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AppliedCheese
So, every now and again the headlines come back on about drone strikes in Pakistan. Which got me to thinking:

We have precision strike capable drone aircraft in present day, no 6th world involved. They are relatively cheap according to wiki: $4.5M for a predator. They can can hang on station for 30+ hours. They fly high enough and far enough away to be unspottable by the naked eye and unheard. They already have cameras capable of resolution that allow the decision makers to see if people are carrying guns (though not too much detail, or else the misdrops on a border patrol wouldn't have happened). They carry missiles that can engage from a dozen kilometers or more , and some models carry GPS directed bombs. In short, a pretty ideal and comparatively cheap weapon for conducting precision strikes against small groups of terrorists or other people who don't have an integrated air force and air defense network.

People, coincidentally, a lot like shadowrunners. I'm thinking this would be a valuable tool in the mega's arsenal, for either those times when they've said "screw collateral damage" or can lure the runners away from where a strike would have many negative consequences. Depending on the level of precision (according to wiki, current models can put a hellfire through a window if given the conditions, and will reliably hit vehicles), there are probably some urban areas acceptable to. Will anyone ask too many questions if there's an explosion in the deep barrens?

Of course, not so much for the runners, because someone is going to wonder what the drone is doing in their airspace, and it needs a satellite band for long range ops...

So, for a lot of these double crosses, deliberate team take outs, basically those times when you need runners dead, and would usually send an HTR, or try to have an on site ambush in the woods or what not...send a few missiles and bombs form the impunity of 50,000 feet. Even if they cost 15-30k nuyen a piece, getting even one HTR guy thwacked costs a lot more.

So, how do you simulate this? I think the reaosnable design goal should be 50-75% of the team on site killed, with follow on strikes finishing the survivors.
LurkerOutThere
Personally i don't, it's a game, not real life. If you can't make that concession then all else is for naught.

As a further corollary, military drone command and control is pretty much unhackable, that's not nearly the case in shadowun, so having said drones in universe would risk them falling into enemy hands.

However for everything else there is the Ares Hemdahl(sp?) from arsenal. Launch them in packs of four.
Elfenlied
Thor Shots. Cheap (compared to the cost of a military drone nowadays, and assuming you already have an armed satellite), unhackable, and no amount of soak dice will get you out alive. Relatively precise if you use Loki missiles too.
UmaroVI
This seems like a great deal of thought and effort to put into a way of saying "rocks fall, everyone dies."
Elfenlied
QUOTE (UmaroVI @ Aug 18 2011, 12:42 PM) *
This seems like a great deal of thought and effort to put into a way of saying "rocks fall, everyone dies."


Given the description of Thor shots (Tungsten rods with attached space waste), that's actually not too far off.
Kirk
Take a tower, give it camo and sig mask 3, take it high - 3 to 5 km works, lower if you need better ground observation, higher to go above the jet-stream. Give it a set of heimdalls. Heimdalls can do 1 km per second, or 3000 meters per combat turn, for six combat turns. Even from above the jetstream this missile only takes three combat turns to get from launch platform to ground.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Kirk @ Aug 18 2011, 06:03 AM) *
Take a tower, give it camo and sig mask 3, take it high - 3 to 5 km works, lower if you need better ground observation, higher to go above the jet-stream. Give it a set of heimdalls. Heimdalls can do 1 km per second, or 3000 meters per combat turn, for six combat turns. Even from above the jetstream this missile only takes three combat turns to get from launch platform to ground.


Yep... I use this very tactic on occasion. I also have a few Predator Drones with Missiles for really pesky targets.
Elfenlied
Personally, I prefer a cheaper approach. Even though my Rigger makes enough money to afford a luxury lifestyle (Ok, I'll admit, it's actually spoofed nyahnyah.gif), I still wince on the inside every time I fire one of those Heimdahl rockets. At 1.5k a piece, they're just a tad too expensive for comfort.

My usual means of assassination for low/mid level security areas is a Ford-LEBD with Camocoating (disguised as a police drone), and mounted with a Parashield rifle. It can snipe pesky targets reliably, and with the right selection of chemicals, is sufficiently lethal. They need not be toxins; a dose of K-10 administered to a target in broad daylight makes them go bananas, and local security forces will assist in bringing the target down.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Elfenlied @ Aug 18 2011, 06:37 AM) *
Personally, I prefer a cheaper approach. Even though my Rigger makes enough money to afford a luxury lifestyle (Ok, I'll admit, it's actually spoofed nyahnyah.gif), I still wince on the inside every time I fire one of those Heimdahl rockets. At 1.5k a piece, they're just a tad too expensive for comfort.

My usual means of assassination for low/mid level security areas is a Ford-LEBD with Camocoating (disguised as a police drone), and mounted with a Parashield rifle. It can snipe pesky targets reliably, and with the right selection of chemicals, is sufficiently lethal. They need not be toxins; a dose of K-10 administered to a target in broad daylight makes them go bananas, and local security forces will assist in bringing the target down.


This works too. I use the drones you mentioned above to protect my Doss. The character lives in the blimp filled skies of Honk Kong, in a Yacht-Style Blimp (Posted on the forums somewwhere). The Heimdalls and Missiles are for engaging aerial targets mostly.

For people. I generally use a Sniper Rifle. I prefer the HK-PSG1 personally. Though I have been re-considering a Barrett again after re-reading Shadowplay.
Ascalaphus
Megas aren't usually in the business of hunting down runners... they tend to be in the business of hiring runners against their rivals. Semi-randomly trying to exterminate shadowrunners just reduces the available pool of people you could use.

As an area-defense method, a well-camouflaged drone hovering a few KM above a corporate base - that works. If a runner team tries to escape with something, chuck missiles at it.

On the other hand, in practical gaming terms, this has the same problem as snipers: PCs die by what amounts to GM fiat. Is that really what you want?

A way to make it work is to have legwork reveal the existence of the drone, so it has to be part of the players' planning process; "how do we get away from the drone afterwards?"

But keeping it as a surprise, and then taking a shot at a character that can't dodge (due to being surprised) is equivalent to arbitrary killing of PCs.
Elfenlied
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Aug 18 2011, 01:44 PM) *
This works too. I use the drones you mentioned above to protect my Doss. The character lives in the blimp filled skies of Honk Kong, in a Yacht-Style Blimp (Posted on the forums somewwhere). The Heimdalls and Missiles are for engaging aerial targets mostly.

For people. I generally use a Sniper Rifle. I prefer the HK-PSG1 personally. Though I have been re-considering a Barrett again after re-reading Shadowplay.


You mean that luxuriously customized one you posted some time ago? I want one of those too^^

Although I shouldn't really be complaining. In one of our recent runs, our team captured a smuggler's Skytrain, and from the looks of things, we probably get to keep it. I haven't considered living in it though. Although, since our characters live in LA, I might just redecorate it after laying low for a while.

Most of my "sniper" kills ingame were actually done with a Ruger 100 Sports Rifle. It's a lot easier to acquire and dispose of, and it's legal to own. Range and damage are also acceptable.
suoq
QUOTE (Elfenlied @ Aug 18 2011, 07:37 AM) *
a dose of K-10 administered to a target in broad daylight makes them go bananas, and local security forces will assist in bringing the target down.
What do you use for a follow-up shot to kick off the k-10? My plan was a sports rifle, K-10/DMSO capsule rounds, and what I really wanted was to follow up with some white phosphorus capsule rounds to bring on the pain with (so even if there's a delay in the K-10 going active, there's still that lovely burning sensation). Alas, that involves talking the GM into letting me have white phosphorus rounds for a sports rifle. Yes, it isn't subtle, but I'm not looking for subtle in this particular case. This is just a freebee job I'll be doing without my team once the mission is over.

(Assumption is that it takes a second, pain-inducing, shot to set off the K-10 and that a good choice was the Ruger 100 with additional clip, smartlink, and camera-mod Vision Magnification. Without that second shot being needed, any sports rifle seems like it would do.)
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Elfenlied @ Aug 18 2011, 07:03 AM) *
You mean that luxuriously customized one you posted some time ago? I want one of those too^^

Although I shouldn't really be complaining. In one of our recent runs, our team captured a smuggler's Skytrain, and from the looks of things, we probably get to keep it. I haven't considered living in it though. Although, since our characters live in LA, I might just redecorate it after laying low for a while.

Most of my "sniper" kills ingame were actually done with a Ruger 100 Sports Rifle. It's a lot easier to acquire and dispose of, and it's legal to own. Range and damage are also acceptable.


Indeed, that is the one.

Our team is sporting some pretty impressive vehicles now. But, we have been playing these characters for a while as well (300+ Karma each). We have a Fed-Boeing Commuter, a couple of Boats (Blomm and Voss Spitzenreiters), several Sports cars, Motorcycles, Some Undersea Sleds, and a few others I am probably forgetting. The Blimp was the latest in Lifestyles that the character is using, courtesy of the Zero Zone that we survived. Not sure how long it will last, but it is nice. Been a fun ride.

Yeah. Hunting rifles are good and easy. I have only used my Sniper Rifle twice in several gaming years of play. And in those situations, it worked just as well as a Barrett would have. SO, in the end, I stick with my HK, though I do like the descriptives of the Barrett (in use) in Shadowplay. They are very entertaining.
Elfenlied
QUOTE (suoq @ Aug 18 2011, 02:16 PM) *
What do you use for a follow-up shot to kick off the k-10? My plan was a sports rifle, K-10/DMSO capsule rounds, and what I really wanted was to follow up with some white phosphorus capsule rounds to bring on the pain with (so even if there's a delay in the K-10 going active, there's still that lovely burning sensation). Alas, that involves talking the GM into letting me have white phosphorus rounds for a sports rifle. Yes, it isn't subtle, but I'm not looking for subtle in this particular case. This is just a freebee job I'll be doing without my team once the mission is over.

(Assumption is that it takes a second, pain-inducing, shot to set off the K-10 and that a good choice was the Ruger 100 with additional clip, smartlink, and camera-mod Vision Magnification. Without that second shot being needed, any sports rifle seems like it would do.)


You can always speedball some delayed poison with it. Nothing lethal; just some basic, cheap poison that isn't instant.

UmaroVI
You can assassinate people with a sports rifle... if you're a wuss nyahnyah.gif Pros assassinate people with vehicle-mounted miniguns from 2 kilometers away. Or Gauss Rifles if your target has a ton of hardened armor.
suoq
Sometimes the goal isn't killing someone. Somethings killing someone is just a happy side effect.
Elfenlied
If I prepare my rifle rounds as vessels, and possess them with a spirit with elemental aura, I can assassinate almost anything with it.

That said, Miniguns and Gauss rifles are hard to obtain, and it sucks hard if you have to dispose of them.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (UmaroVI @ Aug 18 2011, 07:37 AM) *
You can assassinate people with a sports rifle... if you're a wuss nyahnyah.gif Pros assassinate people with vehicle-mounted miniguns from 2 kilometers away. Or Gauss Rifles if your target has a ton of hardened armor.


I prefer the Remote Commanded Russian KPV in the back of a Minivan, personally. Awesome and cool.
onlyghostdanceswhiledrunk
See as a PC, I've done just about all of these. The personal favorites though are the GTS tower with heimdalls and the nimrod with heimdals and Internal Ares Firelance Vehicle Laser. That 10km silent killing thing is just sexy for who dunnits. Specially given that I was playing a techno at the time and spoofed a couple enemy corp drones to hover close in and look guilty.
AppliedCheese
Its not intended to hunt down random runners. Its intended for killing very specific runners that someone has decided need to die.

For example, if you penetrated an MCT zero-zone. Or you decide to re-enact Karl Kombatmage at the next Brackhaven rally, and KE has decided its worth killing you for the public relations aspect. In general, doing things that break the law of "its not worth it to find and kill these guys." Because once it is worth it to kill them, you might as well do it cheap and in the way that is least likely to have them survive.

That being said, this would be a very deliberate option on the behalf of the owning corp. Someone has to spend the effort investigating the runners, and pitching it to the corporate hierarchy as worth the risk (Power Point 2072: Cost Benefit of Drone Strike Verus Karl Kombatmage). Companies won't strike outside of their territorilaity without previous agreements, which are unlikely. And while you can deny a firewatch team, it doesn't take a whole lot of analysis to determine that the 4x heimdalls that just slammed into that condo came from Ares airspace.

Companies won't strike where the collateral damage will outweigh the benefit. If your hauling a 10M nuyen prototype or the senior VP of marketing out with you, chances are Heimdall Rain isn't coming. Hell, while your on corp property, someone has to make the call if its worth hitting the accounting department with a missile just to preserve some pay data that will be obsolete in a week anyow...

As an urban defensive weapon, high altitude drones would actually be a poor choice due to all the restrictions. They'd only be useful at facilities with enough standoff from non-territorial areas and the corps own property to avoid excessive collateral. Plus, you know, the second you drop into a building the drone in question no longer has you identified unless there's on the ground help.

In contrast, as a specifically developed offensive engagement option, they seem like fair play. After all, the interested party has to clear quite a few hurdles, and effectively either pull the shadowrunners into an acceptable kill zone OR the shadowrunners have to have been sufficiently ridiculous enough to warrant a strike in what would usually be no-strike areas. Fiscally it makes sense though - if the runners are dumb enough to epxose themselves to the option, why wouldn't you just expend 15k in missiles rather than pay twice that for another runner team?

In short, it isn't "rocks fall, everyone dies." Its "be advised, companies have large nets of rocks that can only be released under reasonably specific conditions and in certain places - if you insist on standing under the net of rocks, and then taunting the man who releases the net, yes, they will crush you."

CanRay
Or you can drop a bug on them.

...

I couldn't find a link to the scene, so here's Henry Rollins showing why he's still on top!
Neurosis
QUOTE
So, how do you simulate this? I think the reaosnable design goal should be 50-75% of the team on site killed, with follow on strikes finishing the survivors.


If you just want to FREAKING KILL YOUR PLAYERS, the gear chapter of War! provides an ample array of adequate options. A few more long range missiles appear in (I believe) This Old Drone. Of course, you could also simply choose an arbitrarily high DV, AP, and Blast value.
Ascalaphus
QUOTE (AppliedCheese @ Aug 18 2011, 04:50 PM) *
it isn't "rocks fall, everyone dies." Its "be advised, companies have large nets of rocks that can only be released under reasonably specific conditions and in certain places - if you insist on standing under the net of rocks, and then taunting the man who releases the net, yes, they will crush you."


So, if you as a GM decide that the PCs have made someone angry enough, the PCs die. Nothing they can really do about it at that point.

Sounds like everyone will be enjoying it.




Please understand: from IC standpoint, it's very reasonable what you propose. You can certainly assassinate people (PCs) that way. Just like sniping; it's obviously doable. The rules aren't a problem, it's realistic, all that's fine.

But when is it ever fun OOC?
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (onlyghostdanceswhiledrunk @ Aug 18 2011, 09:46 AM) *
See as a PC, I've done just about all of these. The personal favorites though are the GTS tower with heimdalls and the nimrod with heimdals and Internal Ares Firelance Vehicle Laser. That 10km silent killing thing is just sexy for who dunnits. Specially given that I was playing a techno at the time and spoofed a couple enemy corp drones to hover close in and look guilty.


Yep, and Awesome... wobble.gif
CanRay
Also really hard to do ballistics on a laser burn.
Miri
QUOTE (CanRay @ Aug 18 2011, 10:54 AM) *
Also really hard to do ballistics on a laser burn.


Depends on how deep the hole is.. then just use the cameras in the area to recreate how he was standing.. then draw a straight line.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Ascalaphus @ Aug 18 2011, 10:42 AM) *
So, if you as a GM decide that the PCs have made someone angry enough, the PCs die. Nothing they can really do about it at that point.

Sounds like everyone will be enjoying it.

Please understand: from IC standpoint, it's very reasonable what you propose. You can certainly assassinate people (PCs) that way. Just like sniping; it's obviously doable. The rules aren't a problem, it's realistic, all that's fine.

But when is it ever fun OOC?


Indeed. Instant Death is never fun.

The one time we were faced with such a situation, a lot of people died (Another runner team we were meeting with) and the Full Borg Bodyguard took a beating (My temporary character, due to my Primary having been incarcerated and not yet escaped), as everyone tried to disengange. Several of the other characters also were injured, But I suffered teh brunt of the damage. But it was fun. We were being sniped from out at about 800 meters or so. Even through the windows and Walls people were dying. I even took a round IN the Freakin' Elevator as we were escaping. I took 14 of my 19 Physical Boxes and 6 of my Stun Boxes in damage before we got out of that situation. Was a hell of a lot of fun, though. And it really brought home the resources of a Megacorp when they choose to execute its assets, without causing a lot of collateral damage in the process.

And the characters STILL went through with the Operation on the Zero Zone 6 months later.

What a great conclusion to Emergence that was.
AppliedCheese
I tend to think of it as something that would not come out of the blue. Well, the actual missiles will, but the fact that its happening shouldn't. And while there's no amount of dice that will save them if the strike ever happens, smart play should if you set it up right.

A fixer tells you that you are on the shit list. You are being hunted. Your KE contact says he saw a network diagram with Karl Kombatmage in the middle and an "associated" line with someone who sounds like you on the end in the "Kinetic Peace Enforcement" offices the other day. If you have lowlight vision on, you notice a two second IR laser sparkle from the sky that snaps off shortly thereafter, if you back track it with vision aug and mag, you can just make out a black dot that crosses the moon before it slips into darkness. Maybe right before one of your contacts drops off the net, he flat out lets you know that your on the strike list. Your next Mr. J meet is set up in a wooden barn out in the fields, a good chunk away from anything valuable, that is coincidentally owned by a shell company agricultural front of the people you pissed off. If your particularly forgiving, maybe the first time, the heimdall malfunctions and just leaves a large unexploded warhead in the ground 5 meters away. Basically, let the players know its out there and THEN if they choose to ignore it, its on them.

Compared to a GM sniper, the players have dozens of ways to avoid a drone strike. They can use civilians as shields, make sure they are crossing territorialities, stay under top cover except for short bursts, make sure they aren't using recognizable vehicles, hug targets worth more than you, etc.

It is not a tool for pink mohawk. It is a tool for mirror shades campaigns to add another level of complexity during those manhunt periods. A way to inspire fear in the bullet proof sammy and the super stunball mage. More than anything, just knowing its out there is a deterrent. A reminder in black-trenchcoat land of why you have to be black trenchcoat, while still providing an escape route not tied to dice. The final tipping point when someone says "well, who cares if they send a HTR team, we'll takem."

On which note, imagine a red samurai squad backed up by these. Or even how negotiations might go if, as you stare outside into the barricades, the negotiator informs you he has recieved authorization for highly kinetic solutions if you don't give up. Time to got to plan B for exfil.


Irion
As with everything it depends on how you plan it. Rocks fall, everyone dies is never fun.
But trying to escape a drone up high can be.
suoq
I'm fascinated by the thought that somewhere there's a GM planning the killing of most of the player characters and justifying it by explaining that it's a natural reaction by the corps to the players having just completed the mission the GM wrote for them.

At least Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, had Mister Shhh. (and required the players to really, really, screw up the mission)

Miri
This is where the GM needs to learn how to say.. " F it.. Ninjas attack." and deliver the blunt object message to the PCs that just maybe... they are doing something that might not be a very good idea.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Miri @ Aug 18 2011, 10:54 AM) *
This is where the GM needs to learn how to say.. " F it.. Ninjas attack." and deliver the blunt object message to the PCs that just maybe... they are doing something that might not be a very good idea.


All in retaliation for completeing the mission given to them by the Johnson? Seems pretty harsh to me. I may have to go back and retrace this thread a bit.

EDIT: Nope. Looks like the OP just wants to make a point that success sometimes ends in death.
Miri
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Aug 18 2011, 11:57 AM) *
All in retaliation for completeing the mission given to them by the Johnson? Seems pretty harsh to me. I may have to go back and retrace this thread a bit.

EDIT: Nope. Looks like the OP just wants to make a point that success sometimes ends in death.


So how DOES one get really successful in this business without having a mega decide it is worth it to drop a 5 tons of metal on your head from orbit?
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Miri @ Aug 18 2011, 12:00 PM) *
So how DOES one get really successful in this business without having a mega decide it is worth it to drop a 5 tons of metal on your head from orbit?


Don't play in the OP's game?

Honestly, Mega's should not really have a vested interest in the Middle men once they have gotten away (Of course, Stopping them on their property is perfectly fine). That is WHY Shadowrunners actually thrive in a world where you would not expect them to. The Corps know that the 'Runners do not have whatever it is that they took anymore (it is likely already in the contracting agents hands), and you do not, generally, eliminate a potential asset. After all, tehy might use you to recover the item.

Only when you become a liability, or they need to make an example, will the Megacorps spend significant time and resources tracking you down and eliminating you. Or when you make it Personal.
Miri
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Aug 18 2011, 12:09 PM) *
Only when you become a liability, or they need to make an example, will the Megacorps spend significant time and resources tracking you down and eliminating you. Or when you make it Personal.


Right, so when the J offers you the wetworks job on a Mega's CEO daughter.. make damn good and sure you do it quietly and deniable.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Miri @ Aug 18 2011, 12:11 PM) *
Right, so when the J offers you the wetworks job on a Mega's CEO daughter.. make damn good and sure you do it quietly and deniable.


Yep, that goes without saying... smile.gif
AppliedCheese
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Aug 18 2011, 05:57 PM) *
All in retaliation for completeing the mission given to them by the Johnson? Seems pretty harsh to me. I may have to go back and retrace this thread a bit.

EDIT: Nope. Looks like the OP just wants to make a point that success sometimes ends in death.


To re-iterate: Its not intended as a pee-pee smack to be used incessantly every time you complete a mission. 99% of all runs, performed in black trenchcoat style, will never get the hierarchy peeved enough to go through the ass pain of deconflicting the requirements to hit you by fluff. The organizational energy required, combined with "companies won't waste effort on runners unless they really piss them off" means you should be able to be successful without the hammer.

Its the hammer that makes you act a little more discretely, cover your tracks a little bit better, and makes getting out of dodge that much harder. Yes, it will slaughter a runner team. If they're dumb enough to let it, and dumb enough to take actions they know are going to provoke a response without cleaning their traces - if you think they're going to send a cyberzombie after you, you should make sure you are drone-safe as well. And yeah, if you stay in Seattle after hitting a zero zone in a black trenchcoat campaign without completely rewriting your identity, you deserve unforgiving death.

For double crosses, it just adds one more factor to make you up the professionalism. Would you agree to walk to the 50 yard line of an abandoned football field surrounded by 4 story apartments in a bad neighborhood to hand over the macguffin or do an inital meet? Hell no, because your gut is telling you Mr. J has someone staring down a barret loaded with APDS right now. There is no way that can end well. So, nwo you just have to add, "make sure meet locations are within collateral damage distances of civilians, valuable infrastructure, multiple territories, or preferably all of the above."

And, as one poster mentioned, its not like players can't do this

As I said, not for the pink mohawk of heart. But if you want to up the level of black trenchcoat, its a useful tool I think.
PeteThe1
I'm surprised that with all the talk of missle strikes and high-altitude surveillance, nobody has mentioned the advantage of loiter-time contemporary drones have compared to SR. For runners, one drone getting 30 hours of video surveillance of an isolated corp facility, or being able to tail someone from 10 km up without having to worry aboue being spotted, and no matter how far they're driving, would make those parts of legwork trivially easy. Listed drones seem to generally be relatively low-altitude and have only a few hours fuel, mostly limiting them to tactical deployments. But I think of all the riggers I've played, and how much I'd have loved a drone that could stay on station for so long, and give me so much information.

For the corps using these things, even skipping TPK missile nastiness, how useful would that loiter-time be? Keep one over your secret facility at all times, see those infiltrators on themograph a kilometer before they touch your fence, locate their getaway vehicle however far away they hid it, watch them coming in from multiple directions at once and have your sec guys waiting. Or tail them to their meet afterwards, have a team a block away ready to pick up Mr Johnson and ask who he works for. Forget missiles, its death by information.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (PeteThe1 @ Aug 18 2011, 11:33 AM) *
I'm surprised that with all the talk of missle strikes and high-altitude surveillance, nobody has mentioned the advantage of loiter-time contemporary drones have compared to SR. For runners, one drone getting 30 hours of video surveillance of an isolated corp facility, or being able to tail someone from 10 km up without having to worry aboue being spotted, and no matter how far they're driving, would make those parts of legwork trivially easy. Listed drones seem to generally be relatively low-altitude and have only a few hours fuel, mostly limiting them to tactical deployments. But I think of all the riggers I've played, and how much I'd have loved a drone that could stay on station for so long, and give me so much information.

For the corps using these things, even skipping TPK missile nastiness, how useful would that loiter-time be? Keep one over your secret facility at all times, see those infiltrators on themograph a kilometer before they touch your fence, locate their getaway vehicle however far away they hid it, watch them coming in from multiple directions at once and have your sec guys waiting. Or tail them to their meet afterwards, have a team a block away ready to pick up Mr Johnson and ask who he works for. Forget missiles, its death by information.


30 Hour loiter times are not all that hard to come by actually. Takes 4 Slots for 4 extra fuel "tanks" assuming a body of at least 4. This gives 30 hours all by itself, not to mention that there are other alternatives.

Lets also not forget that the tech of the 2070's does not incluide all the tech we have today. Maybe that 30 hour loiter time is part of the lost tech that has yet to be recovered.

AS for ensuring 24/7/365 Coverage of drones. It is not really all that hard to accomplish in Shadowrun, and for fairly cheap as well. Remember, any Lighter than Air vehicle has a Duration of 60 Hours base.
Miri
And if you add a SunCell on that LTA, thats 5 days aloft there.
AppliedCheese
Lighter than air - SR reflects reality! Google PTDS or PGSS blimp.
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