One of the players in a game I'm in is trying to make a rigger as his character. He wants to mostly jump into drones to use them in combat, but the book is very vague about how this exactly works. I have a few questions about a rigger being jumped in, and drones in general.

1. Since the drone acts on the rigger's Matrix Initiative, does it also get to act in 4th or 5th Matrix Initative Passes if the rigger has them?

2. What action is it for a jumped-in rigger to fire a weapon? Is it the same as if he were firing the weapon himself, or does he have to take a Complex Action because it's like firing a vehicle weapon?

3. How do you improve a drone's Sensor rating?

4. What programs are essential for a rigger character to have?

5. Do jumped-in riggers still have to devote 1 Complex Action per Combat Turn to controlling the vehicle/drone they're rigging?

6. Where exactly is all this information about rigging hidden? SR4A pages 244-247 aren't all that informative, and seem to give very little gameplay information.

I already know about the table on SR4A p.247, but it doesn't give quite enough information to answer my questions.

I won't admit to being a rigging expert, but I can help you on a couple of those points. Note that Unwired clarified alot and made rigging make a lot more sense.

1) Yes. There is some debate as to whether or not a drone should get 4 or 5 init passes while rigged, but as written the rules are pretty simple.

2)Same as if you where firing the weapon normally. Note that since most weapons are vehicle mounted it would be a gunnery attack (an attack with a weapon mounted on a vehicle) with all the rules bagage that would entail, including actions. But if you, for example, have a humanoid drone and give them an assault rifle, you would be using the automatic skill and making attacks like a normal human.

3) Arsenal has rules for that if I am correct

4) Off the top of my head, command, scan, analyze, encrypt, and biofeedback filters. They also need autosofts for any drone pilots they are using.

5) I believe the jury is out on that one. I would say no, because since you are the vehicle you don't need to drive yourself, and also it gives "jumping in" a concrete advantage over remote controlling(which has the advantages of using your command program in the dice pool, letting you control multiple drones, and not risking biofeedback). EDIT: Just wanted to note, this is my opinion on how it should be, to my knowledge there is nothing in the books that says in one way or the other.

6) Almost all the rigging info in the main book is in Wireless World. Really though, like everything matrix based Unwired is really really helpful.

Just giving my opinion of number five:

Not that i know what the designers meant or such. But i always assume that the "one action per turn to drive" thingy should only be used in strategic movement. So only in chasecombat or while driving when doing something else. If you just move a few meters while shooting, and pretty much use it like the others would the legs... just give them the running or walking penalty and be done with it. You ARE the drone. All normal rules should apply.

You also want to look at the SR4A rules to get the complete way to up grade sensors. Cameras and microphones have ratings now so they fit the rules errata for Arsenal.



I would still say yes they have to. This is so they match a physical character IPs even with 5 actions a round. 4 shooting and 1 to drive.

It also balances them at start of game.. a bit.

I'm with TheOOB on this one. The reasoning is simple. The rules state that a driver of a vehicle must roll a test each round of tactical combat while driving a vehicles. It doesn't state anywhere that a drone must roll this test as it does not mention the Pilot program as a driver, it's part of the vehicle. That's a bit of a stretch by RAW, but I reason that they don't require you to take an action to roll to stay on your feet every round, so the same would hold true for drones. When someone is jumped into a drone, they effectively are the drone. As such they wouldn't have to make the checks either.

That's my reasoning, take it or leave it. I will say that it plays well at table and doesn't seem to over balance or under correct anything.

I'm still a little confused about sensor packages, since not all of the sensors have ratings in the first place. What would be the Sensor rating of a GM-Nissan Doberman with the following package?
Camera R6
+ Vision Enhancement R3
+ Smartlink
+ Flare Comp
+ Image Link
+ Vision Magnification
Directional Microphone
Motion Sensor
Radio Signal Scanner R6
Microphone R6
+ Audio Enhancer R3
+ Spatial Recognizer

Would it be 6, since only the camera, microphone, and radio signal scanner have ratings and they're all 6?

That would probably be a Rating 6 sensor package. However, it is missing the Radar from the standard sensor loadout, so the GM should keep that in mind when reporting information to the player.

If you want a simplified way of handling sensors you can use the simplified version that I house-ruled: Upgraded Sensors cost (new Rating) x 500 Then assume that every sensor package has the components in it that are listed in Arsenal.

3) Sensor packages are left up to GM control. Logically, if you get two cameras with all visual enhancements (minus ultrasound), a microphone with all the audio ones, a Wireless Signal Scanner (a must), Ultrawideband Radar, and a couple of other goodies, it should be pretty close to 5-6.

The sensor package upgrade listed in Arsenal only increases the amount of capacity that the vehicle/drone can hold; it does not increase the sensor rating.