[Solomon]

I am aware this topic has likely been examined in the past because the wording and examples in the SR4A rule books seem somewhat vague, so I apologize in advance. If I have a custom full cyber arm with a body of 8 and my natural body is 4 what is the dice value rolled to resist damage and how much armor can I wear?

[JustADude]

Okay, you have four "natural" bodyparts (Torso, legs, 1 arm) and one cyber part. Barring things like Called Shots to target something specific, there are no hit-locations, so everything gets averaged together.

( ( 4 * 4 ) + 8 ) / 5 = 4.8.

Since you always round down when figuring the attributes, you end up with Body 4 and you might as well just save yourself the expense of Customization.

[_Pax_]

Yeah, usually one limb alone isn't going to change your overall body by much.

Also, not all GMs will apply your averaged Body to the limit of what armor you can wear.

[JustADude]

Yeah, usually one limb alone isn't going to change your overall body by much.

Also, not all GMs will apply your averaged Body to the limit of what armor you can wear.

Yep... but that's why the Devs invented Cyberlimb Armor!

Also, Solomon, take a look at the Bad Enough Trog, from UmaroVI's "upgraded" premades, to get a gander at the "full potential" of Cyberlimbs.

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[Tsuzua]

You can take a look at my Sig for my explanation of the math involved with Cyberlimbs.

In practice, you can "raise" at attribute with a single cyberlimb as long as the limb's value is 5 higher than your meat's value.  Typically this is done via customizing the limb's attribute to your natural max and then getting a rating 3 enhancement for that attribute.  For example with a 4 meat Body, you can get a "5" Body with a cyberlimb with Body 6 (+3 Customization) and a Rating 3 Body Enhancement for that limb.

[dashifen]

Don't forget that cyberlimbs also give you an additional physical condition monitor box (SR4A, p. 343) which can be just as helpful as the higher numbers.

[All4BigGuns]

Yeah, usually one limb alone isn't going to change your overall body by much.

Also, not all GMs will apply your averaged Body to the limit of what armor you can wear.

I won't if it's lower than the natural Body, but I will if it's higher.

[Eye Eternal]

Would a cyberlimb for a troll also still begin at 3's for stats before cusomizing? They have min 5 strength and body as is. If they got standard cyberlimbs, would their attributes technically drop if they had replacements with normal cyberlimbs? Would you rule that their cyberlimbs begin with 5's but up the cost or accordingly? Is there some ruling on that someplace, or could you drop cyberlimbs with attribute 3 on them and since its stat 5 minimum for trolls just assume if its below 5 it IS 5 until they are worth enough to begin pushing into positive bonuses?

[_Pax_]

Yes, even for Metas, the attributes start at 3.  Obviously, they're big fans of Customised cyberlimbs.

[Eye Eternal]

But would uncustomized limbs LOWER their attributes? If they for some reason were cheap, couldn't afford it, or just woke up with "hey new limb"... Would they have lowered stats until they upgrade?

[JustADude]

Would a cyberlimb for a troll also still begin at 3's for stats before cusomizing? They have min 5 strength and body as is. If they got standard cyberlimbs, would their attributes technically drop if they had replacements with normal cyberlimbs?

By the Rules As Written: Yes and yes

Would you rule that their cyberlimbs begin with 5's but up the cost or accordingly? Is there some ruling on that someplace, or could you drop cyberlimbs with attribute 3 on them and since its stat 5 minimum for trolls just assume if its below 5 it IS 5 until they are worth enough to begin pushing into positive bonuses?

There's no actual ruling like that. Anything to alter it from a flat 3 is a House Rule decided from GM to GM.

That said, in any campaign I was running I'd have them starting at (Metatype Minimum + 2), since 3 is 2 over the Human minimum. The price gets boosted accordingly, but the availability stays standard since it's still a "stock" cyberlimb, just of a brand targeted towards Dwarves/Trolls/Orks/Elves.

That mean a Troll would get Strength and Body 7, not just 5,  Orks get Body 6 and Strength 5, Dwarves get Body 4 and Strength 5, and Elves get Agility 4.

As for people cheesing and getting cyberlimbs for the wrong Metatype... Trolls and Dwarfs just have major size issues that prevent cross-compatibility, other than that I'd simply slap <Metatype> Poser on someone buying an Ork or Elf cyberlimb that isn't one.

[_Pax_]

I like that point abut Availability, JustADude.

It somewhat mirrors a suggestion I made, good lord, over fifteen years ago (back on AOL, when FASA was still in the drivers' seat: Metahumans with nonstandard vision types, don't pay essence (in SR4, that'd be capacity) to get the same type of vision in a cybereye.  So a Dwarf or Troll getting cybereyes with Thermographic Vision, would not use any Capacity for the Thermo.  The reasoning was, "their brains are already wired for it, so it's less impactful on their aura/essence/etc".

[JustADude]

The reasoning was, "their brains are already wired for it, so it's less impactful on their aura/essence/etc".

And, of course, in SR4A, it's "their brains are already wired for it, so they're going to want to buy Cybereyes that have them, stock, so they don't lose vision functionality."

Ditto, I guess, for Elves/Orks and Low Light Vision.

[hobgoblin]

But would uncustomized limbs LOWER their attributes?

And this is basically why Augmentation introduced custom limbs.