Meh. 5's are close enough to top of the line to really care about that. Didn't they introduce a program option to let you run it at higher rating than your system? I hated Unhinged so I don't remember all the options in there.

I assume you mean that an external sim module (hot or cold) would be easier to detect. But at that point who cares? Easy to ditch and buy a new one/modify a new one. Better than having your headware commlink removed from your SINless butt because you hot modded it.

Cooling.

Total myth.

The deck was specially constructed from handwavium.

I had this idea as well. I'd get a datajack in my spine, a skinpocket over it, and then insert my commlink into the pocket. Almost as good as internal without all the cyber-mess. I really don't like implanted decks because it feels like you can't easily upgrade without going back under the knife.

I'm going to be playing an Elf hacker character that'd not a huge fan of cyberware, but got the control rig and datajack so that he could do his job better. An implanted comm goes a step too far for him. Bioware on the other hand, he has no qualms of using.

Well, technically you don't use a major part of your brain at any given moment, just like you don't contract all your muscles at once.

Hmm, maybe I should sell some muscle enhancers based on that...normal humans only use 10% of their muscles, our patented Very eXtreme formula lets you use the other 90! Try it for just 99.99 today!

Generally closer to 20% used for any individual task, and different parts used for different tasks.

As for muscles, you generally use all of them, but you don't use them as much as you could.

Not as big of a deal in SR4A because there aren't many upgrades to make and none of them are all that expensive so you can easily just save up and get all of them in one shot (depending on table economics) so you only go under the knife 1 time to upgrade to 6/6/6/6 and all the other stuff you couldn't afford at chargen.

Plus there has always been skillwires so you just have the street samurai do it for you.

I was thinking about this very issue with implanted commlinks while taking my shower.

How is cooling handled? If it's supposed to be non-obvious you can't have vents implanted to allow airflow so you have to utilize the human body's natural heat regulation mechanism, the circulatory system. Given the junk that a standard commlink does, I can't imagine that heat is a trivial matter.

Do they have some artificial capillaries that they hook into your blood vessels and wrap the commlink in? Do they have a metal heatsink that is direct injected into an artery?

Handwavium.

Handwavium heatsinks are the shiz.

Personally, I like the thought of sticking electrodes into major arteries and veins to dissipate heat. =D

Alternatively, put the commlink in one foot and the sim module in the other.. you'll never get cold feet again.

The brain already has a ton of resources devoted to keeping it cooled. I don't see that it wouldn't be able to handle the extra heat from a commlink, since they don't seem to demonstrate any kind of heating issues. They are super small and everything.

I would presume that as a part of the cyber setup, you'd just be liquid cooling the whole thing with your blood, etc.

Though, handwavium's a great material for that, too. I'll have to bring that up the next time my players ask me about the unpossible.

This, exactly this. You have an external commlink if you're not *serious*. If it's a dabbling thing. If it's a profession but not *the life*, you know? You can always have ANOTHER external commlink, but a real hacker keeps his main commlink on the inside - or at least his means to access one.

Shit, man, the internal 'link doesn't even have to be the main one. But if you need the backup, you NEED the backup. Same reason you carry an extra gun.

A what now?

I prefer to think of it as steam venting out the ear canal. Goes great with the diesel powered, pull start cyberarm. Damn cheap Neo Soviet cyberware!

An extra gun?

Shit. I'm a walking armory, I may not have all these guns at one time, but I have them all...

x2 P93 Praetor Submachine Guns
x1 Ares Alpha Assault Rifle
x1 H&K 517 Main Battle Rifle
x2 Ares Desert Strike Sniper Rifles
x1 Franchi SPAS-22 Combat Shotgun (I call it Mr. Spanky)

All of those weapons, except Mr. Spanky, have either Chameleon coating or are fitted to use ghillie shrouds. I'm working on acquiring a Barrett and assault cannon to add to that set of weapons....

I also have some indeterminate amount of pistols, but I've never fired any of them.....

If I manage to get caught without a gun, because Agility is overpowered, I'll just throw some Escape Artist checks and maybe an unarmed combat check or two along with a few infiltration checks. I figure eventually I find a real gun (instead of those crappy pistols that may be on the guards) and then the real fun starts.

Pardon?

Custom weapon created by the GM and myself. We designed it to be a cross between a sniper rifle and assault rifle without retarded modding of either one to achieve the desired effect. We wanted a SA/BF weapon for precision shooting at shorter ranges.

Thought it was likely that, mine's the PSG Enforcer II. NPC only right now, kind of a loot gun.

We run it with 7P -2AP SA/BF 18rd magazine with Sporting Rifle ranges.

Mine keeps the twin 12's and adds Long Burst as a complex action as well as normal BF. Largely because I don't want it modded to FA. Damage, AP and ranges are the same as yours.

On the contrary, Karoline: if the brain's already working hard to regulate its own head, why would cramming a computer in there *not* be a problem? Your mistake is trying to use any logic on this.