Okay, I'll be honest: I've never actually run a cyber-limbed character before. However, now is the time and I'm packing a cyber-torso, two full cyber arms and a half cyberleg. Is there anything I should know from those more experienced in such matters before this character actually sees play?

Did you put in any enhancements/customized attributes/additional armor?

Are your limbs obvious or synthetic? if they aren't synth also expect some NPCs to act weird around you (depends on setting) since you're packing a fair amount of chrome

The limbs are tricked-out obvious limbs (Think Deus Ex: human revolution), and to be honest the character is a fairly blatant ripoff of Jenson (minus the cyber-spurs. they take up too much capacity for what they do, and non-lethal is better 99% of the time anyway. I did add a shock hand, though...).

So sue me, I wasn't very imaginative. I've put my own spin on the origin story as much as I could, though, so that should count for something.

Odd. I managed to fit spurs, enough attribute mods AND some armor into obvious cyberarms. Here's a recipe:
Obvious Full Arm (BOD 6, AGI 6, STR 6) (Left)
+Enhanced Agility Rating 3
+Enhanced Strength Rating 2
+Enhanced Body Rating 3
+Spur
+Armor Rating 2

Well I kicked the armour (Our group uses herolab, which doesn't count cyberlimb armour for some reason) and had lower baseline stats to save cash and used enhancements to up the stats instead. oh, and I added a gyro system as well, that took up a fair chunk. Since my group tends to favor non-lethal combat there didn't seem to be any real reason to add the spurs, apart from rule of cool.
Maybe when I've picked up some more cash on runs I'll be able to afford adding them. (Not because they're expensive, you understand, but because it's much cheaper to up stats with enhancements than custom limbs.)

What do you need a gyro system for? My character has 6 AGI in total, plus 4 in the Firearms group and Smartlink, which gives her a pretty decent 13 dice on the guns carried and 10 on anything she picks up on-site. I also just reworked her arms to match her original stats (S3/A4/B3), and upped the Strength enhancement back to 3.

Gyro system grants 3 points of recoil compensation, with strength 6 or better granting another point. that means that most guns I pick up will be fully compensated for firing two short bursts, even without any modification. Great for pickup battles.

Depending on how often you foresee using the shock hand, you could go with a magnetic system instead. About the same price/avail/capacity, and you get some other functionality to boot.

Good advice.
Sort of thing I started this thread for, really...

My Father is a cyborg.

Just saying.

Augmentation extra rules. Redlining(optional) can be nice in a pinch, cyberlimb sensory shutoff can be a nice option if you need it. Bulk enhancements, optimized cyberlimbs, and other add-on goodies are nice. Best used with the Restricted Gear quality to hit availability 20 arms, which lets you get ALL the goodies in it. Cyberlimb base stats can go up to your Natural Max, and there's a really essence cheap geneware(genetic optimization) that lets you raise your natural max by 1. Normally not worth it because it takes gobs of karma to make use of, it can make your cyberlimbs better - especially since it can raise your Augmented Maximum above 9

Also remember that the gyro system counteracts movement penalties. With your strength, a good gas-vent system, and a foregrip/barrel weight you should be able to fire bursts on full auto at a run without noticing anything...well, other than your target dropping dead, of course.

Is there an actual listing for how much space a comm link would take? Or do we just use a cargo compartment?

headware i think.

I mean a regular com-link installed in a cyber limb, not a headware com-link.
It's cool, I'll just wire it into a smuggling compartment.

It takes 2 slots.

Awesome. Where did you find that?

SR4A, Page 339. It is in the Table.

Thank you. I knew I was missing something obvious.

so... headware then?

Yea. In my defense, in previous versions, you didn't use the "headware" comlink, you just jammed a regular one in there somewhere. So that's what I was looking for.

Haha! Now I'm picturing a big comlink with buttons sticking out of the side of some guy's head.

Question:
WHY the Torso?
Waste of Essence, can be filled by something much more usefull . .
And go for a set of lower limbs, either partial or full cyber-legs to make it balanced when running and jumping. which, if you think about it, is all you are going to use them for, anyway. maybe with skimmer-disc-feet? or at least retractable roller blades.
And then either a partial or full cyber-arm. for shooty/punchy stuff. Or with the grapple-hand add-on for climbing up stuff. or grapple hand with magnetic system to attach yourself to a vehicle and use the skimmer disc feet or retractable roller blades to ski along behind the vehicle.

saved money fom the torso goes to make the other limbs into alpha.
saved essence goes into buying some form of reflex enhancement and/or armor.
or eye/ear-stuff.

with the rules for customized cyberlimbs, you can go up to 6/6/6 in all attributes for cyber-limbs without spending any essence or capacity.
they only get more expensive, is all. and then you can enhance the attributes by 3 points each before you need a torso.

Worth noting, that is for a human. The custom limb can have up to your natural unaugmented maximum. While it doesn't cost capacity or essence . It does increase availability, which might or might not be an issue.

Edit: That is your racial unaugmented max, so a 1/1/1 human can still get a custom 6/6/6 arm.

Yeah, that was for a human.
With every other race, you get shafted because you go over both availability and need a torso to go from natural max to augmented max regardless . .

Max augment without torso is 3 isn't it?
Hah! Just barely screws over every meta except the elves.
Elven conspiracy! :o

Yep, +3 without torso is maximum.
And elves get screwed on Agility.
Basically anybody that does not have 6 or lower as natural maximum gets shafted.
Only a matter of how much, not if . .

All in all, if it ain't done for concept/style reasons, cyber should not be used to do anything that can be done by external gear or bioware . .

7+3 = 10, the elven max, or was this changed somewhere?
Got the old BBB

Ah, i forgot that SR4 rounds down, not up . . .

The torso is for flavor reasons. He got badly shot up (hence the rebuilding) so the torso acts as his life support.

Are you making Robocop?

ah, i see . .
still, the torso is the most useless piece of ware in all cyber limbs . .
and because of the huge price drop, especially for clonal/regenerative tissue/therapy, there is simply no reason to rebuild ANYBODY like this . .
growing the needed bodyparts and swapping them out is both less problematic and less expensive . .

But often not as flavorful...

sad as that is, i still say the character would be better off without the torso . .

The cyber-torso is history. I'm feeling quite happy with my build at the moment, thank you all for your helpful advice.