[anchoress]

Allright, hi there, folks 

You helped me out so much in my first thread, where i was just confused about what type of character to fit into a certain group, thank you again for that help. Now i came up with two certain ideas, a rigger and a face. I will present both of them here in seperate threads, so we can discuss their builds individually. Okay, with this out of the way, let's get started! Here are the rules how i am allowed to build this character:
- Karma generation
- 850 points available for chargen and +100 afterwards (yes, combination with JoaT is safe and possible, allthoug i wanted to avoid too much powerplay)
- +50.000 Nuyen after chargen
- Qualities are allowed to be + / - 35 instead of 25
- Skill ratings are allowed to be set to a value of 8 instead of 6 at chargen
- all books and supplements are available

And this will be the group I'm playing with:
- Elf Combat Mage / Summoner (Our main damage dealer, utility guy [via Spirits] and "try to be the" face, due to lack of a real one)
- Human Decker (Our LOG bomb [R9], high values in almost all LOG related skills)
- Street Sam (the classic, Longarms, 'ware, nothing fancy, but reliable)

From time to time one or both of this characters will take part, too:
- Human Street Sam (heavily cybered, almost all limbs, focus on heavy pistols and melee)
- Orc Street Shaman (never played with him, but heard he is focused on healing and a bit utility)

Allright, and here is my first idea - the rigger!
btw: this is the face thread http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23017.msg423812#msg423812
and here for the thread in which we talked about the best fitting character concepts http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=22928.msg421970#msg421970

The background is not finished, yet. But i can say a few things about Liz:
- human, female
- born in Redmond, life on the streets
- had an accident (not sure of the circumstances) where she fell into radioactive water and got mutated (albinism, impaired attribute, scales!) and has a phobia from unknown sources of water since then
- due to her mutations (mostly the scales which are covering half her body) she got treated as a freak (related to the rules in RF) and was put aside
- got deeper into mechanics, modifying and finally rigging; changed all her drones with Realistic Features into animal pendants, some have even personas and names
- somehow got in contact with the orc underground where she did something special (Legendary Rep Quality) and has a few friends there since (f.e. her black market pipeline contact)
- gets called 'Liz' from 'Lizard' because of her scaly skin

Allright, and here we go:
== Info ==
Street Name: Liz
Name: Elizabeth McKinney
Movement: 10/20
Human
Composure: 7
Judge Intentions: 7
Lift/Carry: 5 (30 kg/20 kg)
Memory: 13

== Attributes ==
BOD: 3
AGI: 5
REA: 5 (8 )
STR: 2
CHA: 2
INT: 5
LOG: 6 (8 )
WIL: 5
EDG: 3

440 Karma spent

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   1,97
Initiative:                10 (13) + 1d6
Rigger Initiative:         13 + 1d6
Astral Initiative:         
Matrix AR Initiative:      13 + 1d6
Matrix Cold Initiative:    5 + DP (5) + 3d6
Matrix Hot Initiative:     5 + DP (5) + 4d6
Jumped in:                 13 + 4d6
Physical Damage Track:     10
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Limits ==
Physical:                  5
Mental:                    9
Social:                    4

== Active Skills ==
Aeronautics Mechanic       : 2                      Pool: 10
Armorer                    : 1                      Pool: 9
Automotive Mechanic        : 2                      Pool: 10
Computer                   : 1 [Matrix Perception] Pool: 9 (11)
Electronic Warfare         : 5                      Pool: 13
Etiquette                  : 1 [Street]             Pool: 3 (5)
Gunnery                    : 6 [Ballistic]          Pool: 11 (13)
Hardware                   : 1                      Pool: 9
Industrial Mechanic        : 2                      Pool: 10
Longarms                   : 6 [Sniper Rifles]      Pool: 11 (13)
Nautical Mechanic          : 2                      Pool: 10
Pilot Aircraft             : 6 [Rotary Wing]        Pool: 14 (16)
Pilot Ground Craft         : 6 [Wheeled]            Pool: 14 (16)
Pilot Walker               : 1                      Pool: 9
Sneaking                   : 1 [Urban]              Pool: 6 (

274 karma spent, so 714 in total

== Knowledge Skills ==
Area Knowledge: Seattle    : 3                      Pool: 8
Bars and Clubs             : 3                      Pool: 8
Gangs                      : 1                      Pool: 6
Or'zet                     : 1                      Pool: 6
Small Unit Tactics         : 1                      Pool: 6
Sprawl Life                : 3                      Pool: 8
Syndicates                 : 1                      Pool: 6
Underworld                 : 3                      Pool: 8

24 karma spent (due to SoHK reduction), so 738 in total

== Contacts ==
Amita McBride; Street Doc (2, 3)
Hyder Kidd; Spare parts dealer (3, 4)

12 karma spent, so 750 in total

== Qualities ==
Albinism II
Black Market Pipeline (Vehicle Parts, Hyder Kidd)
Dependent (Nuisance)
Gearhead
Impaired Attribute (STR)
Legendary Rep (Orc Underground)
Phobia (Uncommon, Moderate) (Water Areas)
Scales
School of Hard Knocks
Steely Eyed Wheelman

Karma out of qualities is +/- 0, so still 760 in total

== Lifestyles ==
Medium, Garage and Working Area,  1 months

== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Cerebral Booster Rating 2
Control Rig Rating 2
Control Rig Optimization
Cyberears Rating 1
   +Sound Link
   +Antennae
   +Antennae
   +Antennae
   +Modular Mount (for the MCT Fly-Spy)
Reaction Enhancers Rating 3
Smartlink

== Armor ==
Armor Jacket                        12
Helmet                              2

== Weapons ==
Krime Boss
   +Smartgun System, External
   Pool: 11   Accuracy: 5   DV: 13P   AP: -1   RC: 3
Remington 950
   +Imaging Scope
   +Smartgun System, Internal
   Pool: 11 (13)   Accuracy: 9   DV: 12P   AP: -4   RC: 2
Unarmed Attack
   Pool: 4   Accuracy: 5   DV: 2S   AP: -   RC: 2

== Commlink ==
Sony Emperor (ATT: 0, SLZ: 0, DP: 2, FWL: 2)
Vulcan Liegelord (ATT: 0, SLZ: 0, DP: 5, FWL: 6)
   +Encryption
   +Toolbox
   +Armor
   +Biofeedback Filter
   +Wrapper
   +Decrypt
   +Autosoft (Clearsight) Rating 6
   +Autosoft (Zielerfassung [Springfield M1A]) Rating 6
   +Autosoft (Smartsoft) Rating 3

== Vehicles / Drones ==
BMW 400GT
HANDL SPEED ACCEL BODY ARM PILOT SENS SEATS AVAIL COST
  5/4           6         3         10       10       1         2          4         -       28.500
+ 4 Body Modification Slots
+ Morphing license plate for 1.000
+ Spoof chip for 500
+ Run flat tires for 1.000
Power Train
+ Manual Control Override for 500 ( -1 Slot)
Protection
+ Concealed Armor (4) for 12.000 ( -12 Slots)
Weapons
+ 2 Standard Drone Racks (Large) for 8.000 ( -8 Slots)
Body
+ Smuggling Compartment for 1.500 ( -3 Slots)
Electronamgnetic
+ Gridlink Override for 1.000 ( -1 Slot)
Cosmetic
+ Rigger Interface for 1.000
Total 55.000


Evo Proletarian (Small) - "Bob"
HANDL SPEED ACCEL BODY ARM PILOT SENS AVAIL COST
  4/2         2G         1        2(1)      0       2          2        6       4.000
+ Drone Arm (STR 4 / AGI 2)
+ Automotive Mechanic Toolkit
+ Automotive Mechanic (2) Autosoft


Festo Sewer Snake (Small) - "Sir Hiss"
HANDL SPEED ACCEL BODY ARM PILOT SENS AVAIL COST
    3        1G/1W   1/1      2(1)      0       2          2       10      6.000
+ Submersible
+ Gecko Grip
+ Realistic Features (3) for 1.000
Total 7.000


Horizon Little Buddy (Anthropomorphic) - "Papa Bear"
HANDL SPEED ACCEL BODY ARM PILOT SENS AVAIL COST
    2           2G         1         1         0       4          2        4       2.000
+ Instruction (2) Autosoft
+ Realistic Features (3) Panda Bear for 1000
+ Upgrade Speed 1G --> 2G for 800
+ Upgrade Pilot 2 --> 4 for 3.200
+ Switching to First Aid (4) Autosoft for 2.000
+ Medikit R6 for 1.500
+ Personality for 100
+ Armor Jacket for 1.000
Total 11.600


MCT Fly-Spy (Mini) - "Tinkerbell"
HANDL SPEED ACCEL BODY ARM PILOT SENS AVAIL COST
    4           2R         1        1(1)      0       2          3        -       2.000
+ Realistic Features (2)
+ Upgrade Speed 1 --> 2 for 800
+ Weapon Mount (1) for 800 ( -1 MP)
+ Shock Grenade for 100
+ Blow-away panel for 25
+ Cyberear-mounted for 50
Total 3775


!2x! MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone (Large) - no name ideas 
HANDL SPEED ACCEL BODY ARM PILOT SENS AVAIL COST
    4           2R         1        4(0)     12       4          3        6       8.000
+ 3 additional MP for Weapons
+ Upgrade Armor 6 --> 12 for 9.600 ( -1 MP)
+ Pop-up Weapon Mount (Large) for 4.100 ( -5 MP)
+ Springfield M1A Sporting Rifle /w External Smartlink System (Under Barrel) for 1.900
+ Expanded Ammunition Bay (doubled Mag size) for 50 ( -1 MP)
+ 20 Stick'n'Shock Ammo for 160
+ 20 Regular Ammo for 40
+ Spotlight for 50
+ Upgrade Pilot 3 --> 4 for 3200
Total: 27.100 (x2)


== Gear ==
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Shotguns) x50
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Sniper Rifles) x50
Fake License (Drone License) Rating 4
Fake License (Firearms License) Rating 4
Fake License (Restricted Cyberware License) Rating 4
Fake SIN (vermin exterminator) Rating 4
Tool Shop

200 karma spent, so 950 in total

Allright, this is Liz! Please go ahead, i would love to hear from you and what you think about this build  I have used almost all of my karma and nuyen, but i just saw there are still roughly 6.000 NY left. So if you have a good idea, or if something is desperately missing, then please tell me!

[falar]

Honestly, I'd swap your specialties in Pilot skills to Remote Operation. 95% of the time, you'll be rigged, so it applies.

I'd also drop your Longarms, pick up Automatics and have a sniper drone for sniping. Drop your AGI/Skill a little to only have a shooting DP of 10 (with -5 from Simple FA, it's still okay). Use the replaced karma to pick up Cerebellum Boosters for more Intuition.

For Papa Bear, get Mama Bear, Baby Boy Bear, Baby Girl Bear, Tommy Bear and Sammy Bear and get First Aid Autosoft 5 and Swarm so they can do First Aid on team members. And a Rating 6 Medkit.

[gradivus]

am i reading that right- 12 rotodrones?

and it would help with karma gen if you had a line by line karma log.

[falar]

am i reading that right- 12 rotodrones?

2 Rotodrones.

ALSO, who am I? You need to take Narco Genetic treatment and cozy up to a nice long Psyche addiction. +2 Logic/+2 Intuition for 9 hours is a beautiful thing.

[anchoress]

Honestly, I'd swap your specialties in Pilot skills to Remote Operation. 95% of the time, you'll be rigged, so it applies.

This is an interesting point. Can you give me an official quote from somewhere? Because, how i understand it (and this is why you use AGI and REA) if you are rigged in, your brain does the same mechanics as if you were using your limbs. So you don't use LOG and INT instead of your physical attributes, because you have the feeling like you are the vehicle itself. So technically - following this statement - a spec in remote operations should not benefit you, if you are jumped in.

Let me quote Aaron here (Link: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=11514.msg238706#msg238706)
Question: "What does a rigger roll to drive a vehicle while using cold- and/or hot-sim?  Presumably not Reaction since the rigger is a rag doll."
Answer from Aaron: "Reaction. It's the same medulla oblongata and motor cortex, it's just the signals go to different places than Mother Nature intended."

I'd also drop your Longarms, pick up Automatics and have a sniper drone for sniping. Drop your AGI/Skill a little to only have a shooting DP of 10 (with -5 from Simple FA, it's still okay). Use the replaced karma to pick up Cerebellum Boosters for more Intuition.

First, why would you drop longarms? I think they can be very versatile, having different sizes (short-barreled shotguns!) as well and high Dmg/AP output. With a DP of 15 (don't forget the Smartlink) i should be able to hit something.
And no, this won't work, because i am already at the maximum limit of 200 karma spent for money  So i can't free up karma to buy more stuff, sadly. I already kicked the muscle toner, which would be very nice as well!

For Papa Bear, get Mama Bear, Baby Boy Bear, Baby Girl Bear, Tommy Bear and Sammy Bear and get First Aid Autosoft 5 and Swarm so they can do First Aid on team members. And a Rating 6 Medkit.

Haha  Oh my god, what have i done? Yeah, maybe i will do that, if i have more money - and if everybody in the team wants a shy, hug-reliant panda bear as well 

Edit: @gradivus: That's true, will try to fix that!

[falar]

Honestly, I'd swap your specialties in Pilot skills to Remote Operation. 95% of the time, you'll be rigged, so it applies.

This is an interesting point. Can you give me an official quote from somewhere?

Here's the core rulebook list of specialties for Pilot Aircraft: Fixed-Wing, Lighter-Than-Air, Remote Operation, Rotary Wing, Tilt Wing, Vectored Thrust

I've always seen everyone rule that as Rigger Control is covered by Remote Operation. Your GM may choose differently.

I'd also drop your Longarms, pick up Automatics and have a sniper drone for sniping. Drop your AGI/Skill a little to only have a shooting DP of 10 (with -5 from Simple FA, it's still okay). Use the replaced karma to pick up Cerebellum Boosters for more Intuition.

First, why would you drop longarms? I think they can be very versatile, having different sizes (short-barreled shotguns!) as well and high Dmg/AP output. With a DP of 15 (don't forget the Smartlink) i should be able to hit something.

Because your core competency as a Rigger should be in a drone or vehicle. So you should invest minimally in being outside of a drone. The best low-investment firearms skill is arguably Automatics. But that's my opinion.

And no, this won't work, because i am already at the maximum limit of 200 karma spent for money  So i can't free up karma to buy more stuff, sadly. I already kicked the muscle toner, which would be very nice as well!

See if your GM is willing to go by the German Rules. You max at 450k nuyen there. Also, see if you can use Working from the Man from Missions to convert your post-character creation karma.

[gradivus]

Honestly, I'd swap your specialties in Pilot skills to Remote Operation. 95% of the time, you'll be rigged, so it applies.

This is an interesting point. Can you give me an official quote from somewhere? Because, how i understand it (and this is why you use AGI and REA) if you are rigged in, your brain does the same mechanics as if you were using your limbs. So you don't use LOG and INT instead of your physical attributes, because you have the feeling like you are the vehicle itself. So technically - following this statement - a spec in remote operations should not benefit you, if you are jumped in.

Let me quote Aaron here (Link: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=11514.msg238706#msg238706)
Question: "What does a rigger roll to drive a vehicle while using cold- and/or hot-sim?  Presumably not Reaction since the rigger is a rag doll."
Answer from Aaron: "Reaction. It's the same medulla oblongata and motor cortex, it's just the signals go to different places than Mother Nature intended."

RAW REA it is...but unless you own a helicopter your not going to fly hands on are you?
Remote specialization for pilot aircraft should be a definite.
You might be driving your car hands on but if the drek hits the fan you're jumping in so again remote should be the  spec. Wheeled spec is for guys with wheels but no control rig.

I'd also drop your Longarms, pick up Automatics and have a sniper drone for sniping. Drop your AGI/Skill a little to only have a shooting DP of 10 (with -5 from Simple FA, it's still okay). Use the replaced karma to pick up Cerebellum Boosters for more Intuition.

First, why would you drop longarms? I think they can be very versatile, having different sizes (short-barreled shotguns!) as well and high Dmg/AP output. With a DP of 15 (don't forget the Smartlink) i should be able to hit something.
And no, this won't work, because i am already at the maximum limit of 200 karma spent for money  So i can't free up karma to buy more stuff, sadly. I already kicked the muscle toner, which would be very nice as well!
There's always In Debt or Born Rich

For Papa Bear, get Mama Bear, Baby Boy Bear, Baby Girl Bear, Tommy Bear and Sammy Bear and get First Aid Autosoft 5 and Swarm so they can do First Aid on team members. And a Rating 6 Medkit.

Haha  Oh my god, what have i done? Yeah, maybe i will do that, if i have more money - and if everybody in the team wants a shy, hug-reliant panda bear as well 

Edit: @gradivus: That's true, will try to fix that!

PS..does the character HAVE to be human?
Want to know this before I give you any more suggestions.

[anchoress]

Here's the core rulebook list of specialties for Pilot Aircraft: Fixed-Wing, Lighter-Than-Air, Remote Operation, Rotary Wing, Tilt Wing, Vectored Thrust

I've always seen everyone rule that as Rigger Control is covered by Remote Operation. Your GM may choose differently.

Allright, i will talk to our GM about it. No big deal, though, cause it won't change the karma value 

Because your core competency as a Rigger should be in a drone or vehicle. So you should invest minimally in being outside of a drone. The best low-investment firearms skill is arguably Automatics. But that's my opinion.

Basically I am with you at this. But let's think about it, in which situation would i be jumped in my vehicles?
While driving, for sure. Makes much sense to drive jumped in. Scouting with the snake or Fly-Spy? Sure, makes handling and sneaking much easier. But in battle? Not really. Drones are operating decent, even without me. And i will have additional actions (2 per combat turn). Also there is no risk of getting biofeedback if a drone should get shot down. Due to the armor rating of 12 they will either go unharmed (incoming damage is too low) or pretty much get one-hitted (a dmg of 13+ reduced by 12 armor on 8 hit points? ouch....). So i think, i will be most helpful in different ways for my team - sometimes jumped in, sometimes not - and this is, what i try to cover with this build 

See if your GM is willing to go by the German Rules. You max at 450k nuyen there. Also, see if you can use Working from the Man from Missions to convert your post-character creation karma.

Never heard about this. Will talk to him for sure! Thanks!

Edit:
@gradivus:

To your first point: I would understand it as you just use "remote control" if you are in VR but not jumped in. Like a decker using stuff with a rigger interface. But jumped in uses all you physical attributes - no more difference like in VR. Why should it be remote control driving a car, when you are the car? This is contradictory in my (humble) opinion.

And second: true! But i am at +31 and -31 out of 35 quality points... not sure, if i can do much here.

[gradivus]

For some strange reason I thought remote was rigged in.

It's actually the use of control device action.

Hmmm...

Does that mean if you have remote control spec and command a drone to ram something or to fly somewhere, it gets +2 to it's piloting?

[anchoress]

Does that mean if you have remote control spec and command a drone to ram something or to fly somewhere, it gets +2 to it's piloting?

If you are piloting it and not just giving the drone the order - yes, this is how i would understand it.

[falar]

Drones are operating decent, even without me.

With Swarm, maybe, but without, they're getting, what, tops 12 dice on a shot? 5 Pilot + 5 Autosoft + 2 Smartsoft? Maybe 16 with a higher Pilot/Device Rating.

Whereas you ... are rocking 6 Logic + 2 Psyche Logic + 6 Gunnery + 2 Balistic + 2 Control Rig + 2 Hot Sim for a whopping 20 to hit.

If you're in combat, you should be droning on and on and on and on ...

[anchoress]

With Swarm, maybe, but without, they're getting, what, tops 12 dice on a shot? 5 Pilot + 5 Autosoft + 2 Smartsoft? Maybe 16 with a higher Pilot/Device Rating.

Whereas you ... are rocking 6 Logic + 2 Psyche Logic + 6 Gunnery + 2 Balistic + 2 Control Rig + 2 Hot Sim for a whopping 20 to hit.

If you're in combat, you should be droning on and on and on and on ...

Hm, i think 2 Roto-Drones are even better without swarm. Pilot 4 + Autosoft 6 + Smartsoft = DP 12
I rather have this twice instead of one dice more.

And Liz is adding a DP of 15 twice a round. Sure, this is enemy dependent. If you are fighting just a few heavy armored or dodgy guys it's probably better to jump into your drone and taking the risk of getting biofeedbacked into the ground for hitting more reliable. On the other side, having 2 more shots each combat turn with Liz' stats is nothing you want to miss if you're fighting vs. enemys on the same level. The good thing as a rigger is, you can scout the area first and decide afterwards if you want to be part of the run or stay back in your car 

A few other questions:
1) Do you think it is okay to place the MCT Fly-Spy on the modular mount of the cyberears? I was unsure if it may be too big, but in the flavor text people are talking about mugs... so i guess the drone size shouldn't be a problem, right?
2) If the "Panda" would make a first aid test, he would roll Pilot 4 + Autosoft 4 + Medikit rating 6 = 14 dice (and since the limit gets also increased he should no worry about that), right?
3) The Hyundai (in my case, the BMW GT400) has the specialization of "4 Body Modification Slots". Do you know if this is counting like he has a body of 10+4 for every of the 6 categories (i.e. Power Train, Protection, etc.), or do you "only" have 4 more points you can spread between the 6 categories?
4) From what i saw, the only autosofts you really need for combat are the targetting and smartsoft. I picked up clearsight as well (because all the drones can use it, simple as that) and missed up on stealth, because i will do this 99% of the time when jumped in. But what exactly are the other softs from the CRB for, like manouver? I don't quite get it. Do you really only need this, if someone has locked on you with sensors? And if i'm right, is it as pointless as it sounds to me, or am i missing something?

[gradivus]

You don't put two Rotodrones in a swarm...you buy 10 Noizequitos and have two swarms of a rotodrone and 5 Noizequitos

You cheated yourself out of the free knowledge points and contacts that the developers have said you get just like priority (and confirmed in the German Book)

You're the group rigger...I'd suggest a van so the team can all fit in
And how about a concealed turreted pop up heavy weapon on that van too.
So I'd drop down to 1 Roto/5Noizequitos and upgrade the vehicle.

And I personally mod the roto to have a sniper rifle- keeps the roto even further away from hostile fire

[falar]

Hm, i think 2 Roto-Drones are even better without swarm. Pilot 4 + Autosoft 6 + Smartsoft = DP 12
I rather have this twice instead of one dice more.

Oh, yeah, at that, definitely. But you want to pack out your swarm with a bunch of Noizquitos or other small, cheap drones with small, cheap weaponry for a +5 to each of them, like Gradivus is saying.

And Liz is adding a DP of 15 twice a round.

So, I think you're doing my job for me - twice a round for fifteen DP for meatspace, but let's get into a drone. For Liz being jumped in, her pool is Logic 8 + Gunnery 6 + Ballistic 2 + SmartLink 2 + Control Rig 2 at a minimum - so 20. If you go hot sim, she's running 22. Get some Psyche and Narco on top of that and it's 22/24. And, with her Matrix Initiative, you should be rolling into a third pass at least some of the time.

Now, the worry is biofeedback - let's say that you're in a Rotodrone - you've got a dodge pool of Reaction + Intuition, so 12. Add Narco + Psych for 14. Narco + Psych + Cram for 15. In addition, the enemy is taking a negative dice pool equal to the Rotodrone's speed as long as you're moving - so -4.* Let's add in some Speed to take it to 6 for a -6 negative dice pool modifier. Drop the expanded ammo bin and just get the +100% clip size weapon modification from Hard Targets for the same effect.

* This ignores the Wakshaani changes, but since he gave those to the people in charge and they did not publish them, I would say that they are unofficial and not supported.

1) Do you think it is okay to place the MCT Fly-Spy on the modular mount of the cyberears? I was unsure if it may be too big, but in the flavor text people are talking about mugs... so i guess the drone size shouldn't be a problem, right?

Have it perch there? Or attach? Perch is definitely fine, I'd say.

2) If the "Panda" would make a first aid test, he would roll Pilot 4 + Autosoft 4 + Medikit rating 6 = 14 dice (and since the limit gets also increased he should no worry about that), right?

That's how I've seen it ruled. Although you'd want to get the First Aid autosoft on your RCC so you could go with a Rating 5 or 6. Since Little Buddies are cheap as dirt, you can probably get a swarm of fifteen easily, which would make your dicepool - RCC Device Rating 5 + Autosoft 5 + Medkit 6 + Swarm 14 = 30.

4) From what i saw, the only autosofts you really need for combat are the targetting and smartsoft. I picked up clearsight as well (because all the drones can use it, simple as that) and missed up on stealth, because i will do this 99% of the time when jumped in. But what exactly are the other softs from the CRB for, like manouver? I don't quite get it. Do you really only need this, if someone has locked on you with sensors? And if i'm right, is it as pointless as it sounds to me, or am i missing something?

Drop Clearsight and take Electronic Warfare instead. When using sensor arrays, you can use Electronic Warfare in place of Perception in Perception checks. Drones always use sensor arrays, so this is usually better because Electronic Warfare can do more.

The only other one that I think is worth it is Stealth ... but that's not for combat.

I can never remember the accepted un-rigged drone dodge pool. I think it's Pilot x 2 [Handling].

[anchoress]

Oh wow.... i totally missed the point, that swarm drones don't have to be of the same type 
But... wait... it is even not mentioned, that they all have to have weapons to give boni to each other ^^ So RAW it should totally be fine to put a bunch of cheap drones to a big ugly Roto-Drone for increased DP. But that sounds extremly cheesy to me. I guess the best thing is to talk to our GM about it.


Actually your point about being jumped in sounds legit. I guess best thing will be to make some examples, to visualize it to me. But like i said, i guess you convinced me. So i will go back to the calculator and change things up a bit....
But as a side note: If Wakshani said, the speed modifier is not applied anymore (don't know what he said, just understand it this way out of your statement) then we shouldn't use his drone table either, right? Because it also wasn't printed by the people in charge. In this case we shouldn't use anything of the freelancer's words in total.


Swarming the Little Buddies to increase the heal DP seems legit - but total unrealistic to me. Think about an army of children surrounding you, trying to patch you up. Actually, i like the basic idea of swarm, but to me it seems like not thought through... *shrug* Will talk to my GM as well, but i guess i know his answer already. And to be honest, this seems so cheesy to me, i don't even want to use it. But if he is okay with it, whatever...


Dropping Clearsight for Electronic Warfare is a very good idea, thanks a lot!