Hello everyone,

I have some questions and/or rules clarifications about an Adept/Rigger build I'm working on if you would mind answering.
(I Know some of the issues I have are answered in the rules its mostly the difference of RAW, Rules as Intended, and Rules as Interpreted that I need help with).
Also I'm working mostly off of memory for base character creation my books are currently being loaned out (I'll check math on everything later).


I'm trying to build him with the least amount of cyber possible to take advantage of adept powers (and to have more BP to use for Attribues and Skills) so please keep that in mind.


1) Does a Rigger actually require the Control Rig to be effective?

2) Is Electronics Warfare is the only Computer/Electronics skill needed by the Rigger?

3) Is the Artisans Way worth taking for a build like this?

4) Other than Improved Reflexes (which I know most people say is too expensive Magic Point wise) and Improved Ability to boost piloting skills, what other Adept powers should I consider?

5) Is there any cyberware that I should take a look at for is type of build that the bonuses outweigh the Essence and Magic Point loss?

6) Other than the needed Adept positive quality, what other positive qualities should I be considering besides Aptitude, Exceptional Attribute


Thanks in advance

It's 2 points of free dice to almost everything, assuming you jack in. If you rig via Command, then it's not needed.



Depends. If you plan on fending off potential hackers by yourself, you'll need more. It can, however, be outsourced to agents.



Personally, I prefer Magician's Way, with Mystic Adept obviously. The "Analyze Device" spell is very powerful for a rigger, while Fix and Recharge are useful in the field.



Heightened Concentration. With a magic rating of >=6, you can offset the DP penalty for meatspace actions while VR rigging. Also note that Gunnery is technically a vehicle skill, so it costs 0.25 per rating instead of 0.5 for combat skills.



Math SPU for the bonus to Encrypt, Nanohive (in a cyberfoot) for various rigger related bonuses and PuSHed for some technical skills.



Mystic Adept might be worth it (see above). Codeslinger (Control Device) is good if you rig via Command, while More than Metahuman is handy for jacked in riggers. Restricted Gear can net you some nice goodies for the start, while Biocompatibility(Cyberware) can help you minimize magic loss. Perceptive is also nice.

No. It's a very nice +2 bonus, but it's not required.


Hardware and Software are very useful for modifying, programming, and repairing your vehicle(s) and drone(s).


If you want to go strongly into the Build/Repair side of being a Rigger? Sure!


Multitasking. Observe In Detail as a free action, two extra free actions per turn out of combat, and the general fluff of "being able to watch multiple screens at once".

Enhanced Perception. Works for Matrix perception tests, too - like, say, using the sensors on a drone.

Maybe Sustenance, to get more working hours out of each day.


Instead of getting Improved Reflexes, consider burnign one point of essence on augments. Control Rig and Synaptic Booster 1, for example, could be a very powerful combination.


Gearhead (especially if you think most of your vehicles will fall under a single classification). 5 or 15BP, RC.

Jury Rigger (especially the bit that lets you temporarily boost the sensors or handling of a vehicle or drone by +1). 5BP, RC.

More than Metahuman (jump in or out of any Rigger-qualified device as a Free Action). 5BP, Unwired.

Perceptive (more perception dice are always helpful - especially the kind that work through Drones). 5 or 10 BP, RC.

1) If you plan on jumping in, then yes, you should have it. .5 Essence for +2 to all vehicle skills is totally worth it. Do you require it to be "effective?" Of course not. Also, you don't have to be a jumped-in rigger; Command rigging is also perfectly effective and has some advantages. However, any adept who isn't barred from taking ware from something like being a Pixie is always mechanically better off with 'ware, just what 'ware varies.

2) No. As a rigger, you really, really need a way to defend your drones from getting pwnzored by hackers. Probably the bare minimum would be Computer (used for Matrix Perception, so you can see people who break into your drones) and Electronic Warfare. That said, there's enough overlap in the things you need with hacking that investing in Hacking 4 and Data Search 1 is almost certainly worth it.

3) Yes. It's 10 BP and it doesn't take long for it to add up to more than 1 PP of savings. Right at chargen, for this character type, it won't, but it pays for itself.

4) What exactly are you trying to do? I'm not sure you want Improved Reflexes rather than doing stuff from hot-sim VR. Multi-tasking is useful (Observe in Detail as a free action is useful). Enhanced Perception is useful. Heightened Concentration may or may not be useful depending on how your GM thinks it works. If you are concerned about being able to do stuff when you can't be in VR, Rush [WAR!] is a good cut-rate alternative to Improved Reflexes. In general though, Improved Ability is the core of what makes an adept-rigger good so you should definitely be focused on that, yes.

5) Control Rig if you plan on jumped-in rigging. Reflex Recorder is dramatically more efficient than Improved Ability, but capped at 1; you still want them. PuSHeD is pro. Attention Coprocessor is pro. A partial cyberlimb with a Nanohive and Control Rig Boosters (possibly you might want some other nanite types as well; NeoCortical may have useful synergy) is a good deal if you plan on jumping in, and again way more efficient than Improved Ability for the skills it works on. I'm not a big fan of Simsense Booster (you can get 4 IPs without it, and I don't think it's really worth the expense for a 5th) but it's worth mentioning.

6) Aptitude and Exceptional Attribute are both not really worth it for 90% of characters; you end up overpaying for a marginal boost. I'd stick with Adept, a Way, and Codeslinger (Control Device) if you are a command rigger.

1. Not required anymore, but for a litttle bit of cyber you get a +2 to all your piloting and gunnery skills (and only those skills) while rigging.

2. Up front, as a rigger you really do want the entire electronics group... you'll make heavy use of computer & hardware... software and data search are well worth the skill group bargain bonus. (you can craft some very high program rating stuff in your spare time if you're good at software).

Like said before, can be outsourced to a good agent program... Ewar is the most useful. followed by hacking, and then cybercombat. (without cybercombat you can't really fight your way out of a paper bag if a hacker makes it into your node... and no you just can't disconnect him without causing chaos in your drone network (you slaved all your drones to your central commlink right... that's what i thought!). Especially if the hacker took time to slip in a virus that say causes your drones to shutdown or attack the nearest lonestar/knight errant vehicle as soon as you disconnect. (just because a decker can't issue commands to a drone while it's being rigged.. does not mean he can't do things like edit the target priority table and other system files... for use once you stop rigging... which will probably happen shortly after cybercombat starts!).

Also under the current system... in many cases especially if you need to travel... your better off stealing drones to use then toss rather than try to smuggle your own everywhere. Hacking skills are how you steal those puppies.

So I'd recommend the cracking group even on a rigger. since riggers are still deckers in the current system. (I rather like the convergence of skill sets, others don't). This also gives you more room to expand upon after you run out of powers to enhance your rigging... you can expand into hacking adept....

I'm not saying DON"T get the agent... agent is priceless sidekick! Nice to have something attached to your persona actively running analyze all the time in all the nodes your icon is present in for example!

3. Don't recall the details of the various ways off the top of my head... nice but not really necessary... there might be some logic to going the burnout's path! (10% essence reduction on cyber & bio IIRC? please correct if wrong...).

4. I have no idea where heightened concentration is coming from... book/page please. (really I double checked SR4a, street magic, war, unwired... didn't see anything related to this, especially for ignoring VR penalty to meatspace perception checks.)

You're a rigger... you only need increase reflexes if you're decking in AR, not in VR. If you're only using AR... then things like a rigger module and other VR/rigging specific enhancements don't apply. That said... if working in AR there are other ways to go about it. Metamagic 'item attunement'- AR Gloves for example (you have to mechanically interact with the item you attune to get the bonus... so don't do it to your commlink since it's always a complex action to use your commlink like a smartphone). Similarly... there's something to be said for an old school 'get away driver' type rigger... hell a lot of buildings if a troll can fit... so can your souped up combat bike!. But if you are building a combat biker VR rigger... you could also attune the bike.

I HIGHLY recommend multi-tasking... allows you to watch sensor feeds from all your drones at once... without penalty!. Things like perception become free action to observe in detail... you're never counted as distracted (-3 penalty) on perception checks... plus you get an extra free action each pass provided you're not in combat.

Another is analytics... breaking encryption is really important to jacking drones or busting into other riggers nodes as well as protecting your own. (that one should give a nice bonus to your ewar + encryption tests.

Nimble fingers at rank 1 for an AR adept.

Sustenance is nice... though can have it's sleep functions duplicated with a sleep regulator. Great for a character who always burns say 4-5 hours a night instead of sleeping working on things. (like fixing drones/coding and patching software).

Eidetic sense memory: PERFECT memory... never write down your passcodes in a file etc... instantly memorize anything you see. You can photo speed read as well...

For .25pp, I think linguistics is a great buy... especially if you have the logic to back it up... on a highly perceptive rigger with tons of camera feeds... you do want to know what the other guy is saying without needing to load up a linguasoft all the time. (assuming you even have the right linguasoft available).


The power in War which allows you to substitute logic for agility for making skill tests in meat space...

All the powers related to giving bonuses to perception checks. Especially if you have multitasking... did you know there was an ant trying to sneak past your drone?!

Mystic adept is a nice extra... but is not necessary and requires a lot more resources you really don't have (low force power & sustaining focus...). Some spells such as 'analyze' are traps... you need to beat object resistance first... since that's most likely OR5+ for any drone... forget it... that means you need to cast at force 7+ (and would require a sustaining focus of rediculously high force on a non-optomized for casting mystic adept!!!). Some spells such as 'fix' (heal for drones...) are cute... but ultimately self defeating. Also allows you to offload meatspace IP boosters to spells... the classic 'increase reflexes' cast into a sustaining focus. Or boost your mental attributes like wilpower if you're going full VR by casting an increase attribute spell.

5. Math SPU, PUSHed, mental attribute enhancements, Cerebral booster, encephalon (your mechanics skills are logic linked, as is ewar and many others). All the ones which give +1 or 2 to logic linked skills... cyberlimb or half cyberlimb for the free capacity... (you can stuff a nanohive in it as well as an embedded commlink + simrig). Also you can make a full arm with agility 9 out the gate... for use with one handed weapons like pistols and SMGs.

6. Perceptive (5 or 10 point quality which gives +1 per rank to assensing, perception, AND matrix perception; well worth taking at rating 1... if your GM will let you spend 10karma later to increase it to +2).
Codeslinger... More than Metahuman (free action to jump into/out of a drone... pair with multitasking and you can hop into a new drone each IP and issue it two simple actions each).

A fun 5pt negative quality... ESPECIALLY for an AR hacker is 'reality impaired' -1 on social tests outside the matrix because you have trouble discerning virtual from real.

Digital Grimoire, pg 18 or the new print of Street Magic (which contains all content from Digital Grimoire).

Thanks for the source elfenleid.

I see how that could be extremely useful. I don't know about the acting in meat bit... I have 1 meat pass... yet I'm in hot sim with all the goodies for 5 passes... so I can act in meat 5 times at a -6 penalty?!


But yeah, I think it would be fairly non-controversial to have it ignore a single distraction penalty like the full VR penalty to perception checks while. But I think saying you can use meat actions while you're in matrix IP's is probably a step too far. (personal opinion there). There is a technomancer only echo path to allow you to do just that which involves the technomancer version of multitasking IIRC.

Yeah, there's no way it lets you use VR IPs in meatspace. It would let you do something like use 1 IP in meatspace, then the rest in VR, though. But really, that's not it's best or only use; it's a very flexible ability that can help you do a lot of things...depending on how your GM thinks it works.

The reason I always add that qualifier is that significant number of people think it works like this: you take a Complex Action to set it to "negate Penalty X on upcoming action Y," then you do action Y, then you have to spend another Complex Action if you want to do anything with it, including negate the penalty for doing action Y again. This is not worth 1 PP for most people.

I think you spend a Complex Action to set it to negate Penalty X (example: "Called Shot Penalties" or "Wound Modifier,") and then it continues negating Penalty X on anything you do until you spend another complex action to reset it. This is worth 1 PP.

Sidenote: The other point of contention, while not relevant for rigging, is whether the sustaining penalty is one penalty equal to -2 per spell, or one penalty per spell, each a -2 (ie, if you have Magic 4, can you HC away the penalty for two spells at once)

Umaro... yeah I remember those threads now... I had forgotten about the grimoire. It's been a while since those rules got hashed out. Probably irrelevant to the OP as well, since I doubt the GM is allowing him to use Digital Grimoire.


Though just double checked the grimoire now... the path of the burnout... not sure if the quality is in addition to or replaces the biocompatibility quality... it might be interesting if you could get a 20% essence reduction from burnout + biocompatibility cyber... then toss that towards an alpha grade encephalon/cyber... toss in adapsin... and you're up to 50% essence reduction on cyber... pair that with the 50% on bio if it's less than cyber and you can pack a scary amount of 'ware into 1-3 essence.

Burnout's Way, "...they are treated as having the Biocompatability Quality." It essentially replaces it (but also does some other stuff to you).

Thanks for all the Info, as soon as I get my books back I'll definitely play around with some of those suggestions.

I dunno. Control Rig Booster nanites are nto compatible with the simsense accelerator commlink modification (which gives +1 IP when in hot sim, and yes, CAN allow you to hit 5 entire IPs).

That one's in Unwired.

You're getting that mixed up with the similarly named simsense booster head ware from augmentation, which is IMO not worth it for an adept rigger.

A 5th IP is ALWAYS worth it.

No, I'm not:

Simsense Accelerator
 This state-of-the-art mod increases the speed at which simsense
signals are transmitted between the commlink and a persona controlled
via hot-sim VR. It increases a VR-using character’s Matrix
Initiative Passes by 1. It does not boost Matrix Initiative in cold-sim
VR or AR. It is compatible with simsense booster cyberware (so a
hacker in hot sim with a simsense accelerator and simsense booster
cyberware has 5 Initiative Passes). Initiative Passes; this is an exception
to the rule that normally limits IPs to 4).

(Unwired p198)

An Accelerator and a Booster together makes for 5 IPs in Hot VR.

Yes, But the Nanites will not work with the Booster (it is brainware), they have absolutely no issues working with an Accelerator. Which is the opposite of what you declared earlier in Post 12.

Yes, that.