[Digital_Viking]

Ok, have the LEBD-1,Flying Eye and Repeater from Umaro's wonderful Mercenary Rigger archetype - and I have ~30k leftover after essentials. What other drones do folks think would be a good addition to the arsenal of a runner team?

[TheNarrator]

Well, you could upgrade the weapon on that drone (AK-97 is the Ford Pinto of guns), and increase the supply of ammunition. Possibly with an underbarrel weapon that could load a non-lethal alternative ammo.

You could also upgrade your vehicle from the Thundercould Morgan ATV to something that a) won't look as out of place in an urban sprawl, b) has an enclosed cab to protect the occupants and c) has more room so you can carry the whole team, your drones and whatever else you need, like extraction targets and stolen cargo. Add a Spoof Chip and Morphing License Plate (at the very least) so that your movements can't be tracked.

And you could get another drone, something made for heavier combat and going indoors. The Steel Lynx is burly and inexpensive, the Crimson Samurai is more burly but slightly more expensive. There are also non-combat drones, like the Evo Orderly for medical support.

[_Pax_]

Well, an LTA drone topark overhead and give a bird's-eye view of the area is useful:

Unnamed Hero (Renraku Stormcloud)
B 3, Sen 3, Han -3, Fir 3, Pil 3, Rsp 3, Sig 3, Init 6, IP 3
Physical Condition Monitor: 10
Armor (Vehicle): 5 [2]
Skills: Clearsight 3
Gear:
. . Clearsight
. . Encrypt (3)
. . Improved Sensor Array
. . Improved Takeoff and Landing, Level 2
. . Lighter Than Air
. . Rigger Adaptation
. . Weapon Mount (Fixed, Internal, Remote) with Internal Visibility, Remote Control
Weapons:
. . ArmTech MGL-12 [Grenade Launchers, DV By Ammo, SA, RC 3, 15 (c) x2] with Additional Clip, Laser Sight, Thermal Suppressor

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
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Add grenades to your preference (I suggest one magazine of Smoke or Flash-bang for nonlethal uses, and gas grenades with something like Breath-taker for the other), and you have an overwatch drone that can also provide emergency "get out of dodge" covering fire.  Parking lots don't tend to dodge very well, after all ...

[Digital_Viking]

Vehicle is taken care of - have a tricked out MPUV Looking for some drone ideas - and you guys don't disappoint, keep up the great ideas!

[TheNarrator]

"More firepower" would be my general advice. One big advantage that drones have is that they can carry and fire heavy weapons relatively easily.

[_Pax_]

Useful spy/recon unit.  Roll it along the ceiling, with chameleon-cloak engaged, and noone should notice it.
Unnamed Hero (Lone Star iBall, Offensive)
B 1, Sen 2, Han +1, Fir 3, Pil 3, Rsp 3, Sig 3, Init 6, IP 3
Physical Condition Monitor: 9
Armor (Vehicle): 1
Skills:
Gear:
. . Chameleon Coating
. . Gecko Tips
. . Improved Economy
. . Improved Sensor Array
. . Rigger Adaptation
Weapons:
. . Flash-Pak Grenade [Grenades, DV Flash, RC 1]
. . Smoke Grenade [Grenades, DV Smoke, 10m R, RC 1]



For "heavy weapons" purposes, you could go with this:
Unnamed Hero (MCT Hachiman)
B 4, Sen 2, Han -1, Fir 4/3, Pil 2, Rsp 4/3, Sig 4/3, Init 6/5, IP 3
Physical Condition Monitor: 10
Armor (Vehicle): 12 [8]
Skills: Heavy Weapons 1
Gear:
. . Gecko Tips
. . Obsolescent
. . Ram Plate
. . Reinforced Reinforced Weapon Mount (Turret, External, Remote) with Reinforced Weapon Mount
. . Rigger Adaptation
. . Special Armor Modification, Nonconductivity (6)
. . Targeting: Heavy Weapons
. . Winch, Standard
Weapons:
. . Stoner-Ares M202 [Medium Machineguns, DV 7P vs. B-3, BF-Lx2/FA(12), RC 8, 100 (belt)] with Electronic Firing, EX-Explosive Rounds x500, Gas-Vent 3 System, High Velocity, Underbarrel Weight

Note, the Gecko Tips here are for anchorign the drone while usin the winch, or possibly negotiating extra-steep inclines ... NOT for going up the walls!  It's a bit big for THAT, hahaha!

Also note, the Stoner-Ares M202 was chosen because it was the ONLY "heavier than an LMG" weapon with an availability of 12 or less.  If you're willing to take Restricted Gear, and spend money like water you could go all the way to an HMG or even a Rotary Autocannon.  Still, this particular M202 is pretty damned scary, as-is ...!


Or, just for a bit of overkill, there's this:
Unnamed Hero (Black Knight)
B 14, Sen 1, Han -4, Fir 5/2, Pil 2, Rsp 5/2, Sig 5/2, Init 7/4, IP 3
Physical Condition Monitor: 15
Armor (Vehicle): 34 [20]
Skills:
Gear:
. . Armor (20)
. . Drone Rack, Small Landing
. . Obsolete
. . Ram Plate
. . Reinforced Weapon Mount (Heavy Turret, External, Remote) with Gyro Link, Heavy Turret Mount, Reinforced Weapon Mount, Remote Control
. . Rigger Adaptation
. . Special Armor Modification, Nonconductivity (6)
. . Tracked Vehicle
Weapons:
. . GM Light Cannon [Assault Cannons, DV 13P, -1/m vs. B-7/V-9, SA, RC 14, 50 (belt)] with AV Assault Cannon Rounds x100, Laser Sight
[/hr]

Sure, sure.  It's decades old ... OBSOLETE, even.

It also has 14 Body and 20 Armor, and (this requires Restricted Gear) a TANK GUN in a full-on Heavy Turret.  Oh, and it has a landing rack for something like your LEBD-1, too.

Biggest drawback?  157K nuyen.    Nearly half of that's the GUN ...

[Xarin]

A little extra cheap firepower wouldn't be amiss.  I like the Doberman with an Ingram White Knight.  Cheap and disposable for the firepower it can bring to the table.   You can always bling it up if you want, but the stock model is pretty solid.

A cracked Optimized and Ergonomic Rating 6 Analyze program to spread to all your drones is always nice, too.

[Charasanya]

I vouch highly for an Ares Air-Supply from This Old Drone. VTOL, speed of 300, able to be modded for a rigger cocoon (so you have air transport), and a decent weapon and you can still store all the stuff you might need on it. Or better yet, have another drone (or a friend) in your garage load it with the gear/weapons/drones you desperately need on your mission, and it will be there in a jiffy.

Other then that, I love the Blob from Spy Games! This one should be able to get in and out of almost anything through air vents. I would mod it with the usual chameleon coating, a grapple (basically a pseudopod) so it can open a door or window from the inside (if its not too complicated) and maybe improved economy plus an additional fuel tank for 24 hour observations.

[UmaroVI]

The Orderly is a good drone to have one of, since it has arms and legs and a medkit, and is dirt cheap. It's handy for doing tasks that need hands but that you don't want to be around for, and for providing remote medical care.

I'm not a big fan of the Black Knight. It looks cool, but Obselete is really harsh. You can't remote control or rig it, and it has shitty ratings, so while you can attach big booms to it you have no real way to use the big booms. The only people who can really use it are technomancers who can hand it to sprites (since Machine sprites completely ignore the stats of the computer).

I'd actually think about getting a second LEBD, but equipped for autonomous operation. They're really good all-around drones, and you can give it a simple task like backing up your team in fights.

Do note that you can certainly build a better drone than this...but the cost starts going up fast. Like, you could upgrade it to 6 response...but is that worth about 35% more cost? I'd rather keep it economical and then get more of them, and link them into a tacnet. This guy is designed to be able to reliably contribute to combat without needing any particular help.

If your GM will let you crack the autosofts and share them among your drones, though, get them at 4 and put them on everything.

Autonomous Flying Gun-drone 22260
Ford LEBD-1   (4500)
   For the purposes of Tacnets, the Ford LEBD-1 has 8 senses: Vision [Camera], Low-Light Vision [Camera], Thermographic Vision [Camera], Smartlink [Camera and Gun], Hearing [Microphone], Spatial Recognizer [Microphone], Laser Rangefinder, Motion Sensor
   Armor 9 (1800) (5/shop+5/shop, 6R)
Sandler TMP (350) with HV mod (700) (30/Facility, 8R), Drum mod (1000) (16/Facility, 6R), Smartgun mod (350) (8/shop, 6R)
120 Stick-n-Shock (960) (5R)
   Camera 4 (400)
      Vision Enhancement 3 (300)
      Low-light Vision (100)
      Smartlink (500)
   Camera 6 (600)
      Thermographic (100)
      Vision Magnification (100)
   Microphone 6 (300)
      Spatial Recognizer (100)
      Audio Enhancement 3 (300)
   Laser Rangefinder (100)
   Motion Sensor (50)
   Autosofts: Targeting 4, Clearsight 3, Defense 3, Manuever 3, Adaptability 3

My reasons for not liking stuff like the Steel Lynx are that better but high-availability drones exist in that same niche (the Wuxing Hussar, in particular, kicks the shit out of everything else in the "big Forbidden combat drone" department) and I'd rather hold out. The Lockheed Arachne is another really good drone that fills the "little walky drone that can mount a gun and shoot people autonomously" role, but again, availability.

[Falconer]

Blatently ignoring that drones can only provide channels equal to their sensor rating to a tacnet....  So no more than a rating 3 tacnet  (really not that much different than no higher than rating 4 autosoft).

Given the large numbers of drones which can be fielded...easily and quickly this limitation makes a lot of sense.

Wolfpack of dobermans for example.

[_Pax_]

Eh, so you run more than one tacnet. 

[RiggerBob]

Blatently ignoring that drones can only provide channels equal to their sensor rating to a tacnet....  So no more than a rating 3 tacnet  (really not that much different than no higher than rating 4 autosoft).

Strictly by RAW the sensor rating cap is for drones providing additional sensors for yourself. There are no special rules for drones that are members in a tacsoft network...

[Falconer]

Quote:
"Drone sensor systems also count; each drone can supply a number of sensor channels equal to its Sensor rating".

You can twist that any way you like.  But the text is written plain as a day... a drone has no natural senses to include... no cybernetic senses... so it only has sensor systems.   It is limited to it's sensor rating in channels it can provide at any given time to the tacnet by RAW (not to the player).

So no tacnet higher than 3 accordingly (sensor 6).


You may not like it, you may house rule it accordingly... but RAW is clear on this one.  This is why I say Umaro plays fast and loose with his premades.

And from a balance perspective it works quite neatly... just as a drones autosofts limit it to 4... the tacnet gets limited to 3 if you include them.    Given how cheap, and NUMEROUS drones are, this makes a lot of sense when you need at least 5-6 members to get the thing up and running.   The bigger problem with tacnets is they're incredibly broken in terms of raw dice benefit (+4 dice to practically everything you do all the time in a combat or run situation?).   That's the reason people feel they need to argue for the extra +1 die going from rating 3 to 4.

[UmaroVI]

No Falconer, that rule is for drone supplying channels to someone. Drones can either work as members of a tacnet, in which case they follow the normal rules, or they can supply sensor channels to someone in the tacnet, in which case they themselves don't benefit, but the person they supply channels to gets the drone's Sensor rating in additional channels. See the other thread about TacSofts.

Another way to back up that this is correct: the Wuxing Hussar comes with a rating 4 tacsoft. You are claiming it cannot use the software it comes with.

[Falconer]

No Umaro... you have a very bad habit... you make completely powergamed templates which exploit every loophole that might exist whether it does or not.  Then new players try and foist these things on new GM's who don't know any better.  That's why I say you play fast and loose.  It's one thing to make solid replacements and such... it's another thing to make controversial ones and then advertise them to new players as noncontroversial.


I also get a HUGE laugh out of you stating that they'd put something on a drone it cannot FULLY use.  This from the same quality control which had how many archetypes with useless equipment and skills in the past?!   And regularly screws up NPC blocks in modules all the time.

Or how about all the single-shot guns in the game with recoil comp built in?!

So a drone which can only use 3 out of it's 4 points of software rating isn't that far on the useless feature scale...


Also I disagree.. the drone CAN run the full rating 4 tacsoft... it just can't USE it at full rating for itself... it can also serve as a home node for a rifle squad, each squad member slaving their battle buddies to it and providing 8 *CHANNELS* each.   All those rifle squadmen would get the bonus while the drone wouldn't qaulify... or it could run at rating 3 and include itself.

The rules in the tacnet section are very clear... drones can provide channels equal to sensor to the software.  Not to itself, to the tacnet software.