Hello runners,

I have pretty new to the hacking / rigging portion of shadowrunning and so is my group. So looking to get some help in making an AI hacker / rigger so I don't do anything stupid with it. Though for 110 BP I don't see what it gives me other then some free programs, am I missing something? Anyhow here is a very rough outline of the character sheet.

Concept in a nutshell:

Originally the AI was used for data retrieval (legal or otherwise.. mainly otherwise) working out of a minidrone.


Attributes 170 BP

CHA - 5/6
INT - 5/6
LOG - 5/6
WILL 5/6
Edge - 2/5

Rating - 5
System - 5
Firewall - 5

IP - 3
Matrix IP - 3 (AFAIK)

Skills 88 BP

Computer 4/6
Data Search 4/6
Hacking 6/6
Electronic Warfare 4/6
Cyber Combat 4/6

Again im really new to skills and have read through these some. I think I got all of the ones I would need. Would like to add in hardware / software but strapped for BP

Still deciding what to do for my inherit programs.

Qualities 35 BP -30 BP

Pilot Origin 10 BP (Will be much more useful once my drone army picks up some!)
Authority 10 BP
Rootkit 10 BP
Sapper 5 BP

Combat Paralysis -20 BP
Low Pain Tolerance -10 BP

Drone

Cyberspace Designs Dragonfly (Minidrone)

Improved takeoff / landing 2

Chameleon Coating
Searchlight
Rigger Adaptation
Spoof Chip

Autosofts

Pilot 3
Targeting 4
Clearsight 3
Maneuver 3
Chaser 3
Covert Ops 3

Sensors

Directional Microphone
Microphone
Low-Light camera (Vision Magnification)

Response 5
Signal 5

Currently looking at 400 BP with 90,000 Nuyon. Would like to free up more space for some other things ideas?

I would say keep the advice of pretty much everyone when you're "new" to something, follow the K.I.S.S. rules (Keep It Simple. Slitch). roll with a regular, metahuman hacker/rigger, and grow from there.

What is your reason for picking an AI? You opt out of the socialising game, combat will be extremely risky unless your GM has a soft hearth.


The usual big chunk of BP for standard matrix stats.


Easy fix: Electronics Group 4, Cracking Group 4.


Inherent programs are picked from the must-buy list. Just take your pick, you´ll want the programs for your drone/agent army at some point anyway.

The selection of hacking qualities is very nice, Pilot Origin does IMO not pay off compared to having a proper drone pilot and riding along as controlling agent.

Can AI have Low Pain Tolerance? That's a funny thought.

Yes, it is on the official appropiate list, RC pg. 89.

Think of it as obfuscated code with little redundancy.

Have you ever seen knight rider (It's the eventual concept, just broke at character creation for the car)? Socializing can still be done through commlinks and similar devices. How will combat be riskier for me then any other player? I assume you mean meat world combat. I can either use the shadowrunners base computer as a home node in which case I just sit there and subscribe to my minidrones node using that as a mobile commlink. I can also use my minidrone as a home node in which case I just don't get seen (-2 from chameleon, -2 from size, autosofts to improve stealth).

Speaking of using the minidrones node. I noticed that you can connect to devices outside of your signal range by bouncing through various nodes in the matrix to get there. How would this affect me sitting at the bases node and being subscribed to my drones node then hacking from there?



Not on topic so much but don't normal hackers just need logic (super important) then willpower if they want to take some damage and still be moving?



Electronics I wouldn't mind it would just block me from picking up specializations later if I wanted to. Cracking however blocks me out of hacking specs and 6 in it so won't be going that route.



So I could in fact grab a piloting program and autosofts as my inherit programs? Wasn't to sure on how this would / could work for example would I need autosoft targeting for every possible weapon? Pilot for each vehicles? The downside of course is without me being rigged in the vehicle would be significantly less useful as opposed to having these programs built in.



What would a "proper drone pilot" have over me? I assume you mean someone with actual piloting skills over autosofts? (controlling agent? Will need to read over agents)



As someone else said, it's on the "official" list (Though some stuff would be just fine and isn't on that list). Poor gals such a push over in matrix combat. Hopefully I won't be seeing it to much since the idea is not to get caught, but this is shadowrun and it just doesn't go to plan sometimes.

Subscribing over the Matrix:
Generally this will be fine assuming you're in a setting where Matrix coverage for the populace is pretty much total. It's when you get sent to dead zones or inside shielded facilities that you may find you have to leave your comfy home node to go 'out in the field'.

Breaking up skill groups:
Breaking up groups after chargen for the purposes of improving a single skill or adding a specialisation is allowed by RAW. It's even optional at chargen, so maybe entreat your GM for some leniency.

Pilot programs and autosofts:
You can't take either as inherent programs - the table in RC is specific on what is allowed. Pilot programs can, with GM blessing, operate a vehicle/drone it wasn't designed for, such as a sports car when it was meant for a PMV, but there's a -1 to -4 dice pool penalty. Autosofts are the Pilot's skills so whenever the same skill is required the autosoft is equally good. E.g. Maneuver Groundcraft works for bikes and juggernauts alike. The Targetting autosoft text is a little ambiguous in that the heading states they are specific to weapons (Targetting Ares Predator is different to Targetting Colt Manhunter) but the description states they are specific to skills (Targetting Pistols is different to Targetting Longarms). I go with the skill version myself.

Pilot vs jumping in:
There is not a lot of difference between a Pilot program and a jumped-in AI. Usually a rigger prefers to jump in because they can have a lot of bonuses over the Pilot program but AIs don't have a lot of the same opportunities like cyberware. Plus, if you're using the drone's autosofts there's even less of an advantage. Chances are you'll have better Response than the Pilot but other rigging bonuses are scarce. That said, giving the Pilot program orders can be quite inefficient if the GM plays up the comprehension aspect.

Although slightly different in concept I made an AI samurai/rigger/hacker (in that order)

She's hardly optimised but might give you something to play with?

<<Shrike>>

I spent a while on her drones so those might be the most interesting?!?

Yes, I have seen Knight Rider. Even a few minutes of one episode of the new? series. You can talk to metahumans, but you´ll find little use for a drink or other stuff. I consider combat risky because of your choice of body and smallish dicepools. "Not being seen" depends on your campaign, I´ll believe you



Splitting groups at chargen requires explicit GM permission (The Precious pg. 84), ingame it is no problem.



Choose from those listed on pg. 89 of RW. Stealth/Exploit/Spoof/Armor/Attack ?

Pilot is device-specific, as is Maneuver. Targeting mimics weapon skills. The Precious pg. 246.


No, the software. A Pilot program comes with it´s own set of IPs, can use Autosofts without paying for Pilot Origin, and has about the same pools you have.

Aria, I noticed you stats were 5 int / 5 cha but 3 for logic / will. I know you're not going the hacking route but why choose int / cha to be higher?



What's the precious? o.O



Ahh. I was under the impression that a car without a rigger adaptation could not be hacked or driven on its own. According to this any car with a piloting program can be fully functioning independent of the driver. (Fuzzy logic type stuff excluded) So taking the piloting origin is pretty much useless unless you're picking up a bunch of skills to drive / shoot. Otherwise you can just hack / ask the piloting program to do what you want.

Yes. Rigger Adaptation lets people Jump-In rig vehicles. All (modern) vehicles are self-driving via Pilot, accept commands, etc. Piloting Origin is for Jump-In Rigging only.

SR4A, Limited Edition Printing... The Precious is all Mine...

There's pilot comprehension to consider. It shouldn't make life impossible, but if the GM let's pilots function more like NPCs than tools then he's going easy on his players. There should definitely be an advantage to controlling a drone yourself if not in dice pools.

To Aria again.

I noticed some of your inherit programs start at 6 rating but none of your attributes are a 6? It also looks like you have all of your autosofts bought but not assigned to a drone, can you change them out as desired?

Unless there's something wrong with my formatting (probably, I'll check it)... then I don't have any inherant progs because of eGhost. If you are referring to my program list then those are bought with cash which an AI is free to use like a hacker...

In answer to your earlier question I went with those attributes for fluff rather than function, and without inherant progs there's no real benefit either way. Intuition for perception (I like perception!) and it has a response effect I believe which I wanted for when I'm in my drone body...

The trick is that you can ride along and give commands, controlling several drones instead of just one.


What about an AI evolved from a TacNet?

Assume karmagen, 750 karma, racial karma = racial BP, attribute*5

110 110 AI
380 490 Attributes CHA 6 INT 5 LOG 5 WILL 5 EDG 5 => Rating 6 System 5 Firewall 6
Inherent Programs: Analyse 5, Command 6, Spoof 6, Stealth 5, Exploit 5
100 590 Ressources
160 750 Skills: Electronics 4 Cracking 4 Perception 4, 28 karma for knowledge skills

Qualities: Authority, Rootkit, Homeground (Groups Network), Combat Paralysis, Moderate Media Junkie

Now how would you like to spend 250k¥? I´d suggest a vast software collection including Pilots and Autosofts, a bunch of drones for at least 50k¥, plus a year or so of a middle lifestyle - for a rating 5 home node.

Where's the trick? You can do that whilst riding along, being jumped in or from the comfort of the home node (provided it's in signal/routing range).

I only have 400 BP to spend. (This build is more like 500 BP)

Purpose built drones come default with Rigger Adaptation, may I suggest Improved Sensor Array and some sensors or an Additional fuel tank (If you are going to be spending long periods of time in the little dragonfly an extra 6 hours flight time might be critical)

Is this the one that changes your Condition Monitor wound penalties to be every 2 dice instead of every 3?

If so, bad idea.

AI's tend to have not-great dice pools, and this quality will double-wammie you if you're a rigger-ai: It counts Vehicle condition monitors too, doesn't it?

However, I am a huge fan of Improved Sensor Array. Sometimes, being able to fit ultrawideband onto a drone is worth 1000 nuyen.
Its also a prime candidate for overmodding, if your GM lets you indulge in that.

True. An injured AI with LPT really shouldn't consider jumping in before or during (meatspace) combat.

Nice website, I like the characters and the drawings

BP, as you must.

110 110 AI
170 280 Attributes CHA 5 INT 5 LOG 4 WILL 4 EDG 4 => Rating 5 System 5 Firewall 5
Inherent Programs: Aria has it right, we´ll buy the complete list. Pick from CHA and INT. Analyse and Stealth for the uninfectability
50 330 Ressources
70 400 Skills: Electronics 4 Cracking 2 Perception 2 (Sensor Tests +2), 27 free knowledge skill ranks

Qualities: Authority, Rootkit, Homeground (Groups Network), Combat Paralysis, Moderate Media Junkie

Now how would you like to spend 250k¥?