Somewhat confused about Drones Options

[StealthBanana]

Can someone walk me through the process of using a Drones sensors? The Table on page 239 is confusing me somewhat.

Does a drone need to make a sensor test to 'see' an enemy? Or a friend? Or anything? What if a rigger is jacked in? Can a rigger jacked into a drone not 'see' as he would in the meat? Does he need to make a similar sensor test?

Also, is the "Observe in Detail" action required to make a sensor test without the -2 penalty 'distracted' penalty, as would be the case for normal meta humans making a Perception test?

When talking about passive vs. active targeting, what exactly is a 'target'? Something that has been scanned with sensors and identified as an enemy? Must I have previously made a successful sensor test to obtain the 'targets' signature?

This leads me to believe that when drones are involved, there is a lot of rolling just for the drone to be able to 'see' all of the available targets. In a fight with three drones and five gangers, that's a lot of sensor tests just to get things started!

Thanks in advance!

[Jaid]

well, first off, the person must be trying to evade detection or the test is unopposed... in such an instance, i would simply assume that the drone does not need to make a test unless they are actively targeting the person (in which case the net hits become relevant when they make the shot). otherwise, no perception test is required (just like no perception test is required to see a normal person to see someone else walking down the street in open daylight with no cover and no crowds... now if they were trying to blend in with a crowd or something, you'd have a hard time spotting them, but otherwise it just isn't even a test... which is good because the average person has 1-2 perception dice)

secondly, given that passive sensor targeting does not require you to have scanned the target at all, i'm gonna say that no scanning is required to make something a target unless that something is hiding. the drawback to not making the sensor test is built-in already... you suffer the signature modifiers to the attacking dicepool.

[Alphastream]

I agree with Jaid. Sensor is there for the moments when the GM feels the drone might have trouble perceiving the environment/target. Then a perception test with Sensor + Clearsight is used.

[StealthBanana]

Thanks a lot, the bit about sensor tests being an analogue for perception tests was unclear to me.

[Kyoto Kid]

...we dealt with this in our last session. My Matrix Specialist had a Stormcloud drone aloft above a building we were staking out to give her an overall picture of the building we planned to infiltrate. She was subscribed, but not jumped into (as she does not have a Control Rig implant), however the drone did have upgraded pilot, maneuver, and clearsight autosofts. Since none of the guards were aware of the drone's presence there was no test needed unless she wanted to zoom in on a particular detail such as one of their faces (perception).

Basically using the Command utility she was able to "programme" the drone follow preset instructions when her attention was needed elsewhere (such as springing the maglock, sneaking into the building, and deploying her LoneStar I-Ball to do interior surveillance). In this case the Stormcloud continued surveying the area outside and would send a warning of any possible threat that approached while the team was inside. Of course in this mode it was totally reliant on it's own internal "dog brain" so good autosofts are a must.

So even for a non-rigger, a drone or two can be a real benefit even if only for intelligence gathering and watching everyones backs.

[Magus]