Hello all,
I've been thinking about cooking up a rigging character, i.e. a matrix character focused on using drones for surveillance, scouting, combat etc. The question is, what's the best way of doing it? There are three possible paths IMO:
1. Mundane character, with the usual Rigger 'ware (Control Rig, Nanites, etc.). Straightforward, but fairly expensive in regards to Nuyen, leaving you with just a basic loadout of drones at chargen. Has the added advantage of being potentially deadly in meatspace too.
2. (Mystical) Adept, with some optional 'ware (Control Rig). The main selling points of the Myst Adept are "Improved Vehicle ability" and the spell "Analyze Device", resulting in above average dice pools. Also, as an awakened character, most money can be spend on gear and drones. Disadvantes are the high degree of specialization, leaving you thin strechted in other areas.
3. Technomancer, preferably one with Machine sprites. Sprites are stronger than agents, since they're essentially uncapped, and can rig just fine, assuming you rule that machine sprites can jump into drones and use their autosoft powers. I know that this was heavily debated some time ago, but for the sake of this comparison, please assume that sprites can jump into drones. Now, Technomancers are awesome in the matrix in general, especially with threading and certain complex forms, but they tend to be dead weight in meatspace.

Now, I'd like to think what my fellow dumpshockers think about rigging. What's your usual approach? What do you consider best in actual gameplay?

So long,
Elfenlied


P.S.: I remember a certain player playing a pixie rigger as a missions character who had pretty high stats. Shame I never saw the exact layout of that build.

A mystical adept's got to be somewhat good with detection spells to beat a drone's object resistance.
On the other hand, some magic-tech combinations are just awesome, especially spirit powers. Conealment works just fine, Movement gives hell of a speed.

A technomancer with a point of ware is plenty good too.

Our GM is nice, and has let TM's learn unrated complex forms for skillwire expert systems and control rigs, because they can already duplicate other cyberware with learned resonance abilities.

Chances are YOUR gm is nowhere near as generous, in which case you probably want a point of ware for the control rig, and for a simsense booster until you can pick up advanced overclocking(overclock+simsense boost does not work)
Dronomancers are notable for one thing they can do better than anyone else: They can have 5 IPs and two complex actions per pass in combat situations. With the macro echo, normally it can't be used in combat, but it can if you have mesh reality.
The Immersion echo is notable because it adds to ALL tests while jumped in, not just Vehicle tests. It does stack with a control rig, too.

If you're playing in a high powered game, a TM is probably the way to go.

Regarding mystic adepts, i posted a pretty good skeleton build over here, which may be worth looking at.


A plain jane ware-based rigger has a nice advantage you haven't brought up: Its pretty cheap to do, compared to the other ways to rig.

... and when you get Advanced Overclocking you can take the Essence hole and add in other 'Ware. You can get the Essence treatment and get bioware to augment your Living Persona.

There is a 4th way that can be really really powerful as one of my players has proved to me. He built an AI with the 10 point Piloting Origin quality allowing him to "Jump" into drones and vehicles as a rigger would, he used an armored delivery van as his "Nest" which housed his commlink and also several smaller drones that he would use on missions.

I'd lean away from statboosts for your persona. There are other things that are so much better.

Pushed helps with pretty much all your hacking. Pain Editors are frankly amazing on a techno - whats that? Ignore all stun track penalties? What do techno's use for matrix condition monitor? Oh, thats right, stun track. Yes please. Trauma Dampers help a ton with casual(not over Resonance) threading, rigging biofeedback damage. If you thread over your force a lot, platelet factories are good too.

A plain cyberhand with a nanohive in it is fantastic too. Logic nanites are excellent.

Technos are also notable because they have the potential to have 5 passes and control rig booster nanites - but the nanites kind of suck.

I've yet to find a GM who will let you get away with this.
I swear an author or someone retconned this exploit, but for the life of me I can't find where. Maybe I just dreamt it.

Why? They are completely within the rules...

I don't care about what's the best way to do it statswise, I just want guns, many guns, floating around me controlled by my murderthoughts!

So, um, yeah, Dronomancer.

Or be an AI,

"I am murderthoughts!"

Consider how big a gun nut I am. Consider my previous occupation of being a tech support agent.

Do you *REALLY* want me playing a character like that? The Pink Mohawks of the group will be going, "Really? Too far, man!"

Now I really want to play an AI who emerged from a smartgun.

I'm an enabler at heart, so, to answer you question...

YES!!!!!!!!!!!

...

Does "The Internet Told Me To Do It" sound insane enough?

I am not the internet, I am merely a jerk who has no sympathy for your runner group (and this fact would not change even if I was included in your runner group).

I'm not 100% on that. Just as you can't put Headware into a cyberhand, I'm not sure what kind of Capacity the nanohive was supposed to take up. Nano hives are supposed to be integrated throughout your entire body, so it just seems a little weird that it can exist solely in a hand.
I think most people are in agreement that this was either a misprint or something, having a minimum .75 Essence device cost 2 Capacity slots regardless of Rating.

I'll put it this way, would you allow a player in one of your games to take it?

Yeah, uh, cyberlimb capacity pretty explicitly works like that. It doesn't matter if its a head, torso, or hand.

Eyes and Ears are the only things that don't.

Yes. Why wouldn't I?

Am I the only person who sees a problem with a piece of cyberware that potentially costs 2 Essence only costing 2 capacity points? Or, moreover, something that allows 6 types of nanites with a capacity of 2?
It's a pretty obvious exploit; the result of a pretty obvious typo and I've yet to see anyone even attempt to explain it.

seriously, every time i read that i think of a certain anime series.

The real problem with Logic nanites is this:


So basically, they're not so good for hacking or rigging, because that's too stressful. They're good for programming though.

The Focus Reality Amplifier in Unwired removes dice penalties for distracting or stressful situations.

EDIT: It's at too high an Availability to get at chargen, and 14R is nothing to sneeze at even after the game begins, so there that is.

A Focus Reality Filter will take care of Neural Nanites.

Is not getting a bonus the same as a dice penalty?

Focus cuts out the part of your brain that gets jittery when stressed. Sort of.
The text says it lets a hacker write code while taking heavy fire. The wording is a little too specific in conjunction with nanites. So, yeah, that's what it does.

But a Reality Amp is a BTL, so every time a player uses it an addiction test is in order.

Ah, charming..

Yes...

And, as a side note, you can indeed put Headware in a Limb (Even a Cyberhand), or even in other locations of the body... Ever heard of a Datajack in your belly button? There are Canon Characters with such augmentations.

I have had success with a rigging technomancer. You want to use the “remote control” option, which makes all checks command + skill. Then overthread command to either 10 or 12 (depending on resonance) and that’s 9-11 dice on everything.

And, if you're busy doing other things, you can always get your Sprite buddies to help you out.

Not as well as you doing it yourself, but better than a Pilot Program, that's for sure.

Now there is a 'Runner. A face with Day Job and Fame and a Chair Leg Of Truth.... WE NEED STATS!
And now the only reason for a character to have both of those Qualities, mwuahahahahah. And would the filthy assistants be contacts? Heh

About Technomancers sucking in their MeatBodies...

There is an echo called 'Acceleration' that lets you get +1 reaction +1 init in your meat body, max of +3/+3

Also, they can get a rating 1 complex form that imitates a smartlink.

Now make your Technomancer an ork with decent body and he is starting to look fairly meat-body capable, no?

The big problem is that Acceleration doesn’t give them the skills that a street samurai has (automatics is one that combos fairly poorly). And it costs several submersions to get 3 passes with Acceleration. While you can fix a TM’s meat problems, why not just sit inside a rigger cocoon on a drone?

And if I just hadn't had three groups in less than as many months fall apart for Shadowrun, I'd make one.

I can't even begin to express how much that sucks, even to hear.

Yeah? Try living it. I've been waiting to play Shadowrun since '92, as I've said eleventy billion times on this board.

So funny you would mention that. First of all, a Technomancer can have an automatics skill... they have no restrictions on this.

But more importantly, a prerequisite of Acceleration is Biowire. Biowire allows a Technomancer to have the equivalent of Skillwires up to their Immersion grade.

Technomancers can load skillwires up to their immersion grade AND they have an option to Neo their skills... they can pay 1 karma per rating of the skill and permanently imprint the skill into their minds. Basically once they have rating 6 immersion, they can go and get every active skill at rating 6 for just 6 karma per skill... and they dont even need to own the programs. Once the program is imprinted they have the skill, and can unload the program.

So actually, in the long run they are going to have ALOT more fighting skills than any Street Sammy ever could.

Now the only question is, why am I not playing a Technomancer?!

(oh thats right, with Way of the Adept, Phys Ads are Gods now, I forgot...)

Actually, since you can only get a Skillsoft up to a Rating 4 for ActiveSofts (No Rating 6 for you), you only need to pay 4 Karma Each to CF them...

Biowires don't work like that. Emulation is fairly nerfed to hell. Tm's are limited to 4 in activesofts, just like everyone else.
There are a few, limited ways to increase it, but nowhere near what you're suggesting.



The best technosam build uses Drugs, actually, until you can submerge enough to become a StealthSam. (stealth because you're extra passes are completely undetectable). Ip boosting drugs are fantastic, becuase they help you on the matrix too. taking some jazz can boost you to 4 matrix passes without taking Overclocking.
In fact, if your first echo is Macro, followed by Multiprocessing and Meshreality(this lets you use macro for cybercombat), you can pretty easily turn into a 3 pass meat/4 pass cyber, 2 complex actions per pass blender machine by popping some pills.

Its kind of an incremental increase in power: Eventually you want to replace your ware and drug habits with echoes and better ware, but its possible to get a good enough starting boost out the door through this method.
Also, if your Gm lets you acquire, lose and buy off qualities in play, an aspiring stealthsammy may want to consider Lightning Reflexes. Its expensive, but if you're allowed to trade it in for something else, it can pay for your Acceleration depending on the exchange rate. The +2 reaction will help keep you alive till later.

Regarding focus:




I'd say they work together. Neocortical nanites only work if you're not distracted or stressed, focus forces you to be calm.
I have toyed with the idea of a TM having a Focus complex form, and calling it 'spock mode'. Turn it on, turn into a vulcan.

However, yeah, its a BTL tech. As pointed out, addiction tests should be enforced.

However, Because Technomancers are ALWAYS considered in Hot VR (Unless they actively turn it off), I would consider allowing them to ignore the Hot SIM Addiction that BTL causes. Small benefit to the drawbacks of having a Living Persona.

That is, actually, mentioned somewhere officially. this is from the 'how to build a hacker, and some qualities to think about' guide in unwired.



I was under the impression that techno's couldn't go coldsim. Can you back that up?

I'm not sure that Amp addiction is merely hot-sim, or something more.

Then every Technomancer should use Biowire and Overdrive 3 Aktivesoft. With Focus you have no drawbacks if the Biowire cant be destroyed by this (its no Cyberware). Maybe the Technomancer could take DMG but thats not RAW.

Edit: Hello everyone.

BTL Addiction is all about the Hot-Sim (That is what makes them so addictive)... Since TM's are immune, BTL's are not an issue for them.

My point, however, is this: I'm not sure that Amp addiction is merely hot-sim, or something more. Addiction can take many forms, and amps alter your reality in interesting ways.

I think a Technomancer could get addicted, but its not harmful for him. (So no essence loss or anything). Like Water or Air we all need it, but its not harmful.

Hello Merlin, welcome to the insanity known as Dumpshock.

Hey, welcome to dumpshock.

Also, i just realized, if you're using Focus already, then Overdrive is a fantastic addition.

If your Gm rules that overdrive glitches don't damage your brain instead.