[MostlyHarmless]

Hi all,

I was looking at making an AI character, and with Rigger 5.0 out, there's a lot more toys to play with.

So far, I've been looking at using a Saeder-Krupp Direktionssekretar, since bipedal drones will fit most places, as well as use most gear that Shadowrunners can use, especially armour.

However, I'm not quite sure how to maximise the drone, as well as equipment.  Assuming priority B for resources, what would be the best way to kit them out?

[Jack_Spade]

Ah, yes, a question I've asked myself too.

The Secretary is a very good option if you want everything ready in a nice package.
The Kikai has STR 8 arms an can be cheaply upgraded to be on the level of the Secretary (Pilot 4 being the main thing)
I made a true robot build previously in the character build board, but I realized later that it's actually not completely rules legal, as the Kikai's pilot can not be upgraded further than 4.

Luckily there are still other options:
The Sparring Drone from Hard Targets is very affordable and can be upgraded beyond the Secretary for very little extra money. (Also you look a bit like baymax from big hero 6)

Last but not least, a Duellist drone can also be easily upgraded to and is easy to obtain.

[Herr Brackhaus]

I'd choose the Executive Secretary as well, it's just a shame it "only" has body 4 so it can only ever have AV 12. That being said, it has Pilot 4 stock so can be upgraded to Agility 8 for it's arms, which is a costly but very good upgrade. Now, I don't quite know how drone upgrades would work if you're piloting it as an AI; maybe the AI attributes take precedence, or the physical body of the drone limits it's effectiveness, so there's that to consider too.

The Kenchiku-Kikai is a great chassis if the AI pilot takes over; with Pilot 8 it could be quite fearsome, but unfortunately the drone arm rules state that in tests where Agility is needed the arm attributes, not Pilot rating, is used. However, it's a Body 5 drone so can have 15 armor, and it's relative slow speed and low handling can be upgraded.

Another option is the Juggernaught; it's the only Body 6 Anthroform, which means you can get (highly illegal, as in Forbidden) AV 18 on it, making you pretty much invulnerable to small arms fire. It's pricey and bigger than a troll, but no other anthro drone can match it in terms of durability.

[Jack_Spade]

Pilot is still the basis for most other actions but especially as device rating.

Also the problem with armor is that it's an attribute of a drone and you can't get more than double the existing value, so neither Kikai nor Secretary should bother with an upgrade there (rather a downgrade is in order) and instead concentrate on getting some normal cloth armor.

By the way, the rules state that the drone starts with agility=pilot rating, so if you get a drone with an upgraded pilot from the factory, you should also receive them with upgraded arms and legs (Otherwise you'd severely penalize Anthro drones compared to normal drones you upgraded the pilot and than just buy additional arms afterwards)

[Herr Brackhaus]

Wouldn't the AI pilot rating take over for the drone pilot?

And I thought drone armor was the exception to the Attribute x 2 rule, as armor specifically states "A drone may bear the weight of Armor equal to three times its Body without a decrease in ability", etc. If you could only ever have AV = 2x base, I don't think this would be much of an issue except in extremely rare cases. Near as I can tell, the Juggernaught with it's Body of 6 and AV of 12 would run into this problem, where AV 24 could exceed Body 6 x 3.

How would that work for drones like the Juan with it's Body 0; 0 x 2 is still 0 (or you treat it like .5 so it would be 1). Maybe I need to house rule this too... *sighs*

I do agree that factory modified drones should come with enhances, but that's a personal opinion only.

[Jack_Spade]

Always remember: The designers don't want durable drones - at all.

Also, that is one of the really neat things about having a drone body enhanced by an AI:
If you get your pilot rating high enough, you can just let the pilot do the fighting with its high stats while the AI does other nice things, like using Electronic Warfare to enhance its aim or hack or solve math problems.
In essence you can get two sets of actions that way.

Most important: A Rigger AI can use autosofts instead of skills, so it's in your interest to have a pilot that is as high as possible, so you can use rating 6 autosofts.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Always remember: The designers don't want durable drones - at all.

Very good point. House rule it is; on closer reading you're absolutely right. Starting AV x 2 is maximum, as it most definitely is an attribute given that it is listed in the "Attribute Modifications" list.

That certainly puts another dampener on drone durability, even if AV 12+ wasn't Forbidden anyway. I honestly don't get the rationale for this; how does someone tell if a drone has AV12 or 13, thus making the difference between Restricted, you need a license" and Forbidden, you going to JAIL, son!

[Jack_Spade]

Ohhhh. I just noticed something.

WARNING: Severe rules lawyering incoming - use arguments at your own risk.

Word of God if not from rules is, that cloth armor on Anthro drones does not stack with vehicle armor.
That doesn't actually mean that the vehicle/drone doesn't still shrug off damage that didn't exceed its armor rating.
Because vehicles don't have a stun track.
Physical damage that doesn't exceed armor is downgraded to stun. But how do you apply stun to a machine? They don't bruise and don't get winded.

Now you might say instead of no stun track they have a stun track of 0 (which is not the same thing).
That means drones still get the benefit of normal armor - i.e. they only get half physical damage, rounded down.

Either way this should severely increase the durability of your anthro drone.

[Marcus Gideon]

Armor in general, whether vehicle or personal, still applies that rule of "damage less than armor turns into Stun". So that would happen if someone shot at you and you're wearing Full Body Armor or something.

Drones are treated as vehicles, so they don't have a Stun track. They only suffer Physical or Matrix. So punching them is pointless unless you can hit REALLY hard. But shooting them with Shock rounds will deal Matrix damage.

So yes, you could dress your android in a Armor Jacket or Full Body Armor, and they would live much longer, as you'd expect anyone wearing those things would.

[MostlyHarmless]

Here's an interesting thing I've found.  The RAW state that AI's with the drone quality can 'jump into' drones and vehicles of a particular type (aircraft, groundcraft, or watercraft, selected when the quality is selected).  Where do walkers fit into this?  Groundcraft, or something different?  I suspect they are their own thing entirely (which is a big damn shame).  However, later on in Data Trails (p.156, 'AI Vehicle Combat'), there's a line that says 'Only AI's with the Pilot Origins quality may use autosofts in place of active skills (probably not relevant for an AI in a Walker drone), , they also use their Depth in place of the Pilot rating of vehicles/drones they are running on.'  I'm thinking that an AI with the Pilot Origins quality, regardless of what kind of vehicle/drone they're running on, can do this.  Bit pricey in all honesty, and all but one part would be useless, but it's a way of getting that anthropoid drone with a pilot of 6.

Since anthropoid drones can wear armour like metahumans can (within reason - Juggernaughts aren't going to be using armoured vests), I would think that a Direktionssekretar drone with an armoured jacket is hardly stretching the rules.  I'm not sure what the total armour soak would be, if the base armour counts on top of the armoured jacket, or it's just the best of the two.  If it's the latter, then you can ditch armour and focus on other modifications.

[GunDrake]

I plan on my AI character make his command RRC his home and I will connect it to his Dodge General and buy a bunch of  F-B Bumblebees for his arsenal. The drones are in the book Nothing Personal. What do you guys think of this Idea?

[adzling]

FYI the bumblebee was nerfed (reasonably imho) in rigger 5.0.

Regarding best drone for an A.I. I actually think the Shiawase I-Doll is the best option.
Why?
Because its the only one that can take realistic 4 mod.

this means your drone can pass as a metahuman, a nice option for an AI!

[Herr Brackhaus]

Until a magician assenses you and discovers you don't have an aura.

[adzling]

For sure! No defense against that.
But for daily walking around its pretty neat.

[Mirikon]

For a lot of different choices, the I-Doll makes for an awesome AI home, especially if you're going 'off script', and doing an AI that isn't a specialty hacker. For instance, an AI Face or Street Samurai is possible when you use the I-Doll, and will pass scrutiny most of the time. You can even supplement the drone's armor with worn armor.