Hi folks, helping someone build a Technomancer Rigger but getting lost on exactly which Complex Forms are a must. I've used the search here and while I've found quite a few builds and advice, those generally begin going off topic and discussing other matters of a build. This will be for a person who Jumps In and/or Commands drones, but using the Remote Control option sparingly. Best to limit it to the must 5 since BP are tight. Thanks.

Command is obvious for you. Since hacking is a large part of technomancing, Exploit and Stealth are equally obvious. The Mute program option (Unwired 115) for exploit is also extremely welcome, since at some point, you will be detected hacking, and this gives you time to bail or take out IC. Analyze is a requirement, for matrix perception and detecting if someone is trying to hack you.
Remaining programs are not as indispensable, but there are some that make some things a lot easier, and it is better to get things with BP rather than later with karma (since the karma cost is much higher, for a rating 6 CF it's 6 bp vs. 22 karma, for instance). Spoof, Shield (Unwired 136) and Disarm (Unwired 111) are all good options. Spoof increases how versatile you can be with hacking, and allows you to fake a lifestyle. Shield is a very good protection for cybercombat, giving you time to bail (I recommend against building for cybercombat in general, but defense against it is a good idea. You can always thread up an attack program). Disarm combos quite well with the Mute Exploit program, allowing you to immediately kill the analyze programs that would otherwise find your icon in the node you're hacking.

Exploit, Stealth, Analyze, and Command would be the absolute must-have ones.

Analyze
Shield
ECCM
Stealth
Armor/Encrypt

Let your sprites do the heavy lifting hack wise.
Multiprocessing Echo is your friend. Matrix Perception checks become free actions with +3 dice, and when you are VR jumped in a drone active sensor locks are Matrix actions.

I always considered spoof an important part of any rigger's arsenal, as they let you steal the other guys drones, or steal yours back.

minor side note here, but for a technomancer, you can do horrible horrible things in cybercombat. it's one of those situations where rating does more than just add to your dice pool, and that's when technomancers start to do some really scary things. also, threading psychotropic option into your attacks can give you further really scary options...

that said, for this specific scenario i'll agree he doesn't want to specialize in cybercombat. but there is definitely a time and place for it...

in any event, i'd go with:

stealth, analyze, spoof, command, exploit (not necessarily in that order). there are others that would be nice to have (like edit, which comes up rather often), but those are the ones i'd say you want at the highest rating possible, while most of the others you can get away with threading them as required.

i don't feel ECCM is necessary, as you can compensate for that with gear by just having a repeater skinlinked to yourself.

Well there is another technomancer in the group who is a full on hacker, so it's not as necessary to have too many hacking skills that's why this build will focus on the rigging. How necessary is cybercombat for the technomancer rigger then?

Well, you may have to defeat another Rigger/Agent to take over his Drones. Pretty important in my opinion.

You are always-on in the matrix, so being able to defend yourself is very important. If you keep at least one sprite in reserve to defend you, Stealth is enough for that purpose. You want Attack at some point - as Jaid said, that will get scary. One hit, one down.

Stealth, Shield. Don´t be detected, don´t be hit.
Command. Don´t compete with the rigger by jumping in. IMO your most effective drone setup is Autopilot+Sprite Support, this one adds the personal touch.
Analyse. To find attackers.

Exploit, Spoof, Edit. I assume you´ll have the slots, and it´s a shame not to have the max number of CFs at max rating using BP-gen. If you use karma-gen (and you should), ratings are more negotiable.


There are options besides the obvious Dronomancer Stream:
Sourceror. Logic-based so easily augmented Fading stat. Code sprites ("Probability Distribution") instead of Tutor sprites ("Proficiency").
Techno-Shaman. Cha-based so good at social skills - get a contact group for drone gear. Paladin and Sleuth Sprites, plus you have high Cha and can have many.

What about Scan? The character will probably need to Detect Hidden Node for any enemy drones/commlinks before spoofing, hacking, etc

Again, since he said the team already has a full time hacker I think he would be better served turtling himself and letting his Sprites handle the little bit of hacking he might need to do. Analyze so that he can see them coming, shield and armor maybe Medic or whatever the matrix healing program is to keep his sprites up? No idea if it can actually be used on them or not.

i don't consider cybercombat a major thing for a rigger (at least, not offensively), and especially if you have another technomancer in the group who's going full-on hacker.

my point was not for your character, which is what i meant when i said "for this specific scenario i'll agree he doesn't want to specialize in cybercombat". you specifically don't need cybercombat. the rest of that side note was merely to point out that while cybercombat is generally very low value for a hacker (mostly because it alerts people to your presence and offers very little benefit most of the time, even if you win) it can do wonderful things for a technomancer both because you can get higher ratings that will one-shot enemies, and because you can customize your complex forms perfectly for the scenario. the qualities you can inflict using psychotropic programs are in many cases game-changers. addiction and mania/phobia, in particular, are very powerful ways to manipulate people (of course, you won't be doing yourself any favours in terms of convincing people technomancers are not going to hack their brains that way, but sometimes it will be worth it).

you can do the psychotropic part without being a technomancer, mind you... it's just that technomancers do it extremely well and can very easily adapt to a specific set of needs.

anyways, i still stand by my original list of suggestions:

command (i know you said you didn't want to remote control too much, but really, most of the time this is your best option)
analyze (as has been said, you need to know when someone is attacking you)
stealth (you need to be hard to spot, so that people have a harder time spoofing you)
spoof (this will let you quickly do something about enemy drones, but only temporarily until your opponent has time to react)
exploit (you want to be able to hack into enemy systems on a more permanent basis as well)

i do agree that it seems a bit of a shame for a technomancer to not go all out on CFs in BP chargen (it is actually so good of a BP-karma ratio that it's actually worth the cost to put logic to 6 so you can afford more CFs at maximum, and normally hard-maxing attributes is a very inefficient use of BPs).

that said, if you don't want more CFs, don't take them. you're sure to have plenty of other things you *could* spend your BP on (i've learned that for myself at least the key to making an effective technomancer is to not spend BPs on other things unless you absolutely need to... even things you *think* you need, like the full electronics group, when really you only need 2 of those skills at a good rating and the others can sit at 1, tops).

but i will also say that if you're thinking "well, i'm going to eventually want to have the ______ CF", the time to make that investment is now, immediately, while still in character generation. there will never ever ever be a more efficient time to get a CF to a high rating. and frankly, what with submersion and echoes, you are not going to have a lot of karma to spare for raising CFs later.

I'd put Encrypt in place of Exploit, esp. since the team already has a hacker. Better security for communication between the techno and drones.

1) encrypt is depressingly ineffective in general at actually defending things. it buys you time, and generally speaking not even a lot of time.

2) he should be using sprites, as a general rule, for all but one drone. that should be enough security.

1) It slows down any attempts for spoofing, so it keeps the drones safe(-r) and under his control longer, I think.

2) In general, I totally agree with you, sprites are the way to go. Free Registering makes having a stable of bad-ass sprites something every techno should use. But didn't he say this?

One item i see missing... Data bomb! You don't need to keep it running after you've bombed the item either if my understanding is right... but a rating 10 bonb should scare the pants off any sane. Unlikely to be defused, and even more unlikely that they'll survive an encounter with it if in hotsim... (10d6 bomb damage).


Though one thing you'll need as a rigger you won't need as a techno is actual programs... you'll need em to run on your drones. Such as encryption, analyze, (both good candidates for optomize & ergonomic). Autosofts for the drone pilots... stuff you can't thread.


I don't agree with the psychotropic stuff... because lets face it it's a bit too nasty with the negative qualities. Also you start running into things like techno's can't thread viruses or the like... but psychotropic is an option. But in any case, you can thread program options on the fly as you need them including psycho by RAW. (just not sure about RAI)

Data Bomb only deals Matrix damage, so only technomancers die, unless you thread a biofeedback option. The pavlow option is also nice for data bombs.

Encrypt is not remotely worth it as a CF. It's not very good, sprites can do it, and if you really must you can just cough up all of like 1000 nuyen to put an optimized Encrypt program right into your drones and have them run it.

If you have a stream with Crack sprites, you can probably get away with just Command, Analyze, and Stealth, and outsource any actual hacking you have to do to sprites. Remember that the question is not "do I ever want to use this complex form" it's "is this a complex form that I will need to use myself at a very high rating on short notice."

If you are going to throw a DataBomb, Biofeedback is a Must. Combined with Pavlov and Psychotropic (Scorched), it is a nasty Combination. Intruders hitting a Rating 6 Version of the above will never likely forget it. My Cyberlogician used a Rating 7 version of the Above. Not many people came back to hit his link's after hitting it the first time.

psychotropic(phobia:data bombs) would probably be more effective in making sure they don't come back if you really want to get cheesy, you can give them a stronger phobia by making it more specific... for example, "powerful data bombs which are located in this specific node". of course, if you do decide to pull those kinds of shenanigans, it has been my experience that GMs will generally not respond very favourably...

regardless, the psychotropic stuff is not needed for this rigger, i agree. that's why it was a side note to the discussion, and also why i didn't recommend that he pick up either black hammer or blackout as CFs. i was merely pointing out that in the hands of a technomancer, you can do very scary things with cybercombat, and that i therefore don't agree with the assessment that cybercombat is never worth building for. in the context of this character, it is not worth building for imo, but you absolutely can get some very impressive results out of a character built for it.

If your table uses the diminishing dice pools rule, a high rating encryption program is a good defense against script kiddies.

Indeed it is.

Diminishing pool rule being, on the second roll of an extended test remove 1 die, on the third roll remove a second die etc etc?

Exactly.