Drones and Rigging, Nooby question on drone rules etc.. Options

[Hottyhothot]

Hello, I have a character that is a sniper / drone rigger 'Jessy Jones' she rocks!

Anyway I have a couple of questions on the rules for drones...
How many iniative passes do they have? 3?
In the blurb about a drones iniative and its passes it says that physically they are slow but their computer processes are fast so they have an iniative pass of '3'. We read that when a drone shoots a weapon it can only physically shoot once in one Int Pass, but can do another 2x passes in a computer oriented way. What do you think?

Can a Nissan Roto Drone carry a Heavy Automatic? Ie. a Ingram White Knight?
What about recoil?

Also as a rigger, in combat giving the drones orders to shoot some thing is that considered a simple action? or could I preprogram it (before combat) and let the dog AI do the reasoning on what to shoot or not?

Basically as 'Jessy' is supposed sit from affar and pick off the enemy with her sniper rifle, while controlling drones in the field to frag the enemy up.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Regards
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[Sma]

Drones use Gunnery to shoot, using Gunnery to shoot any weapon is a Complex Action. So you´re right about drones getting 3 IP´s and only getting to shoot once per IP.

Weapons supposedly don´t suffer from recoil whem they are not mounted on a Vehicle Weapon Mount. There´s a optional rule in Arsenal that reduces this recoil compensation form infinity to body.

[Ryu]

Drones can make decisions fast, but are not world-shattering good at executing their plans. They get 3 IP with (comparativly) lowish dice pools.

Normal weapon mounts can hold weapons up to LMG size.

Commanding a drone to attack is a simple action. You can pre-set attack orders, but define "target" wisely. "Is a guard" does not work for the drone. "Wears a uniform" would work, unless some team-members wear said uniforms as disguises. "Shoot everyone except us" leads to civilian casualities, and messes up any "keep alive" plans. The best pre-set order is IMO "tag along and shoot all targets I activly aquire for the network".

Strong setup you have going there.

[kigmatzomat]

Hello, I have a character that is a sniper / drone rigger 'Jessy Jones' she rocks!

Anyway I have a couple of questions on the rules for drones...
How many iniative passes do they have? 3?

Drones have 3 IP. However, non-stationary drones have to spend an action to "drive" themselves. Drones cannot shoot at a target that they don't have a sensor lock on, requiring a simple action. After that they can spend their IPs blazing away at their targets but it's a Complex Action to use any drone-mounted weapons.

Can a Nissan Roto Drone carry a Heavy Automatic? Ie. a Ingram White Knight?

The default weapon mount can handle an LMG or anything smaller. The rotodrone has body 3 so it can have a weapon mount so yeah, it can have an Ingram LMG or an Ares Alpha but not a Stoner MMG.

What about recoil?

SR4 main book is mum on the subject, Arsenal says vehicle weapon mounts eliminate all recoil penalties. Movement-based penalties would still apply. As an optional rule for "inappropriate" weapon/vehicle combinations (assault rifle on a minidrone) recoil would be limited to the vehicle's Body. Prior to Arsenal, our house rule had been that a weapon mount provides the same +6 recoil comp as a tripod.

Other thing to keep in mind is that SR4 says "1 weapon mount/3 body, round down" and Arsenal says "1 weapon mount/3 body, round up". Arsenal also has some new weapon mount rules that not everyone finds that appealing.

Also as a rigger, in combat giving the drones orders to shoot some thing is that considered a simple action? or could I preprogram it (before combat) and let the dog AI do the reasoning on what to shoot or not?

I believe it is a simple action to give the order to shoot at a target but keep in mind the drone will need to lock on the target first. You can also give it orders but like the others have said, it can go badly if your instructions are vague.

[Hottyhothot]

Hey Guys!!!

Very helpful, thanks very much, I think my questions have all been answered.

So far Jessy has been very strong, took out three guys in a junkyard in 3 combat turns, when a weapons / cyborg player only took out 2.
She is just no good in melee (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Im going to fix that with a few throwing knives.

Sniper, Shotgun, Drones and Throwing knives (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) gives me a warm happy feeling.

Regards,
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