[Duderlybob]

Hey Guys, got a player who's looking to field some Ares Duelists as part of his Rigger setup, and he's got some requests that I'm considering.

The first one I'm pretty much ready to sign off on, but I wanted a second opinion, and that was to modify the Duelists' second arm to hold a Ballistic Shield instead of a second sword. I'm pretty fond of the idea myself, as I can agree with the player that a drone is pretty much never going to have the dice pools to justify dual-wielding weaponry (unless you're running around with a jumped in, ambidextrous, melee fight-build Rigger...). But I'm debating as to whether or not to force the drones to use an autosoft for it. Obviously if he plans to use the shield as a weapon at all, but I'm not sure if it should just to use it for defensive purposes. (EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention, is that he is actually taking an extra weapon mount to make it work with the whole "Can't replace the sword" weapon mount rules for the Duelists per the book, he's just removing the sword anyway for things to make sense.)

The second question follows from the first, and I'm far more skeptical about it: Can the Duelist be equipped with body armor? It makes sense from the whole "roughly humanoid size and shape thing, but part of me is really cringing at the idea of letting a player get a drone with a 26 damage resistance pool for around less than 10k even with non-conductivity mods. But at the same time, I can't think of any reason to deny it without meta-game like that. So any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

[Mirikon]

Starting with the second point, the answer is no. The Duelist is already shaped to look like a metahuman in full on samurai armor (a jab at Renraku's Red Samurai).

For the first point, I'd also go with no, at least until the 5th edition version of Arsenal comes out. That's my personal opinion, until we see what the general shape and costs of vehicle/drone mods take.

[Crunch]

Notably the places armor for humans is designed to protect may not be at all important to the functioning of the Duelist.

[DigitalZombie]

I like the idea with the shield, I would think it should need a dedicated autosoft for it. But because it can only run 2 autosofts by itself, it would be pretty f#¤ked. As it needs manoeuvre ares duelist just to walk, and the sword autosoft to hit someone. (remote controlled and jumped in wouldnt be a problem) As you cant upgrade its pilot rating yet, you either have to RCC the programs or run virtual machine on the  drone or lastly either choose between attack or defend mode. I suppose since it has a body of 4, that it would get penalties on all physical actions (minus 1 I think). 

A close combat drone with a measly 8 soak dice and 8physical condition monitor and a defence pool of around 3 (I dont how a drone defends itself, is it just pilot rating? or are we supposed to invent a defensive autosoft?, expand evasion autosoft? or is it pilot*2?) is a sub par choice, it is easier to destroy than a force 1 spirit, and1 net hit from a warhawk would on average irreparably destroy it, same as a good hit from a palm pistol. It could definitely need some help somehow.

But remember as drones cant take stun damage they gain a vastly higher benefit of armour. If his ares duelist had 26 soak dice (22 of those from armour) it would walk away unscathed from a direct hit from a high explosive grenade with 3 net successes, no need to even roll the dice, whereas a metahuman with 26 soak dice would suffer 11stun damage and likely be out of action, on average....

I would allow him to use the sword weapon mount for a shield, it would need a special shield autosoft (because, come on,  the drone cant even walk without a dedicated autosoft) it would take normal penalties for exceeding its body(strength equivalent?) when carrying extra armour, like a normal person, and it would suffer normal physical damage even though the damage doesnt get high enough to be anything else but stun.
I wouldnt allow him to give it armour, except for infiltration/disguise purposes.

As Mirikon already stated, the drone is already equipped in an armour. Even if you choose to allow it another armour those 2 wouldnt stack as per normal rules. And remember it should never get to ignore stun damage, because of extra added armour.As it would be a walking tank then.

Im certain there will be a sourcebook, allowing you to customize the drone and add armour. But likely at a higher price than just giving it an armour jacket.

[Reaver]

first of all, using a shield is not the easiest thing in the world, there is actually quite a bit of technique to do it effectively...which means there would have to be an autosoft  for it to use a shield..

As to armor, "roughly meta-human" appearance is not the same as "Meta-human"..... the joints and points of articulation are probably WAY different.. just slapping on a jacket is not going to do the trick... and could in fact, impede the drones movement!


Looking at the price point of the duelist, it is a cheap, melee combat drone designed to be employed in large numbers for a cheap cost ($4500)

If you are looking for an actual COMBAT drone, there is the Steel Lynx...at $25000

[Crunch]

As a GM I might allow a specific "Ares Duelist Sword and Shield" Autosoft.