[Reiper]

Reiper: High speeds may not be a major issue, but a "running" speed of 5 means that a normal walking human is going twice as fast.  As in, it can't chase down people.  It can't even maintain firing range.  If they walk around a corner 20 meters away, it takes the drone 4 CT just to get there.  Meanwhile, that guy ran all the way around the building and starts firing on a surprised drone.

Combat movement is one of the things I hope they fix in SR5. I'm still not too worried about the speed as I see it as almost a turret drone waiting inside a room covering the door than anything else, but may make some adjustments to it. May also go for a newer version instead of using a TOD obsescent model.

It would be very easy to add those maglocks to the doors physically, but don't maglocks require wifi to connect to a server that verifies the card?  I'm fuzzy on this, maybe it's not mandatory.  Or do you have the push button type?  Proximity cards would definitely not work here.

Its push button, although I think for our specific security system I think we should have everything hardwired and inside. Or maybe create our own wireless network that isn't connected to the matrix (really shouldn't be hard to do, just need a nice little commlink server).

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Hardwired is a pretty good idea, I think.  People are too obsessed with wireless this and that.  The only weakness of a wired system is the wires.

[Madwand]

Ah, I understand now what you mean by investigation. Yes, there's probably a lot of assensing going on. Raven would start with using Astral Window to minimize exposure. Beyond that, there are endless possibilities. I have lots of ideas of things he could try, but not actually having any Magic Theory myself, I can't say which would be most likely to work.

I don't generally roll via online post. It's too easy to cheat. If I roll low, I feel bad because I rolled low. If I roll high, I feel bad because someone could suspect I cheated. So rolls can either use bought successes and an extended test, wait for a game, or the GM can make the roll themself.

I'm not suggesting using actual smart tire mechanics, just that added smartwheels are cool way of visualizing how this particular type of walker system might work.

The drone is motorcycle-sized. It is critical that it can fit through normal doorways, etc. Now that I think about it, I think a Honda Viking might make a better chassis. I'll try that instead.

Raven is not trying to get rid of Walker's spirit. I'm not even sure he knows about it, and if he did, he wouldn't care. That's because he's not aware of the fact that Shadowrun is a game, with metagame factors to consider. Primarily, that it is the GM's responsibility to provide players with a suitable challenge. Most GMs interpret this to mean that there should be some possible danger to the PCs. Unfortunately, something that is "dangerous" to someone with 24 hardened armor is instantly fatal to lesser beings. THAT is what I am concerned about. I am aware that the drone would not survive any attack that could really threaten Walker, but it might protect Raven from such an attack. Once. And that is it's metagame purpose.

I also know that getting caught with the drone by authorities would be bad. I'm not overly concerned about the drone itself, though, because the weapons it carries are just as illegal, as is pretty much everything else Raven is and does. There's nothing I can do about it if the GM wants to catch me, the drone at least gives an additional chance to run away. If there was a way I could protect myself from Walker-level threats without it, I would.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Here goes:
[spoiler=Raven's knowledge test during investigation]Raven's magical theory test. (10d6.hits(5)=4)[/spoiler]
Raven cleverly uses mana and astral window spells to do the initial investigation.  This is fortunate, as he finds that any lengthy observance of the mana field in the basement goes beyond blinding.  Over the course of a week, Raven concludes that...  it is nothing he is familiar with.  He does, however, notice that the mana abundance in the basement is receding.  He deduces from some simple measurements that the source should actually be beneath the basement, as the field is spherical.  His best estimate is that the center of the disturbance is somewhere between 50 and 100 feet further down.

[Madwand]

(Note: I edited my above post a bit too late I think. Considering using the Honda Viking as a base for the drone instead.)

(Also note, Raven's Magic Theory pool is 13D+whatever teamwork dice Pakka can give me, though I suppose there might be a penalty involved. It might not matter yet, though)

Nice information! Raven continues looking for the source using Mana and Astral windows, looking underground. I'm not sure what he can do when he finds it... learn a Dig spell of some kind later, I suppose.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

It's actually pretty hard to cheat the invisiblecastle site.  It records all rolls, so if you rerolled to cheat, it'd be obvious.

Sure, there's no problem calling it motorcycle sized.  Like I said, all we need is an official agreement on size, since the materials don't specify to any satisfactory degree.  And I'm glad we're not slapping smart tires on it, as that makes it only a bit slower than a metahuman(5/18 vs 10/25).  Since you can't attach a rigger cocoon to it, you've not overmodified it.  I haven't had a chance to talk to Henzington about it yet, but Reiper concurs that slapping a rigger cocoon onto a non-personnel vehicle isn't kosher.

This brings up a question, though.  As a mage, wouldn't Rave have found it slightly less than useful to be stuck in a box with no ability to cast?  Or was this more of a "something big is coming, hide and make my drone fight" kind of thing?

I seriously think we're playing 2 different games.  The Shadowrun I play isn't all about throwing huge damage at players/NPCs.  You seem caught up on this one factor, which ironically you yourself could easily utilize for yourself.  Nothing is stopping Raven from using F12 spirits, since he has Mag 6.

I'm not sure I follow your logic on not worrying about the legality of the drone.  You're saying that, since every aspect of it is more or less equally illegal, as is everything else you carry(what are you carrying?  seriously, it's time for you to show your character to the group), it's up to the GM to either handwave it constantly to make your character not get hassled like it should be or waste lots of time/devote entire sessions to you being arrested and resisting arrest or busting you out of jail?  Picture this for a moment.  2013.  San Francisco.  It's 8:30AM, the birds are chirping, hot soccer moms are out jogging... and there's a tank rolling down the street.  A small tank, but still a tank with huge guns of obviously military grade.  What will the reaction be?  Military response immediately, with the police doing whatever they can to stall before the National Guard can get on site.  That's what every second of any day would be like when that drone is around.  Now, obviously the Barrens is somewhat of an exception.  As Lone Star doesn't patrol here, there's a small chance that they haven't heard about it yet.  If they do, they will absolutely, without a doubt, no-questions-asked,100% guaranteed deploy absolutely all available forces to capture/disable you.  If you leave the Barrens, then there's no chance they won't know instantly.  If you stay in the Barrens, then you just have to worry about the fact that every gang will either want to kill you for the threat you pose or kill you to steal this amazing tank you possess.  Or worse, they report you to Lone Star's tip line for some easy, no-risk-of-death cred.  Every second that that thing is in public that you're not being hounded by someone is a second that the GM is bending the world and setting to make your life easier.  It's not a 32F pistol that you can tuck in a pocket.  It's not a 32F foci(there's only 1 forbidden focus type, the symbolic link focus).  It's not something you can hide.  It's big, it's loud, it's in your face.  A sound piece of advice would to go the typical rigger route and get a bus to cart this thing around until you absolutely have to get it out.  That is, if you plan to take it out of the complex.  If you're just using it to patrol the neighborhood... that's one effective theft/gang deterrent.

edit: Wah, you changed your post.  Well, I'll keep the above advice here, as it's sound advice for the future.  BTW, Honda Vikings can't take the walker mod.  It's limited to Body 10 or less.  Pakka isn't working with you guys yet.  He's mostly healed up after a week, and he'll be pretty agreeable once we apply Trioxin's amazing 13 hit leadership test.  There still remains the matter of negotiating terms with him.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

After taking a look at the bikes, I think the BMW Blitzen 2050 is probably the best choice.  With 9 mod slots, you could throw on chameleon, rigger cocoon(encloses the bike's seat), walker mode(maybe a cool effect where you when you turn on walker mode, the front and rear wheels actually separate into 4 wheeled legs), chameleon coating, and a reinforced/external/turret/remote weapon mount.  That would run you 38.5k nuyen, with the turret being the only illegal component at 18F(plus the gun, obviously).

[Madwand]

Pakka should be healed up pretty fast. He had 10 boxes of damage, Raven used first aid to heal 5, then would have been easily able to use magic to heal the last 5.

I've been struggling, going back and forth between the Honda Viking and BMW Blizen. Both make a great chassis. I think I'll have to go with smart tires instead of walker mode, though. Smart tires are just as good as walker mode for going anywhere, or for aiming the guns. Currently considering reinforced, concealed, remote turret,  chameleon coating, gecko tips, and a rigger cocoon. The bike essentially becomes an even cooler version of the one from Snow Crash, and visually, it doesn't look illegal at all. It also does the required job of going almost anywhere with a rider.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

You can't put gecko tips on a bike.  They're drone only.  The Honda Viking has troll metahuman customization.  I'm actually not sure how that would interact with a non-troll rider or how much it'd affect the overall size of the bike.  With smart tires and no walker mode, the viking is at 8/24 accel which is good.  The blitzen has 16/40.  On the other hand, the mount you picked takes 8 slots and the blitzen has 9 total.  You'd have to overmod it by 2 to get the cocoon, chameleon, concealed turret, and armor 18.  This drops the speed down to 12/30.  The viking has 3 more slots, so you can get all those mods, including 20 armor, but it brings you down to 6/18 speed.

[Madwand]

You are totally right about the Gecko tips, I hadn't realized they didn't work on larger vehicles. How annoying, there go my dreams of riding Ultraviolet-style up the sides of buildings. Guess I'll just have to levitate instead.

A reinforced, concealed, remote turret only cost 5 mod slots. Armor is replacing the existing armor slot, so won't take any additional slots. I think I'll put in a ram plate instead of the gecko tips. This is all on the Blitzen.

As to the whole "how do I cast spells" thing, I'm using windows. Except instead of armored glass, it's a series of fiber optic cables.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Reinforced size is 2 slots, concealed visibility is +3, turret flexibility is +3, remote control is +0.  8 slots for a reinforced, concealed, remote, turret.  Armor modification does take slots.  Arsenal 133 for armor slots and 145 for weapon mounts.

There aren't any windows in a rigger cocoon.  You can't see through it, you might not even be able to hear through it.  There is no series of fiber optic cables or armored glass.  Anyone inside a rigger cocoon is "entirely dependent on sensors and the information that he receives through his commlink".  If you want the ability to cast, I would suggest the personal armor modification instead.

Serious talk time.  Are you just not reading the book carefully, or are you intentionally ignoring the rules in the books?  If it's just reading mistakes or missing things repeatedly, I suggest you slow down..  As I don't think you have any problems with reading, it seems most likely that you're just intent on fighting the setting instead of working with it.  It's Shadowrun.  It isn't any anime you've ever watched.  The closest we've had to a Shadowrun-compliant movie is 'Johnny Mnemonic'.  Please try to game within the system instead of defying it.  It seems unlikely that it's a reading mistake, since you're actually refuting what I said previously.  I can't speak for the other GMs, but I have a pretty low tolerance for players trying to stretch or break the rules for personal gain.

[Madwand]

Apologies about the use of the word "turret". I meant "weapon mount". It is actually a fixed weapon.

I'm aware that a rigger cocoon does not normally have windows. This one does. I can pay extra for them if needed. As windows are an ancient, well-understood technology, adding them is not difficult. In the case of fibre optic cables, it doesn't take anything more than a drill. I am definitely not trying to deliberately misunderstand the rules. Any mistakes I've made have been honest ones, as I believe so are the ones you have made.

[vinnmun]

((Top 3 bikes for walkers are blitzen, dodge guardian and contrail. Also response, firewall and pilot are important for all vehicles and drones. I also figured I can cut the cost on those nexi. If someone can reread this part about persona limits. I think it does not count towards slaved devices. If that is the case we are golden.))

Dataminer stares down his AR display as it scrolls down reuters and his miner Icon mining away info. A sleeve of cookies on his lap, eating away as he pushes away useless info. In mid push a txt message link appears. Miner blinks a moment as he stares at the incomming Quark message. He taps it on his display and reads. He replies..

<<You are now running Mr. Rogers neighborhood? What's the name of the plex and who owns it. Anything you guys need?>>

[Madwand]

<You are now running Mr. Rogers neighborhood now? What's the name of the plexus and who owns it. Anything you guys need?>>

(encrypted message) "If you can track down this commcode without anyone on the other end finding out, that would be very helpful! Whoever is at the other end has an unusual interest in this site." (commcode attached)

[mtfeeney = Baron]

I am definitely not trying to deliberately misunderstand the rules.

Good to hear.

The more I think about the rigger cocoon on a bike, the more sketchy I am.  I think to have the cocoon, you're going to need gyrostabilization, too.  Bikes can't drive themselves without it.  To be able to ride a non-gyrostabilized bike, you'd need to remove the bottom portion of the cocoon to allow your legs to go down to the ground.  This defeats the purpose of the cocoon.  So do windows and holes drilled in them for fiber optic cables.  I wouldn't allow either of those modifications.  At best, you can say it's a rigger cocoon with windows and mechanically it'll be personal armor R10.  The massive armor boost from the rigger cocoon comes from it's all-encompassing, no-way-to-bypass protection.  Any deviation from this goes against both the spirit and mechanics of the game's rules.  I really don't understand how you would even plan to use tons of fiber optic cables.  Mage sight goggles only attach to 1 cable at a time.