I would rule that managable weight would be based on core strength unless the character had 2 cyber arms. If 2 cyber arms, I would use the lowest rating for the two. This is because managable wieght is not a limit on the how much can be lifted using only his arms, but how much the character can wield using his whole body (back, legs, core, etc.). Now I might rule that the higher of the two could be used to determine how much weight can be wielded one handed as a weapon, but it seems like extra effort that you should only use if you are willing to add that level of complexity.
I would say manageable weight should still be limited to the core strength. There is a great little comic in Ghost in the Shell Manga that points out that while you arm can lift 500 pounds when you try to do that the cyber arm will rip its self right off the meat part of the person…You can reinforce the cyber arm but you can’t really overcome the inherent lack of strength of the meat part of the person.
I would say manageable weight should still be limited to the core strength. There is a great little comic in Ghost in the Shell Manga that points out that while you arm can lift 500 pounds when you try to do that the cyber arm will rip its self right off the meat part of the person…You can reinforce the cyber arm but you can’t really overcome the inherent lack of strength of the meat part of the person.
Unless you spend the CDP to get upgrades in the rest of your body accordingly. Personally I would say that it gives you a certain bonus as the cyber arm isn’t just hanging off the bone. Its generally accepted that to mount it, you’d likely have to incorporate it into the should area. This would allow some bonuses to manageable weight. With added supporting structure the amount of a bonus would obviously be limited, but there would be some.
Thanks for the answer, people! It’s really appreciated!
However, I still don’t know the most critical part of the question: does a cyberarm override your Strength to 15, even if you had boosted it higher previously (with CDP or AI extra quality points, for example).
Thanks for the answer, people! It’s really appreciated!
However, I still don’t know the most critical part of the question: does a cyberarm override your Strength to 15, even if you had boosted it higher previously (with CDP or AI extra quality points, for example).
All modifications for things like cybernetics are done on top of Base Core. So if you spend the CDP to pump up your Core Strength to 20, then you would have a bonus of whatever the cybernetics give you on top of that. (ie, a cybernetic arm that gives you a +2 to strength would then raise your strength to 22.)
You should always calculate those bonuses as modifications to the base Core. By noting them separately you can account for things like having them removed by an evil CyberDoc.
I understand and agree that this is the way it is normally done for bonuses on qualities and so on.
However, the rulebook states the following for cyberarms: “Cyber-Arms have a base Strength Core Quality Score of 15”. It is clear from this description that the ‘15’ is not a bonus on the Strength, but replaces it. Also, +15 seems like overdoing it somewhat as a bonus.
But now that I read that phrase again by quoting it, I think I understand how it works. The ‘base’ word likely signifies that the Core Quality Strength score is set to 15 prior to spending any CDP. For example, an Artificial Intelligence character would start character creation with base scores of Strength 15, Agility 9, Conditioning 9, and so on. Unfortunately, this can make character development complicated: a player needs to know that he/she wants to buy cyberarms for his/her character (normally only done in step 11 of character creation) BEFORE he spends any CDP (step 3). This is complicated even further if it the player needs to choose the Windfall ability (step 7) to buy more expensive equipment.
But I would like to have an official word on this from the MSL people, if possible. I don’t want to unbalance my game too much
Then again, what happens if one wants to purchase a cyberarm later on in the campaign, when a Strength score has already been boosted to a value higher than 15?
Then again, what happens if one wants to purchase a cyberarm later on in the campaign, when a Strength score has already been boosted to a value higher than 15?
Ok. I’ve been doing some reading and this is what I got out of it.
When you get the Cyber Arms, you are replacing your normal arms. Thus you are replacing your Base Core strength with 15. At that point instead of spending CDP to increase the strength, you spend Trust and have to deal with Impurity limitations.
So, if you had a natural base core strength of 20, replacing it would cyber-arms would indeed drop your strength to 15. At that point you would have to spend Trust and gain impurity to gain strength.
Right, I see what you mean. I completely missed the ‘Increased Strength’ add-ons for cyberarms.
But would you say that you could also boost your strength again with CDP? From a story point-of-view, that would make sense. Having a cyber arm requires training to use properly; the experience you gained in Strength before you had the cyber arm is lost, and you’ll have to spend CDP again to get back to the same level of expertise.
Right, I see what you mean. I completely missed the ‘Increased Strength’ add-ons for cyberarms.
But would you say that you could also boost your strength again with CDP? From a story point-of-view, that would make sense. Having a cyber arm requires training to use properly; the experience you gained in Strength before you had the cyber arm is lost, and you’ll have to spend CDP again to get back to the same level of expertise.
The difference being that unlike real arms, cyber arms have a set capability to them. I would say that no, you would not be able to use CDP to increase the quality once you have replaced the arms with Cyber arms.
I wouldn’t say they couldn’t. It wouldn’t make -sense- because you are dropping your base core quality rating. But I would allow it if they really wanted to.
