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Meriss
Ok This is my first attempt at a female PC also a rigger. I'm looking for a little min/max, some advice and critique.

Edit: Alright taking what I've learned and editing, edits will be in Italics
Checking my current build I've found 10 BP to play with! WOOT!

Amanda Pinkerton
Ms. Pink

[ Spoiler ]
Jaid
why do you have pilot exotic vehicle? for that matter, what exotic vehicle can you pilot? it's not a catch-all category, it's a bunch of separate skills. you might have "pilot exotic vehicle (time machine)" "pilot exotic vehicle (catapult)" and "pilot exotic vehicle (spinning top)"

and those are about as useful as you're gonna get. there are no exotic vehicles, to my knowledge, in the main book.

on the other hand, there are plenty of *aircraft* which i can't help noticing you have no skill in at all. you might want to do something about that.

secondly, you don't want a specialisation in driving cars. you mostly don't want that because you can take a specialisation in *wheeled* groundcraft, which is pretty much everything that doesn't have legs (which would be pilot anthroform anyways) or hovercrafts... so pretty much if it drives on the ground and doesn't use hovercraft tech, it's within your specialty. the only other possible choice, imo, is remote operation, if you intend to use remote control instead of rigging (it doesn't look like you are, so go with wheeled).

thirdly, you have no gunnery skill. i can only assume this is some sort of horrible oversight, the likes of which could potentially very seriously screw you over as a professional shadowrunning rigger. gunnery 5 (ballistic +2) is my personal preference, but at the very least pick up gunnery 1. specialisation comes highly recommended.

my advice: drop pilot watercraft. add those two points onto pilot aircraft, as well as the two from exotic vehicle, and then see if you can't scrounge up some points for gunnery (my personal opinion is to drop reaction to 4, maybe even 3, and boost it using cyber... also consider something similar for agility). specialise gunnery as well, my personal favorite is ballistic, but you may have other preferences.

remember that your meatbod stats don't affect your ability to drive. your vehicle's response does, however. not saying you should neglect your meat stats, just saying they don't have to be all that great, either.

probably the best car you are gonna get is the Chrysler-Nissan Patrol-1. failing that, it's the step van, or the comet.

frankly, i'd stick with the patrol-1 (ask your GM if it can be a 'similar model' made by another company... LS won't react too well to you using the same model of car they have most likely) or just forget about cars entirely and go with either the hovercraft or possibly an aircraft (aircraft not recommended since they're so expensive, though, and will seriously cut into your budget).

other than that... what is your aptitude in, and why did you take aptitude if you aren't using it? do you really need the full cracking and electronics groups? do you really need mechanic group at 4? i personally would probably just buy a rating 3 set of skillwires and a bunch of skillsofts instead of those skills at 1, in any event... it's much cheaper, and much easier to build up on later. not to mention skillwires are almost a no-brainer for anyone who can afford to take a reasonable amount of cyber. does photographic memory really need to be in there? i mean, if it's just an essential part of the character, keep it in, but otherwise, that's an inefficient use of BPs for sure.
X-Kalibur
I personally like the idea of getting a Eurocar Westwind and "pimping it out". Then paint it black and call it Kitt nyahnyah.gif
Meriss
You must forgive me Jaid she was done with a char Generator, so not everything is explained.
Wounded Ronin
QUOTE (X-Kalibur)
I personally like the idea of getting a Eurocar Westwind and "pimping it out". Then paint it black and call it Kitt nyahnyah.gif

Do do do do doooh, do do do do do doooh, bing da da bing, bing da da bing, do do do do do dooooooh!


If the player does that the character must have a she-mullet and a leather jacket.
Meriss
OK Here's backstory to help explain her. No she's not an eighties throw back. Funny though. She's more little girl who likes big trouble.

[ Spoiler ]
Wasabi
If you plan on being a Smiggler build, IE a vehicle rigger, consider getting Shadowing 5. It will counter others shadowing you and allow you to shadow up to your vehicle skill. (presumably also 5)
Unarmed
I know this would probably screw with your character concept, but you could save 10 build points and get a free point of body by making her an ork. Man, orks rule.
Shadow
Well I would suggest getting rid of the control rig and using your datajack to hot sim VR. Then for whatever vehicle you buy get it rigger modified and fly it like a drone. When you want to drive it, jump into it, you get the +2 Hot sim bonus and you are the car, plus you get your VR intitiative.

I would suggest the Nissan Patrol Car, for its cost it is way better than the Westwind, and wont fold on you at the first sign of combat. Bear in mind this is SR4, there really isn't a lot you can do to the car. Maybe a weapon mount, but it is not concealable.

I would suggest you look at the Sensor package you can put on the vehicle. You can mount a camera and mic, and both are modifiable by all standard means.
Jaid
QUOTE (Shadow)
Well I would suggest getting rid of the control rig and using your datajack to hot sim VR. Then for whatever vehicle you buy get it rigger modified and fly it like a drone. When you want to drive it, jump into it, you get the +2 Hot sim bonus and you are the car, plus you get your VR intitiative.

the bonus is cumulative. for rigging the vehicle in hot sim with a control rig, he would get +4, which i'm sure you'll agree is better than +2 wink.gif
Shadow
I don't think it is cumaltive. But I could be wrong, let me check.

Hmm, the way the rules are worded it could really go either way. My assumption was that the Control Rig was just for being jumped in directly to a drone. The Hot Simm was for being fully VR. However, they seem to indicate that they would stack.

In that case I would absolutley do both!! Anyone know more than me about this? (Rules check on isle 9)
Jaid
i hear the FAQ knows a thing or two about that wink.gif

more specifically,
QUOTE (FAQ)
A hot sim VR user gets +2 to all Matrix actions (p. 229, SR4). Does that mean a rigger using hot sim VR gets that bonus to tests for controlling a vehicle, piloting, gunnery, etc? Is this bonus cumulative with the +2 bonus for using a control rig?

Yes.
Kyoto Kid
...for a ground vehicle, there's only one choice: GMC Bulldog. Not fast but big (lots of room for drones & your troll buddies), tough (good body & armour) and rather inconspicuous (just about every delivery service from ConFedEx to UPS uses them).

LS cop: "so what kind of vehicle were they in?"

Witness: "A big van, a gray van yeah that's it..." [points] like that one... er, and that one....and that one over there..."
sunnyside
I would make an effort to get some decent drones. Take a few for different conditions. This keeps you in the game when not wheeling around.

Also make sure your GM thinks a wheelwoman will work well in their campaign, and what else you might need. There is a fair amount of discussion on the matter but what it comes down to is we all do security services differently. Specifically some of us use drones and spirits like you'd expect a corp to. A driver avoiding those is going to need lots of contacts and places to duck into. You vehicle would need its licence plate, VIN, and paint job to all morph on demand, and you'll need some kit to patch up bullet holes in seconds. Plus you'll need the team hacker making other vehicles broadcast your info, and spirits watching your tail. Even then it might be hard, try and do runs in the rain (not too hard in Seattle).

On the other hand many GMs will essentially have Lone Star Captain Boss Hogg send Rosco and Enos after you in their patrol cars.

You just want to know what you're getting into and plan accordinly.
Red Fox
just thought I'd contribute a GMC Bulldog to the conversation for those who enjoy the visual aspect of things smile.gif

GMC Bulldog pic
Kyoto Kid
...nice, very nice. I'll take one in flat gray.
IvanTank
Why are you taking the Lucky Positive Quality if your edge is only 4?
IvanTank
I would also consider taking some electronics type skills, like electronic warfare and hardware.
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