So I have this PC, right, and he wants to implant some of his smartlink in his cyberleg. Specifically, he's looking to put the Limited Simsense Rig (0.1 Essence) and the Standard Processor (0.2 Essence) in the leg and then link them to the Induction Pad (0.1 Essence) in his hand and the Eye Display (0.1 Essence) in his skull.

(For the record, the smartlink breakdown is on pages 32-33 of Man & Machine)

What say you? Is this reasonable? Should I insist that he use a DNI to link the subsystems in the leg (the simrig and the processor) to those in other areas (the induction pad[s] and the eye display) or would that just be pedantic? I don't want to bust his balls, but I would like to stick as close to the rules in Man & Machine as possible.

Technically, the smartlink is just one "system"--not separate devices--so according to the interconnectivity rules, no DNI or router should be required. The smartlink is unique among cyber-implants in that it can be broken down into its component parts and so I'm not entirely sure how to adjudicate this.

Thanks in advance for your help.

A smartlink in a cyberlimb takes up .25 essence according to SR3 and M&M.

If someone wanted a breakdown, I'd say that the processor (.2) and some of the simrig systems (.05) are what goes in the limb, but that's just my own out-of-the-ass ruling.

The simrig is there to detect body position, so it couldn't only be in the leg.

I see no difficulty otherwise.

Out of curiousity -- why does your player want to locate the components in his leg?

-Siege

The character is a rigger and recently realized that he could save a bundle on Essence if he implanted some of his 'ware in a limb. His remote control deck, remote control encryption and decryption modules, remote control ECCM, etcetera could all be implanted in a limb. He figured that while he was at it, he'd try to squeeze the smartlink in there, too.

I can understand the impulse: I've been cleaning out my bookshelves this week and once the urge to organize sets in, it can be hard to shake.

Granted, he's putting all of his eggs in one basket here; it'd be a damned shame if an errant micro-grenade just blew the limb clean off. Expensive eggs, those pieces of riggerware...

How often does a cyberlimb ever bite the bullet (so to speak) in game?

Of course, it's gonna absolutely suck if that limb gets lost...how's the old adage go? Don't put all your eggs in one basket?

-Siege

I wouldn't give a discount on the limited simsense rig at all for installation in a leg, unless you were firing a footgun.

~J

What would you discount instead? The .25 cost should be accounted for, and if you give the processor for free you're left with .05 in savings that you must assign. Simrig, induction pad, or image link?

I would discount the monkeys.
Either that or I'd break canon and say that the rest of the savings only applies to a cyberarm installation rather than a leg, but that's houserule territory.

~J

Upon rereading I see that SR3 refers only to a cyberarm, and M&M merely lists it on the ECU chart without saying that it applies to all limbs. I think it's quite reasonable to say that it's only for arms.

Kage... discount monkeys? Go on, I'm listening.

Kong

Well, you see, infinite monkeys used to be infinitely expensive, but due to our new bulk discount pricing you can get every further thousand monkeys for half the price of the previous thousand, so infinite monkeys cost just under the cost of two thousand monkeys under the normal pricing.

~J

I would even go so far as to say the sim-rig doesn't have to be in the arm -- it's a gizmo that processes and feeds information from the ballistic processor and induction pad.

But I wouldn't apply a discount either.

-Siege

Just think of the extra wiring they'd have to imprint in your system to run the connection down to the leg. Cyberware doesn't run on bluetooth. I always thought of the discount for the wiring in the arm and the induction pad itself, everthing else is headware, pure and simple.

Geez guys, can't you keep your blathering about smartlinks to a dull roar? I'm negociating some monkeys over here! I need to focus!

I'll take 2000!

Kong

You have been sent a catalog detailing our fine selection of monkeys of all types and colourations. You can choose any specific quantity of a given type of monkey you wish, or get all or part of your order as a random assortment. All of our monkeys are top-quality, so you won't have to worry about being disappointed.

~J

What about babboons? orangutangs? Simians of otherly persuasions?

We are moving into those fields, and hope to someday offer you the best in all simians.

~J

I've seen some tangenital hijackings in my day, but this is some impressive shit.