Initiative for Drones?, It *has* to be here somewhere... Options

[Orient]

Are there any initiative rules given for drones that are acting independently of riggers? I don't mean any sort of drone with a robot's Adaptation Pool, just the ones with good ol' Pilot Ratings.

Example - I set up a couple of Ares Arms Sentry II drones while on an overnight camping trip, possibly using the PreProgrammed Drone Commands from R3. "Fire at anything bigger than a cat that approaches within 150m," I tell them. My Cyberassassin-B-Gone remote deck blinks away merrily as I go to sleep.

What sort of initiative would they generate? They certainly shouldn't be using my initiative while I'm asleep, should they? And if they can't generate an initiative score at all without being robots (ew... expensive!) isn't that a pretty massive step backwards from previous Sentry Gun systems?

[KosherPickle]

[booklord]

If it operates independently then its a robot.
( Robots actually start cheap then get really expensive )
( 50 design for level 1)
( 400 design for level 2)
( 1350 design for level 3)
( 3200 design for level 4)
( 6250 design for level 5)
(etc.)

Look up Robot Rules on page 44 of Rigger 3.

Reaction = pilot x 2 +1d6

Then add Robotic Reflexes as desired as described on pg 121 and pg 44 of Rigger 3

initiative dice may be increased up to 4d6

----------------------

For the drone gun you describe I'd give it.......

Pilot 2 ( It isn't that smart, but the Ares monorail gun has pilot 3 )
Sharpshooter Autosoft 2 ( Max with that pilot )
Robotic Reflexes ( you decide 1 - 3 How evil are you? )
Sensors 2

That would give the robot gun:

reaction : 4
initiative : 4 + (1d6 up to 4d6)
Effective Gunnery skill : 4
Adaption pool : 2 ( To be used for one gunnery test per turn since )

Remember the gun uses sensor enhanced gunnery rules and modifiers as presented in the Shadowrun Rulebook.

[Zeel De Mort]

Yeah, I couldn't find a rule for it but d6 + Pilot rating sounds good. Even if the Rigger was awake and controling them in Captain's Chair mode they wouldn't get the benefit of his VCR, so their initiative would only be around d6+6 or whatever there, and it should be worse if anything when they're on their own.

Although I would say, where appropriate, if you've given them specific instructions that they manage to comprehend, they could be treated as having a held action. This doesn't help much for things like "Wait here and shoot anything that comes through that doorway", since the drone has to spend a complex action getting a sensor lock, then another one firing... But it would be useful in some situations I'm sure.

[Catsnightmare]

Well going back to 2nd Edition the Sentry 1's had a base initiative of 15+1d6. With cash you make them faster in an ugly way, up to 25+2d6. Also had the built in equivalent of a Firearms skill of 5.

See page 46 of Fields of Fire for m ore details.

[Orient]

Robotic-Pilot is only 50 points for level 1? Why didn't I notice that? That's only :nuyen: 5,000 - certainly won't break the bank. I was under the impression that Robot Pilots were really hard to come by.

Homeowner: "Can this new security system you're selling me keep people out when I'm not paying attention?"
Salesman: *laugh* "Oh, Mr. Williamson... to do *that* you'd need to spend a few hundred thousand more..."

I do have the Fields of Fire rules - I was just trying to figure out how to translate the Sentry's initiative of 15+1D6 (or more) in 2nd Ed to 3rd Ed, where it has no initiative whatsoever.

And here I was going to put together a complex rules-set for DIY Robot-Pilots involving microcomputers and Agents...

[Random Voices]

[Catsnightmare]

Well according to what I've read, drones act on the Rigger's initiative and can not generate their own initiative, so I guess if given commands and left on the network, they would act on whatever the initiative the rigger roled when he issued the command. Though that raises the question of if you can run a network in captain's chair mode while you're asleep.

However since technically the Sentry II system is made to stand on it's own, and since previous models (Sentry I) were robots (which according to 3rd edition rules robots are capable of generating their own initiative, base = twice the Pilot Rating +1d6) indicating the 'new and improved' Sentry II is still a robot but with the added feature of rigger adaptation and integration. So the Sentry II's should be able to watch your ass while you're asleep, having an out of the box initiative of 8+1d6.

[Tiralee]

I've used the Sentry Gun (Ares 1) from the Fields of Fire, and thought it quite effective, if viciously expensive. I mean, you load it up with various sensors, and it ends up with an INT of 9, and a Firearms (sentrygun) of 8.

Pity the sensor range is so bloody short, but I jury-dm'ed it that if it was plugged into an active sensor network, I could "borrow" that range, abet with limitations.

Of course, it's fitted with a caseless HVAR, so no matter what, it's gonna stop whatever beastie that jumps up. (2400 rounds are a lot of ammo.)

Costly, but it seemed to make a little more sense, as a specialised "Drone-robot" then the other sentry type. Hell, fit it into the Steel Lynx. Instant god-dammed war-machine.

Oh, the max Initiative was a fragging henious 25 + 2D6.

(Not many "Six Billion Nuyen Sams" are that fast. Pity the friendly locals.)

+1 int and +1 firearms skill with every integrated sensor (Low-light, ultrasound, etc)
And another :nuyen: 5K if you wanted this thing to shoot the moon.(+1 for firearms skill = 5000)

In all, for about 60 grand, this thing would blow holes through lots of multiple targets (Ever seen someone try to evade an INT of 9? No rule of one needed there...)

BTW - the LMG ranges were so...pitiful, I decided on the HVAR. Plus it's already Smartlinked....

[Kurukami]

[Link]

On the issue of drone gunnery, while I recall SR3 says drones use sensor enhanced gunnery, can drones use manual gunnery?

For targets without a signature? For targets with a signature?

What about robots?

[BitBasher]

It is stated that all pilot programs can only used sensor enhanced gunnery...

And everything has a signature for gunnery purposes.