [3]

Vehicle Ctrl Rig [2] E:3.00 sr3.302|Mods only apply when rigging
Skillwires [5] MP 75 E:1.00 sr3.302|
Smartlink II(A) E:0.40 mm.31|-2 to TNs for firing a Smartlink-II weapon, +2 Called Shot modifier
+ Pers. Smartlink Safety(A) E:0.00 mm.31|Safety on unless in contact with user
+ Range Finder(A) E:0.08 mm.32|w/SM2 Shows range to target. -1 TN to targets at Long range and -2 TN at Extreme range. Not compatible with other vision magnifications.
Smartlink Processor II(A) E:0.16 mm.31|
+ Eye Display(A) E:0.08 mm.31|
+ Lim. Simsense Rig(A) E:0.08 mm.31|
Expert Chipjack Dvr [3](A) E:0.24 mm.19|+3 Pool for Skillsofts
Datajack(A) E:0.16 sr3.298|
Datajack(A) E:0.16 sr3.298|
Router(A) E:0.08 mm.22|Connect internal cyberware, 10 ports max

Bioware
Enhanced Articulation BI:0.60 mm.066|+1RCT, 1 addt'l die to Combat, Physical, Technical,& B/R skill tests

Vehicles
GMC 4201

Type of Vehicle: Transports-Heavy

Handling Speed/Accel Body/Armor Signature/Autonav Pilot/Sensor
3/7 85/3 6/0 2/2 -/0
Cargo/Load Seating Firm Points Hard Points
130/6500 2d+1x

Features:
Weapons:
Rigger Adaptation Datajack Port

Others:
Remote Control Deck Rating[10]
Remote Control Deck Rating[10]
R-C Biofeedback Filter [3]
R-C ECCM Rating [6]
R-C Encryption Module [8]
Rigger Decryption Module [6]
Rigger Protocol Emulation [6]
Signal Amplifier [8]
Storage Memory 200Mp
BattleTac IVIS Master Unit
Hitcher Jack
Intercom System
Audio/Visual Screen Display
Clearsight [5]
Datalink [5]
Performance Profile [4]
Electronic Warfare [4]
Sharpshooter [5]

EDIT: Fixed a few things, but i still dont know what drones to get and im kinda out of cash at this point in CHAR GEN so if their is any cyberware or gear i could drop please tell me.

Redid the cyberware

[Backgammon]

You are so NOT going to be flying a semiballistic anytime soon, I'd drop that and invest in some stealth or something. You also have no combat personnal combat skills whatsoever... that's really risky.

No mention of drones, so I don't know about that.

Remember that cranial RCDs have lousy Flux, so you'll need to haul around power amplifiers.

[Clyde]

Your character also has a charisma of 3 and no social skills. Now maybe that's the kind of game you're playing but . . .

If you can't personally shoot people or beat them up, then maybe you want to work on talking them out of the idea of shooting you and beating you up ;)

You probably don't need as much in the Build/Repair skills, either. You can get mechanic contacts to do that nonsense for you. My guess is you can safely ditch computer b/r, rotor b/r, car b/r and so forth or at least scale them back. If all you do is drive cars and work on cars you're going to be in for some really boring game sessions . . . .

[grendel]

I would recommend against getting any mods to your cranial remote deck. In order to upgrade those you'll have to get additional surgery. If you want to do any EW stuff, just use your RCD. Also, I'd drop the mechanical arm skill unless you intend to specifically acquire drones with mechanical arms. It's just not that useful.

[TinkerGnome]

Was this done with priorities or points? If so, how did it break down and what restrictions are you under?

[edit]You're very, very overloaded on encryption. A rating 3 is good enough to start, and a rating 5 is virtually impossible to break (rating 10 decryption has a 9.06% change of cracking rating 5 encryption, and only 51.55% chance against rating 3).

I agree that I'd probably ditch a lot of the CRD stuff. No point in having all that junk packed into your head when you're not likely to need most of it. Consider doing the old obvious cyberleg thing with everything built into there if you really want to be mobile with it.
[/edit]

[Joker9125]

points system

Race Dwarf
Attribute 24
Skills 40
Resources 1,000,000 :nuyen:

[TinkerGnome]

Your notation might be bad, but it looks like you're buying the smartlink II twice. Obviously, you only need it once.

Also, you're lacking a chipjack which you have to use with a CED.

Unless you have a specific reason, you probably don't need a heavy transport. The stuff in the van section (GMC Bulldog :love: ) works pretty well and is a lot less conspicuous. It's also a good idea to have a secondary vehicle of some sort.

For drones, I recommend:

1 ground combat model (Lynx or Doberman generally)
1 blimp (Condor) w/ Sun Cell and ruthenium coating (if you can aford it)
1 mini drone (Renraku spiderdrone works) (another good one to ruthenium coat)

And the rest to taste.

[Eyeless Blond]

[Kagetenshi]

You've got a Dwarf with Willpower 6. You might as well bump it up to 7 and take Sensitive Neural Structure 1, it's a free point of Willpower for anything non-ASIST related. Also, the value of Vehicle Empathy cannot be understated. I'd also drop the Gunnery B/R; with a proper contact you won't need it.

Connected 5 can also make cash much less tight.

~J

[TinkerGnome]

Oh, and you're generally restricted to rating 6/avail 8 on equipment during character gen. Your GM might be waiving this, but I just wanted to point it out.

[A Clockwork Lime]

You're actually a lot better off with Skillwires 3/37, CED 3, Multislot Chipjack, Datajack (to route everything together), and an Obvious Cyberhand or better with at least 1,000 Mp of DNI-ready OMC Memory. Total cost of all this is only 112,700¥ and 1.50 Essence.

With that setup, you can score some Customized Rating 3 ActiveSofts for 8,000¥ (13 Mp each) or Customized Rating 3 ActiveSofts with DIMAP 2 (37 Mp) for 26,880¥.

If you don't want or need the DIMAP, you can shave a lot of cash of your skillwires by going with 3/13, too. The ActiveSofts are only 800¥ more expensive than a standard Rating 4 ActiveSoft, but you're saving bigtime on the other components.

Also, is there any reason why you have four Remote Control Decks? Also, as a starting character, you're limited to a Rating 6 for each of them. So you're goign to need to basically redo all your gear anyway. :)

[Joker9125]

Thanks everyone this really helps. Now if i can just get the rigging rules down. :wobble:

EDIT: Id also like to be able to bring a fair ammount of combat, recon, and spy drones with me on runs any reccomendations on vehicle size?

[Kagetenshi]

Vector Kimji

Chassis: Micro UAV (Markup .25)

Power Plant: Electric Fuel Cell

DPV: 301

Final Cost: ¥7,525

Hand. 4, Speed 50, Accel 4, Body 0, Armor 0, Sig 12, Auto 0, Pilot 1, Sensor 1, Cargo 0, Load 0, Fuel EC (9 PF), Econ .25 Km/PF



Saeder-Krupp Schattenauge

Chassis: Miniblimp

Power Plant: Electric

DPV: 739

Final Cost: ¥36,950

Hand. 4, Speed 75, Accel 5, Body 2, Armor 0, Sig 10, Auto 0, Pilot 3, Sensor 6, Cargo 3, Load 15, Fuel E (65 PF), Econ 5 Km/PF

SunCell Power, Autosoft Interpretation System, Spotlight, Infrared Spotlight, Remote Control Interface, Rigger Adaptation

Variant: Schattenauge II

Above plus BattleTac FDDM Receiver Module (+350 DPV), total cost ¥54,450


Flamedrone:



Chassis: Small UAV (Markup .25)

Power Plant: Electric Fuel Cell

DPV: 199

Final Cost: ¥5,975

Hand. 4, Speed 40, Accel 3, Body 1, Armor 0, Sig 8, Auto 0, Pilot 1, Sensor 1, Cargo 0, Load 94, Fuel E (100 PF), Econ .2 Km/PF

Flamethrower (22 shots, SS, 8M) Spotlight, Infrared Spotlight, Remote-Control Interface, Rigger Adaptation


If you don't want to or can't use custom-made vehicles, it's all about the miniblimps and Strato-9s.

~J

[Modesitt]

I'll do what I can and keep intact whatever seems to work at first glance. I'm working off the assumption your character is a Rigger first and everything else second.

Drop the charisma by 2, raise willpower by 1.

Drop everything but Computer, Car, Electronics, Electronics B/R, Gunnery, and maybe Rotor aircraft. Change Computer to a Programming specialization, taking you to 3(5). Raise Car and Gunnery to 6, again maybe rotor aircraft. Take some Stealth, a personal combat skill of some kind(, and Etiquette(Street). B/R skills are for contacts, at most one per char(IE AR B/R for a sammy), or skillwires.

Drop the skillwires and, by extension, the chipjack expert driver. Pg. 27 Rigger 3, you can't use activesofts to drive a vehicle. Unless of course you have some other purpose in mind(Like...chipping B/R skills?), don't bother. Seriously consider some headware memory of some kind for recording recon from drones. Another good purchase is Microscopic Vision, drop the enhanced articulation if neccessary.

The availability and costs on the rest of your equipment is odd. The rating of all starting equipment is limited to 6, availabliity to 8. Both remote control decks(Why two?), the rating 8 encryption module and the rating 8 signal amp break that rule. Ditch all of the autosofts. For one, read pg. 44 Rigger 3. You can't use a higher rated autosofts than a drones pilot rating nor can you use more than twice their pilot rating at once on a particular drone. So unless you intend to waste a shitload of money and buy every drone you use up to Pilot 5, you're flushing money down the toilet with those autosofts. Better off using 1-2 rating ones for just a quick little boost to any drone you happen to be using.

Oh. Drones. My quick and dirty thoughts on drones if I was able to remake my current Rigger:

Your shopping list should be: A really tiny walker(Like the example spider drone), at least one flying drone and preferarably two just for recon(Miniblimps or rotodrone chasis), a third flying drone that has guns(Starto-9's are the classic, but other options exist), a small ground-based scout drone that is not tiny(IE can go along at a steady speed, such as the GCR-23C), and a ground-based combat monster like the Steel Lynx. If you've got some spare change, picking up some kind of water-based drone may be worthwile,

[Kagetenshi]

Your van is your most potent weapon thanks to the Ramming rules. It can't be understated. Oh, and Handling is TN for vehicle dodge, too.

If you're specializing in Computers, make sure it's Non-Matrix Programming, otherwise you'll have just screwed yourself out of a point of skill.

Skip the ground drone, they're almost worthless. Ground drones are for when you're defining the area of combat; if you're defending your warehouse, go ahead, but they're going to do absolutely nothing on an actual run.

If you're a dedicated Rigger, don't bother with personal combat skills. At all. Also, don't specialize in Street Etiquette unless you like waiting for a very very long time for anything remotely hard to get.

I'm directly contradicting a lot of what Modesitt is telling you; I get the feeling we're rather different styles of Riggers. Pick and choose what sounds best to you.

~J

[TinkerGnome]

I'll also offer the opinion that having your own B/R abilities is never a bad thing. Contacts are fine... but contacts cost a lot of cash which you could save and they're no faster. Downtime is downtime. It's not like you're doing anything else important. You can only work for so many hours a day, anyway, so contact upkeep and the like still fits in.

For in character reasons, I'd take your main vehicle skill's B/R as a real skill and take the rest as skillsofts. Don't try chipping driving skills. You might also want to invest in an ammunition shop and a few B/R skills for weapons. If you've got a weapon (like a rifle) on a drone with a low ROF and hard to get ammo (APDS, AV, etc) making your own might prove worthwhile since you'll have far more dice than you would for the etiquette test.

Specialization at character gen is only for skills you are 100% sure you only need one part of on a regular basis. It's too cheap to raise the specialization once you start playing to waste a point of general skill on it in most cases.

Part of what you need to do during character generation is figure out what the rest of the party is doing with their characters and help fill in the gaps. Riggers tend to have cash to play around with, so you can provide some party members with trancievers with the appropriate encryption level (for instance) or the like. As the rigger, you tend to be one of the prime coordinators of the party's efforts during the execution of the run, so plan for that.

For personal arms, take pistols. Buy a taser. Every time you jack in, you have the taser in hand because every rigger's worst nightmare is having a fire elemental materialize inside his van while he's ridding the machine and eat him. This way, you might have some kind of chance. Also make sure the mage wards your van at the earliest opportunity. Very helpful.

[Kagetenshi]

Are fire elementals in any way immune or resistant to fire? I've forgotten...

~J

[TinkerGnome]

[Kagetenshi]

Score. Then my current method of always having my blowtorch nearby will still work :)

~J

[Modesitt]

[Eyeless Blond]

What ground drones are really good for is for building infiltration; they really don't have the heft to carry many good weapons and armor. Check out the infiltration rigger we've got in the Infiltration Challenge thread for what is IMO the greatest ground drone loadout ever conceived (about a third of the way down.) Of course keep in mind that I'm pretty new at the game (see my join date? That was two weeks after I first laid eyes on the rulebooks :P) so take this with a grain of salt.

[Kagetenshi]

Hrm. I would think most appropriate Etiquette skill would be rolled; if it is Street, I withdraw my previous statement about it.

I'm pretty sure it's a Non-Matrix Programming specialization. *Digs for books*

Just looked it up, and you're right, it's not specified. I think a previous thread spread that particular bit of disinformation. Thanks, that'll save me some karma down the line... :vegm:

As for the miniblimp thing, miniblimps are cool. How cool? Signature 10 cool. I agree that they aren't great for bringing into a building, though; that's when to pull out the rotodrones of death. After all, in a building setting, the whole main advantage of a miniblimp is negated. Hard to miss one sailing down the hall...

The whole combat skill thing is a matter of taste. My Rigger doesn't actually go to meets, she attends via a spiderdrone in another character's pocket. I am, admittedly, picking up some skill for using her blowtorch as a weapon, but I didn't have it at chargen.

So yeah. I get the feeling, as I said before, that what we're saying is true for our respective campaigns. Hopefully poor Joker will be able to sort out what's most appropriate for him :)

~J

Edit: regarding the infiltration challenge, the drone loadout isn't bad, but the presentation is godawful! I'm guessing that was done in a word processor and then copy/pasted?

Edit^2: Raiko's presentation is better.

[Joker9125]

Here is my revised Rigger hopefully this one dosent have any huge glaring holes in the design I have 194,135 :nuyen: left any suggestions on drones?

Race: Dwarf

Attributes
Body 2
Quickness 6
Strength 3
Charisma 5
Intelligence 6
Willpower 7
Essence 0.48
Run Mult. 2
Magic 0
BioIndex 0.6
Reaction 7
Init. Dice 1

Pools
Combat 9
Control 10

Edges/Flaws
Connected Lev II 5
Connected 3
Bonus Attribute Point(WIL) 2
Vehicle Empathy 2
Phobia Com & Mild->Clowns -3
Allergy Com & Mild->Cotton Candy -3
Sensitive Neural Struct. -2
Uncouth -2
Impulsive -2


Armor
Type Conc Ball Imp
X:Form-fitting Full-Body Suit DwMod 12 4 1
X:Secure Clothing DwMod 12 3 0
X:Secure Ultra-Vest DwMod 14 3 2

Active Skills
Etiquette(CHA) [4]
Computer(INT) [4]
Electronics(INT) [4] ]
Small Unit Tactics(INT)/Vehicle Tactics [2/4]
Gunnery(INT) [5]
Car(REA)/Remote Operations [3/5]
Fixed-Wing Aircraft(REA)/Remote Operations [3/5]
Rotor Aircraft(REA)/Remote Operations [3/5]
Tracks(REA)/Remote Operations [3/5]
Walkers(REA)/Remote Operations [3/5]

Knowledge Skills
ST:Arms Dealers(KNO) [3]
ST:Scrounging(KNO) [5]
ST:Seattle Junkyards(KNO) [4]
ST:Shadowrunner Haunts(KNO) [3]
ST:Smuggler Havens(KNO) [4]
ST:Smuggling Routes(KNO) [4]
ST:Safehouse Locations(KNO) [4]
ST:NAN Border Patrol Tactics(KNO) [3]
English(LAN) [3]
English(LAN) (RW) [1]
Chinese(LAN) [1]
Japanese(LAN) [2]
Japanese(LAN) (RW) [1]
Sperethiel(LAN) [2]
Sperethiel(LAN) (RW) [1]
Spanish(LAN) [1]

Weapons
AK-98 Smart2 (AsRf) DwMod Grenade Launcher (6-shot) Smart2 4
+ Sound Suppresser DwMod
+ Gas Vent IV DwMod
+ Under Barrel Weight DwMod
+ Flash Light (Standard) DwMod
Great Dragon ATGM Smart2 (GATGM) DwMod Optical Imaging Scope(2) Smart2 2
(yes i remembered to buy ammo)

Cyberware
Vehicle Ctrl Rig [2]
Skillwires [4] MP 48
Datajack(A)
MultiSlot Chipjack 4(A)
Expert Chipjack Dvr [3](A)
Expert Chipjack Dvr [3](A)
Smartlink II
+ Pers. Smartlink Safety
+ Range Finder
+ Eye Display
+ Lim. Simsense Rig

Bioware
Enhanced Articulation

Gear
SkillSoft Jukebox 144MP 3ports
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> Mechanical Arm
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> DwModCar B/R
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> DwModWalker B/R
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> DwModTracks B/R
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> DwModRotor Aircraft B/R
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> DwModAssault Rifles
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> DwModLaunch Weapons

GMC Bulldog Step-Van

Type of Vehicle: Vans

Handling Speed/Accel Body/Armor Signature/Autonav Pilot/Sensor
4/8 85/4 4/2 2/2 -/0
Cargo/Load Seating Firm Points Hard Points
50/1200 1+1b

Features:
Folding Bench Seat
Weapons:
Cont. Manu. Contr. [6] Rigger Adaptation
APPS
Crash Cages
Anti-Theft System [6]
White-Light
Medium-Range Infared
Library Transponder Chip [6]
Photovoltaic Chameleon Paint
Morphing License Plate

Others:
Drone Rack
Remote Control Deck Rating [6]
Remote Control Deck Rating [6]
R-C Biofeedback Filter [3]
R-C ECCM Rating [6]
R-C Encryption Module [6]
Rigger Decryption Module [6]
Rigger Protocol Emulation [6]
Signal Amplifier [6]
Storage Memory 200Mp
BattleTac IVIS Master Unit
Intercom System
Hitcher Jack
Audio/Visual Screen Display

[Eyeless Blond]

Hoo boy.

[Entropy Kid]

edit: redundant