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Help with Rigger

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Helmgard

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« on: <01-29-18/0840:13> »
Looking around, it seems like there is a lot of adepts, so I was wondering about setting up a rigger instead as they on the other hand seem to be a bit thin on the ground, I've had a play around, read what I can find, although some of it is rather confusing!
I've got 19 points of Karma left. This is my first attempt at doing a rigger, so I'm not to sure how I've done, I'm sure there is plenty that isn't quite right, so any help would be appreciated!

Meta - D
Attributes - B
Magic - E
Skills - C
Cash - A

Here it is!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jeD1oWaibyf_8LFILNIMbUny-UmME-vZ

Stainless Steel Devil Rat

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« Reply #1 on: <01-29-18/1122:36> »
A couple of thoughts:

I like the priority array you selected.  Riggers need to have resources high on the list, so why not A?  I also like the idea of prioritizing attributes higher than skills.  It's cheaper to branch out and cover gaps in your skills than in your attributes after play begins.  That being said, with A for resources you do have the alternate option of covering gaps in your attributes via cyber/bio ware which is much cheaper to get in chargen than after play begins...

Skills:  You chose "C", which again I wouldn't criticize.  However you'll need to maximize bang for the skill point.  Hacking and Medicine are not doing much.  I'd schlep the points in Hacking over to Electronic Warfare (see SR5 page 268), and change Medicine to First Aid (which would be more useful) or even better trusting a medkit for your First Aid needs and using that point to buy a specialization for one of your pilot skills.  Piloting is what a Rigger does, and you want to wring the most dice possible for your main schtick.

Qualities: This is another place you can help make your schitck work better.  Qualities like Stunt Driver and Steely Eyed Wheelman are some things you should consider.

Augmentations: You have A for resources.. I'd share more of that wealth for your gear beyond vehicles/drones.  Especially some cyberware.  Anything that increases Reaction is pure gold for a Rigger.  VCRs don't provide any extra initiative dice in SR5, so I'd also look at something that gives you a slight boost; you won't need more than +1D6 because anything more than that will be a waste in (hot sim) VR... although arguably getting a +2 enhancement will allow you to use Cold Sim at max bonus dice and avoid the risks of Hot Sim.

Other Resources: I'd absolutely add a Tool Shop to your list of possessions, to allow you to do more repairs/modifications on your own than just a Kit would.  You've got resources A... you might even find a way to get a full blown Facility to give your technical skills room to grow into :)  Oh and a DocWagon contract is always good to have, too.

Contacts: You'll probably want someone(s) to help you acquire vehicles/drones and parts for same: Shady Used Car Dealer, or Chop Shop Mechanic, or so on.  Probably also an Armorer to acquire heavy guns to mount on your deathmobiles.  Or at least a fixer who will charge middleman fees but can potentially acquire anything...
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.

Helmgard

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« Reply #2 on: <01-29-18/1358:47> »
Some questions
What does VCR stand for? Not video cassette I imagine!
What would be the best way to increase the initiative dice?

Are the drones truck setup okay? Overkill? (As if that is such a thing?!) Or not powerful enough?
Dice pool high enough for gunnery? How else could I raise it?
Have I set up the rigger command console okay?

Stainless Steel Devil Rat

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« Reply #3 on: <01-29-18/1410:48> »
I'm showing my age... VCR=Vehicle Control Rig.  5th Edition just calls it Control Rig :D

For initiative dice, you have three approaches that I'd consider viable options.
1: leave it as is.  Cold sim gives you +3d6 and Hot sim gives you +4d6... if you're counting on being jumped into vehicles/drones anyway during crisis situations, VR is giving you a chunky init bonus for free.  You could save resources for other things.
2: spend some of your resources on augmentations to increase reaction, initiative, and/or initiative dice.  I'm a fan of Reaction Enhancers for Riggers.  Reaction helps initiative AND your piloting skills!  Added bonus, if you get wired reflexes too, the combination of the two specifically calls out being able to go beyond the augmented bonus cap of +4 to your Reaction!  I wouldn't go beyond Wired Reflexes 1, however.  Remember VR gives a lot of bonus dice, and your hard cap no matter what on initiative dice is 5.
3: Variant on 1: Leave as is, and count on edge when you REALLY need to get a high initiative score.  If you really only need 5 dice once per shadowrun (or maybe even once per several runs) it may be most efficient to just spend an edge point to "blitz" and get 5 dice automatically in those rare/intermittent situations.

Gunnery:
You've got a specialization and smartlink... you're pretty well optimized there.  Something you might do is find some augmentations for Agility, which you'll still use while Jumped In or controlling remotely.  Cyberware tends to be cheaper in nuyen, while Bioware tends to be cheaper in essence.

Truck and RCC:  Honestly it's a matter of taste.  My advice would be to not spend "too much" of your resources into just those two items.  Consider how screwed you'd be if they got lost/destroyed, and hedge your spending accordingly :)  A nice high rating Commlink is a perfectly good backup to your RCC for remotely running/jumping into your drones, and a fairly basic vehicle that won't turn heads is great to have (and you can afford to lose!)
« Last Edit: <01-29-18/1415:31> by Stainless Steel Devil Rat »
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.

Helmgard

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« Reply #4 on: <01-29-18/1650:08> »
ah, I thought I might of been showing mine, thinking it was a video tape!

What would be the best way to raise agility?
If I take the control rig 1 and rigger command console as a rating 5, is that okay? or should i get the control rig 2?

Here is how its looking at the minute

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jeD1oWaibyf_8LFILNIMbUny-UmME-vZ

Need to add backstory etc
« Last Edit: <01-29-18/1747:30> by Helmgard »

Helmgard

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« Reply #5 on: <01-30-18/0326:00> »
Oh and another question!
I'm sure I read somewhere that on a drone with two weapons, as long as you tell it something along the lines "of waste that scumbag" you can roll the pilot + autosoft for both guns? or do you need to split the dice pool for each? I can't find where I thought I read it.. That would mean I need to make some changes to my drones!

Btw, thank you for your answer so far Stainless Steel Devil Rat, they've been really helpful.

Marcus

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« Reply #6 on: <01-30-18/0605:31> »
You can fire both at once, but to do so you would split the pool in half and roll for each. 5th has a rule that says you can't make more then one attack action per turn which can get a little confusing. What it really means is if your used to the simple shot, simple shot, you could do previous editions you can't do that. But you can shoot twice so long as it is done as the same action and thus a divided pool.

You do need a fixer for sure, and I agree having wired ref and a rig is a little hinky, Ref Enhancers are cheap and easy though.
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Stainless Steel Devil Rat

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« Reply #7 on: <01-30-18/1113:05> »
Oh and another question!
I'm sure I read somewhere that on a drone with two weapons, as long as you tell it something along the lines "of waste that scumbag" you can roll the pilot + autosoft for both guns? or do you need to split the dice pool for each? I can't find where I thought I read it.. That would mean I need to make some changes to my drones!

Also see Rigger 5.0 page 31... you can have multiple drones act as a swarm and perform a single attack against the same target!  "Ok everyone... waste that scumbag!"

Quote
Btw, thank you for your answer so far Stainless Steel Devil Rat, they've been really helpful.

you're very welcome!  I like your character!
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.

Helmgard

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« Reply #8 on: <02-02-18/1024:21> »
Okay, I think I'm done playing around now. What do you guys think?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1so2IXioYhcWjplsDIVOBaWoTUoFUFPqy