Cyberarms in Melee, How much damage do they do? Options

[DrZaius]

My search-fu is wanting, and I cannot find it anywhere in the book or FAQ. Do people rule that using a cyberarm in melee is just like any other unarmed attack (Str/2 S)? While this seems to be how to interpret the RAW, from a personal perspective I would expect a metal fist to do slightly more damage than your normal meaty one. I looked at bone lacing, but that really isn't the same thing. What are your guys opinions on this subject? If I were to house rule it, I'd probably say Str/2+2 P, but I want to know what other people have thought/are thinking.

Also, great boards, just joined.

[DireRadiant]

Cyberarms do the base damage, unless you rip it off and use it as a club, then it will do club damage.

Note that cyber limbs are intended to duplicate the original arms. You can buy up strength on a cyberlimb, and that strength can apply for unarmed attacks made by that limb.

[sunnyside]

No rules, but I would probably give a "titanium knuckle" option.

Cyberarms are generally bad, so it almost never comes up. And when someone does get a cyberarm they generally hide something in it and try to make it look as much like a real arm as possible, so they may not expect extra damage.

[DrZaius]

We've never really had cyberarms in any of our games, so it hasn't come up before. Right now though I'm trying to start a campaign set in the Barrens, and one of my players inquired about having an arm, "That could punch through a truck." In that sort of situation, there are less social modifiers for having obvious cyberware (In fact, you're probably more intimidating, which is always good in a bad part of town). I understand that they're meant as a replacement for a lost limb; again it just seems to me that a metal fist would by it's very nature do more damage than a normal person's. I also realize that's factored in when you have strength augmentation added to a cyberarm, effectively making it hit harder, I guess my main question was whether or not people had already discussed this and reached a consensus, or if this is something people haven't talked about, since no one uses them anyways :P

[Eryk the Red]

Basically, you can't have a cyberarm that can punch through a truck right now, any more than you can have a meaty arm that can punch through a truck. The general reasoning is that you would have to have a crazy high Strength on that arm, and the body wouldn't be able to handle something operating at that power hanging off of it.

There might be something more suitable in Augmentation (they say it'll have a bunch of extra stuff for cyberlimbs), but right now, you won't be demolishing city blocks with your arm.

[Wakshaani]

Since it isn't otherwise statded, the default of (Str/2)S would apply. You could make it P without too much effort, or (Str/2 + 1)S either way without really breaking things.

[sunnyside]

Actually the problem is that you can punch though a truck less with a cyberarm. Titanium bone lacing on a troll with strength enchancing cyberware is the best you can do. A cyberarm will do something like 1/3 the damage.

[Critias]

Which just shows that it's yet another edition where a staple of the cyberpunk genre -- metal replacing meat, not just vat-grown meat replacing meat -- is fucked up. I'll be generous and say that cyberlimbs don't suck as hard as they used to, at least, but SR4 certainly hasn't shifted the balance of power any in the "metal vs meat" brawl. Meat still wins.