OK, I've got a silly question. In the fluff text of Augmentation (pg 24), it describes how a street sam with at least a cyberhand, breaks a bottle and is bleeding. My question to everyone is this: if you have a better grade of cyberlimb (beta or delta) is it more lifelike? I mean how does a obvious cyber bleed when it is chrome?

I wouldn't say it's a cyberhand. I'd say he's suffering from tremors of using a MBW or WR system too much, and has muscle replacement and a pain editor (at least).

You know how it's said in the books how people can become detached by having too much cyber? Think of that last part as him thinking about the type of person he used to be before dropping down to like 0.01 Essence from augmentations.

No, it is quite clearly a cyberhand... here's the exact line to support my position:


That doesn't sound like a natural hand to me.

Well, it's fluff writing.

It can be a synthetic cyberhand with a fake skin layer and an underlying layer of lubrication designed to look like blood to keep the illusion and camouflage of such ware.

Then why say "chrome-and-circuitry, state-of-the-art..." when you can have a bog standard synthetic hand?

I'm thinking that at higher grades, an obvious cyber limb is more "techno-organic"*. I mean it does have a reduced Essence cost. Why would that be unless the limb is more organic.


* == what I mean by this is that the "skin" of the hand is a nanoware material that can simulate a biological hand (texture, warmth, flexibility), but it is still obviously cyber. Also with cyber case mods you can have a "natural" skin tone and texture.

Chrome and circuitry on the inside?

It's really up to the player group how to interpret it in the end. A cybernetic hand replaces EVERYTHING from the connection point so there is no 'mix' of cybernetics and organic parts in a cyberhand.

Oh, I agree with you on that. What I was saying is that the higher grade the hand, the more "life-like" it is. This can be because there is a cloned layer of flesh over the hand (delta grade), or a nano-cybernetic covering that mostly simulates the feeling of a natural limb (beta-grade).

The hand is chrome. The parts of him the flying shards of glass cut are not.

Then how does he adjust his pain receptors and why would blood pool in his palm?

The hand is organic. He's forgotten to take his 'Cyberlimb AR' off.

What? It could happen!

An obvious cyberlimb will still be obvious no matter what grade it is - higher grades cost less Essence, and might look more sleek, but that's it. Non-obvious cyberlimbs will probably be more "lifelike" at higher grades, including the ability to seem to bleed if cut. But the flavor text is wrong, since it is apparently still his blood. I wouldn't read anything rules-related into it, though. It's just a mood piece, written by someone who may or may not have been that familiar with the rules.

You want to know what a Beta/Delta grade Obvious Cyberlimb looks like?

Two words: Adam Jensen.

+1
Seriously, I just finished that game last night. It's inspired my next cyber-sam.

Shadowrun 4th Edition would be a pretty damn good start for Deus Ex: Tabletop Revolution. No magic, nano- and gene-ware being basically unreliable, mostly-unworkable prototypes that, at best case, require the person being gene-altered to be grown that way, but most cyber (and maybe some bio) would probably be on the table.

What about cosmetic cyberware modification (pg 33)? It does say that depending on the nature of the modification it can can be expensive, but it can, and I quote:

It might be damn expensive, but you might have the "benefits"* of a synthetic limb without losing the capacity of an obvious limb.

* == people will still know that you have a cyberlimb, but it looks less "freaky".

I dunno, to me, a chromed arm would look less freaky than a bulky arm that was covered in flesh-tone. The latter would be edging towards uncanny valley to me.

This. An obvious cyberarm is ... well, obvious. Even if the beta grade makes it harder for cyberware scanners to clock and register the obvious cyberarm, not so for the naked eye.

I would argue that it is not apparent to the naked eye if having said limb under clothing.

Fair enough. Depends a little on the nature of the limb (raptor legs or some modular tradeout parts, for example), and in the case of cyberarms if the character is in a situation where the wearing of gloves stands out, but I would have to refresh myself with the rules and the fluff about cyberlimbs and detecting cyberware to make a definitive ruling.

Yes of course.

I would say that obvious cyberlimb at Alpha grade and above would give it a concealability of 1 when concealed beneath something. They are FAIRLY obvious but slimmer. Add a longcoat to that and it would be more difficult. This of course is only visual detection and the fluff says nothing about how noticeable limbs are in the way of:

-Social interaction [Limbs dont tremble/move slightly as it usually does on a person, looks 'dead' so to speak]
-Audio [Whirring servos? Smart Material Myomer muscles that work as real muscles without sound]

Things that would be wither obvious or increase the detection would be:
-Raptor Legs
-Cyberlimb Gyromount (Bulkier wrist)
-Snake Fingers (their design must differ from regular fingers)
-Bulk Modification
-Nail Pistol/Jackhammer/Vacuum Pump/Waterjets/Skimmer Discs/Welding Laser
-Larger cyberguns (try to hide a cybergun grenade launcher at 15 capacity...)

Some of the above would be so obvious that no detection test is needed.