Hi here. First post.

I'm pretty new to GMing Shadowrun, though I've spent some years Gming other games and shadowrunning since the second edition. Still wrapping my head around the fourth edition, though.

One of my players wishes to play a technomancer with an expertise in drones. That raises a couple of interesting questions which I beg you to answer...

1) it is said that a technomancer can not "load" any program that have a Pilot rating, like an agent or a drone ("That's what the Sprites are for", as they say in the book). That means that the Techno cannot "subscribe" a drone, right?

2) and if it's so, the Techno cannot issue commands to the drone, since he's not its user, right?

3) any means a Techo can "jump into" a vehicle or a drone without it being subscribed to him?

4) once a Sprite is inside a drone, actually using it as a shell with the ad-hoc power, are the drone stats any use, or every used rating, from its firewall to its response, is the sprite's?

The main problem I have with the techno-rigger is his efficiency. A rigger can issue commands to his drone, and the Pilot rating try its best to do it, while the rigger may do something else (eg rigging another drone). A techo may compile ONE sprite at the time, and as I understand it cannot "jump into" a drone or a car. Even when ressorting to massive Sprite registering, a Techo seems a bit unsuited to rigging jobs.

But I love challenges, and the character is promising. Any help? How do I make it more efficient?

Oh, and: is Command rating good for anything else than teleoperating drone in cold or AR on delicate tasks, as stated on p. 220? It's said that a rigger rigging a drone in hot use his own stats and skills - how about making it Command+Piloting skill?

You compile a Machine Sprite to run the drone or have the command complex form. what they meant by that, upon readng, is that you can't make an IC/Agent/Pilot as a complex form not that you cannot subscribe them like a normal commlink as a device.

If so, can a technomancer with a pair of shades use a smartlink with his self-generated PAN? Can he use a skinlink, and do he ever needs so?

I imagine if he had a set of skinlink enabled trodes and skinlink equipped gear, then sure.
Wireless stuff i think is no problem.

As long as dealing with wireless, the technomancer could pick up signals from any device and control that device as if he had a commlink, and see as if he had the commlink plugged into a datajack. So smartlink could be used without the shades, even.

but the smartlink requires additional hardware/software in the display, so one could conlcude that a technomancer would infact need the shades.

I momentarily entertained the notion of a smartlink complex form, but then I thought better of it.

Well, it might be construed as an Agent, but the system doesn't cost enough to be considered as such.
i could definitely see an arguement for a complex form to mimic that ability.

But the tech needs to be there in the first place. The glasses (or contacts, or cybereyes, etc) are necessary tech that makes up the Smartlink as a whole. The Technomancer's gun would also need the proper hardware installed.

well, the display link. the cyberware provides the space for the processing power. as a living commlink, you theoretically have excess processing power at times.

the image link is obviated by cybereyes while the smartlink is not. So you would maintain that the smartlink is obviated by cybereyes and a commlink?

The technomancer has access to AR without imagelink.

But that still doesn't give him access to Smartlink tech without all the appropriate parts.

right, the technomancer sees in AR normally, so no need for image link. with a complex form (which uses up chargen resources) to handle the processing of the ballistics, etc. they might be able to meet an approximation of a SL system, though I'd require at least a rating three form (base system level of many items aka, average, good guesstimate)

I am aware. I ask my questions as a parallel to the technomancer. If the technomancer can use a smartlink-equipped firearm and obtain the +2 dice pool with no further investment, it follows that any individual with an image link and a commlink can do the same. I was not aware that this was the case, I was under the (mistaken?) impression that the smartlink enhancement to optics was something other than an imagelink and processing power.

edit: dang you all are fast

the ballistics engine. As they can install a smartlink system (the cyber portion) into contact lenses, I imagine it's no stretch to have the actual processing in the commlink and still need some method for display.

The only time a Technomancer wouldnt need the Eye portion of a smartgun link or image link is when they are full VR, subscribed to the gun, and taking the -4 dice pool for not using the RAS Override as they aim it.

Where exactly does it say they get anything other than a commlink with Hot Sim sim-module for being a Technomancer?

Machine Sprites act like riggers for the drones. These are among some of the most useful to compile because now you have a rigger after you and a torqued off hacker, both of which are attack in a very co-ordinated manner.

As far as I understand it (and I may well be wrong) a Smart-System consists of three parts:

1. SmartGun - I guess there is no discussion wether a Techno would need this ...

2. SmartLink - weeeeelll .. I think that is what calculates you line of sight and the data of the gun together .. forming that little, itchy cross in your field of view

3. ImageLink - IMHO: Technos can see AR and VR without - they dont need this.

So Technos would need a SmartGun and a kind of SmartLink - as GM I am not going to allow a complex form "smart link" but insted are throwing those technos overboard and let them use normal SmartLink-equipped Glasses or contact lenses or whatever (I dont bother 'bought the imagelink though)

I've been flipping throught the book and I can't find any clear reference of Techno being able to access AR, thought it's pretty much taken for granted in several chapters (the bits about technos having natural equivalent to sim rigs, being able to access VR and "seeing the waves of data around them" of whatever).

Does a sim module allow for AR by overprinting AR infos on the top of normal vision without shutting the later down, without the need for visual interface thingee like lenses or shades - I.E. does a sim module can be used as an image link? If not, why? It seems sensible to say it can, since the sim module can reproduce full sensory immersion experiences, and what can do more can do less...

If so, the bit about technos being people with built-in commlink with sim module means they can access AR naturally, without any device. And if so, I don't find it unreasonnable to allow them to use a smartgun-enhanced pistol with their own PAN... if the smartlink is nothing more than a piece of software adding a dot where your barrel is pointing to.

And, putting the smartlink aside for a moment, does anybody here have something more to say about rigging with resonnance or techno issuing command to drones and agents? Being without evidence from the BBB on the case, I'm a bit fuzzy about that...

[confession]I am now officially persuaded that technomancers need the same hardware anybody else does in order for them to use smartlink.[/confession]

I still stand by my interpretation of the techno´s abilities, but the bit about calculating the angle of vision related to the angle of the gun got to me. That and the fact that smartlinks specificly work by projecting a dot on the retina. Even though techno´s can experience AR they do not project virtual stuff on their retina the way I see it.

That's AR. Remember Simsense Vertigo, the SL is a limited simsense rig, sur ethe tech is smaller now, it's still a simsense rig reading your body position, the gun position, the target position, etc.
The projecting of the dot is perceivable because they do experience AR. So long as they spend the resources to mimic the ability, I don't see a problem with them doing this.

There's the problem: Sim Rig != Sim Module

Not that SR4 actually uses that kind of explanation to Smartlink anymore.

or, just make them but some contacts with display link and the smartlink and leave it at that. the other way just seems better to me, as it's still a program running, which means it limits what else they can run before suffering degredation.

Allowing a Smartlink Complex form is a CoW - it would make Smartlink Programs viable.

but as has been stated, if there is nothing to a smartlink other than an image link, trajectory calculating software and firearm hardware, it necessarilly follows that there should be Smartlink Programs.

(I might be misreading what you are implying, I'm not entirely certain what CoW means, I'm just replying based on context clues.)

Well, for that to work for a non-technomancer, you'd still need a basic Simsense Rig (overkill for a SL). So you'd still pay more in essence and money that route. TM's wouldn't need the rig because they, according to fluff text are a rig.

No.
They aren't.

The have an 'organic' Commlink and a Sim Module.

No Sim Rig.

My mistake. A sim rig is a jumped up trode net.

However a sim module would still be overkill for the limited simsense feeds necessary for a smartgun link. in sr3, if you had the simsense recording ware, you could run your smartlink simsense rig off of that to conserve essence. same deal here, the module acts as a simsense recorder and interpreter (ASSIST interface) and thus could easily translate body position and what not to a Smart link complex form.

No, a Sim Module can't record anything - thats what a Sim Rig is for.

But the organic one that Technomancers must be able to or they'd never be able to interact with the matrix, because they'd have no way to record their actions into the matrix feeds.

Ah, I think I may have found the foil to my portion of the above arguement.

Something that has confused me has been the interaction of image links, sim modules and AR. As best I can tell, I can interpet the rules several different ways:

1. Sim modules have nothing to do with AR... they are for VR only. For AR you need image links (or goggles/shades/contacts).

2. VR is sim module only. For AR you can use EITHER an image link or a sim module. In this case the sim module is using the "partial simsense feed" technology they talk about in several places to only overlay a portion of your normal sensory input).

Any ideas?

Pel

Actually, it is quite like 2... so you don't want to use a Sim Module to experience AR in a Spam Zone.