I'm double checking, to make sure I haven't lost my mind.
If I take full ambidexterity,
Blades 6,
and use a knife in both hands, I roll 9 dice, right?
Now, if I take improved combat skill: Blades 6, I roll 18 dice, right?
12 + (12/2) = 18

Yep, that's right.

Then there's combat pool to add in too..

Nope, 15

6 (main skill) + 6 (Power) + 3 (Half skill)

Yep, that's exactly how it works. I used to think that Improved Ability didn't work since it only increases dice, not skill, but the description for Ambidexterity specifically mentions dice instead of skill, too. (Makes ya wonder why they bothered to distinguish between the two in the power's description to begin with.)

My guess is so that GMs wouldn't try to make poor helpless adepts pay extra Karma to learn Edged Weapons 7, as they do for improved attribute when increasing an attribute with Karma.

Personally I think it's not all that sad. Once the Adept hits 12 die no mortal can possibly beat him in melee, 12 or 18 die it just doesn't matter at that point, the adept will probably kill you in one blow no matter what you do.

Unless you shoot them while still out of reach.

Given that most SR fights take place in very close quarters, that's hardly ever an option for very long, if at all.

I'm just waiting for someone to say.

I have Gun-fu/Gun-Kata and can fight him off in close quarters and still shoot him.

Of course, if this is a starting adept, you specialize in a specific weapon, and get that one extra dice. And you buy a weapon focus that you can bond later. Then there's counterstrike, in combination with quick draw(melee) and centering for extra successes/against penalties once you're an initiate grade 2.

Someone attacks you in melee combat and you quickly pull out two knives and counterattack - with 25 dice, plus the weapon focus and possibly combat pool on top of that.

Meanwhile, the guys partner double-taps your heart from 100 m away with a rifle

One cannot 'double tap' with a rifle from 100m away.

Smells like a munchkin to me.

Of course, you can always start out with an adept of the magical way, and have a Force: 6 weapon focus that you already have bonded. 27 dice for melee, and if it comes down to ranged combat, you can manabolt them. Not as munchy as the dreaded 5 girl scouts with pointy sticks, but still moderately munchy.

He's presumably talking about real life. Which, of course, doesn't always compare exactly to the SR world.

Ah.

Double Tap does not mean to shoot someone twice. It means to shoot them twice after they are on the ground dead/faking death.

Usually once in the head and once in the heart.

So why couldn't you do that anyway? Sure, it might be a little harder to get a good angle, but that's what the laying prone modifier is for. Regardless, the context above was about shooting twice in rapid order.

Well, I'm pretty sure that over here double tap does mean to shoot someone twice (while they're still up).

Anyway, in SR you can do either one, with a rifle, from 100m away. Great fun eh?

The phrase ‘Double Tap’ got it’s start in the US army. Other countries may have borrowed it and changed their meaning of the phrase. But this is what it means.

After you have shot someone and they fall down, you shoot them again… twice. Hence the double tap. You do this to ensure they are dead.

Yes it means shoot them twice, but you do it after they are dead (or faking death).

To just shoot someone twice is not a double tap.

Don't forget enhanced articulation and reflex recorders. Oh, and the 10-point ambidexterity, which lets you use 3 weapons. I'm working on a SURGEd adept with a prehensile tail who can use 2 swords plus a monowhip in a tailtip compartment. I think I can get at least 30 dice that way. He'll be like a human cuisinart.

You people disgust me.

Reading this thread got the smell of twink in my clothes and now no amount of washing will ever get it out.

Well, okay then. In the US it means to shoot someone twice when they're on the ground, here it means to shoot them twice (in rapid succession) when they're still up.

Either way, both are totally possible thanks to the joys of SR game mechanics.

Three weapon fighting: Come on now! I think two weapons is quite enough, and a monowhip in the tail is pretty silly as well as dangerous. In fact tails are pretty silly in general! SURGEd, balance, or otherwise.

Oh c'mon -- for frag's sake, we have digigrade legs.

Cybernetic combat tails actually sound pretty slick.

-Siege

Alternatively, it could be a tail taser, but then I wouldn't get the +2 reach bonus.

You also wouldn't be liable to injure yourself and anyone near you in some grotesque manner with an out-of-control monofilament whip.

Hmm, Tridexterity plus improved Ability (whips). 6.

Plus Whips 6, naturally. I think a Monofilament whip is actually one handed so you can hold 3 of them, so specialize and have Monowhip 7, improve to 8 as soon as you get the Karma (Better go Night One to get 8 quickness).

Now make each Monowhip a force 6 Weapon Foci.

And you'll be throwing:

16 Die for Skill on all Whips
12 more Die for improved Ability.
18 more Die for Foci

Holy Frag, 46 Dice before Combat Pool.

EDIT:
Wait that's wrong, a Foci adds directly to your skill, it doesn't just add die. That means that your skill is effectively 18+8 = 26.

So 26 die for your first whip, 13 die for each additional whip. Adds up to 52 die before improved ability, 12 Die for Improved Ability, total of 64 Die before Combat Pool.

But let's carry things to the ultimate "God that's a lot of Whips" extreme. 4 Cyberlimbs plus Cybertorso (Have to Initiate to handle that much cyberware and still be awakened, or else convince the GM to give us a Geasa.). Gives us Room to Add 5 Articulate Arms, 1 per limb plus torso. Give each arm a Weapon-Foci 6 Monofilament Whip.

That means our Plus-to-skill bonus for 8 Force 6 Weapons is skill 48, for a total of Whips(Monowhips) 54(56).

56 Die for the First Whip, 23 Die for each additional Monowhip. We have a Total of 8 Whips so 23 * 7 for additional whips gives us 161 Dice. That's before we consider Improved Ability, let's say we only have 1 Magic left so it's a measly 2. That's 2 plus 1 per additional whip for a total of 9 additional Die.

So we'll be throwing a Total of 56+161+9=226 Die.

That's before we take Combat Pool Into Acount of Course. Sinc your skill is 56 we can add our full pool of 10 die to it for a total of 236.

I think I've officially killed the subject of Horrors of extra die by this point.

No Wait, make the Tail a Cyberlimb and add an articulate arm to it for. . .

Improved Ability can only be as high as the base skill, so specializing nets you nothing (7 dice specialization, 5 dice imp ability) and is a disadvantage because you can't pick up a gun from a fallen foe after you run out of ammo and use it as effectively.

For melee though, weapon foci are nasty. BeCKS, adept, Weapon Focus Katana: 6 (bonded), Edged Weapons: 6, Improved Ability (Edged Weapons): 6, Off-Hand (Edged Weapons): 6. 21 dice before combat pool. Of course, the character can't do much of anything else...

The Abstruse One

Specializing does get you something: 0.5 Power Points. Off-Hand skills rated at 6 or higher are a waste, too; Ambidexterity 3 gets you the same thing except it allows you to use any skill or weapon off-handed with the same bonus plus lets you weild two firearms with reduced penalty. Best of all, you gain the advantage of gaining the bonus dice from Improved Ability when weilding the same class of weapon in both hands. Win-win.

In the specialized category:

12 dice, primary weapon of choice
10 dice, any other gun

Ya know what, those two dice are frosting on the cake.

Granted, 12 dice, any gun is nice but how often does a specialist run out of ammo for his (or her) specialty?

-Siege