[Sir Ludwig]

Good Afternoon,

Anyone who has seen my previous post know I am starting up a group of previous edition vets. and complete RPG noobs. 

I have a player that wants to run a burned out corp. mage (he was looking through my 1st edition stuff).  His question:

"Can I make Retractable Hand Razors/ Spurs into a Weapon Foci?"

First thought was, No.  However, I can't find anything in the rules (p154-156 or p294) that says he cannot. 

Then he walked me through his thought process.
 He could bond the blade portion/s, then have the razors/spurs and rest of the ware implanted.   

Appreciate the input.
Ludwig

[Trigger Lynx]

A mage can see out of cyber eyes when they pay the Essence, I don't see why you can't use implant weapons as Foci.

[Hobbes]

Short answer: Yes. 

Long answer:

Figure any implanted cyberweapon, blade, gun or otherwise, needs to be maintained at some point.  Blades break, chip and dull and would need to be replaced or sharpened occasionally.  You're not going in to a cyberdoc to get a nick in your claws ground out.  And you're sure as hell not going to be dremeling on them while they're still implanted. 

So ultimately, the order doesn't matter.  The blades can be Enchanted before or after implantation.  They can be removed and re-installed "easily".  Or they'd stop being useful as anything other than a can opener or novelty item pretty quick.

Same deal with repairing Cyberdecks or cleaning your Cyberguns.  They have to be able to come in and out without too much trouble or they'd simply stop functioning after a while.

[Michael Chandra]

Shouldn't be a problem to have the Focus made, then implanted, then attuned. Is fine.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

As universally said above: there's no restriction about what weapons may or may not be weapon foci.

I'm chiming in to offer some historical context, as well as some opinion.  Generally, magic and tech are supposed to mix poorly, when the mix at all.  Foci are supposed to be "easier" to make out of natural materials than refined/processed ones.  But to repeat, it's been at least a few editions now since there were restrictions against things like cyberspurs, chainsaws, or monofilament whip weapon foci.  I like the idea of weapon foci having higher availability for the same force if they're made out of highly processed materials (cyberware, monofilament, etc) than weapon foci made out of less refined/more natural materials.  In other words, for the same force, a weapon focus made out of a MWF is harder to make (and therefore find) than a focus made out of blacksmithed steel, which is in turn harder to make (and therefore find) than a weapon focus made out of antler, sinew, and obsidian.  While the Magic expansion book may delve into that, that kind of idea is for now very much house rules-y.

[Sir Ludwig]

SSDR,

Played every edition except 5th, which edition was technology and magic a no go?  I guess that was why my initial reaction was "no".

Thanks,
Ludwig

[nex]

The Object Resistiance might be considered 15+ since its is cyberware so the enchanting would be challenging. A skilled enchanter could pull it off which would translate into expense in my book.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

SSDR,

Played every edition except 5th, which edition was technology and magic a no go?  I guess that was why my initial reaction was "no".

Thanks,
Ludwig

It wasn't so much a hard no-go, there used to be rules about factoring in object resistance when enchanting foci.  Not sure which edition stopped doing that, maybe 4e.  Maybe earlier.  The end result was if you wanted to enchant a technological weapon into a weapon focus, it was harder to succeed at than using something lower tech, or using purely natural/raw materials.

[Michael Chandra]

I recall having a hard time making a vehicle ready for possession in SR4, think the same for foci but would have to check the books.

[Reaver]

it's been in the game since... well forever.

while I don't have my magic 2e book in front of me, I DO have have Magic in the Shadows, 3e magic source book.

Page 43
MATERIAL BASIS
....
Any inanimate object can serve as a telsma (the base form of a focus), A wooden wand, a jeweled charm, a weapon, a car, an oddly shaped stone and so on. Because the Telesma's Object Resistance modifies the target number for enchanting tests, the more natural an object..... (see Object resistance table 182 SR3)


There we see a little table on the bottom of the page..
Natural Objects    (tress, Soil, unprocessed Water)   3
Manufactured Low-tech Ojects and mats (brick, leater, simple plastics) 5
Manufactured High-Tech Objects and Mats (Advanced plastics, alloys, electronic Equipment) 8
Highly Processed Objects (Computers, Complex Toxic Wastes) 10+               

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

it's been in the game since... well forever.

while I don't have my magic 2e book in front of me, I DO have have Magic in the Shadows, 3e magic source book.

Page 43
MATERIAL BASIS
....
Any inanimate object can serve as a telsma (the base form of a focus), A wooden wand, a jeweled charm, a weapon, a car, an oddly shaped stone and so on. Because the Telesma's Object Resistance modifies the target number for enchanting tests, the more natural an object..... (see Object resistance table 182 SR3)


There we see a little table on the bottom of the page..
Natural Objects    (tress, Soil, unprocessed Water)   3
Manufactured Low-tech Ojects and mats (brick, leater, simple plastics) 5
Manufactured High-Tech Objects and Mats (Advanced plastics, alloys, electronic Equipment) 8
Highly Processed Objects (Computers, Complex Toxic Wastes) 10+               

Yeah, that's exactly what I was talking about.  But comparable rules don't exist in 5e and (so far) in 6we.