Hi Fellas,

one of my chars has the metagenetic qualities "natural Venom" and "functional tail - thagomizer". Does this qualify to get the martial art "Sangre y Acero", which requires a "cyber implant weapon in an unusual location"? Natural Venom is the equivalent of the bioware "chamical gland" while the functional tail is equivalent tothe cyberware "balance tail".

And question 2: Sangre y acero gives +1DV on Blades. Would the spikes of the thagomizer count as a substitute to a spur on the same location? Are spurs "blades" at all? You roll the test with cyber implant weapons.

I would argue:
1.) No, since the thagomizer is not a cyber implant weapon. Sangre y Acero very specifically means "Blood and Steel".
2.) Also, no. Most of all, because a natural weapon does not qualify at all for the cyber specialization martial arts, but secondly because it requires you to roll with the exotic weapon skill, not the blades skill.

But you'd be better off asking your GM.

Of course, it is not the same, but it feels odd, that an artifical add-on provides the possibilty to specialize in, but a natural part of your body doesn´t. You can specialize in kicking, punching, etc. if you use the unarmed skill, but with exotic weapon it is not possible. Strange.

Which is easily solved by simply allowing one to specialize in the natural weapon, exotic or otherwise.

..Minotaur's Goring Horns... ..
hmm..removing Natural horns and replacing them w/ cyber-horns..would that qualify as Exotic places and horns as Blades ( sangre y Azero) ??..

I know it feels odd. I'm just arguing RAW here, and that has nothing to do with how I feel about the situation.
A quick houserule can end the discussion pretty quickly in any case.
As TJ said, a popular way to rule exotic weapons is to allow specializations, in this case into your natural spiky tail, which could, in turn, qualify for that particular MA.


Also, something that struck me, from your OP:

You don't roll with the skill cyber implant weapons. You roll depending on the implanted weapon, e.g. blades skill for spurs, unarmed skill for hand razors, and so on.

Cyber implant weapons is a specialization of these skills.



It's not clear if hand razors are blades or unarmed, btw, since the equipment section doesn't define it. So, YMMV.

I found the answer to that under the blades skill description. It probably should have at least been referenced in the equipment description, but that area is pretty tightly packed as-is.

Blades skill specifies: "This skill is used for cyber-blades implanted in the hands or forearms, but not other areas of the body (see Exotic Melee Weapons, p. 112)."

The martial art specifies unusual locations, which is most likely referencing the need for the exotic melee weapons skill (the martial art appears to be designed to make up for needing an extra skill that you can't default to or specialize in).