Greetings,

I was thinking of adding a new negative quality, something that could be a bit of fun in the game.

Alien Hand Syndrome (5/10/15 pts)

Incompatible with Ambidexterity. A character suffering from Alien Hand Syndrome (AHS) do not have full control of one of their hands (and arm that moves the hand). This condition strikes the character's off hand (a right handed character's left hand would be the alien). At 5 pts, the hand for the most part just feels wrong, and may frequently fail to perform a desired action or counteract minor actions of the character. A player can make a Str+Wil (3) check to force the arm to perform as desired. At 10 pts the alien hand acts out in inappropriate ways or at inappropriate times. Sometimes grabbing at other people, throwing the wrong gang sign, flipping the bird at a Johnson, etc. The character can try to keep the hand from acting out with a Str+Wil (4) check, this check could also be necessary to perform a critical action. At 15 pts, the hand will infrequently make a violent attack against another person or even against the person it to which it is attached. The character can make a Str+Wil (4) check to bring the hand back into control.
It is suggested that the GM decide when and how the alien hand acts out. Replacing the affected limb with a cyberlimb has no affect on AHS.

Below is the description as was emailed to me. I do not know the source.

Although modern medicine has made tremendous advances in many areas, even
mapping the human genome, there remain aspects of human health that continue
to elude our full understanding. Alien hand syndrome is one of these
puzzles- with its sufferers having one of their hands, usually the
non-dominant one, acting as if it has a mind of its own.

Many of us have seen people with this condition, albeit on the big screen.
In the campy 1935 horror film, Mad Love
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GRUQJW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=17
89&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000GRUQJW&linkCode=as2&tag=vicastingcom-20>
, deranged surgeon Peter Lorre replaces a pianist's hands with those of a
knife-throwing murderer, and the hands take over. More recently and more
well known, in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
the Bomb
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000055Y0X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=17
89&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000055Y0X&linkCode=as2&tag=vicastingcom-20>
(1964), Peter Sellers in the eponymous role repeatedly and compulsively
fights to keep his right arm from striking a Nazi salute. (In fact, the
syndrome is also sometimes called "Dr. Strangelove Syndrome".)

Yet what's entertaining and even hilarious in the theater is not nearly so
funny in real life. Inconveniently and often embarrassingly touching,
pinching and pulling, these alien hands may compulsively grasp a breast or
stroke a penis while the person it's attached to rides the subway or waits
in line; their are also potential legal ramifications if the hand strays to
others in an inappropriate fashion.

Described by scientists as a "complex, goal-directed activity in one hand
that is not voluntarily initiated," sufferers from the disorder are aware of
the movement, and they feel what the hand feels, but often feel as it they
have no control over it. Almost always occurring on the non-dominant side
(i.e., if you're right handed, your alien hand would be your left), many
patients with this condition get to the point where they refer to the hand
as if it is another person, even giving it a different name. Frequently,
suffers may complain, "I can't make it listen to me."

Symptoms range from compulsively grasping and releasing an object to fully
self-oppositional movements, like stubbing out a cigarette immediately after
the other hand has lit it or unbuttoning a shirt as the other hand buttons.
In between the extremes, some suffers can control the arm with great effort,
although even then, their movements may be imprecise; for example, while
trying to touch the tip of the nose, they touch the shoulder instead.
Extreme cases have occurred where the hand has attacked, and even tried to
strangle with a cord, the person to which it's attached.

The syndrome itself is one of a number of similar conditions, each thought
to be the product of some type of brain trauma or injury. The most common,
or at least most well documented, cases of alien hand syndrome involve
epileptics who have voluntarily undergone a procedure to separate the left
and right hemispheres of the brain in an effort to control their seizures;
however, it has been known to occur in people who suffered from a brain
tumor, stroke, infection or aneurysm.

There is no known cure for this condition, though it can usually be
controlled somewhat by giving the alien hand something to do, like having it
hold a cane while you are in public, so the hand stays occupied.

This also, potentially, overlaps with the physical (motor) aspects of Tourettes Syndrome.

The poster child...

Maybe just a meager excuse to grope arround. "Sorry, just my alien hand syndrome acting up again!"

His hand isn't even acting up in that scene! Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaTR46iU1Do

You say that it could potentially flip off a Johnson? That's reason enough to never take this, especially at low levels where Mr. J is more likely to shoot rather than ask questions since street punks are a dime a dozen.

Yeah, the Body Integrity Identity Disorder (from the other thread) would be a good way to explain why a character gets a cyberlimb in an era of clonal replacements, but this disadvantage is a bit too crippling for your average Shadowrun campaign (although the books have a lot of equally messed-up negative qualities). It might be fine if the campaign is one of street punks, or deeply flawed noir-type characters.

Derek "Dirk" Montgomery has this with his Cyberarm.
It sometimes acts without him controlling it.

That's not alien hand syndrome, though, that's a faulty cyberarm or hostile code.

Considering how he got it, he should be happy it doesn't have a bomb in it.

Doc in the Novel House of the Sun, i think, said it was Alien Hand Syndrome.

Phantom Limb, different condition. His body never recovered from the fact that his arm had been replaced. As it affects people IRL with prosthetic limbs (even ones with primitive sensors), this is easy enough to believe.

Ok