Calling all Riggers and gear heads,

So am I reading this right? It certainly sounds as though, in 2nd and 3rd edition SR, Riggers aren't allowed to use their Control Pool on drones? I mean, it feels pretty vague, all things considered. But since drones get access to their own dice pool (IVIS?), and nothing in the control pool language mentions remotes and drones (though assuming those are vehicles it should/could apply).

Since Magicians can't apply their spell pool to conjuring, this makes some level of sense. But it just feels like I'm off a bit.

I'm planning on using some of the updates from RIGGER 2/SR3 in my game (sticking with the old vehicle combat rules though. No time for you, maneuver score!), but I'm trying to keep things as light as possible. As such, I'm inclined to just ignore special upgrades and jet let riggers use their control pool on drones out of the box. What ramifications and ripples am I missing here?

Tom

did the control pool not depend on how a vehicle or drone is used?
if i remember this correctly(which is unlikely, i'll admit) a rigger could use the control pool on any vehicle he was jumped into personally at that moment . .

I'm pretty certain that the IVIS pool only relates to drones operating under their own power, as opposed to when a rigger jumps in. If you're rolling your own skills with the drone, you get access to Control Pool. If the drone is rolling it's Pilot rating, it uses IVIS.

You have two different methods of controlling your drones. One is the 'captain's chair', where you give orders to multiple drones, but they operate using their own pilot ratings. In that case no, no control pool is allowed. The other is when the rigger jumps directly into the drone. In that case, the rigger uses his skills instead of the drone's pilot rating, and as a consequence, he can use his control pool. The problem is that he can ONLY control that one drone while he's doing that.

Alright! Thanks for the tips, everyone. It's good to know my gut was right. So drone in dog brain mode, no dice pool. Drone with rigger in direct control, dice pool. Makes sense.

Tom

Don't forget you got your combat Pool as well for those "Holy Crap I'm gonna get DUMPSHOCKED!" moments

Also note the boundaries between Combat Pool and Control Pool. You can't dodge, soak, or make Driving tests with Combat Pool, and you can't attack with Control Pool.

The flip side, though, is that you attack with a different pool from the one you dodge/soak with. Combined with the fact that you can dodge on 2s with the right Handling…

~J