[ShroudedSciuridae]

The Emulate (Program) Complex Form (CRB190) can emulate programs or autosofts up to the technomancers Data Processing.  Is there an upper limit to that? Data Processing can get obscenely high, is the Resonance robust enough to allow an Emulate (Targeting) 13 from a Dalakitnon with Exceptional Logic and a + 4 Living Persona boost? Potentially even higher with some Bodyshop improvements that boost Logic.

[FastJack]

Yes, but remember:

• Essence loss reduces Resonance (AR of complex forms)
• You can't boost any attribute more than +4 it's current attribute rank.

Also, you have to "buy" Emulate Program for each software program you want to emulate. You can't Emulate an Stealth program, then say you're emulating an Evasion program next time. You purchase the Complex Form Emulate Stealth, and would need to also purchase Emulate Evasion as a separate complex form. You could run both, but then you're taking a -4 dice pool penalty on each action while sustaining it (CRB189).

Dalakitnon with Exceptional Logic could stat up to 9 Logic, boosted to at most 13 (with either Living Persona or `Ware). Cerebral Booster and Living Persona do NOT stack. So, you could Emulate (Targeting) at 13, plus your drone's sensor, -2 dice for sustaining the program. So you get 11 dice, two more than building a rigger and buying the autosoft for 4,500¥.

[Dreamwalker]

There are further complex forms from Hack & Slash that can improve a drone on auto pilot. Enlighten Automaton enhances pilot/sensor ratings, providing a contribution to dice pools that should be compatible with emulated autosofts. You can also use Enhance Autosofts to gain dice pool bonuses for autosofts running on a device. (I presume that excludes shared autosofts.)

If you have access to the Sourceror resonance stream (Hack & Slash) and its Hyper Threading complex form you can avoid repeated -2 dice pool modifiers from sustaining multiple complex forms that have the same target. Since Enlighten Automaton and Enhance Autosofts would target the same device, they can be merged into a single complex form through Hyper Threading. To my understanding, multiple Emulate (Program) complex forms can be merged similarly, as Emulate (Program) targets the technomancer. When you reach sufficiently many submersions, you can offset all dice pool penalties by merging complex forms and using the Aspect Peripheral ability of the Sourceror resonance stream.

A cheaper alternative to Emulate (Program) in terms of karma cost is the Software Emulator echo (also from Hack & Slash). It allows you to run autosofts on your living persona. If you have the Living Network echo you should be able to share them with a single drone (as stated in the FAQ). Keep in mind though that you would be running the copy that you purchased and absorbed (at its specific autosoft rating).

Whether using Software Emulator or Emulate (Program), several autosofts are specific for certain drone/weapon models (see the FAQ). For example, you would have to learn Emulate ([Ingram Smartgun XI] targeting) and Emulate ([Aztechnology Crawler] maneuvering). You may want to choose your emulated programs carefully.

Cerebral Booster and Living Persona do NOT stack.

Could you please clarify why these do not stack? It was my understanding that improvements to mental attributes reflect on the living persona.

So, you could Emulate (Targeting) at 13, plus your drone's sensor, -2 dice for sustaining the program. So you get 11 dice, two more than building a rigger.

The -2 dice pool modifier for sustaining the complex form affects the technomancer, not the drone operating on auto pilot (which is when autosofts are of relevance).

[...] buying the autosoft for 4,500¥.

An autosoft with rating 9 also has availability 9 and may be extremely difficult to obtain (even more difficult than most delta-grade cultured bioware). In contrast, learning Emulate (Program) is independent of any rating.

[FastJack]

Cerebral Booster and Living Persona do NOT stack.

Could you please clarify why these do not stack? It was my understanding that improvements to mental attributes reflect on the living persona.

I was wrong on that. I was reading Living Persona as modifying Logic, but it's modifying the Data Processing. So, Cerebral Booster can get Logic to 13, Living Persona can get the Data Processing to 17.

So, you could Emulate (Targeting) at 13, plus your drone's sensor, -2 dice for sustaining the program. So you get 11 dice, two more than building a rigger.

The -2 dice pool modifier for sustaining the complex form affects the technomancer, not the drone operating on auto pilot (which is when autosofts are of relevance).

True, but if the drone is operating on auto-pilot, it's only going to have the one skill for Targeting. Evasion will be Pilot - 1, Stealth will be Pilot - 1, etc. Granted, a technomancer that is drone-rigging may not need to worry about other checks, but if they jump into another drone while emulating the programs for others, it will affect rolls for the jumped-in drone.

[...] buying the autosoft for 4,500¥.

An autosoft with rating 9 also has availability 9 and may be extremely difficult to obtain (even more difficult than most delta-grade cultured bioware). In contrast, learning Emulate (Program) is independent of any rating.
[/quote]That true about the availability, and if you're focusing on rigging as a Technomancer, you don't need to worry much about other Complex Forms, so you could load up on the Emulate Programs you need.

[Dreamwalker]

True, but if the drone is operating on auto-pilot, it's only going to have the one skill for Targeting. Evasion will be Pilot - 1, Stealth will be Pilot - 1, etc.

You can run the remaining autosofts (for evasion, etc.) on your living persona and share them with auto-piloted drones. Use the Living Network echo for a single drone (see FAQ) and the Machinist resonance stream or the Living Command Console echo (from Hack & Slash) for sharing with multiple drones.

If you are concerned about stacking the -2 dice pool modifier from sustaining complex forms, you have several options to compensate:

• Focus on specific drone/weapon models to reduce the number of required autosofts.
• Choose to run autosofts that don't require very high ratings on the Software Emulator echo or directly on your drones (as far as the pilot rating permits).
• Use the Focused Concentration quality or the perks of the Sourceror resonance stream.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find a decent setup of mostly autonomous drones that runs essential autosofts (like evasion and targeting) at very high ratings while maintaining a (comparatively) low price point.

Since standard autosofts come in ratings 1-9 (Software table p. 272 CRB-Seattle), a similar restriction may be considered for emulated autosofts.

[Michael Chandra]

Yeah don't forget that the FAQ clarified that yes, in SR6 drones can run both their own Autosofts (though you need a separate copy per drone, can't copy-paste autosofts) and the ones shared with them from a (living) RCC.

[Dreamwalker]

For comparison, I noticed that the German CRB limits Emulate (Program) to run autosofts with a maximum rating of 6.