I'm hoping that you guys may be able to help me out with this...

My GM has started the campaign by assigning a premade in the book to each pc as a number of us haven't played since SR2 or at all ever. I got the Technomancer, and it rox for the most part, but am I really defenseless in HotSim?

Not at all! You can resist damage from attack programs by rolling your Logic + Armor CF rating, and resist Black IC damage by rolling Willpower + Charisma. Also, you can help keep yourself from being attacked in the first place by making sure that you have high ratings for Exploit and Stealth: a high Stealth makes you harder to see, and a high Exploit gives IC fewer chances to see you before you get in. Finally, remember your greatest advantage over normal hackers: Threading. You can boost the rating of any program by Threading--just watch out for the stun damage inflicted by the Fading that results from all that effort. Make sure you have a high Resonance and Willpower in order to resist Fading, and bring along some Stim patches just in case. Once again, you'll need high ratings in the following attributes, CFs, and skills:

• Resonance
• Logic
• Willpower
• Charisma
• Armor
• Exploit
• Stealth
• Software (this is included in the Electronics skill group)

EDIT: Oh yeah, and sprites are your best friends. Make sure you're good at Tasking, too.

Stupid question... if a TM puts in a Pain Editor, can they stay online even when they fill up their Stun bar?

Hmmm, my guess would be "yes," although I can't see a TM would want to give up some of his precious Essence and a buttload of cash for something like that.

When I played a TM, in cybercombat I was sure to Thread my Stealth and hide while Compiling a Fault Sprite and Summoning Registered Fault Sprites that I already had. The Sample TM in the book can spend a few days meditating to get a max of 3 Sprites ready to jump from nowhere to attack and defend, plus one more can be Compiled.
And get yourself a good Medkit, it'll take a combat turn because you have to act at meat speeds, but you can get 11 dice (more with Edge) to heal any damage that you have taken. And don't be afraid to pop a little Psyche, that gives you +1 Logic (System) and +1 Intuition (Response, helps you avoid damage), and Cram or Jazz if you want an extra IP.
TMs are actually really effective in Hot Sim, they get +1 Intuition and +2 on all actions. Also keep near your other teammates, the Mage should be able to heal your physical damage and anyone should be able to use a medkit to heal you.

Sorry guys, Should have been a little more clear...I meant is "my meat" defenseless in HotSim? The only option I see is to choose to act in Physical on a pass which involves a -6 penalty or something similar.

Yeah, everybody's Meat Bod is totally vulnerable if they're meshed. There's no way around that, just like there's no way around a Mage's body going limp when he projects.
The TM that I played was Infirm and in a Hoverchair, we used the stats from the Dodge Scoot. Then I piled armor on him, balistic shield and all, since he didn't have much Reaction or Agility or use for them if he did. And he would have been blown up several times by grenades while he was meshed if it wasn't for all that Armor.

The TMs are actually remarkably safe ageinst Blackout. As soon as they loose conciousness they are dumped. Now, this is a nasty bit of damage from dumpshock, but they wouldn't have time to trace it and you are out o the matrix. Unfortunatly agienst Black hammer its deeper shit. Lets say you get down to 0 health boxes left. You pass out and take another 5 physical damage. Thou art screwed.

Fangirl: I'm thinking in terms of "if you're gonna blow a point anyways", same as a mage that grabs chrome up to 1 ess.

Other than cybereyes or ears (which can have their functions replaced by non-invasive gear), I'm thinking Pain Editor, Cerebral Booster, Platelet Factories, Sleep Regulator (although you'd need some alpha in there to stay under 1 ess). Synaptic Booster, while great for AR and general meatspace, just costs too much in everything.

Now, I haven't looked through the TM "jack out" rules much; is there anything seriously Bad about not being dumped off the system when normal attacks or Blackout fill your stun track? As in, you're more likely to just sit there and die?

when your stun track is full, your icon/living persona crashes iirc. thus, you immediately jack out and experience dumpshock.

on the plus side, you aren't around to get killed anymore.

So, while a pain editor allows you to ignore the penalties from stun damage, you still get dumped out when your stun track is full despite retaining consciousness?

If it works the way Jaid says (don't have my BBB handy), then yes, I'd say you get dumped. Your Icon is so badly disrupted that you can't properly interact with the system anymore.

However, you CAN get up and keep moving, despite having taken a serious boot to the head online. Good thing, too... it keeps your teammates from having to carry you while there are alarms going off.

I can't believe it was the intent of the rules, but i can see a pain editor working this way very well .

works even better for the mage. Heal spell for overcasting, pain editor for regular casting.
Cerebral booster is another great one even better for those dwarf hermetics.