DRONES (adapted from a chat): Drones might fly faster than a human can run, so they might cross up to 3 Zones instead of 1 Zone like humans. Turbulent winds, however, will make the size of any air Zone smaller, which means movement is limited or you have to make rolls to cover the ground you want. Drones are highly maneuverable and that can be represented by the drone-Athletics stat. Or they can be heavily shielded against damage by having a high drone-Physique stat, but all that extra weight will reduce their drone-Athletics. They may have drone-Stealth, a way to cloak their noise and presence (drone-Deceive?), and of course drone-Shoot if there is a light weapon attached to them. They get Stress boxes and Consequence boxes like a character. Drone-Physique and drone-Will will affect the number of boxes. Yes, drone-Physical and drone-Mental Stress Boxes are separate (a high drone-Will might mean hardened electronic circuits or redundant processors so that despite damage or electric shocks it really is going to do what you want it to do, and that will raise the amount of Mental Stress boxes!) If they get more than superficial damage, then the Consequence is that a major sub-system isn't working (camera out, drone can't hover any more but keeps veering forward, etc.). What each Drone packs is a Stunt: Telescopic camera (+2 on Notice compared to a human looking down from that distance), Smoke Bombs, whatever. If the Drone has a permanent feature that even damage can't remove, that's an Aspect, a very good gift but you may have to spend a Fate Point to get it started. For an extreme feature, you may have to spend a Fate Point for each use! A character can write software and have a Virtual Reality display and sensor-feedback gizmos to "become" a drone, but any damage it gets will affect the character too, mentally if not physically. You are experiencing things as if you are really there. Since a character is operating it by remote-control, radio can be sometimes jammed and break his link. People who drive cars or trucks this way are hard-wired into their vehicle. The character can research and build new innovations in drones, but that is handled as a Challenge, a set of rolls representing researching a design (Lore) and then building what he designs (Crafts). You make a bunch of Overcome rolls against set numbers of Passive Opposition depending on the difficulty of the design, and it matters by how much you beat this Passive Opposition. For example, a gun-mount on a drone might have to beat 2 with a Lore roll and 3 with a Crafts roll. Resources rolls might be needed to see if you can afford the items needed. All the rolls are made before the GM decides the overall outcome of the research. For example, if you Tie in Crafts, you haven't succeeded OR you can succeed at a mild cost (maybe the design is a little wobbly in flight or has some minor problem you hope won't affect things.) If you get below a Tie, you can still Succeed at a Great Cost (it has serious problems, but you're pressed for time...) Problems become bad aspects the GM can invoke for dramatic effect. If you get 3 shifts (a difference of 3 greater than the difficulty) you Succeed with Style (which means you succeed and you get a +2 Boost to another roll in the development, if you can justify it.) The character could settle on a modular design: first build the flying shell, and then decide what to put in it. This is similar to when the Thunderbird 2 from THUNDERBIRDS prepares to take off by lowering itself onto one of six possible modular cargo-units that form its belly when it flies. In designing a drone there is probably a trade-off of weight and weapon vs. agility. So let's try the rule that a Drone's stats must obey Athletics + Physique + Shoot = 5. If you want a protected drone, it may not be very nimble and may not shoot well. On the other hand if you want a flying gun and neglect other aspects it may be delicate, prone to damage, and still not very nimble. For every special gadget added to the basic flying frame other than the weapon, take 1 off the equation. A single gadget might do many things if each thing is light enough, though, like when a multitool contains 6 kinds of screwdrivers and knives and stuff. A pair of manipulator arms counts as one gadget. Mosquito Drone: Athletics: 3 Physique: 0 Shoot: 1 Stealth: 2 Mass: 10 kg Physical Stress: 1 2 Consequences: Mild (2), Moderate (4) (no Severe) The Mosquito Drone is an agile flier that can move 3 Zones per Exchange. Light and maneuverable, it packs the equivalent of one front-mounted pistol and visibly recoils on each shot. It also has camera and mic arrays that send their inputs to a character's Neural Link. The character must use Drive skill for anything greater than routine flying and maneuvering, for example, if there is a High Wind aspect that day. Heavy Drone: Athletics: 1 Physique: 3 Shoot: 1 Stealth: 0 Mass: 25 kg Physical Stress: 1 2 3 4 Consequences: Mild (2), Moderate (4), Severe (6). The Heavy Drone is built to withstand heavy damage, but is not as maneuverable. It can move 1 Zone per exchange. It also packs the equivalent of one front-mounted pistol but there is almost no recoil on each shot. In addition, it can carry a "payload" of 10 kg more, which could be explosives to drop, equipment, or a special module with a specified function. It has camera and mic arrays that send their inputs to a character's Neural Link. The character must use Drive skill for anything greater than routine flying and maneuvering. This drone will be less affected by wind, but the character may need to use Drive if the motor or control surfaces have taken damage and try to land it safely. You can design special payloads or even entire new kinds of Drones by going through a Challenge (a set of multiple skill-rolls like Lore and Crafts).
