Is a technomancer can be a rigger Options

[hermit]

This kind of thinking must be errata'd out of existence.

Fortunatly for you, CGL doesn't believe in publishing errata. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Sengir]

first of all, sprites. it's a bit unclear whether you can loan sprite services to a persona that isn't present. if you can, then the technomancer could simply transfer services to his/her other persona. if not, well, that's a pretty big deal.

secondly, the technomancer's living persona has attack and sleaze. that makes a number of matrix actions *substantially* more effective.

third, some complex forms can apply to their drones. for example, you can reduce noise penalties even further than the RCC alone (or let the RCC run autosofts to be shared). and you can improve their matrix attributes.

but mostly, it's the simple fact that a technomancer can spend two priorities on being a rigger (resonance for the attack and sleaze attributes needed to protect your drones, resources for drones, RCC, and cyberware if any), while a conventional rigger is limited to using only one (just resources for everything).

1.) Good question, though you could always share Sprites tit-for-tat with another TM. But since the ambiguities of how Machine Sprites interact with drones were "solved" by excising any way for them to interact with drones, what's the point in that?
4.) TMs are not exactly the character type with too many resources (in the general sense, not just the "resources" priority) to spare. So as usual, you would be better off making a good TM for supporting a good rigger. Which also is my answer to 2+3: A TM makes a fine support/bodyguard for riggers, just like a mage does. But he will not make a good rigger himself.

[dragrubis]

In fact technomancer can have the benefit of the CR but not of the RCC and i think that this is the lack for them...

If a technomancer can build a complex form of a RCC there is no more problem with that...

This is the same as for smartgun i guess..

[BlackJaw]

In fact technomancer can have the benefit of the CR but not of the RCC and i think that this is the lack for them...

A Technomancer can still buy an RCC and slave all their drones to it. It's actually a good idea, as the drones can't be slaved to the Technomancer's living persona. As long as the Technomancer doesn't use the RCC to make a Persona (something he can't do if he's already got a living persona active) then he can at least benefit from the added protection (Firewall) an RCC might give his drones, as well as the ability to share autosofts.

The requirements for jumping into drone, as listed for the Jump Into Rigged Device matrix action, do not in anyway interact with the Master/Slaving rules, so even though the drones are slaved to the RCC, the Technomancer (assuming he has the Mind over Machine Echo) can still jump into any drone he owns.

The only major feature of the RCC the Technomancer completely looses out on is the ability to jump directly from one drone to another. The noise reduction feature still works for the RCC, but it doesn't help the Technomancer's living persona.

[Dantic]

Something that I am curious about with this discussion, is how exactly does an augmented rigger interact with an RCC.
It would seem to me that an RCC is mostly a gateway to tie all of your drones together, being that it doesn't have the full persona attributes of a cyberdeck. That being the case, I would say that an RCC is rigger enabled, allowing anyone with a Control Rig (or Mind over Machine) to utilize one.
This would also explain why a decker can't just grab an RCC and start bossing drones around without a control rig.

[Jaid]

anyone can use an RCC. the only unique functions are the shared drone autosofts (which you could run on most drones directly anyways, and which cannot be combined with running autosofts on the drones, making it mostly useful only if you have a bunch of the same drone with the same weapon that would be unable to run it on their own), the noise reduction (which is only unique in terms of how much you can get), and the ability to jump directly from one drone to another (which is only useful if you have a control rig).

so, in short, anyone who doesn't have a control rig is probably just throwing a lot of money at noise reduction. and honestly, i don't really feel that's a problem.

[SpellBinder]

As I understand it, anyone can take an RCC and start bossing drones around as it apparently functions a lot like a commlink, but with a slew of extra features. In fact, Control Device is a Data Processing limited action, so even a commlink can still command anything with a Pilot rating.

It stands to reason that anyone with a commlink can still order vehicles and drones around. That way the common wage slave can still remotely turn their car on to have it pull up and turn on the heater for them while they're still in the home, or order their Renraku Manservent-3 to clean the toilet.

The main advantage of the Control Rig is that the person can become the drone.

Edited: Correcting a mistake on my part.

[BlackJaw]

You need a Control Rig (CR or VCR) to jump into a drone. You can do so without an Rigger Control Console (RCC). In fact the book describes the how jacking directly into a vehicle works (as apposed to using an RCC, Commlink, or Deck in between) in the rigger sections. Additionally, you can slave drones to a Deck or Commlink, that isn't a unique feature of an RCC. It's just that RCCs provide extras to the drones slaved to them that neither links or decks provide.

An RCC has no requirements for basic use. Anyone can own one and use it to manipulate drones, including the noise reduction and autosoft sharing features. In most ways it functions like a Commlink. When you use it to interact wit the matrix, including but not limited to rigging and controlling drones, your persona forms based on the RCC, and replaces it on the Matrix. To put it another way: an RCC does not have all the full matrix attributes of a Cyberdeck, but it does have the attributes of a Commlink. RCCs are not rigged devices. You can't jump into the RCC, nor do you need a Control Rig to use it. Note, however, that without a control rig implanted in your skull, you still can't jump into a drone, even if you own an RCC. In that case the RCC is just a useful tool for remote controlling drones, including autosoft sharing.

A technomancer that owns an RCC, however, probably does not want to use it to form their persona, because in that case it is not a living persona (it's based on the RCC, not the technomancer's unique abilities) and therefore does not allow access to the technomancer's matrix attributes or resonance abilities.

[Jack VII]

That's about how I have it figured as well.

Because I saw it mentioned earlier in the thread, I did want to point out that the required action to give a drone an order (rather than remote controlling it) is Send Message as described in the long rigger exemplar. To control a drone as if you were using remote control is accomplished through the Control Device action.

To do either, you basically only need a commlink.

[Dantic]

Ok, so here is a different question.

pg. 266 Matrix Damage.
When you take Matrix damage, it goes to the first device you’re using for your persona, not the device you’re jumped into. If you used your commlink or rigger command console to enter VR before jumping in, your commlink or RCC (respectively) is the target of Matrix damage to your persona. If you’re directly connected to the vehicle you’re jumped into, the vehicle takes the Matrix damage.

Does this mean that only if you are connected to the vehicle by a cable, does the vehicle take the damage? So again TMs are unable to avoid direct damage without a datajack?

[Jaid]

well, that should be pretty much expected. it's one of the drawbacks of being a technomancer. now if only there were enough advantages to make those drawbacks worthwhile...

[Sengir]

In fact, Control Device is a Data Processing limited action, so even a commlink can still command anything with a Pilot rating.

It stands to reason that anyone with a commlink can still order vehicles and drones around. That way the common wage slave can still remotely turn their car on to have it pull up and turn on the heater for them while they're still in the home, or order their Renraku Manservent-3 to clean the toilet.

Sadly it is not always a Data Processing action, because: "If there is no test associated with the action you want the device to perform (such as unlocking a maglock or ejecting a clip from a pistol), you must succeed in an Electronic Warfare + Intuition [Sleaze] v. Intuition + Firewall test to perform the action." Yep, your garage door opener needs a Sleaze chip, and using a commlink for ordering the Manservant to clean the toilet is only possible when it's so clogged that cleaning it requires a test (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[BlackJaw]

Sadly it is not always a Data Processing action, because: "If there is no test associated with the action you want the device to perform (such as unlocking a maglock or ejecting a clip from a pistol), you must succeed in an Electronic Warfare + Intuition [Sleaze] v. Intuition + Firewall test to perform the action." Yep, your garage door opener needs a Sleaze chip, and using a commlink for ordering the Manservant to clean the toilet is only possible when it's so clogged that cleaning it requires a test :D

That's an extreme example. First of all, Control Device is what you use to remote control a device, so if you really want to remote control your drone to clean a toilet, that's a sign you either need a better drone or a better hobby. Personally, I'd go with "Send Message" to inform the drone it needs to clean the toilet, and let it's pilot & autosofts handle the actual task.

Second, yes the rules sadly assume hacking is involved in many of their uses. I understand the designers wanted to ensure that a hacker would need to make a hacking skill check of some kind to force an enemy's clip to eject, even if they have the marks, but they forgot to write in a caveat about legal/permission like they did for Jumping into a Rigged Device's write up (IE: you don't need to make an illegal matrix action to jump into a device you own the device, or have three marks on and permission to use.) Of course "permission" is a poorly defined term as well.

Until this gets sorted out with errata/matrix splat book, you'll probably want some house rules to handle it. Here are mine, with 9 & 10 being the applicable ones.

[BlackJaw]

Ok, so here is a different question.

Does this mean that only if you are connected to the vehicle by a cable, does the vehicle take the damage? So again TMs are unable to avoid direct damage without a datajack?

For most people, in order to get onto the matrix you have to connect to it via a device, typically a Commlink, RCC, or Deck. When you do so, that device is changed into your Persona, and it's that device that takes matrix damage, even if you later jump into a drone/vehicle it's the persona enabling device that takes the damage. If a Rigger connects directly to a vehicle, with no device in between, then that vehicle becomes the device they are using so it would take the matrix damage.

Technomancers, however, typically form their persona from their mind alone, which means that if they were rigging a vehicle via Mind Over Machine, the matrix damage is hitting them right between the eyes. Their brain is their commlink. If a technomancer happened to have a datajack and used it to directly link to a vehicle, and then used that vehicle to access the matrix instead of their living persona, then they too would have matrix damage hitting their vehicle instead of them... but they also wouldn't have any of the features of their living persona, including attack & sleaze and the ability to use complex forms. You could even argue that without access to their resonance abilities they don't have their Mind of Machine echo, so they couldn't rig the vehicle without a real Control Rig implant.

[Sengir]

That's an extreme example.

Sure, but it shows the flaw clearer than others (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)