A tiny bit of sanity is that it cannot then be dismounted and personally used (it's vehicle-adapted, which presumably means things like no trigger, etc.), so it's at least different from the one you can't get.

Actually, depending on the market for stolen Stratos, it could make sense. No wonder LS is in danger of losing the Seattle contract…

~J

I have seen a Rigger that didn't take any drones whatsoever at chargen, and went about during the first gaming session poaching drones from all kinds of sources using the MIJI rules.

Much like a Decker that doesn't buy a deck, but steals one after the game starts.

This isn't the first time something like that has happened - look at the trauma patches in the survival knife for instance.

In fact - RL example - the microdrives used by the majority of 5GB mp3 players are not as easy to get hold of, or as cheap as, the players themselves. If you want a 5GB microdrive, just buy an MP3 player...

Maybe the majority of the world's supply of MMGs is actually just bought up by whoever makes the stratos..?

I kinda doubt you could adapt the MMG from a Strato-9 to be carried by a person, as it's likely that the gun has no case, and if you opened it you'd just find the firing mechanism, an ejection port & a motorised ammo belt, so if you took it out you'd have those bits and not an actual weapon, if that makes sense.

On the topic of armaments, I have two questions.

1) What're the best weapons to outfit drones with? I've been thinking of giving them things like assault rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers & gyrojet pistols, but is there anything else that's worth taking? (I'm saying assault rifles over MG's 'cause they're easier to get hold of)

2) How would I modify the MCT-Nissan Roto Drone? Not just in terms of the rules, but what's worth adding? I was thinking extra armour, and a weapon, though I'm not sure what type. But I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Oh, and can someone please start helping me put together a rigger character? So far I've got bits of random advice & some suggestions but not enough to make a cohesive character, and I'm really not sure where to start

I'd say go with one of three philosophies for drone weapons.

1) Fully automatic. Take advantage of the 1/2 recoil, and open up the possibility of suppressive fire.

2) Single-shot and powerful. Drone sniper wars ahoy!

3) Explosive.

Rigger character. Ok, what chargen system? What race? Outline of your character's personality?

~J

Thanx a bunch Kagetenshi!!! Dint even occur to me to look at the errata... Now where did I put that calculator...

Airborne drones and heavy weapons (LMG +) are quite a strong combo:
Big guns are always handy
They can capitalize on the superior range of heavy weapons. If the opposition can't even reach your drones with their arms things get a whole lot easier. Drones are expensive.
My favorite manoeuvre: comin out of da sun - sneaky!
Clouds and Mist are also your friends

I'm currently considering taking that Ares hover drone (the name escapes me) and fitting it with an SMG and a gyrojet pistol if it can carry it...maybe swap the SMG for a pistol or something if not.

I just think a tiny hovering robot firing what're more or less M203 rounds is a cool image...

I'll probably also take a Renraku Spider Drone for the odd occasion surveillance is required, and either a Steel Lynx or Doberman just 'cause I want one.

Oh, are any of the jet UAV's worth it to use as a re-trans thingy?

Edit:

Oh, and would it be wrong to persuade the team to go on a run against MCT so I can 'appropriate' a Hachiman?

Yes, which is all the more reason to do it

Spiders rock. If you need some Body 0 air support for it, I recently posted stats for the Vector Kimji (tiny fuzzy surveillance drone) on these boards and could do so again if desired.

Mmm, tiny.

~J

Well, the way I see it they have to service/store the Hachiman drones somewhere, and if the rigger finds out where they could rob the place and grab a Hachiman or two, any other interesting looking drones and a boat load of spare parts.

Note to self: When rigger's finished, persuade other characters that a Hachiman would be really handy, and probably quite profitable (steal 3: keep one to use, one for parts & sell the other )

Well, this is the concept I've got so far, it came to me just before midnight as I was trying to get to sleep (I do all my best thinking to the sounds of drunken yobs fighting & 747's taking off )

He's no name yet, but this is what I thought of.

He was a corp kid, probably with MCT (so he'd know about the Hachiman), maybe with someone else. Anyway, from an early age he'd always been obsessed with mechanics & robotics so when he was old enough he started taking courses in drone maintenance & repair, hoping to become a drone rigger. So when he'd finished his courses he took the final test, but didn't get into the rigger program so he ended up in maintenance keeping the drones he should've been commanding running for someone else.

This goes on for a few years until he meets one of the other people that took the final exam with him, and asks him what he got on the final test, and it turned out the other guy scored lower, which pissed my character off no end, and he came to the conclusion he'd been held back 'cause he was an elf. This gnaws at him for a while, until eventually he starts following up an old rumour about a former mechanic that had 'gone native' and disappeared, the rumour saying that he'd set up a drone repair/modification facility in the shadows.

So eventually he tracks the guy down, and is pissed off (and desperate) enough to offer to sell the guy as many drone components/drones as he can smuggle out of the facility if he'll put him in contact with someone that can install the cyberware he'd need to become a rigger (and he could earn the cash for it by selling the parts, so he thought).

Eventually of course he gets caught, in this case he was caught trying to smuggle out a modified Steel Lynx combat drone, and the corp revoked his SIN and fired him. So, desperate and with nothing to his name but the money he'd been saving for his cyberware (he wasn't quite dumb enough to store it in the same account as his corp pay) he went to work for the guy to get the rest of the money.

Eventually he did, and had the cyberware fitted, and now he runs the shadows as a drone rigger to pay off the mechanic and to keep himself in drones & housing.

What you think?

Sounds pretty good, although I'd question the leniancy of MCT. Instead of revoking the SIN and firing him I'd expect them to go for incarceration or death. Maybe a bunch of deniable assets did try to kill him and something happened around that (he talked them out of it or they left him for dead and he escaped). All a bit hackneyed, but then I find most character backgrounds are

Depending on where he was stealing them from I'm not sure they'd kill him, but I'd be willing to bet they'd try to do more than revoke his SIN, seize his assets, and fire him.

~J

Thinking about it he could have one of those 'nobody could survive that' type 'accidents' but manage to crawl out half dead and end up being held together with cyberware & some superglue...

I've been thinking about his secondary skills as well...so far I'm thinking weapons skills (probably pistols & shotguns), Electronics B/R (useful both for drones and breaking into places), and probably giving him a spur or two and some Cyber-Implant Combat skill, and maybe some Biotech or Stealth to round him off a bit.

Back to drones though...

Would it be worth having one of the utility drones (the smaller one...the Ferret I think, can't remember as Rigger 3 isn't on hand at the moment) and loading it with a medpack or two and some spare ammo, then sending it in if someone got injured?

I just thought that'd be a pretty cool way to support team members aside from the obvious extra firepower.

...I'm beginning to really like drone riggers now, and I'll post up a more solid background & maybe some stats for everyone to look at later.

Oh, and thanks again for the help