Autonomous turrets?, Scary? Want one? Needs work? Options

[Da9iel]

I was thinking about the "how do I fire more than one weapon per action" problem when I thought of installing a drone pilot and a sharpshooter program in a micro-turret.

Approach A
Build a body 1 walker drone with a firmpoint and an LMG (or other weapon). The drone latches (or is bolted) onto a vehicle. The whole drone acts as the turret.

Questions:
How many adaptation pool dice can a robot throw into a task? Equal to its pilot rating? If so, a drone pilot with a sharpshooter 'soft would more bang for the buck.

How much does the walker weigh before the addition of options?

Could I use FDDM and a target designator or another vehicle or drone with sensors if I want to skip installing sensors? (FDDM does allow firing without a sensor lock, doesn't it?) "Hey guys! Look at the sissy with the laser sight! Good thing we all have fancy smartlinks!" "Uh, Dave. That's not a laser sight."

Could I skip the powerplant if I am going to hardwire it to a vehicle electrical system (like any other turret)? How much weight would this save?

Approach B
Install a drone pilot, autosoft interpreter, and sharpshooter 'soft in a micro-turret (for man portability or a larger turret for vehicle mounting). I would be more limited in what I could mount on a micro turret, but it might be a weight savings. I'd need to rigger adapt the turret. (It's already remote controlled.) I'd also want to add the FDDM. So far we're up to 20kg on the micro before the weapon and ammo. The weight isn't too atrocious. However, a rating 5 drone pilot is 20 times more expensive when purchased aftermarket! I'd need to get down to rating 3 before it's a more reasonable 4 times more expensive. This comparison is with the lovely .25 design factor for a small walker. I'd better add the software in the design phase.

I was even thinking some fool could carry some of these around on his person, but if he was a rigger, walking around would be difficult. He'd need to use the robot pilot. He could give them commands through a data jack.

Does cyberware have enough juice to move a turret (or small drone)?

Am I crazy? I figure a guy could end up with a death machines mounted to his car (or cyberarms?) for a little over 200,000 :nuyen: apiece. That's including toys like Multi-Object Manipulation, the Improved Neural Network Algorithms, recoil, robot-reflexes, and IVIS. They'd have a "skill" of 5 with 10 adaption pool, 6+ IVIS pool, and 10+4d6 initiative. If they were vehicle mounted with option A you could armor the crap out of them (depending on weapon and ammo weight). With option B they'd be covered by vehicle armor. It's like a best friend with a big gun who never gets insulted or complains. (But it costs even more.) Yes, I realize that I should never allow my players to have these, but I think they'd look cool on a patrol vehicle. Once again I ask you, am I crazy?

[Botch]

Why aren't you using a sentry gun?

[Da9iel]

I don't know where to look.

[Da9iel]

It's not a waste of time if I had fun? :(

How heavy are sentry guns? 29kg or less?

[Botch]

Fields of Fire.

A decent sensor array = about 12INT for the gun = massive psuedo-combatpool
Initiative can get upto 25+4D6
Can be linked to emaps for lowered TN#'s

The sentrygun "brains" are fitted to a sensor arrary and gun of choice.

Weight for total system is not much more than the type of gun wanted fitted with a tripodmount. Easily meta-human portable. Also check the thread for linking a sentrygun target system to skillwires.

Edited for more info


This post has been edited by Botch: Sep 30 2004, 09:43 AM

[Da9iel]

Dang. Older edition. Can't use it.

[Botch]

??

[Da9iel]

I looked it up. It said primarily useful with 2nd edition. I'm in/co-running an all 3rd campaign. :(

[Edward]

I have considered installing in a riggers primary vehicle 4 micro turrets and 3 extra pilot program modules with auto soft interpretation. They should be able to use the same sensors as the rest of the vehicle but would need there own gunnery and clear sight programs. Each active drone pilot could control ether 1 gun or the vehicle itself and would count as a drone on your RCD. You chew threw eth slots on your RCD but having 4 arys alfas firing on targets you designate while you just drive is usfull.

Unfortunately I don’t thinkit works by canon.

Mounting turrets on your cyber is out although there are some implants that come close.
If you want a rigged century gun and don’t want to use a century gun use the smallest trailer chacy available and add a few batteries as the power supply. Add all the usual refinements (sensors, pilot, auto soft, micro turrets, weapon of your choice). Now what you have is a movable but not self propelled guard station.

Edward

[Da9iel]

I wouldn't be saving much :nuyen: compared to the price of the software.

[Rock-Steady]

[Da9iel]

I don't have the German version. What chapter and section is it in? I don't think it's in the English version but I'll keep looking.

[DarkShade]

"automatic Gun systems" page 236 english version SR3.. however no prices are listed.. you would of coruse need the " smart" variety

DS

[Da9iel]

Oops. There it is. :oops: No price. No weight. No availability. That figures.
[EDIT]No body. No armor. No way to take them out.[/EDIT]

This post has been edited by Da9iel: Sep 30 2004, 11:00 AM

[Botch]

So, use the sentry gun from fields of fire. If no new stats were given in SR3, default to the nearest canon similarity, ie FoF.

[Zenmaxer]

Actually... there is already suitable cyberware. The Articulated gun mount or even the tracking mount work beautifully for this, just plug the drone brain into a data jack and router in cyber eye feed... you might also force the player to directly connect the mounts to the router, or you may hold that it is not needed if you are using a datajack as a router. If I remember correctly, there is even already potential canonical support for such a system in the text and rules for the mounts. My first cyborg ninja style adept mounted two with LMGs... managed to get them almost completely recoil comped for FA, both of them, then applied ruthenium. Note that it is stated that you can gyro mount weapons to the gun arms.

[BitBasher]

sentry guns have 12 points fo hardened armor anyway, there's no good way to take them out before they kill you regardless, unless you know they are there.

[Kagetenshi]

Quick Strike and APDS ammo. Otherwise, yeah.

~J

[BitBasher]

Actually I think it's a drone and hence vehicular, meaning APDS does nothing but waste cash. I could be wrong though.

[Hasaku]

This is reminding me of that merc character someone mentioned a while back. His off-arm was a cyberarm that was really a drone, and it simply fired at whatever his primary targeted. Dual weapons without the penalties.

[spotlite]

And there's always the favorite of a tac'puter hardwired into your reflexes. You still only get one set of shooting per action, but you could probably go to sleep if you wanted to...

Not canon, but fun!

[Link]

The Ares Sentry 2 is in Rigger 3, in the vehicle lists.