[Yipyioh]

I recently made a character somewhere between Clint Eastwood from Gran Torino and the Colonel from Avatar who was a spec-ops soldier fighting against Native Americans in the 2040's and 50's (the war was over but we assume there were probably still some terrorist cells and border skirmishes with the new Amerindian territories) on the behalf of the UCAS for around ten years before he lost his arm in an ambush and his team was disbanded. At the time we figure cybertech was still probably too sketchy for the military to just give him a new arm so he was discharged but as a parting gift they assigned a combat bot who had been part of the team to take care of him without his arm, and the robot basically became his companion (ignore all the cost and fluff of why the UCAS wouldn't let him take it, this is just for fun) and once he was rejected from military service about 10 years later when he got another arm, he turned to running and the bot, being technically a combat droid, joined him as extra muscle. I just want to flesh out (no pun intended) this robot really well because our campaign promises to be lengthy and he has potential to be very useful plotwise and characterwise. Basic lowdown is that we took an Otama cyborg, stripped the skin off to save about 100,000 nuyen, gave him some weapons, and went from there (essentially he's supposed to look kinda like PROXY from Force Unleashed or the old Nestors in I, Robot). Problem is, the specs for it defined it as a vehicle, whereas we wanted to make it as character-like as possible. We figure no willpower because a robot wouldn't have to overcome pain, no essence or edge obviously, and no charisma because it doesn't have a vocabulator. We also decided to just give him a skill of 3 in all of his skills (based around combat mainly) except for ones he specialized in such as blades, automatics, etc. I also threw in a program that allows him to observe fighting styles (any kind from sniper rifle shooting to kickboxing to fencing) which would give him a bonus against someone using that style. What I would like is just general advice on how we should make it all work, as in how should damage be factored with the whole structure system, how the program works/how much it costs, maintenance, basic commands, etc. as well as any ideas for a basic humanoid robot for fun or for efficiency or awesomeness. Min-maxing is welcome.

[Charybdis]

Is there a budget for this?
Or an Availability rating requirement?

The easiest thing to do to make an NPC robot is
 - take an existing grunt stat list (say a lone-star cop), with added/subtracted skills as deemed appropriate (First Aid, Cooking, Security Procedures blah)
 - give it vehicle hardened armour (4-6)
 - make it immune to stun damage (as it's now a robot)
 - Give it an Object resistance rating (around 5)
 - Give it a commlink/security suite to avoid any hacking issues.

Robots as such aren't really statted out as permanent companions or NPC's for Shadowrunners. Unless you start talking about an AI inhabiting the drone/vehicle, these objects are only as good as the Software (Programs and Agents) that run them.
As such, they don't really get attributes (Logic, Intuition etc), and they really are vehicles.

Anyway, it's really a GM call to see how much money/etc from starting resources need to be spent on this type of a companion/pet. If it could give an advantage for home defense, healing etc, then the companion should probably be listed as a contact with maxxed loyalty, and the PC should have to pay maintenance costs (extra Lifestyle) in order to house and support this companion.

[Yipyioh]

That's the thing is so far I've never seen anyone do this before in the 2 years I've been playing and the many hours spent on Shadowrun forums. Everyone usually tries to make theirs either just another vehicle to ride around in as a rigger which is just a bunch of matrix stuff as far as we've seen, or they want to play an AI which they usually do everything to make it seem perfectly human. We're trying to make it as far AWAY from human as possible to make it more robot-ey. All I bought for my character initially was a cyberarm, a shotgun, a rifle, and a pistol, which probably added up to less than 20,000 nuyen and I tossed the rest of it (up to the max) into the bot. The main thing that we were iffy on was the combat program, how much it should cost and how it would work. We figured that we could just decide on things like armor when he got shot at and skills when he tries to do something. For an idea of how he is going to be used, in the first campaign we were rescuing civilians in a crappy plane and when it started to go down we all jumped out and grabbed as many children and people as possible to try to save them. My bot and I both grabbed 3 and we each hit the ground with one still alive. Unfortunately I shattered my legs landing so after I woke up I started shouting for him while he tracked me from about a mile away. He picked me up and guided me towards the closest base with a topographical map he made while descending and when we got rescued by another PC and brought to the military base some elves started a massive assault so I stuck the bot in an autocannon on top of a humvee while I shot out the side window and when our driver got killed I pulled him down off the gun and had him drive while I shot. He is supposed to be a combat droid but also a cartaker and unlike most other bots he isn't programmed for one purpose, but he can't think on his own so I figured it would be best to get everything just kinda laid out exactly like a PC but we just need advice for it. I like the Object resistance and the hardened armor, the biggy was just how programs would work and what programs (aside from the combat learning software) he should have as well as suceptibility to hacking although it is technically landlocked, as well as how the attributes should be splayed. As a combat droid we figure really high strength and agility, mid to high reaction and logic, but no will, int, ess, edge, or charisma.

[Charybdis]

Hmmm.

Honestly, what you're asking for is not really supported in the SR4 mechanics, which is why it's not really on the forums. The 2070 tech is not yet at the point of having a parachuting, bipedal robot soldier replacement/companion. (However you can start with a person, and build in enough metal that they're BASICALLY a robot, but it's not the same)

As a one off, this really sounds less like a 'piece of equipment' and more like an NPC companion, at which point it's not really a statting exercise (as is, you've already had a great adventure, and no real stats required...perfect )
So, my main recommendation is to grab an NPC Stat listing, give it to the GM with a couple of mods as per first post, and then just have a Robot companion with you.

If you really want to drill into this, then everything I'm about to write is IMHO only, not RAW

A) Why not give the robot a Skillwire set, and purchase combat programs as required. This just 'gives' the robot the skills required, as per however many you buy (I recommend the quad-chipslot option, so 4 SkillSofts can be loaded at once).
-- And would also explain why the bot can drop from a plane (Parachuting/Athletics skill?), act as a HumVee gunner (Gunnery skill) and then a Pilot (Drive: Ground Vehicles skill)
B) Other programs can be similar, but less combat oriented, and already integrated into the Robot hardware/software (First Aid, Map-making)
C) Autopilot should be fully maxxed out, as should sensors and a gyroscope stabiliser... just to explain the ability for a Robot to carry a body and make a map of the area for you, these things are mandatory.

Either way, you're a long way from any canon rule-sets, so just discuss with GM, agree on some stats and abilities, then go forth and adventure

[Yipyioh]

Thank you very much, that was spot on for what I needed! Last question, if you would care to answer is merely an unfamiliarity question. Most of our characters have been pretty standard or so far out there that we only reference the books for weapon selection and occasional rule decision, so I am unfamiliar with any books aside from the core rulebook and Arsenal, and of my friends we each have areas of knowledge so we collectively have one person for each group: mage magic, weapons, adept rules, and cyber implants (me), and our matrix and 'ware master moved about 200 miles away. Which books and where do you recommend looking for the programs and such? I have the base upgrades in Arsenal which I will look through, but like I've never even heard of Skillware or SkillSofts, we haven't had to deal with programs and drones since our matrix master left a year ago and he was the only one who really understood the matrix and programs and such.

[gourry187]

if you really want to continue in the route of the robot companion you could start with the Renraku Manservant-3 drone which has the appearance of a robot.  I haven't looked through all the drone modification stuff but you might be able to start there.