Drones that are controlled by a rigger directly receive the bonus initiative from the VCR, but what about other drones? When a rigger is in the captains chair mode what is the initiative of the drones?

ummmm.... crappy?!

Drones with robotic pilot recieve an Initiative of (Pilot x 2) + 1d6, which can be raised to +4d6 with Robotic Reflexes. (pg. 44, R3)

Edit: Damn...that took a whole minute. My bookninja-fu must be weak today...

And they can double post.

what about drones that are not robots?Or are all drones have that base initiative when not directly controlled by a rigger?I'm just a little confused on how to resolve initiative when a rigger has several drones under a subscriber list and how to handle when the rigger is in captains chair mode or is directly controlling a drone.

The wording of the description of drone initiative suggests that only robots (drones with robotic pilot) can generate their own initiative.

When controlling a single drone directly ("jumping into" a drone),
Use the rigger's Init and all applicable pools/skills.

When in captain's chair mode, you still get the rigger's initiative,
but no control/combat pool may be used and all tests are rolled with the drone's pilot rating as the skill rating.

Plus any auto softs (like sharp shooter)



See! I know some rigging stuff!

Well, while you're at it, don't forget BattleTac IVIS,
and if it's a robot, Adaptation Pool.

w/ small unti tactics

can add to combat/control pool, or initiative


definitely a must have for a drone rigger.
Along wit han encephalon and or tac comp

ahhh thanks alot i was a bit confused as to how many times a drone acts if its not directly controlled by a rigger.Also if a rigger is directly controlling one particular drone, do the others drones act during his initiative phase but continue to perform the last command the rigger ordered with a +2 modifier?

Yes, non-robotic drones act simultaneously with the controlling rigger.
The +2 is only for the comprehension test made by the drone. It takes a complex action to command a secondary drone, or to give that exact same command to a group of drones.

IF they aren't given a command, they continue doing what they're doing, even of that's bumping into a wall. Unless it's a robot of course.
Also, I believe drones can be pre-programmed w/ back up commands (just one though) if they lose contact w/ their "captain". Like "shoot everything", or "go home", etc.

SR3 page 157, last paragraph, addresses drone initiative. there are no specific rules for giving a drone a pre-programmed command that activates if the drone is cut off from communication with the rigger, but neither is that type of thing precluded.

Preprogrammed drone commands are covered on pg84 R3R.

Also, drones can roll a comprehension test for their last order to see if they can interpret it in a way favorable to the rigger. Though, I've seen it happen before where the rigger ordered a drone to kill anything attacking his body, and a teamate slapped the rigger to try to wake him up... drone failed the comprehension test and didn't see it as an attack. So it really can vary sometimes.