Well, I finally got my character together and I'm getting ready to play my first run, but I'm trying to figure out how to play a rigger w/o getting wasted in the first firefight. When the shooting starts, what do you do? If you spend a complex action to jump into a drone, then you are out of action for the first pass, and all you can do is soak the damage for your primary drone. Then you have to spend your next complex action commanding the remaining drones to do anything (with +2 to comprehension). Assuming you have a 3rd action, then you can act, but your secondary drones still have to spend a complex action acquiring a sensor lock before they can make any sort of attack action.

So, my best guess is that one whole combat turn will pass before I can get anything done, any my drones really can't soak all that much damage.

Where am i going wrong?

You're worrying about trying to use multiple drones in combat, when just one (properly selected or designed) has more ranged combat ability by far than any gun-oriented character anyway.

If you really want to have multiple ones present, any additional ones should be high-signature types that'll hang around and hopefully increase your situational awareness without requiring you to babysit them all the time. That, or have at least 5 points of armor so they can ignore just about all non-AV weapons.

Start jumped in to your combat drone, take a complex action to order other drones around. You can always jump sideways with a complex action if you need to. Also, wherever possible start the combat with sensor locks already. It's not difficult, sensors are insane.

Answer: support tank.

~J

What's a really good design for a drone?

You pretty much stumbled on the reason riggers often stay in the transport while rigging drones inside the complex.

My suggestion is to not jump into the drone. Issue commands and take cover first action, then pull a weapon and monitor sensors. You're going to be providing data to the rest of the team about where guards are coming from and environmental information, as well. Riggers often make the best leaders durning combat because they can coordinate all the data, but you have a gun, right?

One for firepower, and another as an eye in the sky.

I'm thinking keeping meatbody and deck in van, and bouncing signal off a relay blimp to extend my range. My on site drones are 1 Renraku Arachnoid, 2 LS Strat-9 and a IWS Armed Utility Drone, got autosofts w/ clearsight 3 and shapshooter 3 for all 3 armed drones. I think I should be able to get in and out of nearly anywhere with that setup.

F/C Bison, armor 5, Popup Turret w/ MMG and AV Ammo, sensor 5, ecm 4, eccm 3. Set the Van to stay within range of the blimp along an non geometric traffic pattern preprogrammed into the autonav. Use contacts and Electronics knowledge to keep the blimp in range of the target and in sensor dead zones.

I think this should work, and I haven't mapped out the whole strategy in place at once for my GM, but he has OK'd the components of the plan and where I'm going with it when I first floated the idea. My GM should be OK with it, as he originally proposed building a Stealth blimp and commanding the drones from that vantage.

The idea behind the drone is to use it as a E-warfare decoy, if I understand the e-warfare rules if the blimp coverage and primary emitter overlap, and the blimp is jammed, the area still covered by the command van is still reachable. Pilot on the van is 3, with a prefromance autosoft rating 3. So you suggest I not go in with 3-4 drones, but with fewer? (assuming we are orchestrating the run and not surveillance).

I really haven't been able to wrap my mind around the vehicle construction rules (eps. not owning rigger 3).

thanks

The fewer drones you go in with the less there are to detect and the less chance of user error, you having to take dumpshock if ones destroyed, etc.. I'd use two max, at a time, you can always swap out. I'd go eye in the sky and combat, for most situations.

Depends on how they jam. If it's targeted, you'll be fine. If they go with barrage jamming (not at all unlikely if they don't use drones but are equipped for EW), no such luck.

My philosophy is to never have more than one drone in combat if you can help it, more if they're heavily armored enough to be bouncing whatever the opposition is throwing, and to always be jumped into that drone while combat is in progress. Tell the van to keep watch and alert you if someone's incoming, but otherwise tear it up "in person", as it were.

Obviously you need to adapt, and I've had as many as five or six drones aloft at one time, but the most I've ever had in one fight was two—and that was under extreme circumstances.

~J

I think I will try making that vehicle. Of course, I'll only be able to purchase the stuff available during character creation and install the rest as I get the Nuyen.

So what drones do you use? All custom made? I'm still trying to get a feel for what size drone is practical to actually get onsite, I was leaning toward rotodrones (part of my character is that he loves rotocraft) but they are largely unarmored. I looked at a Steel Lynx, but I didn't know how maneuverable or mobile one of those would be.

So generally you only go in with one drone to support the party? What stock drones do you like for this job? How many drones do you usually take with you on a run, just a command vehicle, attack drone to go in with the job, and surveillance drone?

My total loadout:

Ares Roadmaster

Hand. 1/7, Speed 99, Accel. 3, Body 5, Armor 5, Sig. 2, Auto 2, Pilot 1, Sensor 5, Cargo 15, Load 1,209, Seating 2+1b, Entry 2d+1x, Fuel Diesel (250l), Econ. 5.2 km/l

Electronics Port x4 (Remote-Control Deck, R6 deck w/L3 Encryption installed) (Cyberdeck port, no deck installed) (Satellite Dish, fixed-base) (Radio, Flux 6, Rating 6 radio installed, L4 Broadcast Encryption), Concealed Armor, Rigger Adaptation, Remote-Control Interface, Drive-By-Wire 3, Power Amplifiers (L6), Contingency Maneuver Controls 3, Small Pop-Up Remote Turret (Empty, Smartlink-II), Photovoltaic Chameleon Paint, Runflat Tires (5/3 armor), L5 Encryption, Transponder Library (L3), Morphing License Plate

Lone Star Strato-9 (X5)

Hand. 3, Speed 100, Accel. 9, Body 2, Armor 0, Sig. 4, Auto 0, Pilot 2, Sensor 5, Cargo 1, Load 20, Fuel Jet (220 l), Econ. .4 km/l, S/B 5 min., VTOL

ECM 2, External Fixed Hardpoint w/ MMG (Gas Vent 3, 500 rounds ammo, Smartlink-II), Remote-Control Interface, Rigger Adaptation, L5 Encryption

(One with Ares MGL-12 instead of MMG, one unarmed and with an infrared Spotlight)

A. S. LDSD-41

Hand. 4, Speed 75, Accel. 5, Body 2, Armor 3, Sig. 10, Auto 0, Pilot 3, Sensor 1, Cargo 3, Load 14, Fuel Electric (35 PF), Econ. 5 km/PF, S/B 5 min., VTOL

SunCell Power, Remote Control Interface, Rigger Adaptation, Remote Micro-turret (Remington 950 (10 rounds, SA, 9S), Smartlink-II), L5 Encryption, Spotlight, Infrared Spotlight

Renraku Arachnoid (Currently out of commission being repaired)

Hand. 3/3, Speed 2, Body 0, Sig 12, Auto 0, Pilot 1, Sensor 1, Cargo 0, Load 0, Fuel E (10 PF), Econ .5 KM/PF

Vector Kimji

Hand. 4, Speed 50, Accel 4, Body 0, Armor 0, Sig 12, Auto 0, Pilot 1, Sensor 1, Cargo 0, Load 0, Fuel EC (9 PF), Econ .25 Km/PF

L5 Encryption, Spotlight, Infrared Spotlight

Saeder-Krupp Schattenauge S

Hand. 4, Speed 75, Accel 5, Body 2, Armor 0, Sig 10, Auto 0, Pilot 3, Sensor 6, Cargo 3, Load 15, Fuel E (65 PF), Econ 5 Km/PF

SunCell Power, Autosoft Interpretation System, Spotlight, Infrared Spotlight, Remote Control Interface, Rigger Adaptation, L5 Encryption

Lone Star Autonomous Riot Control Barrier (ARCB)

Hand. 4/4, Speed 25, Accel 3, Body 2, Armor 5, Sig 7, Auto 0, Pilot 1, Sensor 1, Cargo 1, Load 590, Fuel EFC (70 PF), Econ 1.25 Km/PF

Remote-Control Interface, Rigger Adaptation, Pintle Mount, Special Machinery*, External Firmpoint (SMG), Datajack Port, 60 cm Video Display, Spotlight, Infrared Spotlight, Small Platform With Handles.

(The special machinery allows it to lay the shield flat to carry things on top)

At any time I typically have two to three Stratos, the Kimji, one or both miniblimps, and the Arachnoid in the van (though as mentioned it's out of commission at the moment). If we're planning a full assault, I accessorize with the ARCB shielddrone. When I reach a target I typically deploy the Kimji, a Miniblimp, and a Strato, moving the Kimji and Miniblimp to minimize exposure while providing surveillance while dividing my attention between the Strato and the van. I lost a Kimji to a missile once this way, but most of the time it works well. My philosophy is that non-micro ground drones are a sucker's game. The one time I brought two drones to the immediate party was a time that I needed to bring drones into a building, so I had the grenade-wielding Strato in front blowing the doors open while the MMG-wielding Strato came behind to handle any opposition encountered. This was an emergency situation resulting in the death of one teammate and significant risk to another.

The Stratos are unarmored, but my character packs a VCR-3—her Control Pool is 13 dice, and the highest TN she faces for dodging is 4 (in the van she's got a 2). If they put enough lead in the air that I'm needing the armor, things have already gone very wrong.

~J

Nice, Actually pretty similar to what I got so I guess I'm on the right track. About the Roadmaster, isn't it kinda high profile though? Its basically a miliatry grade fighting vehicle running down the street, how do keep from getting pulled over by LS?

EDIT:

Another rules question you remined me of Kag. When rigging, I can use Combat pool to attack, and control pool for the dodge test, but can I also use combat pool to dodge? Also, can either pool (combat or control) be used for the damage resistace test?

You cannot use Combat Pool to dodge, you can use Control Pool to attack (as well as Combat Pool), and Control Pool can be used for the resistance test.

Roadmaster: not that high profile. The Mobmaster/Citymaster are security-grade, the Roadmaster is appropriate for a large TV van or something like that. The base chassis is very far from mil-grade.

~J

Would all that stuff you have on the Roadmaster fit onto the Media Van from Sota:64?

Do you have a page ref for that, cause I can't find it. I thought you could only use control pool for driving tests and dodge tests for rigged vehicles.

If you can use control pool and combat pool for an attack test, say you have gunnery 5, how many pool dice can you add to the test? 10? 5 from combat and 5 from control, ar a total of 5 from both pools?

Thanks!

Well I'll be, I can't find the section. Bugger all—thanks for calling me on that, that error's gone unnoticed for quite some time. I'll keep looking a bit and update if I can track down just where I got that idea from.

The cap is the number of dice you can use from any (non-karma) pool, not per pool. Turns out that probably doesn't matter in this case, but IIRC it's encountered elsewhere.

~J

Kage: Rigger III is quite explicit about it (page 25, Control Pool), enhancing attack rolls is forbidden.

The only exception that comes to mind is flying an anti-ship missile...

Initiates don´t get to use Astral Pool for Magical Skill Tests, except for using sorcery in Astral Combat (MitS, pg. 58). They only get spell pool for casting spells.