That's what I'd suggest instead of a bracelet. I had a character with a weapon focus based on them. Reach 0, (Str+1) M Stun is hardly unbalancing.

I tend to agree.

After all, all the weapon focus does is allow you extra dice for your combat test. I just wanted to see what the consensus here was.

Here's a quick Q:

Do the dice from a Weapon Focus refresh like Combat Pool dice, or are they usable every action like skill dice? Is it the same for a Spell Focus or a Power Focus?

I would have thought the point of my post would be obvious. Yes, it is to your question on Focus dice.

I think your assertion that only 6 combat pool dice can be used is wrong. The Weapon Focus adds its Force to the melee skill itself. Therefore as long as the weapon focus is active and touching the owner, his skill is base skill + force. So 10 combat pool dice.

Hmm...

I don't mind a little powergaming (like using a Weapon Focus to enhance your Unarmed Combat) but the GM in me doesn't like letting people throw 20D6...

This assumes they have 10 Combat Pool, and also that they don't care if they get shot to bits the next pass.

10 combat pool dice is the bigger assumption.

The way I play MY PhysAdepts is I don't attack. I wait for the other guy to attack me, then throw ALL my combat pool into the counter attack.

If I get more successes, then I injure him.

(Although ties DO go to the attacker...)

Well, that's the way it works for all Weapon Foci in canon.

An adept probably should be throwing that many in anything except unarmed (assuming you're using the advanced melee rules), so it doesn't bother me too much. If a physad starts with 5 edged weapons/6 survival knife and 4 points of improved ability they will be able to easily toss 16 at char gen. It doesn't take much karma to boost that 5/6 to 5/8. 8 skill+4 IA+8 combat pool is easily possible.

It depends on the power level of your game. In my rediculously overpowered game 10 Combat Pool is the average among the PC's (Uniformly high Int, Will and Quickness scores, usually with one in the 8-9 range and the other two at 6). There's one PC who has the 8 point Ambidexterity and a specilization in swords of 8 and a force 3 weapon focus in his lead hand. He throws 15 dice into melee tests without putting a single combat pool die into it. The killer Sammy has a hand cannon specialization (unique super-heavy pistols made specially for him) at 12, and usually fires a bunch of of no-combat pool potshots at whoever he wants dead to waste their combat pool before throwing 22 dice into a called shot for the poor slot's head. At one point, I actually had to roll all 40 of my personal d6's on a single test for an NPC (I can't remember if it was an attack on one of the players or a damage soak roll or what, I just remember the player's eyes going wide as I grabbed the whole pile of dice and started shakin'...)

On the other hand, in a lower-powered game, such shenanigans would be rediculous and probably not happen often.

Do remember to Attune your weapon focus for added goodness.

Yes, but as the reach of the weapon goes up, so does its cost. This was my initial problem with allowing a focus for Unarmed Combat to begin with - No Reach makes the focus way cheap (Nuyen wise).

Some people felt that using the dice from the focus with Unarmed Combat and Killing Hands was cheesy. Well, I don't find it any more cheesy that a Diacoated Katana Weapon Focus.

"Hmm, a (STR)D or a (STR+3)S? What would I rather roll 20 dice to hit someone with?"

And TWO Weapon Foci? Ain't happenin', Bub. That's munchkinism of the worst sort.

What does Attune do?

It's a Metamagic that let's an Adept attune himself to particular items (each item type is a different Metamagic), granting him -1 TN to use it. It costs Karma to Attune an item, depending on the OR of the item itself.

It's described in SotA '64.

Why? It's perfectly within the rules to use two Weapon Foci.

Reach 0 weapon foci start at 190,000. That's not cheap. At force 4 they are 460,00. If you're going to go that far you might as well get 1,000,000 nuyen of resources and spend the extra 280,000 to get a reach 1 force 6. If your're going to be a one trick pony you might as well go all the way.
Besides, there are plenty of reach 0 weapons that make good foci. The Couger fineblade comes to mind. It does STR+1 M. A Sap Focus does STR+1 M Stun, just like the hardliner gloves. If you aren't going to deny foci to edged weapon adepts and blunt weapon adepts there is little reason to deny them to unarmed adepts.

Also, I am aware of nothing in canon that prohibits two weapon foci. Cheesy yes, but technically legal.

First rule of being a GM - Just because the rules allow it doesn't mean it's a good idea.

No, the first rule of the GM is for the players to have fun. If you players are having fun playing munchkin PCs, you suck it up and do your job.

Amen.

I think Toturi said:

I don't think his statement applies to a situation where only one player is having fun while the others are being shut out... He did use the plural form of the word player...

:cyber
And GMs count as players (you sit at the table, you roll dice, you're there to play the game as well - it's not like GMs are professional referees or something...)

[Edit]A_E beat me to it.

Now that deserves the amen.

If the GM isn't having fun, he isn't GMing. GMing is fun, either you have fun or you force yourself to have fun. Either way, the GM has fun.

If you're a GM who enjoys hack & slash, then sure.

If you're a GM who enjoys role playing and character & plot development, then you find other players.

I've been playing and GM'ing since '79. I've had good RPG groups and bad RPG groups. Life is too short (at least mine is, now) to suffer munchkins.

Remember, the GM is playing too, so he also gets to have fun.

To that, I have five words:

Knights of the Dinner Table

Sometimes, because of players who are pin heads, GM'ing is NOT fun.

Don't bring a knife to a gunfight, eh? Not even a katana?

One of the things I've always likes about Shadowrun is how it balances melee, missile and guns.

If I want to play a character that used a bow and arrow and take that character on a run through the shadows, then I can. Sure a gun is better but the bow and arrow is still good (WAY better that it would be in real life).

Same for the guy with a sword, the Troll with Titanium Bone Lacing or the Adapt with maxed out Unarmed Combat and Killing Hands. With decent armor and better than average Initiative & Reaction you can hold your own up to SMGs and Heavy Pistols.

Now if the other guy has an AK or a SPAS, well then you're just boned...

And if his weapon of choice is Knives, and he has TWO knives that are BOTH Force 6 Weapon Foci, his Unarmed Combat skill becomes 18 for a total of 27 dice when using the knives in both hands.

And if the knives are Diacoated (and why wouldn't they be?) then he's swinging for (STR+1)S damage.

And if it were two Diacoated Weapon Foci Spurs, then it would be (STR+3)S damage rolling 27 dice plus Combat Pool.

Munchkin Fu at its finest.

[Edit]Cyberspurs do (STR)M Damage, (STR+1)S when Dikoted. Depending on the GM, you may well get (STR x 1.5 + 1)S in addition to the +50% dice with dual Dikoted spurs.[/Edit]

Oh, OK, that's certainly true. From earlier discussions I have been left with a feeling that there're more GMs who only use the CC rules and ignore the bit in SR3 about dual-cyberweapons than those who ignore the CC rules either completely or just for cyberweapons. And then there's Lantzer's approach, also shared by several GMs, and I think yet a few more possible approaches which I can't think of right now.

I agree with Doctor Funkenstein that in most situations using both rules will only serve to make things more balanced and to make cyberimplant melee weaponry slightly more attractive compared to conventional melee weapons. It only gets silly with really high STRs.