hi hi

I'm hoping to get some input on a character idea that I am cooking up for a few runs. We're using the karma gen system with a few house rules so it is going to be a more generalized character then if we were using BPs. The concept was to see if I could do anything interesting with adept powers as they relate to rigging and I think I've found a somewhat clever combo. The biggest problem I have is if riggers need hacking skills to prevent their rigs from being hacked, a lot of my skills are going to be in the 1-3 range instead of the 3-5 range... and then what's the point?

The important part is the adept power "Multi-Tasking" which removes distraction penalties, perceiving and moving in the real world while in VR usually gives people a distraction penalty, you can see where I'm going with this. I'm aiming for a character that can be rigged into a vehicle using full VR and still walk around and do whatever people normally do.

Rigger Adept

Attributes

Skills

Adept Powers

Cyberware/Bioware

Vehicles

Plus a handful of gear, knowledge skills, languages and contacts.

I'm not sure improved ability will give a full +3 bonus unless you have 6 in the skill you've bought it for (Can't remember why, but I think the bonus you can get is capped at half skill rating). So I'd drop them both to 2 and invest the points in something else (maybe improved ability for your perception or gymnastics to improve your survivability outside your vehicles.)

Personally I always include at least moderate hacking skills with a Rigger build. Drones are a tempting target for hacking and if you can't maintain control of them you're in some pretty major trouble. Especially if your drones are packing heavy weapons.

Aerospace doesn't seem like a great buy in terms of skills unless you know the GM plans on bringing it up later in the campaign (although by then you'll have had enough Karma to buy ranks or enough Nuyen for skillsofts).

Presumably Stealth is the skill group? If so and you're mostly vehicle based then maybe dropping the group in favor of shadowing and infiltration would be better. It should work out cheaper just getting the two skills and disguise/palming are unlikely to be high up the list of things you'll need to do.

hi hi

Thanks for the advice, I know nobody really gets anything out of giving out newbie help for free, but I hope the picture was at least marginally entertaining.

I was under the impression that skill caps were based on the skill + attribute, but as you said that isn't the case. I must have misunderstood something along the way.

The trouble with piloting skills is that you can't default to them. I've had GMs throw monumental curves at me before and felt that I should at least have 1 point in it on account of being prepared, after all, its my primary shtick. Perhaps a skillsoft at character gen is an option for those other more obscure modes of travel.

I originally thought about dropping disguise and palming, but I read through the rules and found that if I wanted to change the appearance of my ride to fit the local (rugged and tough for the barrens, clean and neat for the corp enclaves) I would need disguise, and if I ever got my ride searched it would be an opposed palming test to conceal all the restricted gizmos that I have on-board. I suppose I could get away with buying fake licenses with the karma instead of getting the skill.

Karma-gen with some houserules? Significantly less karma than usual?

I'd go with a skillsoft for the obscure options if at all possible. After all if you don't you have to explain to the GM exactly how your character knows how to fly a space shuttle.

hi hi

Well, karma gen rules give a 500-1000 karma range, but we're on the lower end with what ends up being 575 plus a little extra for writing a back-history. House rules involved some specific maximum and minimums in different places, but after attributes and knowledge skills, I have 305 karma for gear and active skills.

Aerospace piloting is easy enough to explain, the character was an immigrant worker who managed to get a job as a pilot until an incident exposed the fake SIN ending in deportation and an introduction to a life of crime.

It looks like I could ditch the Synaptic Booster and pick up the skillwires, and if I did that I could probably drop the personal combat skills like pistols.

Always keep at least a token die in your personal combat skills.

You never know when someone you don't like is going to invite themselves into your ride.

Ok, you have a nice secondary combatant / driver going. I would not say "rigger", as you are clearly build for physical driving.

I´m personally not a fan of rigger adepts; 70 karma in other things should do more for the character than a few more dice for two driving pools. If you are in for the style, by all means go for it.

Your history suggests Pilot: Aircraft and not Pilot: Aerospace (which, IIRC, is limited to orbital flights).

Skillwires are very useful for Rigger builds, as Vehicle skills are expensive and don't come in a group. Also, you CAN default Pilot: Groundcraft and Pilot: Watercraft; if you drop your syn booster and max out your reaction attribute and add reaction enhancers you can throw 8 dice on those tests in meat space. Honestly, Pilot: Groundcraft is not something I'd drop; as you don't use Reaction while jumped in, but I would consider dropping Pilot: Watercraft.

Drop the Athletics group; raise Gunnery. I doubt you will be doing a lot of climbing, or swimming, running (maybe) and since you have dodge you don't have a pressing need for gymnastics. Gunnery is what you use to fire your drones' weapons; you need that as high as possible.

You only have 2 drones!! Syn Boosters are expensive, and you don't really need the extra initiative in meat space. Drop it.

Not sure why you have Blades.

re: Stealth group. All those skills are extremely useful, and can be necessary depending on your GM's style. Keep it.

TBH, I thought that the cap for Imp. Ability level was the applicable Skill level. Has this been errata'd?

I'm not sure about Mystic Armor. 2 PP for +2 B/I armor? You can always get FFBA if you have Arsenal, and there are more useful Adept powers.

If you go with skillwires, good skills to replace are things you probably won't be using in a firefight: Mechanic skills, for example.

Or better still ditch dodge and boost athletics (or just increase gymnastics on it's own) because it almost always works out as a better buy (when you have some sort of melee skill to use for blocking/parrying). As you can use it for more than just dodging.

I'd have to agree with Octopiii about Mystic armor. Might be worth investing it in killing hands & crital strike and then swapping blades for unarmed combat. If only because it's one less item to have to smuggle into places.

Normally I agree with Athletics v. Dodge; but a Rigger needs Dodge when he's jumped in.

I think the OP needs to figure out how he wants to control his drones. Jumped In? You need high skills. Command? You need need a high command program and the extra cash to pimp out your drone's Pilot/Sensors/Autosoft and your own commlink. I'm personally a fan of the Jumped In rigger because it's cooler, but there are a lot of people who swear by the Rigger Commander build.

I suppose which route you take impacts on if dodge is worth it or not. Go command and you'll need the autosofts to let your drones dodge. But if you need dodge when jumped in and want to go that route I suppose it's a must have.

hi hi

Ryu: I'm not sure how else to build for VR driving. The important adept power is not the improved skill powers, rather the power that allows me to be in full VR while still walking around and acting as normal without any dice pool penalties. It is a similar dilemma to dual wielding pistols, you split your dice pool but can shoot twice as much, only here I'm splitting my skill pool and being two places at once.

Octopiii: Skillwires are nice at the start but are hard to upgrade, I suppose I can always have them ripped out later and replaced with something else once/if I get that far in game. But for just starting out it looks like that will be a big boost. Though, I don't think improved skill powers work for boosted abilities because the base ability is technically 0. I might be wrong on that though.

The idea was to be in Virtual Reality and Meat Space simultaneously, though I'm under the impression that one can only be jumped into one drone at a time.

I think maybe I'll just drop the mechanic skill and pick up a contact to do it for me.

Oenone: Going over it again, it looks like Killing Hands really is far more effective in every way shape and form from weapon foci. I guess I'm still stuck in SR3 where killing hands took practically all one's power points. Major oversight on my part.

Thanks again everyone for the thoughtful advice, it is much appreciated.

1. I wouldn´t permit that adept power to compensate for the VR penalty that applies to physical world activities. I assume that you houserule that, along with the more generous limit on improved ability. And I wouldn´t do either.

2. You´d need improved matrix abilities, and could reduce your physical abilities. Once you go for remote control, agility and reaction don´t do a thing, nor does the Synaptic Booster. Matrix defense becomes important however.

hi hi

The RAW specifically states that multi-tasking compensates for distraction penalties, and the VR penalty is a distraction penalty. I'd be toning down the improved skills though.

Honestly though, while it is an interesting concept, without more karma to start with, it is looking like I'll have to scrap the concept all together and think up something else.