Your drone gains an armor upgrade slot for an armor upgrade (see page 204). If you do not already have an armor upgrade to install, you must purchase one separately. You can install the armor upgrade only if your drone has enough open upgrade slots to meet the upgrade’s requirements. You can select this mod up to four times, each time adding an additional slot.
The pet carrier armor upgrade takes one upgrade slot and provides space for one Tiny, two Diminutive, or four Fine creatures to take refuge in your armor. You can open or close a pet carrier as a move action. A creature of appropriate size can enter or exit a pet carrier by using 5 feet of movement to do so. While inside the pet carrier, a creature benefits from total cover and your armor’s environmental protections, but it can’t take any physical actions other than to leave an open carrier.
Does this work in SFS? What are the advantages and disadvantages to it? Can the mechanic see out of the pet carrier armor slot? (It doesn't actually say they can't -- and hard surfaces that are see-through exist even now.)
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SFS has no special campaign rules about this. Expect massive table variation, based on what individual GMs think is the most correct ruling.
Possible disadvantages range up to inability to see and/or inability to affect anything, leaving only a drone which is generally worse at everything than a real character.
The most generous possible advantage I could come up with would be someone saying "since spellcasting isn't a physical action, you can still cast spells (like ftom technomantic dabbler) from total cover" and not considering the pet carrier a line of effect barrier. I wouldn't rely on it, though.
I have been mulling over taking this on Professor Quid the Science Squid, my hoverdrone stelly, for awhile now. Swap out the riding saddle and just control the drone with the custom rig from inside a fish bowl. The rules for cover say that they don't necessarily block precise senses, but that it is hard to attack.
My guess is that you don't have line of effect on anything, because you have total cover and therefore enemies have total cover from you as well, so in the off chance you're casting spells, you'll need to leave your aquarium first. If you don't care about casting or shooting someone with your adorable double cost diminutive stellifera pistol, that isn't really a problem.
The actual problem is that the drone is pretty fragile and part of my build involves taking bodyguard feats to protect it.
That said, if the drone dies, somebody can just put me in their pocket, as I'm mathematically just one bulk.
EDIT: The real question is if you have line of effect on the drone itself, to buff it with Overcharge, Make Whole or other effects. I would guess...yes? Because you're inside a component of the drone? Question mark?
"While inside the pet carrier, a creature benefits from total cover and your armor’s environmental protections, but it can’t take any physical actions other than to leave an open carrier"
Gonna have a hard time selling Overcharge as not a physical action, regardless of line of effect rulings.
Make Whole is a 10 minute cast, so you aren't going to use it in a situation where you can't get out of your box.
A transparent aluminum dome to let you see out would also let you shoot lasers in or shoot lasers out.
A transparent aluminum dome to let you see out would also let you shoot lasers in or shoot lasers out.
Can't shoot out if you can't take physical actions, I suppose.
If it doesn't allow vision, then I suppose one could do the same thing with a camera mod on the drone.
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One thing to keep in mind with a stellifera is that if you're hiding yourself inside a pet carrier, you're giving up the (not insignificant) benefits of water body, which is Medium-sized and thus won't fit in the carrier.
Also, does controlling the drone count as a physical action? If so, you won't be going anywhere unless your drone is advanced enough to get an action when undirected. And even then, the action economy will be abysmal.
My one and only experience with a stellifera and a pet carrier in play was not holding the stellifera, but its pets. The stellifera chose armor that obscured its form enough that it could pretend to be a shirren who only communicated telepathically, and it later acquired a couple "emotional support spiders" and a carrier to keep them in.