The idea is to have a large selection of skillsofts that can be hidden in a cyber arm so you always know a hell of a lot of stuff and you can't have it taken away from you. The obviouse downsides are cash to do it and you can't change skills without a cyberware shop.

Now a few questions:
1) Does the 2x cost for Alphaware apply to all built in devices?

2) What is the chance of the arm being detected when walking through a cyberware detector?

3) I want to sneak this into mega-corp offices every now and then, is there any kind of clothing I could wear over it, increased cost of arm, or other way to make it harder to detect? And in SR how legitimate is someone having a synthetic cyber arm?

4)Will all the stuff below actual fit into a synthetic alphaware limb?

4x Jukeboxes (4 chips each, Linked to datalinks in the arm)
Ultrasound emitter (DNI)
Bug Scanner (DNI)
Pocket Secretary (DNI)
150 MP of memory with a datalink to it.

I think all this will fit because to me the largest piece above is only about the size of a fist. The reason for having 4 seperate jukeboxes is it is cheaper then having one with massive memory and multiple ports.

5) Would the above devices be 6x cost due to 4X for in the limb and an addtional 50% for being in a synthetic limb or just 4X for the devices with the 50% increase being applied to such things as smart links and muscle augs?

6) Does this make sense to do to the more expierienced players here? Or will I regret spending the majority of priority A Resources on this?

An obvious Cyberhand (2 ECU) or synthetic Cyberforearm (also 2 ECU) with a Direct Neural Interface (0.25 ECU and 0.10 Essence) and a single 1,000 Mp OMC Memory Chip (0.5 ECU and 3,000 nuyen to make it a built-in device and DNI-capable) will trump a Skillsoft Jukebox any day of the week. And you still have room for a nice Pocket Secretary (8,000 nuyen to make it built-in).

Get a Datajack with a Knowsoft Link, and you can download all the 'softs you need while also getting the router ports you need to link your limb to your eyes (for the Image Link you surely installed) and skillwires. Note also that this is perfectly legal cyberware. At worse, the obvious cyberhand might give you a minor Social Test penalty, but that depends on your GM more than anything.

That said, here's a quick answer to some of your questions:

No, cyberlimb components do not need to be the same grade as the limb itself. It's an exception to the standard rules and is mentioned in Man & Machine.

The Concealability of a synthetic cyberlimb is dependant on its grade, and you can find that information in Man & Machine as well.

Ordinary clothing won't help the Concealability, though a Long Coat should give the standard +50% bonus.

I had some spare time so I diddled around a bit and here's the full details for a synthetic cyberforearm with the bare minimum set-up. This doesn't include the price for the Skillwires themselves.

Cyberforearm, Synthetic (0.65 Essence, 50,000¥)
> Direct Neural Interface (0.25 ECU, 0.1 Essence, 4,500¥)
> Pocket Secretary (1.0 ECU, 0.0 Essence, 8,000¥)
> OMC Memory Chip (1,000 Mp) (0.50 ECU, 0.0 Essence, 3,000¥)
Datajack (0.2 Essence, 1,000¥)
> Knowsoft Link (0.1 Essence, 1,000¥)
> Transducer, Internal (0.1 Essence, 2,000¥)
Image Link (0.2 Essence, 1,600¥)

Total: 71,100¥ and 1.35 Essence. You also have 0.25 ECU of storage space in the cyberlimb, which has a Concealability of 9 (13 with Long Coat) as a standard grade implant. If you want to make everything except the cyberlimb components alpha grade, the cost comes to 131,200¥ and 1.08 Essence and your 0.25 ECU of Storage space drops to 0.05 ECU... but Concealability would jump up to 11 (16 with coat).

If it were me, I'd probably lose the Knowsoft Link and get a Chipjack instead (but keep the Datajack since you need the Transducer for silent communication through the Pocket Secretary as well as the free Router ports) and get a Chipjack Expert Driver 3 for it.  That way you basically get a Task Pool of 3 for any 'soft you have loaded at any given time.

If you plan on using more than one Skillsoft at a time, get a Multislot Chipjack instead and a Chipjack Expert Driver 3 for each port you plan to use. Your router will take care of the connections for it. Just make sure your Skillwires can handle running all of them at the same time, else it's largely a waste.

I think I need to get the Man and Machine book so I know more of what you are talking about but this works a lot better then what I had figured out.

Thanks for the help on this.

If you're wearing gloves and longsleeves, the cyberlimb should be more or less undetectable, unless it has funky protruding things or spikes, or something...

The detectability question is more about devices that detect it rather then people seeing it.

pg 237 SR3 has rules for detecting weapons and cyberware. Cyberholsters add +2TN for detecting holstered firearms; although not canon it wouldn't be unreasonable for a cyberlimb to shield its internal 'ware to some degree.

New questions after reading a bit of Man and Machine and finding it just hurts my head to try and figure out.

In my cyber arm I have:
1,000 MP Memory (DNI)
Pocket Secretary (DNI)
Finger Print Scanner (DNI)
Finger Print Replicator (DNI)

In head:
Datajack with knowsoft link
Chipjack with expert system
Eye Camera
Image link
Data link
Ear Recorder
Transducer
Router (10 ports)
Orientation unit (DNI)

All devices are interconnected by the router.

7) Do DNI devices require datajacks to connect to my while being a part of the arm?

Does each device in the eye require its own router port or does a port to the eye do it all?

9) Can I scan a finger print with the scanner, store it in memory, and later send to the print replicator?

10) Can I put a skillsoft into the Datajack, send the skillsoft to my 1,000 MP, remove the chip, and then from my 1,000 mp memory have it go to the chipjack and gain the benifit of the expert system?

11) Can I store maps in the memory and just send them to the Orientation system as needed?

[QUOTE=TheScamp,Mar 21 2004, 11:21 PM]
[QUOTE]
Do DNI devices require datajacks to connect to my while being a part of the arm?[/QUOTE]
If the items are connected by the router to the Datajack, then that should be fine.
[/QUOTE] [/QUOTE]
QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Do DNI devices require datajacks to connect to my while being a part of the arm?[/QUOTE]
If the items are connected by the router to the Datajack, then that should be fine.
[/QUOTE]


So as long as a datajack is in the mix then it is all good?

And how much MP did this maping take? Like 10 ft sqrd = 1 MP?

Shadowrun 3rd Edition p. 296, for the cost of an OMC (errataed to 0.5¥ per Mp).
Man & Machine p. 37, for the ECU cost for a chip (0.5 ECU).
Shadowrun 3rd Edition p. 303, for the cost of a built-in device (x4).
Man & Machine pp. 38-39, for DNI and its costs (150% for DNI adaptation).

1,000 Mp x 0.5¥ = 500¥.
500¥ x 4 to make it a built-in device = 2,000¥.
2,000¥ x 1.5 to make it DNI controlled = 3,000¥.
ECU Requirements = 0.5 ECU.

Thus 3,000¥, 0.5 ECU, and no Essence since it's using the DNI link.

Making a device built in costs 4x as much? Wow, I never saw that one before. I guess every character I've made in the last few months is wrong.

Yep. Hence the 8,000¥ pricetag on the Pocket Secretary above.

I think it's insanely extreme, though. 6,000¥ to remove the case and jam the parts inside the leg? :O A set price would have made so much more sense, as I don't see why it would be any harder to install a 1,000 Mp chip over a 1 Mp chip, yet the price between those two are extreme (half a nuyen to 2,000 nuyen), so it costs 1.5¥ to do the former and 250¥ for the latter.

Make the cost to interalize a function of its ecu rating. Big things cost more to implant, while small things cost less. Include the "external DNI" cost on top of that (if there isn't already DNI support) and you will have a method by which any two memory chips of equal physical size will cost the same to have implanted.

(ecu* 200?)

That works much better. Cause one thing I do with my rigger characters is put a RCD in their cyberleg, but I didn't know that 100k deck costs 400k when its in the leg!