That's always been a bad and dumb rule that keeps creeping on back. Since last century I always ruled that when a character bought a cyberlimb it was automatically matched to his stats, and that increases from there cost money and essence.

I was sad to see it repeated in 4th.

well given the statement that main book limbs are just medical limbs, and that the augmentation limbs will be premium ones, im guessing that the ones in augmentation will be like the proverbial sportscar of cyberlimbs

as in, you can finally build that troll with insane cyberlimb strength, and still have room for other tricks.

and with specific rules for full on borg, things become even more interesting. in many ways i feel that augmentation will be the most interesting of the books.

Yeah, the capacity system for cyberlimbs is pretty inane. In 2050 there were cyberarms that could lift a car (though this in no way allowed your shoulder to support a metal arm that was holding a car, so you had to brace your shoulder directly against the ground or your arm would be torn out of its socke). Even today it is the freedom of motion of the human arm that is hard to replicate with any strength - a hydraulic press is more than capable of any feat of strength is one direction you care to speak of.

There's no reason for cyberlimbs in 2070 to be limited to human strength. It's actually kind of insulting that they be limited in that manner. Similarly, there's no reason for there to be a specific limit to the number of electronic devices you can put into a cybernetic leg. Seriously, there's a capacity limit of 12 in a pair of eye replacements. A leg is many orders of magnitude larger and could physically contain more chip compartments, ultrasonic sensors, and designation lasers than there are entries for such items in the book.

Yeah, the very idea that I would be somehow incapable of putting in a fingertip compartment on my arm because it was increased in strength instead is absurd. The idea that I would be limited to four fingertip compartments in my cyberhand (rather than say, five) is also ridiculous. The idea that a cybernetic arm would be unable to be tougher than a normal arm because it was stronger is stupid. The idea that the strength of a cybernetic arm in 2070 would be capped in the ballpark of normal humans rather than normal forklifts is simply inane.

The capacity rules for cybernetic arms does not do a single good thing. But unfortunately it's in the basic book and therefore we're stuck with them even though they are demonstrably bad for the game, bad for the setting, and bad for suspension of disbelief. It's something that was added to attempt to increase realism and it does the opposite.

-Frank

I do wonder how much a normal organ replacement costs. A normal cyberarm costs 15.000 Nuyen, and it isn't really usefull at all.
Cyberlimbs should have only costed something like 1000 Nuyen, like Cybereyes. I really can't imagine there being any person with any cyberlimb at all, as rules-wise, it is totally bad in every imaginable way, though it is (was?) depicted that many persons had one, and some even voluntarily. They cost simply way too much for the benefit they are supposed to provide, but never really did.

And didn't they cost even 10 times as much in 3rd edition? I don't really remember that anymore...

And I would like to have more cyberlimbs in game, but on a very logical basis fitting into the setting, if possible.

...I'm wondering if we will see the following items return.

Cyberware

Encephalon
Multi-slot Chipjack
Chipjack Expert Driver
Microscopic Vision
Transducer

(The Eye, and Oral weapons were just way to silly, & I hope they don't devote space to those again.)

Bioware

Chemical Gland
Nictating Membranes
Cosmetic Bioware (particularly Clean Metabolism)

Nanotech

Chemtech

Acids & Corrosives
The long awaited Dikote™
Ruthenium Polymer
Slip Spray & Foam
Compounds:
...Arsenic
...Atropine (great against mages - yeah looking for any edge a mundane can get)
...Hyper (also nice when used on mages)
...MAO

Delivery systems
...Splash Grenades
...Dart Weapons (which should fall under the normal firearms skills)

and please...
Costs for Street Drugs

Genetech

Environmental Adaptation
Rejuve treatments
Phenotypic Alteration
Immunization

I actually put Dikote into that 'too silly to waste space on' category.

There's actually no point in the multi-slot chipjack or the chipjack expert driver since the datajack now downloads chips immediately into near-infinite headware memory.

chipjack expert drivers do a lot more than just provide more memory or anything like that for skillsofts happydaze... they gave you a 'task pool' iirc that you could use for whatever skills you were slotting chips of.

the SR4 equivalent would be a weaker version of edge, i suppose (or maybe just an augmented skill rating?)

Since the entire mechanic for skill wires has been changed and chipped skills are currently capped at the level of starting caps I've been waging a personal campaign to get the Chipjack Drivers removed altogether.

-Frank

Maybe if the chipjack drivers had an availability of above 12 and some heavy cost that could solve the problem of having awesome abilities in everything at chargen. Another option would be to have chipjack drivers specific for each skill. Having a dedicated chipjack with the expert drivers for every skillsoft would start to get essence unfriendly. Alternatively the drivers could get the person a specialization in a skillsoft.

I know it sounds silly but I really hope that in arsenal they add in gun/vehicle art. I have a big enough collection of SR3 and SR2 books so that I can show my players what most of the items in the SR4 book look like but I really think it adds to the game the players knowing what their drones and guns and things actually look like. I myself am a big believer of the old Cyberpunk "style over substance" motto and use it in SR. The big reason why I always go with the ingram smartgun just because it looks cool.

Just ask the art masters like Squinky to please work on making the items in the gear sections into drawings for ya.

If only they could get Mike Jackson to do gear pics for SR again - guns, vehicles, cyberware, all his pictures in Fields of Fire look great.

Find a way to contact him and ask him if he will. the only bad thing he can say is no.

i think Synner's the guy to talk to about that.

We are considering various options regarding Arsenal artwork, and it is one reason we opted to bump Augmentation ahead.

While I did handle art direction for Emergence, responsability for different production and development chores among the developer "triumvirate" changes from project to project—though we all get a say in the matter.