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AaronH
Kinda new to the 4th edition shadowrun stuff (only briefly played 3rd but love the idea of shadowrun and hope to get a game together soon for 4th) and still reading the books, but I am starting to have a lot of weird ideas. I just have some questions of the feasibility of certain tactics:

Commlinks/SINs/PANS: Ok, so here is what I am wondering. Is it reasonable to have multiple PANs? I can see a lot of uses for this. Having a character with skinlinked weaponry, and then a completely separate commlink for external devices (IE: Drones, Vehicles, Communications with his team and so on.) Possibly even having multiple drones or turrets connected to various PANs. Along with these ideas I was thinking of throwing up all kinds of dummy PANs that are designed to look like a rigger or shadowrunner, but in reality are just networked mundane items. Maybe even set up said pans on small mobile drones that are set to just run around randomly in a building? And attract attention. Possibly get some cheap used humanoid drones to look like a completely different runner team (though, I don't think this is possible anymore) The idea is to slow down any hacker attacks by making them hack multiple seperate systems, and being still capable of operating even if I am hacked. Also I could see at as a misderaction tactic if using the drone idea.

Drones: I don't intend to play a rigger or a hacker, but aren't drones capable of being used for more than direct combat? I was thinking something along the lines of sniper drones or rocket drones randomly firing to draw attention away from a location of a shadowrun. Take six or seven sniper rifles, put them on various drones outside a complex, and have one fire in, then while another is firing, the first relocates. Are autopilot programs capable of doing something like that? Or even placing drones/firing turrets during a stealth job so if you are spotted or things do go bad you can activate them to confuse security or cover your escape.

Contacts: How useful is a wide range of contacts really? I played a face in 3rd, and will probably do the same in fourth (though I don't think I will be going unaugmented) and was just wondering if it is really worthwhile to have a huge range of contacts with low connections (Like bartenders, Mechanics, Gun specialists, Corporate researchers, and so on; people with skills rather that friends) or is it better to focus on high connection/loyalty contacts? Furthermore, is there any reason for a shadowrunner to have a Mr. Johnson contact? Or are they better off with a higher connection/loyalty fixer?

Equipment Loss on Runs: Do you guys ever have or use expendable items (IE: Send out a drone you don't intend to get back, maybe a jammer you intend to place and leave) and if so, how much are you usually willing to lose on a run?

I have a lot of weird other thoughts on shadowrun characters and equipment, but these just seemd all kinda related.
Boscrossos
On multiple PAN's, Drones, and Equipment loss: it all depends on the amount of money you're willing to spend. In games I play, we generally have to scrape to survive. It becomes a real achievement when we actually manage to save enough money to buy something new, and we often run into the money problem. So any equipment we have tends to be valued rather highly, and we don't even think about getting a couple more for redundancy.

On multiple PAN's: depends. More networks is nice, but any wireless connection (such as between you and your drones) will be traceable, so any hacker worth his 'link will be able to identify which network to get to pretty fast. As for weapons, skinlink, and a commlink with the wireless switched off, that would work as a pretty effective anti-hacking technique, but keep in mind that the player then can't use his commlink for any online stuff, like broadcasting/receiving subvocal microphone signals, receiving tacnet info, or even commanding drones. I personally nearly always have people who have at least some notion of matrix security switch their combat gear to offline mode when in battle situations, unless they really need it.

On contacts: a low-connection contact with the right skills will, in our games, cost you less for the service, and be easier and quicker to contact, but will only be able to help in his area of expertise. High connection contacts can get a lot more done, for the right (high) price. For a face, a good mix of both might be useful, specialists for things you are sure to need (hacker or mage if your team doesn't have one, weapons dealers, talismongers, ...), some random background contacts (for hearing through the grapevine), and one or two good high-connection fixers for jobs, info gathering and in case you need something special. Also, if you have Runner's Companion, don't forget the possibility of matrix forum contacts and contact groups. A good standing with ShadowSea, especially, can be invaluable, if you play in Seattle.
Drogos
Contacts are a completely GM fiat experience. In some games, low connection contacts are worthless, in others it is as described above. I suggest speaking to your GM about that prior to sinking valuable points into the area. I personally still float a fair number of points into a variety of contacts, but that's because I like to be connected.

Boss pretty much covered everything, but to provide a little more thought. Multiple comlinks only have as much effect as you want to have a footprint. True, a mass of data traffic increases the threshhold for searching out nodes, active or hidden. However, if in a secure facility, that just makes you stand out more. Hence you need to balance out your foot print along with your vulnerability to hacking attempts. Personally, my security concious characters tend to use two or three commlinks for this. One is a secure one containing any valuable information and systems on it. In the case of a hacker, it is usually also their hacking commlink. The other comms run as a fake SIN/traceable link in the cases of traveling in areas to broadcast a SIN and oftentimes will be disposable to save on nuyen. I will also often run copies of cracked agents and programs on these links to ensure extra security. If they become compromised however, it is a rather cheap investment to ditch where ever. I will caution though that I mainly reserve that for people who are tech or security savvy. I have played runners who do not do this for character reasons until alerted by the team hacker to their vulnerability.
Neraph
Don't forget to put your PANs on Hidden mode. Suddenly that easy check for wireless connections became a 30+ extended test!
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