Mercenary Rigger“I don’t go in for ‘patriotism’ or ‘honor’ or ‘dedication’ or any of that nonsense. All that fighting for acause gets you is a nice patriotic tombstone ­ and these days, you only get that if you’re lucky.Look at the bulldrek that people go to war for today. You couldn’t sign up to fight for liberty andjustice even if you wanted to, just pursuit of somebody else’s happiness.

“Me, I believe in fighting for my next paycheck. I don’t like risking my neck any more than I have to­ that’s why I have drones. And when I do have to put myself in the line of fire, it had slotting wellbetter be for a fat credstick, not for some corporation’s profit thinly disguised as nationalism.”

Description: The Mercenary Rigger has a wide variety of technical and combat skills, rangingfrom personal or remote­control combat to hacking to repairing and modifying drones andvehicles. The Mercenary Rigger isn’t as tough as a dedicated street samurai and isn’t quite asgood at hacking as a dedicated hacker, but has enough flexibility to make up for it.

Tactics: You have a lot of tactical options, depending on what the situation calls for. When youdo not have drones or vehicles available, you can shoot things effectively with your RugerThunderbolt (or if you don’t have your weapons, the holdout pistol concealed in your cyberarm).You also have a taser, which while less powerful than your Ruger is entirely legal. You also havea Shock Glove for emergencies, but it’s much less effective than your guns.

You have Ex­explosive ammo for killing people and Stick­n­Shock ammo for taking them alive;normally, you should probably have Ex­explosive ammo in both your Ruger and your cyberholdout pistol, since you can tase anyone you don’t want to kill.

As a hacker, you rely on speed and stealth. Try to break through the firewall quickly with yourExploit program, and then grab what you need and run ­ any alarms will be delayed for a bit byMute. You should generally hack from AR to avoid risking your neck, since you have 3 initiativepasses either way, but you can hack from Hotsim if you really want the bonus. If you can sneakin undetected, try Disarming the Analyze program of the node you’re on so they can’t find you asyou poke around. You don’t want to engage in cybercombat, but so long as you are in ARcybercombat cannot do any meaningful harm to you; either don’t set off the alarm, or get whatyou want before anyone shows up to stop you.

You have several vehicles and drones for different purposes. When rigging, you can eitherremote control from AR, or Hot Sim and remote control from VR for a small extra bonus. Youshould not normally jump in except as a last resort to stop someone from hacking one of yourdrones. You can also use Control Device on other things, such as Medkits, to use them moreeffectively than you otherwise could. Your Ford LEBD­1 can provide autonomous fire support ifyou need to be doing something else.

The Thundercloud Morgan is a flexible vehicle. It is completely legal, despite the weapon mount;

you can easily mount and dismount weapons from it (but note that it has to be fired manually).By default it has no weapon mounted, because you may not want to draw attention to it.

The Ford LEBD­1 is Restricted (as is the assault rifle mounted on it), but you do have a fakelicense. It can be used for aerial recon and also for remote combat support.

The Repeater Drone can be used to sneak into places and extend the range of wireless signals;you can, for example, have it sneak up to an isolated low­signal node you want to hack.

The Flying Eye Drone is for extra­stealthy recon; it is extremely hard to spot between its smallsize and chameleon coating.

If you want to spend Edge on a test and are rolling 13 or more dice, you’re better off spending theedge after rolling to reroll failures.

Hooks: What are some of your favorite things to brag about?Have you always been a mercenary, or did you once belong to some organization?How did you lose your arm? Did you have the cyberarm installed for efficiency, or did you need itas a replacement after an accident or injury?

Reference:Starting Notoriety: 3Tests: Composure 5, Judge Intentions 7, Memory 7Damage Track: Physical 12, Stun 10Armor: Ballistic 15, Impact 13Initiative: 14/3 IP, Matrix Initiative 14 (15 in hotsim)Common Dice Pools:Perception: Visual 9, Hearing 9, Other 6Hacking: 6+Program Rating*Electronic Warfare: 3+Program Rating*Computer: 6+Program Rating*Hardware: 10Browse: 12*First Aid: 16Armorer: 7Mechanic (Aeronautics, Industrial, Automotive, Nautical): 7Infiltration: 6, 13 with Remote Control**Hot Sim bonus of +2 not included

Common Attacks:Melee Weapon Reach Damage AP DiceShock Glove 0 5S(e) ­half 9

Ranged Weapon Dmg AP Mode Recoil Dice Ammo ConcealabilityRuger Thunderbolt 6P ­2 BF 5 15 12(c) ­6(Ex­Explosive)

Special: Narrow Bursts OnlyYamaha Pulsar 6S(e) ­half SA 0 13 4(m) ­2Cyber Holdout Pistol 5P ­1 SS 0 10 2(m) ­(Ex­Explosive)

Drone Mounted Weapon Dmg AP Mode Dice Ammo(Remote Control)AK­97 on LEBD­1 7P ­2 SA/BF/FA* 17** 38(c)(Ex­explosive)*Remember that all firing modes are Complex Actions with Remote Control.**Hot Sim bonus of +2 not included.

VehiclesName Speed Acc. Pilot Body Armor Sens. Resp. Hand. PassengersThundercloud 120 15/30 1 8 4 1 3 0 4Morgan

Special: External Fixed Manual Weapon Mount, ­1 handling on roads, +1 handling off roads

Ford LEBD­1 80 5/20 1 3 9 6 4 0 ­Special: External Fixed Remote Control Weapon Mount. Flies. Chameleon Coating. Mechanical Arm. 2 Handcuffs. VTOL.

Flying Eye 10 2/10 3 0 0 6 3 +1 ­Special: VTOL, Chameleon Coating.

Repeater 15 3/15 3 1 0 4 3 +1 ­Drone

Special: Chameleon Coating, Laser Transceiver 3, Directional Antenna 4, extends signal rating of linked devices by 4

BP Ability ValueCost20 Metatype: Ork

Low­light VisionQualities10 Codeslinger (Control Device)

+2 to Control Device checks+5 Mild Addiction (Betel)+15 Codeblock (Repair Icon, Matrix Attack, Crash Program)

­2 to Repair Icon, Matrix Attack, and Crash Program checks+5 Incompetent (Longarms)+5 Incompetent (Cybercombat)+5 Poor Self Control (Braggart)

Must make a Composure (2) to back down from a story or boast.

Characteristics0 Body 4(5)*10 Agility 2[9]40 Reaction 5(9)0 Strength 310 Charisma 240 Intuition 530 Logic 420 Willpower 340 Edge 50 Essence .6*Right arm has Body 9, Agility 9, Strength 3. For most purposes, such as amount of wearablearmor and damage resistance tests, counts as Body 5.Skills40 Electronics 4

SoftwareHardwareData SearchComputer

24 Gunnery 616 Infiltration 416 First Aid 416 Pistols 416 Hacking 410 Mechanic 1

Aeronautics MechanicAutomotive MechanicIndustrial MechanicNautical Mechanic

4 Electronic Warfare 14 Armorer 14 Perception 14 Pilot Ground Craft 14 Pilot Aircraft 1Knowledge Skills

5 Matrix Security 55 Physical Security 53 Military Gear 33 Police Procedures 33 Chop Shops 36 3 hobbies or languages at Rating 2; examples: Augmentations, Celebrity Gossip,

Chemistry, Firearms, Gang Identification, Gang Turf, Music, Ork Underground, Radical Politics,Street Drugs, Underworld Politics, Urban Brawl, any real­world language

LanguagesN English2 Or’zet 2

7 Contact: Maccallister, Male Ork Fixer (C5/L2)Specialties: Hacking, Shadowrun History, Bug SpiritsMacCallister is a former shadowrunner, an older ork and a “decker not a hacker, fraggit”

in his own words. He ran the shadows for over a decade before retiring, and recently returned toSeattle to start a new career as a fixer, still carries his beat up ancient cyberdeck (With amodern bleeding edge commlink mounted inside the case), and he peppers his speech with outof date slang like “drek”, “frag”, and “hoop”. He’s confident and good natured.

He starting operating as a fixer in the early part of 2072, and got involved with the copycatMayan Cutter that showed up during the summer of ’72 when his daughter, RebeccaMacCallister, was one of the copycat’s victims. He has a ton of contacts in the shadowcommunity and uses them to great effect. He’s been acting as the front man for the Metahumanrights groups for a couple months now, working toward legitimatizing the Ork Underground.

50 GearDrugs (20):

Betel x20 (20)Armor (13320):

Form Fitting Body Armor (1600) (6/2, counts 3/1 for encumbrance)Chemical Protection 6 (1500)

Helmet (100) (1/2)SecureTech PPP System Shin Guards (150) (0/1)SecureTech PPP System Forearm Guards (200) (0/1)SecureTech PPP System Arm and Leg Casings, Only Leg Casings Worn (350) (0/1)Lined Coat (700) (6/4)

Nonconductivity 6 (1200)­2 to items concealed underneath coat (factored in)

Clothing [Poncho] (20) (0/0)Ruthenium Coating (7500)

Weapons (6265):Ruger Thunderbolt (750) with Internal Smartgun System Option (400), Personalized Grip

(100), Chameleon Coating (1000), Underbarrel Weight (25), Powered Folding Stock (100)Yamaha Pulsar (150)Taser Darts x10 (50)Heavy Pistol Ex­explosive rounds x205 (2050)Heavy Pistol Stick­n­Shock Rounds x100 (800)Shock Glove (200) with Personalized Grip (100)

Commlinks (65100)MetaLink with Vector Xim (300)

Runs in Public Mode broadcasting fake SIN, not used for shadowrunningNovaTech Airware with Custom OS (Firewall 6, System 5) (6750)

Response 5 Upgrade (4000)Response Enhancer 3 (6000)Customized Interface (250)Optimization (Command) (500)Analyze 6 (600) with Optimization 1 (100), Ergonomic (300)Browse 6 (600) with Optimization 1 (100)Command 6 (600) with Optimization 1 (100)Edit 5 (500)Scan 5 (500)Eurosoft Clavicula [Encrypt 5, Decrypt 5] (4700)Disarm 5 (5000)Exploit 5 (5000) with Mute (300)Biofeedback Filter 5 (5000), Ergonomic (300)ECCM 5 (5000), Ergonomic (300)Sniffer 5 (5000)Spoof 5 (5000)Stealth 5 (5000), Ergonomic (300)Track 3 (1500)Defuse 3 (1500)

Fake Documents (4200):Rating 3 Fake SIN (3000)Rating 3 Fake License (Augmentation) (300)Rating 3 Fake License (Drone) (300)Rating 3 Fake License (Programs) (300)Rating 3 Fake License (Firearms) (300)

Note: Ex­Ex rounds are illegal.

Sensory Gear (4345)Note: for the purposes of Tacnets, you have Normal Vision (simrig), Normal Hearing

(simrig), Normal Olfactory (simrig), Natural Low­light Vision (simrig), SpatialRecognizer (earbuds), Laser Rangefinder (microsensor), Motion Sensor (microsensor),Radio Signal Scanner (microsensor), Ultrasound (glasses) for 9 senses.Earbuds rating 2 with skinlink (70)

Audio Enhancement 3 (300)Spatial Recognizer (100)

Simrig (1000)Modified for BTL/Hot Sim (250)

Microsensor with Laser Rangefinder, skinlinked (150)Microsensor with Motion Sensor, skinlinked (100)Microsensor with Radio Signal Scanner 6, skinlinked (200)Glasses Rating 4 with Skinlink (150)

Vision Enhancement 3 (300)Ultrasound (1000)Image Link (25)

Contact Lenses Rating 2 with Skinlink (150)Flare Compensation (50)Smartlink (500)

Equipment (1850):Rating 6 Medkit (600)Miniwelder (250)Gecko Tape Gloves (250)Optical Tap (100)Tag Eraser (150)Satellite Link (500)

Lifestyle (2000):1 month low lifestyle (2000)

Vehicles (27670)Thundercloud Morgan (7500)

Amenities (Squatter) (100)Ford LEBD­1 (4500)

For the purposes of Tacnets, the Ford LEBD­1 has 8 senses: Vision [Camera], Low­Light Vision [Camera],

Thermographic Vision [Camera], Smartlink [Camera and Gun], Hearing [Microphone], Spatial Recognizer [Microphone], LaserRangefinder, Motion Sensor

Armor 9 (1800)AK­97 (500) with External Smartgun System (400)

Stick­n­Shock Assault Rifle Rounds x40 (320)Ex­Explosive Assault Rifle Rounds x70 (700)

Camera 6 (600)Vision Enhancement 3 (300)Low­light 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)

Flying Eye (800)Chameleon Coating [2] (2000)Camera 6 (600)

Vision Enhancement 3 (300)Repeater Drone (3000)

Chameleon Coating [2] (1000)Nonlinear Junction Detector 6 (600)Camera 1 (100)

Vision Enhancement 3 (300)

(5.35) Cyberware (110230):(1) Obvious Right Cyberarm, Customized: +4 Body, +3 Agility (25500)

[4] Armor Enhancement 2 (600)[3] Agility Enhancement 3 (750)[2] Cyber Holdout Pistol (800)

Holdout Stick­n­Shock Rounds x10 (80)Holdout Ex­explosive Rounds x10 (100)

[2] Body Enhancement 2 (400)(3) Wired Reflexes 2 (32000)(.6) Reaction Enhancer 2 (20000)(.75) Encephalon 1 (30000)

(.1) Bioware (15000):(.1) PuSHeD (15000)

Suggested Purchases:Remember that appropriate contacts can purchase one piece of gear for you between each pairof missions, marked up by 10% if the Availability is at most 4 times their Connection rating, plus5% extra markup per additional point of Availability. You might also ask (or pay) another PC witha high Negotiation skill to help you.High Priority:[Availability 15, 900Y] Upgrade Armor Enhancement in arm to 3.

You can sell the old parts for 180Y.

[Availability 21, 12300Y] Purchase Tactical Software 4, ErgonomicNote: you yourself can use this tacnet, as can your LEBD­1. All other Archetypes characters (aside from the

Technomancer) can use this tacnet. You need 5 other people in this tacnet for it to work.Nuyen Only:[Availability 24F, 17000Y] Purchase Singularity Battle Buddy[1500Y] NovaTech Navi[2500Y] Firewall 5 Upgrade[3000Y] System 6 Upgrade[5000Y] Software Shop[Availability 6, 250Y] Customized Interface

Requires Threshold 8 and a Kit; if you have a Shop, you can do this yourself in 4 days with AR plans. You can alsohave an NPC do this in 8 hours over 1 day for 800Y. If you have acquired a contact with Software, you get a discount ofLoyalty*10% on this.[Availability 6, 500Y] Optimization (Command)

Requires Threshold 12 and a Shop; if you have a Shop, you can do this yourself in 6 days with AR plans. You can alsohave an NPC do this in 12 hours over 2 days for 1200Y. If you have acquired a contact with Software, you get a discount ofLoyalty*10% on this.[5000Y] Hardware Shop[Availability 14, 15000Y] Simsense Accelerator

Note: Requires Threshold 12 and a Shop; if you have a Shop, you can do this yourself in 6 days with AR plans. You

can also have an NPC do this in 12 hours over 2 days for 1200Y. If you have acquired a contact with Hardware, you get adiscount of Loyalty*10% on this.

Note: You can and should move your programs over, but you cannot copy them (ie, they cannot be on both commlinksat once).[Availaiblity 24, 12000Y] Purchase Response Enhancer 6[Availability 33F, 10300Y] Purchase Command 10 with Optimization 3[Availability 13R, 6300Y] Purchase Stealth 6, Ergonomic[Availability 15R, 8550Y] Purchase Exploit 6, Mute, Ergonomic[Availability 8, 65000Y] Purchase Simsense Booster

Takes up .5 Cyberware Essence.

[Availability 15, 30000Y] Purchase Rating 3 Nanohive for Arm[Availability 10, 15000Y] Purchase Neocortical 3 Nanites[Availability 20F, 85000Y] Replace Wired Reflexes 2 and Reaction Enhancer 2 with

Move­by­Wire 2Frees up .6 Cyberware Essence. You can resell the old Cyberware for 15600Y.

[Availability 8, 14400Y] Purchase Knight Errant Self Defense Skillsoft Cluster[Availability 6, 14400Y] Purchase DocWagon Paramedic Skillsoft Cluster[Availability 8, 3000Y] Skillwire Expert System

Takes up .1 Cyberware Essence.[Availability 32F, 7500Y] Purchase Wuxing Hussar drone[5000Y] Automotive Mechanic Shop[Availability 4, 2000Y] Mod Hussar for Walker Mode

Requires Threshold 10 and Shop; if you have a Shop, you can do this yourself in 5 days with AR plans. You can alsohave an NPC do this in 30 hours over 4 days for 3000Y. If you have acquired a contact with Automotive Mechanic, you get adiscount of Loyalty*10% on this. [Availability 8, 1500Y] Mod Hussar for Rigger Cocoon

Requires Threshold 6 and Kit; if you have a Kit, you can do this yourself in 3 days with AR plans. You can also have anNPC do this in 18 hours over 3 days for 1800Y. If you have acquired a contact with Automotive Mechanic, you get a discount ofLoyalty*10% on this. [Availability 4, 500Y] Purchase Satellite Link for Hussar[Availability 28R, 2700Y] Purchase Camera 6 with Low­light Vision, Thermographic,

Ultrasound, Smartlink, Vision Enhancement 3, VisionMagnification

[Availability 8, 100Y] Purchase Laser Rangefinder[Availability 8, 700Y] Purchase Microphone 6 with Audio Enhancement 3, Spatial

Recognizer[Availability 20F, 20000Y] Purchase GE Vanquisher Heavy Autocannon[Availability 4R, 400Y] Purchase External Smartgun System[Availability 12F, 4000Y] 400 Heavy Autocannon Ex­explosive rounds[Availability 5R, 1600Y] 200 Heavy Autocannon Stick­n­Shock Rounds[Availability 16F, 1400Y] 200 Heavy Autocannon APDS Rounds

This goes on the Hussar, but you can mount any weapon on the Hussar until you can afford it.

[Availability 12, 22500Y] Purchase Rating 9 Universal Nantidotes Nanites[Availability 8, 22500Y] Purchase Rating 9 O­Cells Nanites[Availability 16, 8000Y] Purchase Response 6 Upgrade for Ford LEBD­1

[Availability 18, 15000Y] Purchase Pilot 6 Upgrade for Ford LEBD­1[Availability 12, 4000Y] Purchase Defense 4 Autosoft for Ford LEBD­1[Availability 12, 4000Y] Purchase Manuever 4 Autosoft for Ford LEBD­1[Availability 18R, 8000Y] Purchase Auto­Assault 16 for Ford LEBD­1[Availability 4R, 400Y] Purchase External Smartgun System for Auto­Assault 16[Availability 18F, 1600Y] 100 Shotgun Armor Piercing Flechette Rounds[Availability 5R, 400Y] 50 Shotgun Stick­n­Shock Rounds[Availability 16F, 700Y] 100 Shotgun APDS Rounds[Availability 12, 4000Y] Purchase Targeting (Longarms) 4 Autosoft for Ford

LEBD­1[3000Y] Purchase Firewall 6 (3000) for Ford LEBD­1[Availability 12, 600Y] Purchase Analyze 6 for Ford LEBD­1Nuyen Only:[2 karma] Specialize Hacking in Exploit[2 karma] Specialize Perception in Visual[2 karma] Specialize Gunnery in Ballistic[10/22 total karma] Increase Pistols to 5/6[10/22 total karma] Increase Hacking to 5/6[10/22 total karma] Increase Infiltration to 5/6[10/22 total karma] Increase First Aid to 5/6

Change Log: Cyberguns are in fact Exotic Range Weapons, rather than the normal firearms skillfor their type (ie, a Cyber Holdout Pistol is not a Pistol). Corrected the Mercenary Rigger’sdicepool, but did not replace the pistol since it’s still useful.

2/10/2012: It was pointed out to me that the restriction on needing to buy and upgrade Firewalland System by the same rules as hardware modules was removed in an unlisted erratabetween SR4A editions. Upgraded commlink to Firewall 6 and saved some money, spent itbuying bullets.

6/8/2012: Fixed Radio Signal Scanner price and Mute program option price.

7/6/2012: Ultrasound takes 2 capacity, not 1, per the SR4A changes document. Added 1 rating toglasses, fiddled with ammo to compensate.