Well, I really want to build a quadripledic mage who's rigging a modded wheel chair. My question is now: Is there a way that this mage is able to use LOS spells while he's rigging? Opticals sensors or something?

No.

Lol... short and accurate

There's not really much else to say. Magic just doesn't work like that.

No Draco... Magic just doesn't roll like that ;P.

Only way I could possibly even imagine this vaguely working is.... no, nope, never mind.

Well, actually yes, there is, but not through anything you're rigging. It is possible for a character to make perception checks with a -6 penalty while in VR, and thus it is possible to see the real world while in VR and thus while rigging.

However any penalties to your perception check are applied to your spellcasting check, so you would have a -6 DP not only to locate your target in the first place, but then to throw a spell at them. So yes, you can cast a spell while rigging, just not in the way you likely wanted.

Ok, so rigging doesnt work. What about the Magic Fingers spell to handle the wheel chairs joystick?

Yeah you could do that, probably.

You could still remote control...

Errrr, why not just direct the thing through skinlink/trodes AR. YOu won't get the jumped in benefit but it's a wheel chair and your a mage, how much do you really need.

Magic fingers is for manipulating at a distance and distance isn't your issue here. To pilot the chair through the spell would still require the same concentration (read: action expenditure) as it would with your meat hands except there is now a -2 modifier for sustaining. You'd have both hands free, but that has no bearing on your spellcasting.

EDIT: Oops, just noticed he's quadriplegic not paraplegic. Yep, magic fingers would be of use but still inferior to skin link technology.

Bound Task Spirit!

This.

You can't go with a VR vehicle control rig methods of controlling it, but you can use AR and a skin link.

I once made a character that was a paraplegic mage that did some rigging from his modified Evo Orderly. My character was a former rigger with a magic of 1 that had recently awoken and that is what we played on. My character was doctor so I started with only touch based spells. Used another Orderly with an enhanced rigger cocoon to retrieve injured personnel.

The point of this is that depending on what you would like your role to be, spell selection can make things work better. In my case I was a rigger/doctor that had simple magic healing to help sew up after surgery. If you plan to be a blasting mage there for firepower that relies on the protection of his wheelchair/vehicle, then you won't be as jumped in as a rigger.

AR and skinlink sounds great.

Another question: Is there any way to make this Transys Steed a flying wheel chair? I couldnt find anything.

I don't think there is a 'It flies now' modification at all. There might be something that will turn a wheeled vehicle into a hovercraft though (Which would be very handy for getting up stairs. Most runs are not wheelchair friendly)

I should point out that you cannot access AR while astrally precieving. This could cause trouble if you're relying on VR to move your wheelchair.

As to the flying: Walker Mode would give a wheel-chair good mobility (Orderly has that standard I think) and a LTA mod would let it fly, though slowly. Oh, and there it is, hovercraft upgrade.

Flying fox gliding system is basically a parachute, handy if you fall off a building or something, though rather expensive.

Other than that, I don't see anything that'll let a non-flying vehicle fly.

You might however be able to go in the opposite direction and turn something like a glider into your wheelchair. Take a gilder or even the jet pack and add the walker mod as well as the life support system and you could reason that it could pass as a normal wheel-chair until you unfold the wings or fire up the hoverjets.

Hovercrafts and stairs get along even worse than wheels and stairs. The shape wil induce huge losses in the air cushion, and to make thngs worse you don't have traction to get up, nor brakes to control things on the way down.

Threads are so-so but can work if the stairs aren't too steep, large smartwheels might do, but the logical choice for stairs is the walker modification.

It's not listed in the Standard Upgrades for the Transys Steed, but it already comes with smart tires, so anything less than 15cm (about 6", which is greater than most stairs) won't be a problem.

If you're expecting to have to go swimming, then some kind of water propulsion upgrade might be in order, but otherwise I don't think flight would be a necessary concern.

"Sir or Madam,

RE: Wheel chair accesability to your arcology.

It has recently come to our attention, that certain locations within your arcology, specifically your highly restricted secret servers, are not wheel chair accessible. This came to light when our clients had broken into your arcology to destroy said highly restricted seceret servers, but where unable to get to them due to a small flight of stairs. Please install wheel chair acsess by the 31st, so that my clients may complete their run and get in your base, and kill your doodz.

We look forward to your prompt compliance."

"And we would hate to have to bring this civil rights violation up with the Corporate Court."

Oh wait, the SR corps don't have to cater to EVERYONE or risk a lawsuit; maybe they got somethings right.

Evo Orderly with Gecko tips is your friend.

Make it a blimp....

Sure there is - it was even in a book or two:

Summon an ally spirit, and make sure one of its shapes is the wheelchair.
Voila, a flying wheelchair that even has a psychic link to the mage for directions (which should work while rigging), and may even be capable of independant spellcasting.

And, frankly, more appropriate than the apparently canon flying motorcycle.
(the author of which apparently missed the limitations on the speed of a spirit's 3D movement in earlier editions)

And awesome and elegant solution. I salute you.
That said, Quadriplegic BP cost is insane, when you can have a Mild Common allergy for half as much.

Yes. Yes there is. You may have to use Overmodding to get it, though. But a professor-x style hoverchair is not only possible, but affordable.

Not to mention hilarious.

Arsenal vehicle mods.
Lighter than Air mod. Lighter than Air. A=6. Body x 400Y. Shop. 1 slot.
Hovercraft Upgrade. A=12, bodyx1kY for rebuild, bodyx2kY for add-on. Shop required. 3 slots rebuild, 4 slots add-on.
The steed has a body of 2, and costs 4000 base. So at least 6800, depending on how its being modded.

Bam. Flying chair. Its not even that slow, either. Half accel/speed give a Steed 5/20 and 40, respectively. Handling takes a hit down to 0 or -1 depending on your mode of transportation, but whatever. Its a flying chair.

Congratulations. You are now playing Davros with spellcasting.

- J.

Just keep in mind that since Shadowrun has yet to produce technological antigravity, such a Lighter Than Air flying chair is going to need a *huge* gas bag to float. A tanker semi-trailer sized sausage over your head is going to seriously crimp your style, but you may be able to make a few buck by leasing it's surface for advertizing.

Legs. Put legs on your drone. Make it a Walker, ratehr than Hover/Lighter Than Air.

I'm picturing a bit robot with the mage strapped to it's back or chest in a psuedo-child carrier (Papoose?), or like Threepio strapped to Chewie's back in Empire

And yeah, you don't have to do the whole "Jumped in" thing for rigging. Hell, give it a high Pilot, some decent sensors, and some Fuzzy Logic and you don;t even have to drive the thing yourself.

Bull

Just fantasizing... cut of your legs, get cyber ones and rig 'em.

I've always wondered why there isn't anything like a torso-mobile, basically strapping a legless person on top of a rigged/slaved drone that the body is skinlinked to.
I'd probably just use the stats of the evo orderly but cheaper, less body, and no built-in medkit/arms. You could, of course, go the other way and make some sort of centaur walker to carry you.

I should point out that, for the most part, Cyberlimbs are "Skinlinked Drones".

So Tinky Toy, human rigger, who has 4 cyberlimbs that are all modular and flying with guns in them using tac net is legal?

If absolutely absurd.

(Add modular/flying cyberskull for extra Tinker)

Sure, why not. As long as he's got the essence for em At the end of the day, there's not much difference between this and a character with 4 (or 5) "normal" drones with flight modes, guns, and tac-net. They just dock on your "Body" rather than on a drone rack.

Granted, they're non-standard drones, so it's up to the GM whether or not you can actually get or create them. PLus it's a wacky enough concept that I'd say get the GMs permission before showing up to game with the character, but... <shrug> No reason you couldn't pull off such a character.

One of my favorite NPCs that my GM used to have was a Bartender that modular cyberlegs. He had a "Walking around" pair, and when he was working, he basically plugged his torso into a rail system that ran the length of his bar, and he rigged the bar (and the drink dispensers).

Though, I would say this... Modular legs are fun as a concept, they're likely unwieldy if you need to change legs quickly There's a movie from the 80's named "Exterminators" that, well... Is terrible and awesome at the same time. One of the characters is a cyborg that has interchangable legs... Regular legs, and then a set of tank treads. I thought that was incredibly cool when I was a kid

You say absurd, I saw Awesome.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RocketPunch

Sure there is. The normal rigger doesn't fall to pieces at the start of combat! XD

I really hope this is for an NPC...

This thread reminded me why I hate the way flaws are handled in 99% of games.

I think I remember Voltron fighting this guy...

It came up when our group was talking to one of our other acquaintances. He asked if you could "rig your own body" through cyberware, and so it came up that Tinker Toy was just a collection of modular cyberlimbs that the character could "hot sim" during combat. The sheer absurdity of the situation with the elf litterally falling to pieces at the beginning of combat amused us greatly.