Sorry but this seemed like the best place to ask my questions, basically I am trying to make a Gnome Rigger but being so new to the system. Even after reading into the books I had a friend point me to this forum for advice. We are using the Chummer program which so far has been a wonderful and helpful tool, and our GM is limiting us to Arsenal, Augmentation, Runner's Companion, Street Magic, Unwired, Streetmagic, and the 20th Year Anniversary Edition of 4th Ed Shadow Run.

After I learned with what the other characters were doing in the group, I decided after asking a few questions I wanted to be the Rigger. Now having never played the system before I can say after browsing these books a lot has gone over my head and I am getting a little confused on what I should do to build my Gnome properly. We have 400BP and a max availability of 12. Also this is set in 2057 I believe he said, so the second crash has not happened (Think it was the second one), and Nanotech and the smallest class of drones, along with cultured bioware are off the table by his standards.

While I know Riggers are about there vehicle's and drones I have also picked up that some hacking ability would be needed, and I would also like to be able to defend myself other than with just my drones. We have a good hacker in the group (Boosted logic of 7 I believe), so we have someone who can hack well so I wont need to be full time hacking.

For stats, which we are limited to 200 for Primary with Edge bought separately.
Attributes:
Bod: 4
Agi: 5
REA: 4 (From what my GM told me this is important for Rigger's and I will be using Wired Reflexes or Reaction Enhancers to boost it, buying a 5 as gnome is expensive.)
STR: 3
CHA: 3
INT: 4
LOG: 4
WILL: 5
EDGE: 4

Positive:
Arcane Arrester (Gnome)
Thermographic Vision (Gnome)
None chosen yet.
Negative:
Distinctive Style (Gnome)
Neoteny(Gnome)
Day Job (10/Hr Week) Most of the other PCs seem to have one of some sort, and it adds a bit of story.
Extravagant Eyes (I did not plan on having Cybereyes.)
Unusual Hair
In Debt (20,000 Nuyen) (Again something I can work into the background, though can be changed out for another 20 BP of Negative Traits)

So far this is all I have, I am looking for any suggestions about what I have taken. And then maybe I can move onto the next part of the character being more sure of myself.

This has left me with 180BP

1. Ask for Karmagen, it's the better system (it's in Runner's Companion).

2. Body (and Strength and Willpower) should (most of the times) be odd numbers because stats derived off of those are rounded down.

3. In Debt is a ...debated quality. Better don't use it at all.

Basically, what's the most important decision for you to make is how you will be controlling your 'minions'. There are 3 modes of operating a vehicle (manual, jump in, command) and you should decide on which you will use most of the time. The general advice of your GM saying "Reaction is important for a rigger" is just not true.

Rounded UP, not down. Just wanted to correct that.

You are right of course

All this advice presumes you are actually going to be a rigger, that is a person who primarily controls vehicles and drones by "jumping in" to them.

There is a quality called more then metahuman out of unwired. It allows you to jump in and out of devices more quickly. I feel it is definitely worth it.

I believe your GM has actually steered you wrong a little bit, as a rigger Reflexes is not super important. Reflexes comes into play when your driving manually (reflexes + appropriate skill), when your rigging your instead using the vehicles response in place of reflexes (by the way ask the GM if he'll make this be your response instead of the vehicles, it not only helps you out a little bit, it makes it more consistant witht he system overall).

You will likely want to pick up the codesligner quality for rigging, this will give you a plus 2 dice on everything.

Control rig cyberware is naturally something you'll want.

I do actually suggest for riggers that they take a strong look at being technomancer as there really isn't too much cyberware that benefit's rigging. However if your playing a 2050+ campaign your GM may or may not be comfortable with this so you should probably ask.

The game is set in 2057?

Find out when the game starts; like, exactly when the game starts. Find out what day, and even what hour the game starts. Hope to god it's something like midnight on January 1st, because brother, you are now on a mission.


Come hell or high water, you need to be in Washington DC on August 9th, at the Watergate hotel at 10:23 PM, with everything available at your disposal to shoot down or otherwise defeat a missile attack.

Or, be there with a laser designator...

Spoof the laser designator and re-designate the target? That's not a bad idea...



Oh, wait, you didn't mean...


No. No way. No way, no how.

Zurich-Orbital Gemeinschaft Bank has not and cannot issue enough nuyen to make me do that.

To start: It might not be a big issue for your GM, but SURGE didn't happen until 2061, so if the campaign is in 2057 you shouldn't be able to take Unusual Hair and Extravagant Eyes. But you can talk to your GM about that.

As for the rest of being a rigger: Skills and Gear is what you need. When I play riggers I prefer to out fit my drones with decent software so I don't need to jump into them. Then I can just sit in VR with a simsense booster and accelartor giving out lots of commands to half a dozen drones.

Good skills for riggers are: Pilot (all of them for the most part), Gunnery, Electronic Warfare, Hacking, Hardware, Computers, Shadowing, Navigation, and Perception.

Gear, a good van and the drones your want. A commlink with high system (more drones), firewall (nobody hacks them), and signal (so you don't need to be in the fray). You will want a high rating ECCM program so that you don't get jammed. Scan and Sniffer so you can find other people's drones. Decrypt and Spoof to hack them. And Command to take control of them. Encrypt so that doesn't happen to you. Stealth so hackers can't find your node.

Good choices for bioware is reaction enchancers, simsense booster, encephalon, math SPU, and skillwares with knowsofts for maps. Pain Editor would be nice, but that is Cultured Bioware, so an Adrenaline Pump could be used in an emergency when you take some dumpshock or stun damage when jumped in. An orientation system is nice too.

Wired Reflexs aren't that nescessary since you will be getting extra IPs by being in VR, but if you want to stack the reaction bonuses, sure. But I think you might be more use out of other cyberware.

Thanks for catching that, I did not notice those were SURGE qualities, I was sort of quickly browsing through the book and I thought they sounded interesting more than anything. I will switch them around.

I like to than the rest of you also for your advice. I have been reading over it and even reading the text in the books a little more closely so I do not make any other mistakes.

As Lurker said, the PQ Codeslinger (Control Device) gives you a good DP boost for your drones. DoomFrog's advice was also good.

You might want to look into Skillwires and an Expert Skillwire system either now or ingame, skillsofts for some of the more obscure vehicle types will help you be able to pilot subs, boats, VTOLs, whatever. Your starting Availability 12 (and presumably alpha cyberware) limit might make picking beta or delta skillwires 5 or 6 ingame better than skillwires 4 now, your choice.

For vehicle skills, I would recommend Pilot Groundcraft and Pilot Aircraft for your car, your wheeled drones and your ariel drones. Dodge is also good for helping your car/drones dodge bullets and missiles, and Gunnery helps you shoot back (although these skills might not be necessary if you are just commanding the drones [which will use Pilot + Clearsight to target]). Mechanic skills (or better yet, the skillgroup) allows you to repair and modify your vehicles and drones.

For gear, as DoomFrog said you will want a tricked out commlink with all the programmes he suggested. A R4 Agent can help command your drones and keep an eye out for opposing hackers. You will probably want a people carrier vehicle to take your team (and drones) to and from the run. The Rover 2068 SUV or GMC Bulldog van are your friends here. The former is a bit sleeker and faster, but you can't beat the mod slots for the latter. No-Flat tires, Morphing plates, Gridlink and Gridlink Override are useful mods, and you might want to think about a smuggling compartment for your compadres less legal weapons. You will want a rigger coccoon (modified for your small metahuman size), and a drone rack for your drones.

For drones, MCT FlySpy microdrones are good eyes and ears to send and help scout for the team on the run. Rip out and upgrade their sensors (perhaps give them ultrasound), but other than that they're good as is. The GM Nissan Doberman (crawler) and MCT Nissan Rotodrone (ariel) can be good "soldier" drones, although one fixed mounted LMG and better sensors is about all they can cope with mod wise. 4 fly-spys and 2 each of the rotodrones and dobermans should give you good flexibility (send the rotodrones in while the dobermans guard your wheels, or vica versa). An Evo Orderly can help your face blag his way in somewhere and help you bring wounded colleagues from the field, hell it's not much more expensive than the R6 Medkit it contains anyway.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, any info does help with me being newer to the system. I played Battletech for years but when I started reading Shadowrun. It was a whole new cup of coffee.

Also, I like to play more odd things, which is why I am going with gnome. Though when I read just how short they are I may change my mind. I was like 'Well with how they are said to look, I could play the child card thing off.' Then I noticed they are closer to the height of 5-7 year old being 80-100cm tall according to Runner's Companion. I was expecting them to be more along the height of preteens.

My other option for strange character, though it leaves the group without a rigger (We have a hacker with a high logic and someone who is good at driving. So really all I was was a 'Style of Play' More than necessity. Though the Drones do have there benefits as being well, not PCs dying when they blow up.

My other option I am thinking is a Pixie of some sort because that seems hilarious. Specially in the 2050s when really they are not considered people. Though a Pixie in Seattle would be an interesting and odd concept I think...I wonder if I could write a good background for that.

You need some matrix defenses before you add good physical combat abilities. (The Logic score is no indication of hacking ability except for Logic-based technomancer streams.) There are two options here:
- you go for a hacking-light technomancer, controlling drones via the Command CF. Hurts your physical capabilities, gives sprites as intelligent "pilots".
- you build a combat rigger that can handle real world combat without drones, too. Likely easier to handle in the beginning.

Attributes (200 /Edge)


You have strong synergies between rigging and direct combat on the defensive/supporting side. Good Dodge was mentioned, Perception can generate tons of information that can be shared with team members. See TacNets in Unwired and Indirect Fire in Arsenal. A Trauma Dampener helps against all kinds of damage. Muscle Toner gets your Agility up (again).

Stuff to look at: Perceptive quality, Perception skill, good sensor gear, 2-3 medium combat drones, a solid connection for getting hacked software (Autosofts/Pilots).

Welcome to Shadowrun. You're in for a ton of fun.

I tried a gnome a number of months back, and I had a hoot. i had so much fun toying with metahuman adjusted equipment, like the jacked-way-up front seat of his van, and the comparatively large weapons he wielded. Regarding the looks and age thing, while they can be mistaken as children, it won't be for long. Read up about (IIRC) primordial dwarfism. From what I've read about gnomes, this is the closest parallel. But remember that you are (probably) an adult and act as such. Metahumans are fairly common, and metavariants are known. Not everyone is going to think you're some stupid kid, although you may need a booster seat when you meet the Johnson (Revel in it. It's a lot of fun).

As for being a rigger, hacking is a good bet... normally. The thing you have to keep in mind is that you are playing in 2057, not 2070. Rigging was a different game then, and you'll really want to read through Shadowrun 2050 if you are planing in that time frame. The wireless Matrix isn't really a thing back then, which changes how rigging works. The most important is that you won't be buying a tricked out commlink. You'll also have very different access to drones and other equipment. This might be a lot for a new game, seeing as how the 2050 rules for the Matrix are completely different than with the wireless Matrix.

A lot of the advice here is really good though. I can't highlight enough how important the Gunnery skill is. Having a good system of contacts is also really useful, and by extension, the Negotiation skill. Riggers are a gear-based character type, so all of the advice about Attributes and gear is all really good. I just want to make it clear that the rules you have been looking at are about wireless rigging in 2070. "Legacy" games require a bit more tweaking, especially on something as different as the Matrix and the state of cyberware (although the latter might not be a big deal for you).

My GM has altered the timeline slightly, so the Matrix is actually wireless. It is one of those things that does get confusing when I look through the books, and I have to remember some stuff exist, other stuff does not. Like Technomancer's are off the table and Surge still has not happened because Halley's comet has 4 years until it passes by. So far I have been tweaking my Gnome trying to get all the right gear and make sure I get things right. When I am done for sure I will post it up asking for critques because I know you guys are more experience than myself. Though I most say I am loving the game, at first I was doubtful I would like it since my friends had talked about it before, but it was mostly stories that happened to there characters (That I have heard over and over again for the past 10 years. Sometimes it sucks having a memory like mine...) But when I actually got into it and making characters I get all giddy with excitement.

Okay, I have not finished gear but I have finished BP, and have a chunk of money left over. 400bp, Availability 12. Even though set in 2057 the Matrix is more like the 2070s Matix. (Gm altered the Timeline to have all the fun wireless being brought in earlier, and not caused by the second crash....since we have not gotten that far I do not know if it happens or not.) Cultured Bioware was also off the table, so this is so far what I got.

Metatype: Gnome
BOD: 5
AGI: 3 (5)
REA: 3 (5)
STR: 3
CHA: 3
INT: 4
LOG: 5
WIL: 5
EDG: 3

Essence 3.27

Qualities:
Arcane Arrester (Gnome)
More than Metahuman
Negative Qualities:
Day Job (10Hrs/week)
Allergy (Uncommon, Moderate)
Impant-Induced Immune Deficiency
(One -10 or two -5 point qualities, I still have to choose but I put a second ten point allergy in on Chummer to fill the gap for the moment)
Distinctive Style (Gnome)
Neoteny(Gnome)

Nuyen (37) 185,000

Skills:
Name (Level) (Specialization)
Athletics Skill Group (1)
Eletronics Skill Group (2)
Automatics (1) (Machine Pistols)
Con (3) (Fast Talk)
Dodge (1)
Electronic Warfare (1)
Gunnery (5)
Hacking (2)
Infiltration (1) (Vehicle)
Perception (2)
For these next two, I assumed jumping in means you would use Wheeled for wheeled drones, and what not, and remote operation was not valid since I was 'jumped in'.
Pilot Aircraft (2) (Rotary Wing)
Pilot Ground Craft (2) (Wheeled)
Pistols (2) (Semi-Automatics)
Shadowing (1) (Tailing)
Tracking (2)
Unarmed Combat (3)

Cyberware:
Commlink
-Custom Commlink
-Response 5
-Signal 5
-Firewall 5
-System 5
-Suite: Pro User
-Encrypt (R4)
-ECCM (R4)
-Scan (R4)
-Sniffer (R4)
-Spoof (R4)
-Decrypt (R4)
-Stealth (R4)
-Exploit (R3)

Control Rig
Cybereyes Basic System (Rating 3)
-Eye Recording Unit
-Image Link
-Smartlink
-Flare Compensation
-Thermographic Vision
-Eye Light System
Datajack
Reaction Enhancers (2)
Shock Hand
Sim Module (Hot-Sim Modified)
Bio-Ware
Muscle Toner (Rating 2)

Equipment:
4 Datachip
20 Standard RFID Tags
Radio Signal Scanner (R4)
White Noise Generator (R4)
Respirator (R4)
2 Medkit (R4)

5 Pistols and ammo(No need to go into details)

Vehicles:
MCT Nissian Roto-Drone
-Improved Takeoff and Landing Level 2
-Weapon Mount (Normal, External, Flexible, Remote)
-FN HAR
-Laser Sight, Gas Vent 2
-Response 5
-Medium Drone Sensor
-100 Ammo

Rover 2068 (SUV) (GM is letting me use it as an earlier model for an SUV)
-Amenities, High
-Off-Road Suspension
-Passanger Protection (R2)
-Anti-Theft
-2 Drone Rack, Small
-2 Drone Rack, Small Landing
-Run Flat Tires (4)
-Spoof Chip
-Rigger Adaptation
-Manual Control Override, Drive-By-Wire
-Morphing License Plate
-Metahuman Adjustment (For Gnomes)
-Vehicle Sensor

2 Modified GMC Chariot
-Weapon Mount (Normal, Concealed, Fixed, Remote)
-Ingram White Knight
-Small Drone Sensor
-100 Ammo Regular (Belt)

2 Flyspy (Straight from the book)

I have 30K Nuyen left, and I have more gear I need to pick up of course (Fake licenses for some of the liceansed gear, and a few fake IDs.

Anything that seems to really stand out as bad or missing?

Not off the top of my head, but...

What day do you start? Come on, you're starting on the momentous year!

May 10th to answer that question.

You have three months. Make them count.

On page 245 in the Shadowrun 4th edition Anniversary book, I noticed Riggers get +2 dice for actions when jumped in from Hotsim use; does that stack with the +2 from the Control Rig?

Yes, they stack...

There is also this: "Characters who are driving a vehicle through virtual reality (whether they are directly jacked in to the vehicle or piloting it remotely), receive a –1 threshold modifier to all Vehicle Tests."

Useful for crash tests or stunts to lose a tail.

I think Control Rig boosters nanoware are the only skill bonus (maxes out at skill x 1.5). Everything else should stack. And I'm guessing you aren't going to be using nanoware in '57.

I do not have the Nanoware access.

And good to know, I have been screwing myself out of two dice per roll. A game where I am a Rigger is currently running and I had been only adding two for Hot Sim, I had sort of forgotten about my Control Rig. My first Rigger which I had not come here for Advice on has not worked exactly as I had hoped but I sort of had no idea what I was doing. Now I have had some time to understand the system a little bit. But that is nice that the Control Rig and HotSim stack, and I do know the flaws of being HotSimed into a Drone when it is attacked, I have not acctually had to use my Drones in Combat yet. (With my current character, not the Gnome I am working on as backup.) My Rigger, even though a Rigger tends to live fast and reckless (A young Street Racer). So I would not be surprised if I get him killed somehow.