So, my team and I (and GM) have been under the impression that a Nissan Doberman drone is a crawler drone - 4 legs and a body with sensors on one end. We've never imagined it with a 'head', so my Rigger has decided to make one for it. I'm just not sure if this is against the rules or not though - so I figured I'd see what the community says! For one thing, my existing Dobbie is using all 4 mod slots (Fuzzy Logic, and Body Stabilizers), so to top everything else off, this is an over-mod.

I started just thinking that I'd add a slightly modified 'graplling arm' and make it look like a mouth, problem solved. Then I though, "Well, why not make it something more like a head?" So I started thinking. I'm figuring I'm putting 3 different mods into one, and then attaching that one mod. Without further ado:

The mod would consist of a mix of Improved Sensor Array, Mechanical Arm (for a more 'lifelike' neck and head and jaws), and 'Pimped Ride' (described below). I figure the whole thing falls under 'Special Machinery' as it is an attachment to the Dobbie, using the remaining 3 mods to come up with a 'template' for costs, and build times. Ordinarily 'Special Machinery' takes up a number of slots equal to one quarter the body of the drone (in this case 6, so 2 slots).

Since this is an over-modification it doubles the thresholds AND costs and should come at a cost to performance as well: I'd suggest a Response rating point is lost since it needs to spend extra cycles controlling the new attachment. Another (more painful) suggestion would be to lower the Pilot instead for similar reasons. I'd say either one of these can be 'upgraded' back later, but will always function at a -1 rating, for example: raising the Dobbie's Response to 6 would still only allow it to run at 5 (same for Pilot). I'm also willing to say that since this ends up being a 2 slot over-mod (see below) that perhaps it is a 2.5 modifier, rather than a flat 2 (so +1 for over-mod, then +.5 for every slot above 1). I jut think this keeps over-modification reasonable, costly, and hard to do (which it should be!). Course, if we decide to stay with the flat x2, you won't hear me complain.

What this all results in is a 6 Strength grapple-capable attachment (the mouth: bite attack, grapple possible, requires an Targeting (Unarmed Combat) autosoft) that can do up to 3P damage. This will also include an upgrade to the sensors since they'll be relocated into the head. The Pimped Ride portion is simply making it look good and scary, granting an intimidation bonus (+2) and possibly (eventually?) giving me more public awareness or maybe the Distinctive Style negative quality. The BASE points are listed below:

Improved Sensor Array:
*1 Slot
*Threshold 8
*Facility Required
*1000 + 4650 nuyen (sensor cost not doubled)
*Availability 6
*Sensors 8 capacity: [6]Camera(6) [l-lite|s-link|f-comp|thermo|u-sound|v-enh(3)], [2]Ultrawideband Radar(4)

Mechanical Arm (articulated for neck use):
*2 Slot
*Threshold 16
*Facility Required
*4000 nuyen
*Availability 6

Pimped Ride II (to make it look more stylized and mean):
*1 Slot
*Threshold 20
*Facility Required
*Body(6) x 500 nuyen (3000)
*Availability 8

So looking at all of that, I propose a 'Special Machinery' modification that looks like:
*2 Slots
*Threshold 16+ [Build Time]
*Threshold 30 (I averaged the doubled thresholds) [Installation Time] (36 if we go with the 2.5x)
*Facility Required [Build and Install]
*20650 nuyen (including sensors) [Build and Install] (24650 if using 2.5x)
*Availability (varies) based on each part purchased

Assuming I use my Engineering (Drones) knowledge to come up with the plans, is this an 'OK' thing to do? What I end up with in the end is a Dobbie drone, that also gets a bite/grapple attack (6 strength, 3P), and can add +2 to my intimidation checks. I upgraed the sensors for kicks, mostly because I like the idea of setting it lose in a building and saying 'Get this guy' and showing a picture, then having it chase them down using Radar and other sensors no matter where they hide. I would also need to get it a new Targeting (Unarmed) autosoft, of course.
So - legit? Not?

I like the detailed reasoning.

For our game I would suggest to consider a believeable mecha-dog head "Pimped Ride II" and forego on any combat utility.

Thanks! Half the fun of being a rigger is playing with stuff like this, IMHO.

I know I could go with Pimp Ride II alone, but the ability to have it (them really, I have a pair) chase someone down, and hold them non-lethally? Just too much fun. It's not there for real combat, but grappling a civvy or the like (rather than shooting them) makes them useful. Or any other runner not overly modded with strength. I know they have limitations, but hey, fun!

So you don't think it bypasses any odd over-modification rules? In my mind I just figured it was home-made 'special modification'. I'm technically playing by the rules for the over-mods, just figured I'd run the concept past you all here (long time reader, first time poster!).

The 'Improved Sensor Array' is really the only iffy (unnecessary) bit, but if I'm going to have to move the sensors anyway, why not make them a bit better?

Go from "I want my doberman to look like X, what can I get" to "if my doberman looked like X, what rules could I possibly use". You will find style more rewarding than "what you have to do for x".

Or still different:

"If I accept the rules to be fair, what do I need to make my doberman look like X?" (If you follow through, Pimped Ride II is the hard answer.)

Agreed - but I also wanted to to have that grapple/attack

It sounds like I've got done what I need though - so hooray! Thanks!

incidentally, if you could find a weapon that allows grappling, you could install that into the weapon mount...