The title says it all. What does a good rigger need as far as skills, software, etc. I don't really want the rigger to be a good hacker, just rigging.

Thanks!

To me the real limiting factor on how many bps you'll have left over to spend on your rigging skills depends a lot on how much you're willing to depend on someone else for your Matrix security. I assume you must have a dedicated hacker in the group if you're willing to put matrix skills aside, but I'd still consider getting at least a set of SkillWires (also go great with Cerebral Boosters & Mechanic skills) so you can have Computer and Cybercombat activesofts in case you need to pitch in to defend your stuff. One thing is for sure though: You'll definitely want a good Agent and Firewall regardless. How smart an Agent is depends a lot on the GM in question, but loading up an Agent with Analyze & Attack and telling them to fend off unauthorized Icons in any given node is easily within their operating parameters and you'll definitely always want something keeping an eye on your stuff at all times. It won't stop a real hotshot hacker, of course, but you don't really want to give your GM an excuse to have some script kiddy ganger steal your van just because you don't practice good Matrix security, do you?

Consider a techno would be one suggestion. Other than that, I'd suggest that you consider having the skills to use the drone weapons instead of having to depend on the autosofts, but that is only effective you can produce 11 or more dice. Being able to fix a drone after it's shot up can be a big moneysaver over time. I'd plan to buy the best pilot and autosofts you can, which isn't until after char gen. A couple of lynxs with 10 dice with MGs (+smartlink) can be pretty darn effective as they soak recoil and can fire full auto. And a car with 10 dice in driving isn't a slouch either. If you don't have to jumped in to do this that is really conducive to survival when things go to hell.

Have an assortment of sensor packages, so you can attach the right one when needed.

Large floppy bunny ears welded onto any large armed groudn bound drone....what? every one needs their gun bunnys

For a rigger you need different types of drones, autosofts, a few r5 response chips, weapon mounts, get a few signal chips as well (so they can transmit fairly far,) high end regular computer programs (scan jumps to mind,) a decent hardware skill, industrial mechanic (and a shop to get a +2 when repairing your drone,) electronic warfare is pretty nice when you want to jam a hacker trying to control the drones system and you don't want to hack yourself. Try not to have to many variants of gun autosofts in the beginning because being a rigger is pricey on the BP so you have to be careful how you want to spend it. Riggers generally should pretty much always have a pretty high logic. A drone rigged vehicle with hidden weapon mounts are also pretty nice. Have some high end and some low end drones, because nothing hurts more then seeing 20,000+ burst into a searing ball of flame.

Also have hardwired shut off commands you can send to your drone if it starts wigging out that is if you decide to have it send and receive signals as a safeguard against hacking. Also try to be inventive I'm not giving away how my rigger character sets up his drones.

Whipstitch makes a valid point - but remember, thanks to the power of automation you don't really need to have any hacking skills at all whatsoever. Agent(s) can carry all your cracking/hacking needs (and more importantly without using any of your actions) and ECCM (the really key skill to avoid jamming) is an autosoft, so the drones themselves can use it.

So buy a rating 4 agent, and a rating 4 ECCM activesoft at the first opportunity, and use all your downtime to crack the things so you can staple it to every thing you own.

On that note, firewall and systems are actually programs. Again, buy a rating 6 one and crack the copy protection at your first convenience, then staple onto everything you have that is electronic. (you may need some skill, or skillwires and an active soft to actually get the skills to crack it)

You also want to use the power of agent smith to cover other skills like automotive mechanic you'll use in your downtime. A rating 3 activesoft is 9000 yens or a bit less than 2 BP, while the skill itself would be 12 BP. A no brainer.

I'd also strongly consider gunnery 6, then spec ballistics after the game starts with your first two karma. With that 8 dice you're a long way towards being able to roll more dice than your drones when shooting guns which makes jumping in much more attractive. I'd also take pilot skills as actual skills instead of activesofts - you'll want pilot ground craft 6 at some point and activesofts will never get you there.

Lets start with what you don´t need: good vehicle skills. There is the option of what I call a "drone network controller".

What you need for that is high Logic (technical skills), high Cracking (EW, MW, and hacking is useful), and medium Electronics group. If your group plays by the FAQ, getting high Dodge is a priority if you want to jump-in. Else only Perception is useful. Both have the advantage of making the meat better, too.

Your comlink should be as good as it gets. I think you might need pretty much all software there is (if you want to regain control of drones that were taken over). One option that got just a bit stronger is Reality Filters. Sucks for hacking due to probability, but less so on nodes you own. You should get away with rating one here.

Combat drones are upgraded to Response 5 and run Pilot(Drone), Maneuver, Clearsight, Weaponsoft (AR) and Defense. If you´ve got arsenal, buy an armor upgrade. As two of the softs are specific, you should limit yourself to only assault rifles mounted on one or two platforms, my personal preference are MCTs Rotor Drone and the GMC-Nissan Doberman. Both are rather small and mobile (the Doberman has a Walker mode). Assume costs of 9k/drone without software.

On top of that, get an MCT Flyspy.

Cyberware would be a "MCT drone controller" suite of VCR, Datajack, Math SPU, Skillwires 3. The comlink is plug-in because it is a part of the Security Control Center, no need to get it installed from a corporate POV. Math SPU enhances electronic warfare, skillwires replace education in build&repair skills.
Suite cost is 1,22 essence, 18.9k ¥. Software cost is (Aeronautics M., Automotive M., Armorer)*9k¥=27k¥. The list of software can be expanded to include vehicle skills, but in that case I´d suggest to add a skillwire expert system.

How many IP's should a rigger have in the meat world when he isnt VR?

Depends on how you want to run him. Generally 1 works fine for a rigger because you never ever want to be in direct conflict with anyone else. Oh also being stealthy is really great for a rigger (you want to have your drones do the fighting) and try getting a few comlinks and some form of directional transmitter (if your GM even allows that) so you can bounce signals to your drones (can make you a lot harder to track your signal.)