Long time since I posted here. Anyhoo, with SR4 out, I've decided to start a new game for my group. We're going to base it on Firefly in 2070. I've decided to give them a GMC Banshee as thier base/ship for smuggling around North America.

Anyone know where I can find stats (like the size and carrying capacity etc) for the Banshee? Its been a long while since I played SR (dropped it right after SR3) so I don't know if there are any books out there than can help etc.

Rigger 3 should have everything you need.

Thanks. Does the entry in Rigger 3 only have like CF stats or something more concrete?

I'm trying to figure how large they are and what could fit in them. I know they are nothing like a Firefly, but I figured they would have enough space for cargo and a few motorcycles. Maybe some hammocks strung up for the team while travelling. Trying to figure out what the vehicle looks like beyond the small pic that's been recycled since SR1.

The Banshee should have enough room for a....Firefly (Pontiac version). EDIT: And still have room for a team to stow their personal gear. Maybe even an ATV if they get creative with winches/strapping. I suspect that weight (both in terms of lift and balance) is likely to become a concern first before space.

Also since no aircraft in SR4 have sensor packages with them you might consider installing a "factory standard" sensor for them, which in SR3 was pretty nice. You need good sensors on a VTOL that'll outrun anything short of a fighter jet. I think ECCM was "standard" too, but that's just software now instead of hardware and only costs maybe 1,000 in SR4.

That's a pretty hefty piece of "incentive" for the team. My group has access to some pretty neat toys (which they often boast about), but nothing as big or expensive as an LAV. Must be one mean mission your boys are going on.

Well, the idea is that are a smuggler team, taking missions to ship or pickup various things etc. The Banshee itself is really just a plot device. Its supposed to be an older model (2050) that needs constant upkeep (at least middle lifestyle) that has light weapons.

I've pretty much told them that if they use it as a tank or extensively in combat, its going to be destroyed. I figure if you make a big stink with a decommissioned military vehicle, the actual military is going to scramble fighters to blow you to scrap.

If you've seen Firefly (the show) you'll see that they only use the main ship for escape or getting to where they are going, most of the adventure takes place offship.

Well, that's the idea anyway...we'll see if it falls on its face

This was the email sent to my group, I took a lot of liberties without knowing much about the Canon SR setting.

One player will be designated the Captain. He will be the owner of the
Tbird. He doesn't have to be the pilot, but he can be. (He can be Malcolm
Reynolds or he can be Han Solo )

The captain has assembled a smuggler team, that works out of the bird while
on runs. Much like Firefly, he is mainly doing this to keep the bird
running. The team will have to pay for maintenance for the bird on a
monthly basis. This will run from Middle Lifestyle 5k (minimum) to High
Lifestyle 10k for top running shape. The more months it runs on minimum,
the worse it will run.

The Tbird. It will be an older (2050) model GMC Banshee. Tbirds are Vector
thrust vehicles, called Panzers. They are very fast (fastest vehicle in the
corebook) with heavy armor. They are mainly used for fast assault/recon by
the military. They can fly pretty high, but usually hug the ground. While
fast, they are nothing compared to actual combat aircraft, in speed or
armaments. Their weapons are nothing compared to modern tanks either.

The Tbird will be free. This gives you a basic model bird. Any additions,
including weapons, will be up to you. Much like Serenity in the show/movie,
this vehicle is mainly used for travel, escape, avoiding capture. You can
use for combat in a pinch, but if you use it too much, you're just asking
for it to get destroyed.

Older model Tbirds have been sold to private buyers after they were
decommissioned from the various militaries. They are legal if you have the
right permits and licenses. Tbirds are even allowed small arms (up to the
Restricted level of weapons) for self-defense. Any forbidden level weapons
will get you arrested and the bird impounded. Much like aircraft, Tbirds
are not allowed in restricted zones, usually city areas. Bringing one there
is just asking for the local Metropolitan Guard to scramble fighters. The
major highways (outside the cities) have Tbird lanes for legal Tbirds, but
there are many checkpoints. Usually, smugglers don't use these routes.

Characters: You can play whatever you want. Try to keep in mind the
premise and try to make your character fit with the group. The Captain will
most likely hire each of you for a reason. This is loosely based on
Firefly, but you don't have to fit each of your characters to a specific
character from the show. It would be good idea to base contacts around the
smuggling biz, but you don't have to. You could be new to this or come from
a totally different background.

Give them a toy and tell them that if they use it, they lose it....

Okay, that's just cold.

Personally i would give them a strongly worded warning that if they mount weapon the military/police enforcement is likely to come down on them hard in that they'll be actively sought out. If they want to shoot while flying tell them some shiong-mung duh kwong-run will have to hang out the window with an Ares Predator.

EDIT: Though i suppose a well hidden turret (and therefore requiring smaller weapon) revealed very selectively could keep them from falling too far amuck. But that also means that it would be very hard for them to appear "legal" for active searches by authorities.

I like godboyimmaculate's description, which is how I set up a smuggler team based out of a Banshee.

Probably your biggest problem with this is that there isn't a lot of civilian air traffic, even in Shadowrun's future. That civilian transports were commonplace in Firefly was what allowed Serenity to mostly not be noticed.

Also, no guns. Guns do not belong on Serenity. In Serenity, yes. Not on.

Given the burden of having to pass through several borders if you use the ground, I see a lot of people exploiting the skies. Not to mention the significant amount of civil air traffic that supposedly exists in Seattle and big cities even though there's never been more than cursory offhand references to it.

I've always wondered if you could mount a light Railgun on the main turret of the Banshee. But I'm horrible at translating all the R3 stuff. Wadda ya ' think? Be a nice thing to aspire to. Plus as I understand, a railgun doesn't have much in the way of recoil.

so with a small turret, you can light a LRG? I though you'd have to have a larger turret than that. But either way, since it's the only thing it can carry, it's a bit of a one hit wonder eh? So it's really the province of tanks and ships then. Too bad, that seemed liek a appropriate add on, although I suppose one shot at a time would be pretty difficult for Air to Air combat, especially at LAV and jet speeds.

You have to have a Medium Turret, pop-up or otherwise, to mount a Light Railgun. A Banshee could, if it had no Firmpoints or Hardpoints used, mount a Medium Turret. However, a Banshee does have one Hardpoint used in the basic configuration. Because of this the Turret it has cannot be larger than a Small Turret, and a Small Turret cannot mount any type of Railgun.

A semi-automatic, kinetic kill weapon would be nearly useless for A-A combat, unless the projectile was fired at near light speed (which I doubt SR Railguns do because of their ranges). Instead you could mount dual Vigilant or Victory Autocannons on a Medium Turret, or one AC on a Pop-up Small Turret.

I suppose rules-wise, you would have to use the vehicles in movement basically, giving each say a +2-4 modifier for a single shot weapon at least, giving it around a +8 to hit, making a rigger dodging fire pretty easy. Where with a vigialant, you would compensate by using tracer fire on full auto (as if there was any other mode of fire for the autocannon).

Go with the Victory AC in a small pop-up turret. The Victory AC has enough punch to be useful in vehicle combat (which of course, you'll always try to avoid anyway), besides, anything minigun style is great fun to shoot.
If you have the nuyen and the opportunity then you should get something like APDS ammo for it. However, the most important issue here is that as it would be mounted in a pop-up turret you could say it's concealed and (might) survive a cursory (i.e exterior, visual or radar) examination.

I also love missiles too.

Cheers,

Max