[Gareth]

Do players get edge, or is it characters? (P.45 says players - does this include the GM?)

Do NPC's get edge?

Grunts get edge (P.203) and have limitations on how they spend it, but other bad guys aren't mentioned?

The printed bad guys don't have an edge score - so you presumably don't need an edge score to gain edge?

Spirits specifically cannot get edge, but they can spend it (since this is specified, does it imply that other NPCs can get edge?) (P.147)

Can AI's get edge? What about Pilots? And Hosts? Sprites (sprites are kind of an analog of spirits - do they follow the spirit rules here?)?

In the case of pilots, if they don't get edge, can I spend edge from my pool on their rolls? Does it use my edge pool for gains and losses?

Does the two edge gain limit per turn apply per character or per player?

[Michael Chandra]

Spirits you can give edge. Others like drones are not given that rule so they cannot spend edge and you cannot spend on their behalf. Prime runners are basically like players which means they have edge. Contacts don't need edge normally when in a run. It's the characters that have an edge score so when a player gets edge it's really their (one and only) character. GM is not a player, grunts and primes have their own rules on edge.

[Gareth]

Others like drones are not given that rule so they cannot spend edge and you cannot spend on their behalf.

What happens when they gain edge?

Is it lost? Can they do nothing with it?

This makes the weapon range rules weird (AR/DR has sort of replaced range penalties in combat, and if one side cannot gain or use edge that makes range bands a little more weird)?

It's the characters that have an edge score so when a player gets edge it's really their (one and only) character

It's the characters that have edge scores, but crucially it's the players that get edge - not the characters (P.45)?

and primes have their own rules on edge.

I hope prime stat blocks are going to be clear that they are primes - the difference between primes and grunts is a deal where Edge is concerned,

Incidentally, do critters work like primes or grunts, or are they their own thing (or does it vary by the specific critter)?

[Michael Chandra]

You create Prime Runners through the normal chargen process, which means they have Edge.

Most Critters have 1 CM track, making them like grunts. Some have two, so then they're their own entity (and I'd argue that Dragons should have had an Edge stat).

If a Drone by itself were to gain Edge, it does nothing. Alternatively, you could houserule (*writes it down*) that edgeless entities get an extra die instead. If you're Jumped In and fight while being the drone, you'd gain edge.

"The players have a character they represent in the game (the player character, or PC)."

[Finstersang]

Grunts can earn Edge, too. There is no indicator that you need an Edge Attribute to accumulate Edge. And for Spirits, it´s actually spelled out that they can´t earn Edge (or rather, don´t want to?  ). Right now, deciding that autonomous Drones can´t get and use Edge is just as much of a houserule as deciding that they can.

And deciding that they can´t is obviously a very bad rule, because it further guts the premise of the Edge mechanic: Two Drones shooting at each other? "Yeah just ignore AR, DR and everything else. Streamlining, baby!"

Apart from that, I´d say it´s generally a good practice for GMs (apart from any houserules that may or may not be needed here) to simply spend any Edge a Drone, Grunt, Critter etc gets right away on the very test that granted it. It reduces bookkeeping and it´s also a good a idea realism-wise.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Spirits you can give edge. Others like drones are not given that rule so they cannot spend edge and you cannot spend on their behalf. Prime runners are basically like players which means they have edge. Contacts don't need edge normally when in a run. It's the characters that have an edge score so when a player gets edge it's really their (one and only) character. GM is not a player, grunts and primes have their own rules on edge.

Actually....

Spirits cannot gain Edge for themselves or their
summoner, but they still have an Attack Rating in
case the defender gains Edge.

Drones do not have any similar rule, so arguably Spirits are unique in 6we in that they can only give away Edge to the opposition... they can never earn any via their own actions. 

[Michael Chandra]

Alternatively that section could be read as 'Spirits can be given Edge in contrast to every other Edgeless thing'. So unless there's clarification or Pilots, Critters, Sprites all are given an Edge stat, I do not agree with drones earning edge on their own.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Alternatively that section could be read as 'Spirits can be given Edge in contrast to every other Edgeless thing'. So unless there's clarification or Pilots, Critters, Sprites all are given an Edge stat, I do not agree with drones earning edge on their own.

Maybe Drones can't earn edge for themselves, but there's no reason that a Rigger can't earn Edge via her drone(s).

OTOH, there's an explicit statement that Summoners don't gain edge thru what their spirits do.

[Michael Chandra]

If you're jumped in, you'd definitely be able to earn or spend Edge.

Treating a Rigger as a Lieutenant for an Edge-earning grunt group of Drones would be pretty amusing. But I need something more explicit than what the rules explicitly state, though I agree my opinion too is not supported enough.

[Finstersang]

Coincidentally, the drone combat example on p. 201 has a drone with AR 8 firing on a guard with DR 6, so no Edge is distributed to either side ...

I´d still say it´s most reasonable to let drones start with 0 Edge, but let them earn and spend additional Edge during a scene. Keep in mind that Edge is not supposed to be that kind "Fate Point"-style mechanic we are used to from 4th and 5th Edition anymore. It´s supposed to simulate many effects that previously were just modifiers. If Drones can´t earn and use Edge, it means that they (or other characters attacking them) simply ignore a lot of these modifiers. Again, just imagine a couple of autonomous Drones fighting each other: With that ruling, they would basically ignore Armor, Recoil, Range and many other Advantages and Disadvantages because neither Drone could earn edge on its own. 

(Not that this is the only situation were ill-conceived Edge-denial-rules make combat modifiers obsolete: "Hey Kids! Don´t wanna bother about Attack and Defense ratings? Just get a Rifle with an imaging Scope and shoot out of cover"  ) 

[skalchemist]

Again, just imagine a couple of autonomous Drones fighting each other: With that ruling, they would basically ignore Armor, Recoil, Range and many other Advantages and Disadvantages because neither Drone could earn edge on its own. 

I feel like this point about Armor/Recoil/etc. is a very important point.

Edge in 6E seems to be intended as a unified mechanism to handle all kinds of combat related penalties and advantages.  It is not intended to be a "Fate/Hero/Inspiration" point equivalent.  But if that is the case, then everything in the game that can fight should be able to gain and lose Edge.  Carrying over Edge from scene to scene with an Edge rating might only be a player character thing, which is fair enough.  Let's face it, in most situations its really only player characters where that even matters.  But the Edge mechanic represents too many things in the game fiction that are universally applicable to be then restricted to just certain participants.

The "fate/hero/inspiration" concept creeps in on the boundaries in the current rules.  "Spirits don't gain edge" is an example.  This conversation about drones is another.  I feel many of the questions raised about Edge all arise from these places where the rules seem to be "backing away" from Edge as a universal mechanic and retreating to Edge as this cool thing players can use to make their characters awesome. 

[Michael Chandra]

I do agree that 2 drones firing at each other should have a use for AR vs DR, so I'm leaning towards 'Edge for Drones simply translates to immediate extra dice (aka rerolls, but you just roll them along the normal pool)'. Wondering if we'll get some sort of FAQ item addressing this, we'll see in time I guess.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

What doesn't make sense about drones being able to bank edge just like any other sort of NPC?

Would you object to a host generating edge from a hacker? Potentially storing it up, and unleashing it in chunks later down the pike when the IC launches for edge boosts and matrix edge actions?

[Michael Chandra]

Yes, I would. ESPECIALLY for Hosts, which should just try to smash you anyway. They don't need that boost in lethality that banking gives them. But also for dog brains that don't think that far ahead and would just immediately cash in the advantage. Is it sentient? Then it can save up the Edge. Otherwise it should immediately be processed. They're not full NPCs. They're tools.

As for what also doesn't make sense: streamlining. Introducing detailed rules for tracking how Drones use their Edge, wouldn't be streamlined. Letting the player decide opens up abuse venues and makes little sense since they're not the drones. And letting the GM decide will make players very grumpy. So spend-like-X-at-once makes far more sense as flat rule.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Yes, I would. ESPECIALLY for Hosts, which should just try to smash you anyway. They don't need that boost in lethality that banking gives them. But also for dog brains that don't think that far ahead and would just immediately cash in the advantage. Is it sentient? Then it can save up the Edge. Otherwise it should immediately be processed. They're not full NPCs. They're tools.

By the same logic then, critters like basilisks and guard dogs shouldn't be allowed to bank edge, either?