Street Level Rigger in SR5 Options

[Flaser]

So one of my friends decided to take the plunge and GM SR5, and for my crimes I've picked to play a Rigger this time... beside auto-softs costs missing, what else should I look out for?

Obviously, with a maximum resource cap of 85 000¥, I'll have to be really frugal, maybe even forgo an RCC. What also hurts bad is the device rating of 4, meaning I can't put better sensors on my drones... which brings up an interesting question, could a remote-operated gun benefit from being smart-linked? (Since the Smart firing platform can be operated in VR with full benefits if the gun is smart and you have implanted smart link, I'd assume so)

Let's stay on target: What mix of drones / vehicles do you guys suggest? Since most come with Pilot/Firewall 3, at the moment buying an RCC wouldn't bring much advantage (OK, Willpower can be used instead Rating, but is that worth at least 8k?). What weapons should I use? Obviously I should stick to cheap boomsticks, especially since explosive ammo's availability is too high... finally would it be worth it, to blow (almost) all my money on a Rating 2 used Control Rig and skimp on everything else?

Final question: How exactly do sensors work? OK, simple sensor I can only cram one device inside, sensor array I can cram eight... at what rating? This is where the head-ache starts. The housing limits the rating, but of what? The individual sensor? The sensor array? What rating are the sensors in a sensor array? ...finally how do I cram more sensors into a drone/vehicle and when can I use the passive/active targeting rules with them?

[Ricochet]

So one of my friends decided to take the plunge and GM SR5, and for my crimes I've picked to play a Rigger this time... beside auto-softs costs missing, what else should I look out for?

Obviously, with a maximum resource cap of 85 000¥, I'll have to be really frugal, maybe even forgo an RCC. What also hurts bad is the device rating of 4, meaning I can't put better sensors on my drones... which brings up an interesting question, could a remote-operated gun benefit from being smart-linked? (Since the Smart firing platform can be operated in VR with full benefits if the gun is smart and you have implanted smart link, I'd assume so)

Let's stay on target: What mix of drones / vehicles do you guys suggest? Since most come with Pilot/Firewall 3, at the moment buying an RCC wouldn't bring much advantage (OK, Willpower can be used instead Rating, but is that worth at least 8k?). What weapons should I use? Obviously I should stick to cheap boomsticks, especially since explosive ammo's availability is too high... finally would it be worth it, to blow (almost) all my money on a Rating 2 used Control Rig and skimp on everything else?

Final question: How exactly do sensors work? OK, simple sensor I can only cram one device inside, sensor array I can cram eight... at what rating? This is where the head-ache starts. The housing limits the rating, but of what? The individual sensor? The sensor array? What rating are the sensors in a sensor array? ...finally how do I cram more sensors into a drone/vehicle and when can I use the passive/active targeting rules with them?

Don't skip the RCC. Riggers get the best gear ever for street level...Scratch Built Junk. Coming in at 1400 nuyen, I definitely wouldn't pass it up. Your RCC will control how many drones you can interface with, and the junk will at least give you 3. The control rig is the expensive component at 43k.

A few things to consider:
Drones break easy. When they get shot they are done. So combat drones won't be all that useful.

I'd go with an MCT Fly-Spy to gather intelligence.
If you want combat, I'll suggest Ares Duelist. Why? Because it has a built in autosoft and doesn't use ammo. At 4500, it's the cheapest drone that will put up much fight.
I'd look at targeting platforms if you want guns. Sure, they are stationary, but they have the built in autosoft, making them better marksmen than any drone at this point when running on their own. They are also way cheaper than any drones.

So my buildout
RCC - Scratch Built Junk (1400)
Control Rig 1 (43,000)
MCT Fly Spy (2000)
Ares Duelist (4500)
Toyota Gopher (25,000)
2X Ak-97 with Smart Firing Platform (6900)

This totals out at 82,800 which only gives 2200 to get your non-rigger gear (and ammo for the AK-97's).

It it's too tight, I'd actually drop the duelist to get other gear, but spending a karma on 2k is probably easier. I'd actually skip the sensor packages up front.

[cndblank]

Providing surveillance may be more important then providing combat support.
Look at how much game time goes to planning the op and how much game time goes to combat. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

For that you need at least two surveillance drones and three would be better.

A floater is always useful for long term surveillance, but until they come out, a micro skimmmer, like the Sikorsky-Bell, would do the job.

The beetle drone, Shiawase Kanmushi, is perfect for getting some eyes and ears on an interior site and maybe even running a fiber optic line to make a discrete tap on an isolated system.

A cheap drone to drop smoke grenades would be nice. minigrenades are very small. Even a microdrone could likely carry one or two.
Maybe with a C12 charge in case you need more than smoke grenades.

You could also get a used vehicle to save money.
Maybe a used Bulldog van.

[cndblank]

One the first things you should do is with the rest of the team steal a couple of bulldog vans
New base model/vanilla one from a medium size company are best (the most common and the least likely to have advanced security measures).

Wipe them down with a tag eraser. Wipe and reinstall the dog brain.
Leave them some place you can keep under surveillance with semi secure parking.

If no one comes to get them after a couple of weeks, then add a Morphing License Plate and a spoof chip (by 4th edition about 1500 nuyen for both).
Add nothing else except maybe a paint job and or a rigger adaptation so you can remote rig it (2500 in 4th).
Get some magnetic signs for various delivery companies so you can swap logos quickly.

Use them for surveillance, transportation, and emergency get away vehicles.
It also keeps your primary vehicles away from your target until show time.
My runners even used one to stage an accident (by ramming it in to a limo).

Keep a canister of pressurized C Squared (a powerful cleaner that will remove fingerprints and destroy all DNA traces) inside with a timer and remote activation.
Arrange something to wipe the dog brain of recent activity if the C Squared goes off.

If the run goes south, you can abandon them without losing an major investment.
The C Squared means that 30 seconds after you activated it, there is nothing left to trace back to you (no matter how much blood is on the floor of the van).
If you leave one parked someplace the timer will make sure that there are no traces left if you can't get back to it before it is towed.


About every six months, steal two new vans. Repeat.
Once the new vans are ready to go, take the old vans and wipe them down (with C Squared). Pull the C Squared Canister, the spoof chip, and the Morphing License Plate.
Then leave them some place they are sure to be stolen or stripped.

If you GM is has concerns, ask him why your characters would be running the shadows, if together you couldn't steal a couple of vans?