[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by ClockworkOwl

(I have a localized version of 4e basic set. While I have consulted with Google and (surprisingly information-deprived)wiki, advantage or any other term may be misused. Please notify me if I made an error)
(Title says 2e because I had some confusion. It is 4e.)

<Setup>
I made a remote controlled spotter drone as an NPC Ally. The player character is also a machine so I added Telecommunication(Radio, +Video) on both sheet, and Controls(Compartmentalized Mind, vehicle version, 25CP/Lv) on drone side. Drones' IQ is 0 and can fly(maximum height 10m).

<Questions>
1. The PC initially needs to do IQ check to connect with the drone (via Telecommunication) and can control it afterwards (unless something disrupts the signal). While the connection is maintained, the PC receives real-time video feed from the drone (+Video on Telecommunication). The drone can stay hovering, or move somewhere at constant speed, but can change behavior only when the PC controls it with their action. Am I understanding this correctly?

Yes. Breaking it down a bit, initial contact and receiving the video feed are effects of Telecommunications. The drone’s inability to change its current motion without the PC’s direction, is an effect of Compartmentalized Mind (controls) coupled with Basic Vehicle Combat. If the drone wasn’t a vehicle, the effect of Compartmentalized Mind (Controls) would be that it could only move on those turns when the PC made no physical maneuver of his own. I.E., absent an advantage like Extra Attack, the PC could move or the drone could move, but not both. Since the drone is a vehicle, continuing its previous motion without PC direction is fine.

2. The drone might do actions that corresponds to some skills such as Aerobatics. Can the drone (with IQ 0) have skills, and how would it be resolved?

No, this is a direct effect of Compartmentalized Mind (Controls). The drone has no skills of its own. Any use of Aerobatics would be initiated by the PC and use the PC’s Aerobatics skill (at default, if necessary).

3. Is Digital Mind allowed to IQ 0 character (, though it sounds more like a disadvantage in this case)?

Digital Mind would be more appropriate for the PC rather than the drone. Note that Digital Mind requires a computer of at least half the Complexity of the Digital Mind’s IQ. Half of IQ 0 would be Complexity 0, but there are no Complexity 0 computers in GURPS. This implies that Digital Mind wouldn’t require a computer at all for the drone, which flatly contradicts Digital Mind’s own description of itself. Plainly, it would be inappropriate for the IQ 0 drone to take Digital Mind, though it’s not explicitly forbidden.

4. The drone has Scanning Sense (Radar, +targeting). Can the PC use the drone to target something and get bonus to their own ranged attack?

This quickly veers into “house rule” territory. You aren’t supposed to be able to Aim using Scanning Sense (Radar), at all. OTOH, the Targeting enhancement doesn’t prohibit its use on Radar and it does indeed give a bonus. And on the gripping hand, the determination of exact range and speed is from the drone’s point of view, not the PC’s. I would resolve it as: the bonus is reduced to no more than +2, absent the PC has some means of knowing exactly where the drone is relative to him (inertial guidance or GPS would probably do to get the full +3), but absent Scanning Sense (Imaging Radar, targeting) or Scanning Sense (Multi-Mode, targeting), the PC must abide by the general limitations of Radar, i.e. he cannot Aim at anything smaller than a human, the target must be dense (at least as dense as human bone, say), and because radar is a binary "target there/target not there" sense, the PC cannot make called shots but must use the Random Hit Table. In other words, the PC would get +2, maybe +3, to hit an airplane, but couldn’t try specifically to hit a wing, the tail or any other subordinate part of the aircraft.

5. If someone tries to hijack the drone, how would it be resolved, 1) while the PC is connected to the drone and controlling it, and 2) while the PC is not connected to the drone?

1) In general, as a quick contest of vehicle operation skills, in this case, probably Piloting/TL skill. If you want something more dramatic, use a Regular Contest of vehicle operation skill. Note that if the hijacker gets the drone out of Telecommunications range (base 10 miles), the PC can’t continue the Contest, until he’s back in range, and the hijacker might shift the radio frequencies to make it harder for the PC to communicate with the drone.

2) In this case, the PC won’t even be aware the drone is being hijacked, absent an automatic alarm system, until he checks in. If the hijacker gets out of Telecommunication range before the PC checks in, the PC won’t know where the drone is, or what happened to it. He may guess that it has been stolen but he doesn’t know if it’s parked on somebody’s workbench, at the bottom of a lake weighed down by stones, or broken into a thousand little pieces.

Thanks