Was it ever possible to program a cyberlimb to perform a task on its own? Or load it with skillsofts?

My group is looking for ways to enhance the chrome's appeal, we started by halving the nuyen and Essence costs. But there aren't enough "toys" to keep them interesting.

So we hit upon this idea, that these bits of chrome stuck in you could be ordered to perform things on their own. It enhances the whole "trading your humanity away" aspect for some power.

I recall reading something about this in older books, and my friends' memories aren't what they used to be (at least those old enough to remember 2E/3E).

you might program a cyberlimbt o handle a gun, but it will need a lot of extras to be able to perform, as well as some extra 'brainpower' - a cyberlimb gets most of it's decision-making from preson it's implanted in - which is hardly surprsing as the limb has no sensors beyond whatever position, touch and temperature sensors are fitted in.

To sum up, stuffing a microdrone brain into a piece of cyberware is perfectly doable, but you're going to need some sensors to make it work - those can be built into the cyberware (hits capacity and raises cost), use other system's input (say cybereyes and the like) or ven be external system like a tacnet feed or a shoulder-mounted cam. Which pose compatibility issues and creates hacking vulnerability.

As far as reference go, the most likely candidate would be the articulated weapon mount, though I don't remember it being independent. But it would require relatively little to make it capable of independent action. Thoug hit can get lethal if it get hacked.

Personally, if I were chrome and someone told me that it's possible to make my limbs act of their own volition, possibly even attack me? that would make them LESS attractive to me, not more.

Yeah, that. IMO, halving the nuyen and Essence costs is a big boost to cyberware's appeal all by itself. I have no idea what you mean by "not enough toys." Grab a copy of Augmentation; that's got all kinds of toys. Modular cyberlimbs, in particular, are pretty damned nifty.

Best way to make cyberlimbs in SR4 better is to do away with, or at least lessen, the damage taken by redlining them . .
Furthermore . . comlink, agent and tell the agent to use the arm to shoot stuff with? Would probably work for example . .
On the other Hand, why SHOULD you ever do this, if you can have an implanted Weapon-Mount which can have autosoft?

Yeah, we have Augmentation. Still not enough for us.


I don't know if it was just fluff, but I recall reading either in SOTA 2063/2064 or Cybertechnology about linking a weapon to the cyberlimb. I think it was the laser designator perhaps. The cyberlimb took care of the rest, I'm AFB so I can't check.

Essentially, we were looking at a point-and-click situation, similar to Skillwires. You "know" how to do something through muscle memory. In this case, cybernetics. Say you have an Ares Predator in your cyberlimb's hand and you point and shoot, maybe even aiming via smartlink, at a target. Your arm takes care of the rest, it has a Pistols 4 "skill" integrated into it.

@manunancy Good points. It's not exactly autonomous, but you're right about sensors. I was thinking it'd be integrated into the user's sight and they'll require a smartlink ('ware or otherwise) to use it properly.

it has agility 4 integrated, which is mostly the same . . as for autonomous, let me repeat the weapon mount add-on. tracking weapon mount with autosoft shoots on it's own.

Agreed: you want the extra articulated arm. The rules do not really support what you want, quarter-baked limb-hacking 'rules' notwithstanding.