Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Rules and such => Topic started by: 忍 on <10-30-14/2250:38>
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I'm sure this point has been run into the ground and I am not finding any discussion on it.
184 pg
"To detect a person, critter, or vehicle with sensors, the character/vehicle must make a successful Sensor Test. ... vehicles roll Pilot + Clearsight [Sensor]."
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"Sensors are designed to detect the “signature” (emissions, composition, sound, etc.) of other vehicles, so modifiers from the Signature Table apply to the detecting vehicle’s dice pool."
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From the Signature Table
"Metahumans, critters _____ -3"
So without a Clearsight autosoft, a standard, out-of-the-box drone rolls zero dice to detect people...
What's up with that? Am I understanding this correctly?
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I generally approach that the same way I approach perception tests. If the GM considers the thing to be detected as obvious, no roll is required. I'd apply the penalty to Opposed Perception Checks, Passive Sensor Weapons Targeting, and attempts to acquire an Active Sensor Lock. So yeah, you probably should be running a Clearsight or EW autosoft on that sucker if you want it to spot and/or shoot stuff.
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I think you can also shoot metahumans by using the accuracy of the on-board weapon mount (standard Drone Gunnery rules) rather than using passive- or active sensor targeting...
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I agree with Xenon.
I might be misunderstanding the rules, but the drone requires an autosoft for the specific weapon in order to shoot a mounted weapon. This implies it does not use gunnery (which sensor targeting seems tied to) since gunnery is weapon agnostic. Therefore, it does not suffer the signature penalty as the drone firing its own weapons would not need to be using sensor targeting - I guess it uses pattern recognition from its visual sensors in order to shoot, just like a metahuman. The rules for drone combat largely treat drones as metahumans as far as performing actions (substituting pilot for attributes other than strength and body, and autosofts for skills), which further seems to enforce the ability of the drone to fire the weapon without using sensor targeting and thus avoiding the penalty for targeting metahumans. There are edge cases where specific rules change this, but the general rule seems to be that drones act (and thus shoot) using the same mechanics as metahumans.
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Generally speaking, a drone or vehicle rolls it's Pilot in lieu of any attribute, and the appropriate Autosoft for any skill. It's not clear if the drone or vehicle suffers the defaulting penalty though.
So if you're driving a regular old Hyundai Shin-Hyung, which has a Pilot of 1, it'll roll 1 dice against any target that is trying to not be detected. Not good. But against targets that aren't actively hiding or avoiding contact, it's all that is necessary. Drones have a universal Pilot rating of 3, which makes them substantially better at detecting targets that are actively trying to hide. Still, it's pretty piss-poor by itself. I would be surprised if we don't see some rules for upgrading Pilots at some point, possibly (hopefully) in Data Trails.
OP, the thing to keep in mind is that the opposed test only occurs if there is opposition. Unless the target is actively trying to avoid detection, they'll always be spotted.
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The target will only automatically be detected if it is obvious.
If it is not obvious then you need to roll some dice. You need to get enough hits to reach the threshold. For example; To notice a matrix icon of a device that is further away than 100 meters, a subtle spell where the force is above, equal or only one level lower than the magicians skill, a neon sign, non silenced gun fire, yelling or a running crowd then you need one hit.
If the target is actively trying to hide then you use an opposed test rather than a simple threshold test.