[Weldûn]

Okay, this has probably been done before and maybe even posted, but I thought that I'd post mine up for comments and (constructive) criticism.

Base Vehicle
Daiatsu-Caterpillar Horseman with Advanced Cargo Module (PMV) (AR 107)
Mechanical Grapple

Modifications
Armor, Normal 6
Clean Car Coating
Mechanical Arm
Rigger Adaptation
Walker Mode
Firewall 5
Response 5
Signal 5
System 5

Software
Suite: Pro User (Analyze 4, Browse 4, Command 2, Edit 4)
Suite: Eurosoft Clavicula (Decrypt 5, Encrypt 5)
Biofeedback Filter 5 (Ergonomic)
ECCM 5 (Ergonomic)
Scan 5 (Ergonomic)
Stealth 5 (Ergonomic)
Tacsoft 2
Tactical Satellite Mapping Software 4 (Ergonomic)
Telematics Infrastructure 5

Sensor Upgrades
Vehicle Sensor (Flare Compensation, Low Light, Smartlink, Ultrawideband Radar 4, Vision Magnification)

Total Cost (Including Software): ¥77,050

Think of a team where every character takes one of these, slips on the trode net and goes to town... 

My Own Comments

• The armor is lower than I'd like due to the limits on what a character can start with, and I wanted to show just how far a starting character could take the concept. Ideally, the armor would be upgraded to 12 at the first available opportunity.
• With a Sensor Rating of 2 and Ultrawideband Radar, so long as at least one of the suits is receiving a feed from an aerial surveillance drone that has a view of the area, the suits provide enough sensor channels to fully utilize the Tactical AR Network Software.
• I'd allow the suit to use most two-handed ranged weapons, simply because the other hand is usually only needed to keep the weapon steady.
• In theory, the Mechanical Arm could be augmented with Cyberlimb modifications, but I decided to leave that out. My recommendation would be for a Gyromount, as my reading of the rules is that weapons mounted on vehicles ignore recoil, but anything wielded by the arms would still suffer the usual recoil penalties.

EDIT: I may add my "Heavy Gear" later. Personally, in a world with small flying drone and LAVs, I think that this is about as big as it would get, maybe a small gear about the size of a Subcompact.
EDIT2: Included the clarification about the Ultrawideband Radar adding a sensor channel.

[CanRay]

Not as bad as "The Horseman Of The Apocalypse" one of my group made up as an experiment...

[Chrona]

Not as bad as "The Horseman Of The Apocalypse" one of my group made up as an experiment...

"The Horseman Of The Apocalypse" ftw

[CanRay]

Don't tell him that!  I veto'd the design from the get-go, and pointed out that if it ever showed up on the streets and started doing it's thing, I *WOULD* roll out the Metroplex Guard against it, as it was that insanely powered!

He thought about it, and said, "Yeah, that's fair."

[Weldûn]

Don't tell him that!  I veto'd the design from the get-go, and pointed out that if it ever showed up on the streets and started doing it's thing, I *WOULD* roll out the Metroplex Guard against it, as it was that insanely powered!

He thought about it, and said, "Yeah, that's fair."

Well I personally think that this thing would be obvious as all get out. I intend it for use in "Bigger Hammer" situations, where subtlety is being thrown out the window. Ideally the suits would be transported close to their targets by something like a Citymaster or Zugsmaschine, but these things are recognizable and that causes a problem. For one thing, who else runs these rigs? Probably nobody, so you're advertising that it was your team that was involved. Sure, you could blueprint the modifications and release them through ShadowSea or Jackpoint, but then you run the risk that these things pop up against you. Well, earlier than otherwise, anyway. Or worse, a system designed from the ground up.

Now there's a thought. What would that look like. For one thing, the advantages of this system are pretty clear. A modicum of training and a control rig, when a pilot is "jumped in" these things give you a strength 6 (with another 4 points available after modification) combat machine that has an effective reaction of 6 for initiative purposes, 3 initiative passes, a +2 dice bonus to all actions and a -1 threshold to all Vehicle Tests. All for less than ¥100,000 per person. Best of all, you're pilots can get downtime while still being meat, avoiding the long term psychological problems associated with cyborgs.

[kirk]

Small changes I'd recommend:
-- using smart tires with gecko tips instead of walker mode frees a slot while letting you cover pretty much the same ground -- at +2 handling.
-- fill that slot with a rigger cocoon. +20 armor and +10 structure barrier to protect the rider.
-- drone module instead of advanced cargo module: one less handling, you're buying an arm anyway, and now you can rapidly deploy and recover the small or medium drone you're already planning to bring to the party.
-- by personal taste, I'd drop the mechanical arm and use those two slots for an external fixed flexible remote weapon mount. If you really, really want some arms make the drone you bring a GM Mr. Fix-It and tweak him heavily.

[Deliverator]

... way to make me want to play a Mobile Suit RPG again... *starts searching the interwebz for viable RPG platforms...*

[Weldûn]

Small changes I'd recommend:
-- using smart tires with gecko tips instead of walker mode frees a slot while letting you cover pretty much the same ground -- at +2 handling.

Smart Tires would only grant +1 handling (net) and could only clear 15cm (or 6").

-- drone module instead of advanced cargo module: one less handling, you're buying an arm anyway, and now you can rapidly deploy and recover the small or medium drone you're already planning to bring to the party.

Lacking the extra arm, even if it is only a simple version, limits the tasks the system can perform. And as the suit works best being deployed by another vehicle, let that carry the drone.

-- by personal taste, I'd drop the mechanical arm and use those two slots for an external fixed flexible remote weapon mount. If you really, really want some arms make the drone you bring a GM Mr. Fix-It and tweak him heavily.

And lose the utility of a fully functional hand, which when combined with the other arm can wield any weapon one would place in a turret. Albeit with recoil to worry about, but there are ways of handling that.

[kirk]

Small changes I'd recommend:
-- using smart tires with gecko tips instead of walker mode frees a slot while letting you cover pretty much the same ground -- at +2 handling.

Smart Tires would only grant +1 handling (net) and could only clear 15cm (or 6").

For the rest of your points, ok (disagreement is personal preference) but I wanted to make one minor emphasis. In simple, that's why the gecko tips.

Smart tires treat obstacles up to 15 cm as non-existent for road travel. When taller obstacles are encountered, however, the gecko tips allow the horseman to "crawl" over them -- with the recognized need to avoid high-centering. (That raises the question of bed clearance for walkers as well.)

I think the walker mod would probably cross more barriers, but the horseman using gecko tips AND shifting back and forth between car and walk modes would clear a surprising number. And I personally like the extra 20 armor that lets me get (rigger cocoon).

[Valashar]

Thank you for this post. I've been trying to put together an Appleseed style landmate for certain security forces (for runners to fear, not for others to fear the runners have gotten hold of) in my campaign for a while, and this post is a huge boost, idea-wise.

[Weldûn]

Small changes I'd recommend:
-- using smart tires with gecko tips instead of walker mode frees a slot while letting you cover pretty much the same ground -- at +2 handling.

Smart Tires would only grant +1 handling (net) and could only clear 15cm (or 6").

For the rest of your points, ok (disagreement is personal preference) but I wanted to make one minor emphasis. In simple, that's why the gecko tips.

Smart tires treat obstacles up to 15 cm as non-existent for road travel. When taller obstacles are encountered, however, the gecko tips allow the horseman to "crawl" over them -- with the recognized need to avoid high-centering. (That raises the question of bed clearance for walkers as well.)

I think the walker mod would probably cross more barriers, but the horseman using gecko tips AND shifting back and forth between car and walk modes would clear a surprising number. And I personally like the extra 20 armor that lets me get (rigger cocoon).

Ah yes, I knew that something else was bothering me about your suggestion.

Gecko Tips (All, Medium and Smaller Drones Only)

The emphasis is mine, but makes my point. Even if your GM is feeling lenient, these things are easily the size of a large drone.

Still, thanks for giving your thoughts on the matter. And your setup is why I wouldn't bother with walker mode on a medium or smaller ground drone.

[kirk]

Small changes I'd recommend:
-- using smart tires with gecko tips instead of walker mode frees a slot while letting you cover pretty much the same ground -- at +2 handling.

Smart Tires would only grant +1 handling (net) and could only clear 15cm (or 6").

For the rest of your points, ok (disagreement is personal preference) but I wanted to make one minor emphasis. In simple, that's why the gecko tips.

Smart tires treat obstacles up to 15 cm as non-existent for road travel. When taller obstacles are encountered, however, the gecko tips allow the horseman to "crawl" over them -- with the recognized need to avoid high-centering. (That raises the question of bed clearance for walkers as well.)

I think the walker mod would probably cross more barriers, but the horseman using gecko tips AND shifting back and forth between car and walk modes would clear a surprising number. And I personally like the extra 20 armor that lets me get (rigger cocoon).

Ah yes, I knew that something else was bothering me about your suggestion.

Gecko Tips (All, Medium and Smaller Drones Only)

The emphasis is mine, but makes my point. Even if your GM is feeling lenient, these things are easily the size of a large drone.

Still, thanks for giving your thoughts on the matter. And your setup is why I wouldn't bother with walker mode on a medium or smaller ground drone.

You're welcome, but I think I should point out:

At the gamemaster’s discretion, large drones and vehicle
may be equipped with gecko tips, but it is rare for them to fi nd
surfaces/materials that can hold their weight without ripping
away chunks of it.

[Weldûn]

Yeah, Kirk, I'd prefer not to rely on my GM's leniency, given that I'm already practically redesigning the base vehicle from the ground up. 

[kirk]

An Orderly Landmate. Initial setup to do direct comparison to Horseman.

Base Vehicle: EVO Orderly (Arsenal 120)
2 Mechanical Arms
Walker Mode
Special Equipment (Medkit 6)

Modifications
Rigger Cocoon
Armor: Normal 6
(Can not find price for Clean Car Coating in Spy Games,not included)

This is the core vehicle. Everything below this point is the same price and performance if added.It has 2 full mechanical arms, can add 3 more armor, moves at 32. Of significant importance it still has two open slots for modifications. Oh - while it "only" has a medium drone sensor, the sensors listed for the Horseman would fit. Both would have more sensor slots remaining, though the Horseman would have more.  The Orderly requires a rigger cocoon to create a closed cockpit in contrast to the existing cockpit of the Horseman. As a benefit, it gives the controller +20 armor (barrier 10). The Orderly at this point costs 4700¥.

The Horseman at this point has no remaining open slots, has one full and one grapple mechanical arm, can add 6 more armor, and is 5.5 faster. Price at this point is 30,700¥.

From this point, the bottom line is that the Horseman pays 26,000¥ for more sensor slots, 3 more body, 5.5 more speed. In the process it sacrifices two slots, and the pilot does not get the protection of the rigger cocoon.

[Weldûn]

Good points, all around. And let's face it, in combat you use acceleration stats, not top speed. The Horseman has one other advantage, however. It can be piloted manually. This being said, the Orderly-base, being a drone, can continue to function on automatic should it's pilot become incapacitated, likely in a superior fashion than the Horseman who's pilot software is more of a "Drive from point A to Point B system". Nice work, Kirk. Of course, all of this make me wish for something like the design rules from Rigger 3.