[Unadept]

(And other tales of foolishness from the Shadows)

I'm fairly new to Shadowrun 4e, having played 3e back in the day, and recently found myself in two 4e games.  In one of them I'm playing a Rigger, and missed how important Willpower is to them.  As you know, this means as soon as my character's drone suffers an appreciable amount of damage, my character's going to need to take a little nap.

I have the best Biofeedback Filter I can get, and the obvious solution seems to be a Pain Editor, but that's 40,000 Y and a good Street Doc away.

Are there any less obvious means I can use to keep my character from taking a little nap every time my drones get shot?

Thanks,
Unadept

[Charasanya]

Easiest way: Use AR instead of VR. 2 dice less, but a LOT safer!

[Unadept]

If I use AR rather than VR I'll also lose my Matrix Initiative, I think.  Using Remote Control rather than Jumped In, I think you're right, though some Simple Actions will become Complex Actions, instead.  So I can get twice as many shots off if Jumped in, if I'm reading this right.

[Charasanya]

Quite true, but still a lot safer, also has a few other advantages, like being able to do something else in meatspace. If you use full burst (per standard rules, drones don't suffer from recoil) you use up a complex action anyway. Just make sure to outfit your drone with excessive amounts of ammo...

If you are worrried about Stun damage, I can also highly recommend Stimulant Patches. They are relatively cheap, work for up to an hour, grant you virtual immunity from negative stun damage modifiers, but you still fall unconscious if you reach max.

[UmaroVI]

Can you post the character? I think the advice to do Remote Control rigging from VR is probably the way to go, though.

[All4BigGuns]

Can you post the character? I think the advice to do Remote Control rigging from VR is probably the way to go, though.

I always thought that going VR, jumping in was the only way and that Remote Control was AR-only...

[UmaroVI]

Nope. Jumping in requires VR. Remote Control can be done over either AR or VR.

[Unadept]

Mostly Remote Control might be the way to go, backed up with Stimulant Patches if things get hairy.

As requested, here's my character

Name: Proxy

B 2, A 5, R 4, S 2, C 1, I 3, L 5, W 2, E 2

Skills
Cracking 4
Electronics 4
Firearms 3
Mechanic 2
Perception 1
Gunnery 4
Pilot Air 3
Pilot Ground 4

Qualities
Juryrigger 10
More Than Metahuman 5
Bad Rep -5
Big Regret -5
SINner -5

Cyber
Control Rig
Commlink (R 6, S 5, F 5, Sy 6)
Math SPU
Encephalon R1
Cybereyes (Smartlink, Low-Light, Flare Comp., Thermal)
Obvious Cyberarm (Armor 2, Agility 3, Drone Hand)

Programs
All Common Use at 6
Targeting (Automatics) 4
Defense 4
Covert Ops 4
Armor 3
Biofeedback Filter 6
Decrypt 3
ECCM 3
Sniffer 2
Spoof 4
Lie Detection Sensor Soft 4

I realize this character is far from optimized - I didn't entirely know what I was doing when I was building him.

[All4BigGuns]

You don't have Restricted Gear. Did you get the Rating 6 Response in game? Otherwise, availability is too high.

[Unadept]

You don't have Restricted Gear. Did you get the Rating 6 Response in game? Otherwise, availability is too high.

Yup - just purchased it after the last, very lucrative, run.

[UmaroVI]

What drones and vehicles do you have?

One thing to keep in mind is that while doing RC rigging, you use your commlink's response for initiative and your Command for stats. When jumped in, you use the drone or vehicle's response (and sensor, in some cases) for stats and your commlink's response for initiative. This means if you have medium-ish response drones, you do much better with Command.

It's worth being able to jump into drones and not suck for some specific purposes, like sniping (two shots per phase) and not getting haXXored, but RC rigging is a good way to roll most of the time. Just make sure your drones have FA armament.

I've seen way, way worse riggers. I'm going to aim suggestions at things you can do to improve in-game that are generally relatively cheap.

1) Get Optimization(Command) on your commlink.
2) If your GM will allow you to purchase qualities after gameplay starts with karma, Codeslinger(Control Device)
3) Break that Firearms group and just focus on one skill (I would recommend Automatics, using a SMG to take advantage of your cyberarm). Get a specialization in SMGs first off.
4) Specialize Gunnery in Ballistic, which covers basically everything.
5) Is WAR! in use? If so, you can get a Optimized Rating 10 Command program for a quite reasonable price (about 10000Y) which is well, well worth it.
6) Very few pieces of ware help you command rig; it's more about your skills and programs. Reflex Recorders do help and are worth it.
7) It's more expensive, but a Response Enhancer on your commlink is very, very good for any type of rigger, as it gives you an enormous initiative bonus.

[Unadept]

I have a Hermes Van with additional drone racks
A Steel Lynx with Chameleon Coating, Winch and Gecko Tips, running Cover Ops as an Infiltration/combat vehicle.
A Renraku Stormcloud with Covert Ops, Chameleon Coating and a HK PSG Enforcer for overwatch and sniping.
A MCT-Nissan Rotodrone with a AK-98 - and that's it - as a low cost combat grunt.
I also use a cyberarm with Drone Hand and Rigger Adaption as a defensive drone running off the commlink.

After the last run, I'm upgrading their commlinks and Pilot ratings so that they'll be more effective on their own.

Those are all incredible suggestions - those will make me a much more effective rigger once I get the nuyen or karma.  Specializing Gunnery seems like the best choice out the gate.

Thanks!

[Charasanya]

The Hermes Van is a great idea as a mobile drone platform, and the Stormcloud is perfect for sniping and keeping an eye out.

The Ford-LEBD is actually cheaper and more versatile then the Rotodrone, as it already includes a weapon mount, as well as a mechanical arm. It's also better armored. As law enforcement companies also use the Fords, you might be able to pass them off as one of them.

Steel Lynx is a bit large for the Gecko Tips... Your GM may allow it (normally for medium and smaller drones only), but finding spots where to use them may prove difficult (as described in the Arsenal). The Lynx  is more of an open combat vehicle then for infiltration, it may also have difficulties fitting through some doors and such, as its about the size and weight of a small motorcycle.

Also your drone hand doesn't need rigger adaption, as all drones automatically come with it. I personally enjoy the Grapple Hand a lot more, and perhaps a moddable minidrone for infiltration (I prefer the Blob from Spy Games, or perhaps a Bust-A-Move if youre low on budget), but your mileage may vary.

A good idea for a perfectly legal and armed drone, you may want to keep with you most of the time, might be a Doberman with a Super-Squirt or Taser (kudos to UmaroVI for the idea). They are also pretty cheap, as they already include the weapon mount as well as some useful software.