Modern Drone/UAV Operation Skill

[CousinX]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Just what the title says. What set of skills or skills would be used for piloting a Modern Drone/UAV. Would it be different for the small (like the Wasp)? The very large (like a Global Hawk or Sentinel)? What about building them? A subset of Engineer (Electronics) should work I think. Repair skills?

Any information or help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Ghostdancer

I've been halfheartedly working on an article about drones and drone-riggers, building off of the same foundation as One With The Ship. It's been on back-burner forever, since I haven't played a game where it's come up in a while, so I'm actually kinda hoping someone beats me to the punch.

Anyway, I concur with those who say to use Piloting of the appropriate kind if you're in direct control (Ultralight for most small drones, maybe High-Performance Aircraft for something larger like the Predator) or Electronics Op (I'd probably go with with Surveillance in most cases) if it has on-board flight control. This could be simplified in more cinematic campaigns with a new specialization, Piloting (Drones).

Other systems are controlled essentially as if flying in a cockpit ... Artillery or Gunner for weapons, Electronics Op (Sensors at least, plus any other systems it has).

Repair skills by type: Electronics Repair for sensors, comm (control) systems, etc; Mechanic for the same specialization as Pilot; Armoury for weapon systems, etc.

Design skill could be its own specialization of Engineering (Drones), or more realistically, a combination of Computers, Electronics, Robotics, and the appropriate kind of drive.

Anyway, hope that helps. Drop me a line if you'd like to discuss other ideas ... I'd much rather see a good article soon, than wait for me to come back around to it.