Metasapient PCs, Wanted: the world's best number crunchers Options

[krayola red]

I'm running a game over at the other forum where one of the players (hey BlackHat!) is going to be playing a character who's a metasapient AI with the Piloting Origin quality who's inhabiting an anthroform drone as a home node. He plans on playing this character as a fighter rather than a hacker. I'm really rusty on SR4 rules and haven't even read most of the newer sourcebooks that have been released, so I'm trying my best to learn how such a character would work so I wouldn't have to constantly bug the player for clarifications. Unfortunately, the rules regulating drone combat, AIs, and tech upgrades seem to be spread over a whole bunch of different books, and it's giving me one hell of a headache.

In my experience, the best way to learn about something is to break it, and last I remember, Dumpshock is notoriously good at breaking stuff. So I humbly ask for your help: using the standard 400 BP character creation rules, make an AI character who will make the GM upon which it is presented cry like a little girl and tear up all his NPC sheets in utter hopelessness of challenging such a monstrosity. Come on, Dumpshockers. The gauntlet has been cast. Let's see what you've got.

[Ragewind]

Well for 400 BP I suppose you could grab something like this

Home Node is in a Comlink in a Dodge Guardian remodeled to resemble a Female Elf

Kos-Mos Rating 6 Artificial Intelligence

Int 5
Logic 6
Will 6
Charisma 5
Response 9
Signal 11
Firewall 6 (9)
System 9

Code Base:
Stealth 5
Spoof 5
Exploit 6
Armor 6
Analyze 5
Decrypt 5

Skills:
Pilot 5 (Anthroform)
Hacking 5 (Hacking)
Computer 4 (??)
Cyber COmbat 4 (??)

Contact:
1/6 Technomancer (Fixer)

PQ:
Pilot Origin
Exceptional Attribute
Restricted Gear

NQ:
Combat Monster
Vindictive
Addicted (AR)

Lifestyle: Spoof lifestyle with the Positive quality of a background count to help protect from Magic.

Available resources: 100K

Home Node:
Comlink (Hotsim)
Firewall 6 (9)
System 6 (9)
Device 4
Signal 8 (11) w/ Portable Satellite Uplink
Response 6 (9)
w/ Response Chip (5) 14
w/ Reality Filter 15
Armor 10
Nonconducting 6
Simsense Booster

Dodge Guardian: (Over-mod with Mimic option)
Walker Mode
Articulated Arms x2
Rigger Adaption
Armor 20
(Change Fixed Mount to Turret preferably)
Full Body Armor
Helm
PPP Items
Gelpacks
LMG Minigun

NOTE: Turn off your wireless signals until you need them, you dont want to get hacked do you?
Setup: The "Link is inside the mech and rigs it from there. The mech is custom made to look like a metahuman (I wish the mimic in arsenal had a price) and can add stuff like Monofiliment hair or whatnot to help complete the image. The Minigun is inside one of the mechs arms and comes out ala Barret from ff7 Advent Children (w/ no recoil!!). A interesting point is that Vehicle armor "Is treated as character armor with the exception that attacks whose modified damage value does not exceed the Modified armor value bounce off harmlessly" so since its in humanoid form and has a base armor of 20 we can get a little bit extra from added armor. Making it something like 31 Hardned. With whatever resources you have left over after buying the bike and Link you can buy all the Autosoft Programs you need to make yourself completly awesome (You can also grab skills like infiltration thanks to Unwired)

When rigged and used in character combat the vehicles stats are..

STR 8 (= Body)
BOD 8
AGI 11 (Skill + Handling of 4)
REA 15 (= Response of "Link)
Initiative 20
5 Initiative Passes w/ Simsense Booster
10/20 Speed ( I am not sure if this is correct, -20% for walker and -20% for armor above 10 from base speed)

[hobgoblin]

im not even sure if walker and arms can turn something into a anthroform...

especially given that its missing any kind of mimic modification (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

err, maybe i should read the whole post before commenting...

btw, mimic price is here:
http://shadowrun4.com/resources/arsenal_errata_132.pdf

[Dr Funfrock]

Why not just put the commlink in a car and forget the whole female elf look?

Also, I believe concealed armour caps at 10.

[Prime Mover]

Why not use the antroform drone already stated in arsenal?

Edit: IRC vehicle armor caps at body x2, max of 20 for regular armor.

[Ragewind]

Why not use the antroform drone already stated in arsenal?

Edit: IRC vehicle armor caps at body x2, max of 20 for regular armor.

Because the drone listed in arsenal is horrible

[ElFenrir]

Why not just put the commlink in a car and forget the whole female elf look?

Also, I believe concealed armour caps at 10.

I agree on this. If i were to play an AI, I'd like to go with something a bit more down-low and a bit less...something. I'd go with taking over a nicely done car, or perhaps a nice pimped drone that still looks like a drone(just to ''live'' in); something that can fit in and just be one of the Vehicle Hacker/Rigger's masses.


Or, even better and more menacing, a sort of badass security sabotaging AI if that's possible. THAT would be awesome. An anthroform can be blown or chopped to bits by some of the monstrosities of PCs that can exist(or not even that monsterous...some good AV ammo and the like and that's all she wrote), but an AI that basically takes over an entire building's security, it's computers, it's secret weapons, and the like, IMO, is much, much, MUCH more threatening.

[Ragewind]

Well the OP asked for something good in combat and I think I have answered his question, however allow me to address some of the questions that cropped up afterwords.

anthroform can be blown or chopped to bits by some of the monstrosities of PCs that can exist(or not even that monstrous...some good AV ammo and the like and that's all she wrote)

Yes and No, since this character would just be partaking on a regular run I don't see him/her finding any problems fighting against other PCs. If that where to happen then 31+ hardened armor should be enough to stand against most things. Even a Panther cannon round with -11AP only drops me to a 20, and I still get 15 dice to dodge. Meaning the character's mech is very durable, only certain attacks can damage it and those are thankfully rare. Also If the body gets destroyed go find a new one, its only like 30k for the bike. I just put a Gatling gun on the mech, you can put something more useful as the siuation demands it. You can of course wield any weapon in the game with proficiency if you buy a autosoft for it.

Or, even better and more menacing, a sort of badass security sabotaging AI if that's possible. THAT would be awesome.

The listed character is a better hacker than most players, if you want to hack you certainly can. Just buy some more programs that you might need like "Attack" and go to town.

but an AI that basically takes over an entire building's security, it's computers, it's secret weapons, and the like, IMO, is much, much, MUCH more threatening.

As mentioned above you can do this if you want

Why not just put the commlink in a car and forget the whole female elf look?

A car cannot ride a elevator, or go up stairs, or attend a dinner party with the Johnson.

im not even sure if walker and arms can turn something into a anthroform..

As far as I know it does indeed, all the other anthroforms have the Walker mod and Arms tacked on. Even the drones in arsenal have these upgrades.

[merashin]

how exactly are you getting 31 hardened armor? the armor upgrade eliminates the old armor of the vehicle.

[Ravor]

Sorry, doesn't pass the "sniff test", if all someone had to do was mod a motorcycle to get a metahuman looking robot than the fragging metahuman robot in the book wouldn't cost nearly as much as it does or have the stats that it does.

[hyzmarca]

The key to breaking the metasapiant, without building a go-bot, lies in the fact that you are not required to own your Home Node, though you have to pay extra for its upkeep. This fact mean that you can choose a home node that it far outside the average Shadowrunner's means to obtain and simply pay the extra upkeep. It'll be owned by someone else, but as long as you stay cool that shouldn't be a problem.

My preference: Orbital Cow Gun.

[toturi]

The key to breaking the metasapiant, without building a go-bot, lies in the fact that you are not required to own your Home Node, though you have to pay extra for its upkeep. This fact mean that you can choose a home node that it far outside the average Shadowrunner's means to obtain and simply pay the extra upkeep. It'll be owned by someone else, but as long as you stay cool that shouldn't be a problem.

My preference: Orbital Cow Gun.

I'd have said Zurich Orbital myself, but to each his own.

[krayola red]

Yeah, but what are you going to do with a home node like Zurich? As soon as you pull something fishy and draw attention to yourself, an army of security hackers are gonna descend upon you to stomp your AI butt into the ground. Actually, considering that an AI presence increases the Matrix attributes of the node, important systems like Zurich are probably already keeping around a pet AI just to boost its capacity, and it probably won't appreciate you trying to muscle in on its turf. Although I'm not seeing anything in the rules that say that only one AI can use a node as its home...I wonder if it's possible to send a node's Matrix attributes through the roof by getting a bajillion AIs to inhabit it?

Edit: Oh wait, nevermind. Silly me, it's the last line of the section.

[hyzmarca]

Yeah, but what are you going to do with a home node like Zurich? As soon as you pull something fishy and draw attention to yourself, an army of security hackers are gonna descend upon you to stomp your AI butt into the ground. Actually, considering that an AI presence increases the Matrix attributes of the node, important systems like Zurich are probably already keeping around a pet AI just to boost its capacity, and it probably won't appreciate you trying to muscle in on its turf.

Who says that you aren't that pet AI? Every character needs a good backstory. Being a program created to run Zurich Orbital is as good a backstory as any.

[Chrysalis]

The issue I have is that the two anthromorph drones given in the book cost 150,000 and 250,000 nuyen with an availability of 24R. It basically makes them not only extremely expensive, but also a waste in terms of money which would have to sunk into them. Especially if you can take a normal medium sized drone (like the evo orderly - cost 2,000) and slap on mimic at rating 3 (15,000 nuyen), as well as giving it cybernetic enhancements, as cybernetics only take up slots and not essence.

[hobgoblin]

Who says that you aren't that pet AI? Every character needs a good backstory. Being a program created to run Zurich Orbital is as good a backstory as any.

and my drake is lofwyr's bastard child...

[toturi]

and my drake is lofwyr's bastard child...

That's nice, so your daddy owns SK?

[The Jopp]

That's what we call a Dark Secret negative Quality.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Neraph]

Leave off the Mimic Option and just have a heavy humaniod mech.

BTW, all that Anthroform vehicles check for is Walker Mode, so if I Walker Mode a Steel Lynx (IIRC, they're wheeled), it's now Anthroform to pilot.

[hyzmarca]

That's what we call a Dark Secret negative Quality.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

The love-child of Lofwyr and Anne Penchyk concieved during a night of drunken weakness that culminated in a threesome with Nadja Davier's brown nipples. (Ms. Davier herself was not present, only her her nipples were there)

[Eurotroll]

The love-child of Lofwyr and Anne Penchyk concieved during a night of drunken weakness that culminated in a threesome with Nadja Davier's brown nipples. (Ms. Davier herself was not present, only her her nipples were there)

The Boss never was, is, or will be that weak. Neverrrrrrrrr--! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

[Tarantula]

Well for 400 BP I suppose you could grab something like this

Home Node is in a Comlink in a Dodge Guardian remodeled to resemble a Female Elf

Lets see how this checks out.

Kos-Mos Rating 6 Artificial Intelligence

Int 5
Logic 6
Will 6
Charisma 5
Response 9
Signal 11
Firewall 6 (9)
System 9

110BP for being an AI.
40BP on Int
Not sure whether log or wil was exceptional attributed.
65BP on Log.
50BP on Wil.
40BP on Cha.
195BP spent total on attributes.
System is Average of Int + Log rounded up, so 6 not 9.

Code Base:
Stealth 5
Spoof 5
Exploit 6
Armor 6
Analyze 5
Decrypt 5

Look ok to me.

Skills:
Pilot 5 (Anthroform)
Hacking 5 (Hacking)
Computer 4 (??)
Cyber COmbat 4 (??)

BP costs:
22 for pilot 5 specialized in anthroform
22 for hacking (hacking is not a valid specialization, but I assume you meant exploit)
16 for computer.
16 for Cyber Combat

Contact:
1/6 Technomancer (Fixer)

7BP here.

PQ:
Pilot Origin
Exceptional Attribute
Restricted Gear

NQ:
Combat Monster
Vindictive
Addicted (AR)

Problems. Restricted Gear is not in the AI quality table on pg 89 of RC. Neither is combat monster. Or vindictive. I'd also argue how can you be addicted to AR if you live in VR?

Lifestyle: Spoof lifestyle with the Positive quality of a background count to help protect from Magic.

That works I guess.

Available resources: 100K

20BP here.

Home Node:
Comlink (Hotsim) 100nuyen for the base model
Firewall 6 (9) 3k
System 6 (9) 3k
Device 4
Signal 8 (11) w/ Portable Satellite Uplink
Response 6 (9) Nothing comes with response 6. Building it costs 8k. (Oh, and you know, hardware skill).
w/ Response Chip (5) 14 You can't do a response chip 5 and add it to the already present response 6. Its a replacement.
w/ Reality Filter 15 600 nuyen for a rating 6
Armor 10 500 nuyen
Nonconducting 6 Not valid to put on a commlinks armor.
Simsense Booster Assuming you meant the accelerator. thats 15k, and breaks the availibilty cap

Dodge Guardian: (Over-mod with Mimic option)
Walker Mode
Articulated Arms x2
Rigger Adaption
Armor 20
(Change Fixed Mount to Turret preferably)
Full Body Armor
Helm
PPP Items
Gelpacks
LMG Minigun

NOTE: Turn off your wireless signals until you need them, you dont want to get hacked do you?
Setup: The "Link is inside the mech and rigs it from there. The mech is custom made to look like a metahuman (I wish the mimic in arsenal had a price) and can add stuff like Monofiliment hair or whatnot to help complete the image. The Minigun is inside one of the mechs arms and comes out ala Barret from ff7 Advent Children (w/ no recoil!!). A interesting point is that Vehicle armor "Is treated as character armor with the exception that attacks whose modified damage value does not exceed the Modified armor value bounce off harmlessly" so since its in humanoid form and has a base armor of 20 we can get a little bit extra from added armor. Making it something like 31 Hardned. With whatever resources you have left over after buying the bike and Link you can buy all the Autosoft Programs you need to make yourself completly awesome (You can also grab skills like infiltration thanks to Unwired)

Do realize, the penalty to notice that your arm is actually a minigun is only -2. You'd want a concealed mount in order to actually hide it effectively.

I came up with you costing 408 BP. And I didn't get around to double-checking that all your nuyen was accounted for.

[Ragewind]

Thank you Tarantula its nice to know you care!

However you have failed to reliaze you don't need to build him exactly like I did you can move whatever you want around to say..those two skills at 4, just drop them to 3 and DONE. You now have 400 exactly, as you no doubt know I do everything from memory so there is bound to be a mistake or two.

Also on the point of:
Restricted Gear
Vindictive
Combat Monster
and a 13+ availability comlink

I personally cannot find a reason why a AI cannot take restricted gear, there are also lots of other PQ's that one could easily take within reason, so sufficient to say if you want the 5 passes a turn your GM needs to allow it otherwise you just lose the Simsense Accelerator and your Rating 5 Response chip, I think it would get nerfed to Rating 2.

I also cannot find a logical reason that a AI cannot take Vindictive or Combat Monster, as a AI is just a personality floating in the matrix, and considering these are personality quirks it makes sense. Once again however my opinion, so you should fill those slots with other useful things that are in the chart.

PS: Oh also the system of the "link indeed 6 but the AI improves it by 3 to a 9. I don't see how you missed that.

Also you can argue all you want about addiction, but as it is currently it stands (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smokin.gif) Just a easy way to get 15-20 BP, also if not AR what else? Addicted is a Negative quality I do not agree with, it should not be on the list as what can a AI get addicted too as it cant take drugs and stuff. I suppose BTL's but how would it interpret the neruo signals as it doesn't have a body etc etc. Basically the AI PQ/NQ chart is bogus but whatever.

[Ragewind]

Do realize, the penalty to notice that your arm is actually a minigun is only -2. You'd want a concealed mount in order to actually hide it effectively.

This is true but I built everything from memory, so I forgot it. Change it as you like

[Tarantula]

I personally cannot find a reason why a AI cannot take restricted gear, there are also lots of other PQ's that one could easily take within reason, so sufficient to say if you want the 5 passes a turn your GM needs to allow it otherwise you just lose the Simsense Accelerator and your Rating 5 Response chip, I think it would get nerfed to Rating 2.

Because they said so.

I also cannot find a logical reason that a AI cannot take Vindictive or Combat Monster, as a AI is just a personality floating in the matrix, and considering these are personality quirks it makes sense. Once again however my opinion, so you should fill those slots with other useful things that are in the chart.

No idea what combat monster is actually. Its not a quality, thats for sure.

PS: Oh also the system of the "link indeed 6 but the AI improves it by 3 to a 9. I don't see how you missed that.

I didn't miss it, you didn't list it as 6(9) like you did for firewall right before it though, so I thought I'd point it out.

Also you can argue all you want about addiction, but as it is currently it stands (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smokin.gif) Just a easy way to get 15-20 BP, also if not AR what else? Addicted is a Negative quality I do not agree with, it should not be on the list as what can a AI get addicted too as it cant take drugs and stuff. I suppose BTL's but how would it interpret the neruo signals as it doesn't have a body etc etc. Basically the AI PQ/NQ chart is bogus but whatever.

I didn't say you couldn't take it, just that as an AI, you can not have AR, and as such, how could you be addicted to something you can never experience? Conversely, you'd always suffer the negatives of craving it.