What's the worst piece of cyberware you can think of, and why?

CP202x' Cyberpillow. It's a little pillow in your forearm that inflates on neural command with a CO2 cartridge or something, so you can always be ready for a good night's sleep even on those long, lonely stakeouts.

CP is mad wack.

DNI garage door opener. The DNI universal remote control actually makes some sense, but a specific garage door opener...

The cyber peg-leg and hook hand. I mean... seriously... that should not EVEN cost essence. SO LAME!

Retractable weapon arms. That's just stupidfly, who the hell needs ANOTHER LMG?

cyberlimbs, period. cost for benefit, they're not worth the paper their stats are printed on to their target market (ie, mainly sams). i can see a decker or rigger getting one to hold his deck in, but that's about it.

Speaking of cyberlimbs, do you suppose you could get cyberfingers? Good for yakuza members who screw up a lot. I think they'd probably take like, .1-2 essence, and have no benefits, aside from maybe being able to put something in it.

Why the frag do cyberhorns cost essence though? They're not jacked into your nervous system -- hell, it seems like they'd be more along the lines of bioware.

-Siege

Yeah, I wondered that myself. They shouldn't cost anything. In fact, theres people today who have (kind of) horns implanted in their heads.

Cyberhorns and the like are really handy. They let you pick the lamers and wannabees out of the lineup at a glance.

Heh well peglegs and hook hands are usefull for something. I have a charachter (someday I shall play this charachter!) that took one of each in order to get a full cyberbody for <1 mil without running out of essence. Sure the charachter sucks combat-wise but oh well.

You can throw them on for flavor too, at least they are cheap.

Cyber Horns seem like they should have some storage capacity. They wouldn't be so dumb if you could put stuff like communications gear or cameras or concealed monowhips inside them. Potentially good spot to store a chip-juke, as well.

My vote definately goes to the oral whip. What a freakin piece of crap. I mean, come on, a whip that's built into your mouth? That's just stupid. Unless maybe you're an armless cattle rustler or something. Well, maybe you could make your enemy die from laughing after seeing you uncoil a whip outta your mouth and start swinging your head around like you're at a Motley Crue concert.

Some people with bizarre fetishes pro'lly have a use for the thing, though.

It's like the cybersnake weapon system.

They need an "ick" smiley.

-Siege

Oral Spur. A kiss before dying, perhaps?

I vote the eye-gun.


Seriously, how in the hell would you ever get good at using something like that without destroying your hearing or putting a permanent crick in your neck? And how long would you survive if you had to use it all the time and forgo binocular vision until you can re-load?

Yes, I know that some proponents will claim that in certain circumstances a hidden cyber-weapon like this could tip the balance. To this I say, if you're in such a circumstance, you've done something wrong.

Hidden weapons in limbs, that's one thing. Hidden guns in parts of your face, kinda pressing the wacky thresh-hold.

So, unless you're the Make-Out Murderer, Oral Spurs are just gay. But the oral whip tops them. Completely useless.

Question: If you're a hermaphrodite, wouldn't it be impossible to be heterosexual? I mean, you're both a guy AND a girl, so...

Non Retractable Cyber-Spurs.... who wants to run around with a set of foot long blades sticking out of their hand ALL THE TIME.

Same goes for Non-Retracting Cyber Skates, what sort of moron is always skating?

Cyber-Hooks and Peg Legs are pretty up there also in suck factor.

Oh....Dermal Sheath with Ruthenium. You have to be friggin naked with no items on to use it! (You would also have to be bald, and have like a ruthenium speedo to cover certain dangly bits)

Hey, Lt. Kusinagi didn't seem to mind that! ...Then again, Masamune Shirow is a weirdo...

...And no one answered my hermaphrodite question yet...

hey rev you didnt have to get a peg leg or hook hand to go full cyber for under a mil. you can get torso skull 2 arms and 2 legs for under a mill and 6pts of essence
hell and you can have room for a few other things as well......



used alphaware is your friend!!!!

I forgot about the oral whip.

"Don't get within a foot of me, your you might get a bruise!"

IIRC doesn't the cyber cranium cancel the damage modifier for headshots? Ie, no inceased damage level? It's that's the case, then it's ain't too shaby. Also, you can get armor on your head... it may not look pretty, but it will soak that slug you took to it.

As for non-retracting Spurs.... sure it's great for image, until you roll over in your sleep and skewer yourself, not to mention they would get in the way all the time.

Cybersheathes, duh!

Nonretractable Cyber-Spurs= Cheap Baraka rip-off.

Cyber skates are just fraggin gay and lame, retractable or not.

Can we stop using the word "gay" as an insult before we have to flame you out of existence?
And remember, there are no headshots in canon, just "called shots" which depending on GM whim could be to the liver, spine, heart, head, crotch, femoral artery, or throat.

~J

Femoral artery shots are nasty. You bleed to death in like, what, 5 minutes when its severed? Arg.

Useless Cyber=Anything that goes in the mouth. Like the oral gun, it goes on the roof of your mouth, and has to descend past your teeth. Thusly, you'd feel weird every time your mouth was shut. Not to mention the impeding of eating.

I have to disagree about retractable cyber skates being lame. One, they add a nice flavor to a character, and two, running away at a 6 running multiplier comes in real handy.

If non-retractable cyber skates mounted on a removable cyberlimb are so useful, why isn;t thate an option to buy (gasp) SKATES. Gee, its a non retractable SHOE with WHEELS, and you can REMOVE THE SHOE...

Much of the silly cyber stuff really should be avaialble as silly NON cyber stuff, because then it would be a lot less silly.

Want some non-retractable blades, a balance tail, and an articulated weapon mount? Build those into special armored harnesses, since you don't have neural control of them anyhow...

The cybertail is wired into your nervous system, that's how it moves with you to maintain your balance.

I've had a character (a Face) that's used the Oral Slasher before. It's a handy weapon for characters with low Strength scores yet who want to take advantage of the concealability of cybernetic weaponry. 6M damage with a Quickness-linked skill and an Availability of 8 is pretty nice, especially when combined with a Venom Sack. Even Stun Batons rely on Strength for the related skill.

My vote for the most useless piece of cyberware is the Cranial Cyberdeck. It's grossly overpriced and you have to undergo brain surgery every time you want to upgrade it. You're far better off just getting a Synthetic Cyberlimb and building your deck inside it.

Beyond that, some other lame items include non-retractable Cyber Fangs (why they cost Essence is beyond me), Magnetic System (since the rules even state that they're fairly useless most of the time) and Retinal Duplication (only because of the way the rules work regarding them).

Just because something counters a thing doesn't mean the thing being countered exists
But yeah. Another case of the designers mixing their metapfhors.

~J

Just out of curiosity, where does it say that the GM, rather than the player, chooses the location that the character is making a called shot to? I've always thought that you could call a shot to the head, even if it wouldn't be an instakill or bypass armor or anything like that.

Edit: Nevermind, I just reread the rules in SR3 and I can see where you're coming from. Doesn't make much sense, but the whole thing was messed up to begin with.

Yes, Rattler, the main book does not indicate that the player selects a location when doing a Called Shot to a person, instead the player simply indicates it is a "Called Shot". GMs have taken to using "flavor text" when a Called Shot to a person succeeds with a deadly wound by describing the results as "gaping wound to the heart" or "half the head blown away". The main book does, however, describe selecting a location when doing a called shot against a part of something vehicle-sized or larger.

The notion of doing a Called Shot to a specific location on a person, with limited effects, is introduced in the Cannon Companion (p. 85 advanced melee rule), Man and Machine (p. 35 cyberware body plating), and Man and Machine (p. 106 exposure to chemical weapons).

The Shadowrun FAQ (http://www.shadowrunrpg.com/resources/faq.shtml) adds the notion of a called shot to a specific location to the rules of the main book. Several people on these boards dislike this FAQ ruling, or dislike its wording, and the FAQ is treated with less regard compared to new printings of the books.

Much obliged.