[joe15552]

Workin' on hammering down a few loose ends on a new character that uses a monofilament whip.

Issue # 1: Hiding the damn thing

It's illegal. I got that. I am trying to figure out if the skin pocket bioware is big enough to hold it. I already planned on giving the character the palming skill and the con skill ("Monofilament whip? I don't have one... do you? *monofilament whip appears in security man's pocket* You know it's illegal to have that thing, right?") If it is not big enough, I'd have to get the smuggling compartment, which is too easy to spot in my opinion, and I'm trying to stick to bioware.
Questions: Is the skin pocket big enough for the whip? If not, any other suggestions?

Issue # 2: Attacking in a way that is not cheap and overpowered with edge

I plan to use edge while attacking multiple targets with the whip. Let's say my old boy had 5 agi, 6 skill, +2 reach, +1 personalized grip, +1 enhanced articulation, +1 reflex recorder = 16 dice to roll with an attack against 4 targets 1 meter apart from each other, thus rolling 4 dice on each of the 4 targets. (I know, why would that many people be that close without engaging in a sex orgy, but this is hypothetical)
Questions: If I spent a point of edge on the attack (let's say my old boy has 6 edge), would I only be able to add those 6 edge dice to one of those targets or would I be able to split up the 6 edge dice among the attacks however I like? If I spent 4 points of edge, would I be able to add 6 dice to each of the 4 attack rolls?

[FastJack]

Since the whip retracts into the haft when not in use, I'd say you'd be able to use the skin pocket to hide it. Figure the haft is about 5-6" long with a 1" diameter?

[Doc Chaos]

Sounds about right.

[joe15552]

cool. Of course I'll run it by my GM, but it's nice to know my thinking is not completely out of the ballpark. Any thoughts on my edge roll questions?

[FastJack]

First off, you can only spend Edge once per die roll, so you wouldn't be able to spend 4 Edge to add 6 dice to the split pool. You'd only be able to add the six Edge dice to the entire pool, but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to split them as you want, just like the other dice. So, you could put all six Edge dice on one target, or 3 on one and the other three split among the other targets; or 2 on two and 1 on two targets; or other combinations.

[Nomad Zophiel]

The whip itself takes up just over zero space. A relatively famous example has a Yakuza keeping one in his prosthetic thumb.  As for Edge, my main concern in allowing it to be split is that you now get Rule of Six on four different rolls.

[Mäx]

First off, you can only spend Edge once per die roll, so you wouldn't be able to spend 4 Edge to add 6 dice to the split pool.

Well technically he's making 4 different die rolls with the split pool.

[Bradd]

By the rules as written (SR4A, p. 74) you can only spend Edge once on any test or action, and the effects apply to a single test. Multiple attacks have multiple tests but only a single action, which implies that you can only use Edge once, and it only applies to one of the tests.

However, Full Defense is also an action, and this would imply that you can only spend Edge once per Full Defense action. I'm not sure that I like the implications of that. It's extra bookkeeping and deadlier, and I'm not fond of either. Therefore, I'm inclined to go easy on the once-per-action part of the rule.

By the way, Enhanced Articulation only applies to Physical skills, not to Combat skills. I noticed that Dawn of the Artifacts makes the same mistake in Samriel's write-up. "Physical skills" is a specific category: Running, Swimming, Infiltration, etc.

[Medicineman]

Questions: Is the skin pocket big enough for the whip? If not, any other suggestions?
It fits in a fingercompartment ! so its very,very small

Let's say my old boy had 5 agi, 6 skill, +2 reach, +1 personalized grip, +1 enhanced articulation, +1 reflex recorder = 16 dice to roll with an attack against 4 targets 1 meter apart from each other, thus rolling 4 dice on each of the 4 targets.
Enhanced Art. is not for Combat Skills ! Reflexrecorder raises the Skill itself
So its AGI 5 + Skill 7 = 12 Dice /4 =3 + Range 2(modifier) + pers Grip 1(Modifier)--> 6 Dice per Enemy

Questions: If I spent a point of edge on the attack only on one of the 4 Attack Rolls

If I spent 4 points of edge, would I be able to add 6 dice to each of the 4 attack rolls?
Yes because Each Attack is entitled its own Edge

HokaHey
Medicineman

[FastJack]

Sorry Medicineman:

Multiple targets
Characters may attack more than one opponent in melee with the same Complex Action, as long as those opponents are within one meter of each other. The attacker’s dice pool is split between each attack, and each attack is handled separately.

Since it's a single action and, as Bradd pointed out on p. 74, you can only use one Edge on a single action, I have to stick with my original answer that you can't spend edge on each attack roll.

[flatlyne2001]

Now with the Edge nothing says you have to split your combat pool equally 

[Bradd]

True. You could make one attack with just 1 die + Edge, and split the rest of the pool among the other attacks. Only the Edge attack gets rule of six, of course.

[joe15552]

Medicineman:

So its AGI 5 + Skill 7 = 12 Dice /4 =3 + Range 2(modifier) + pers Grip 1(Modifier)--> 6 Dice per Enemy

That's an interesting interpretation. I would not have taken the rules that way. I think I got the edge thing ironed out, but I didn't know you add the range and the grip modifier to each enemy.

In my interpretation, the grip and the range add to the pool, and the pool is split among targets.

Also my interpretation of enhanced articulations enhancement is that it adds +1 to physical skills linked to physical attributes. It doesn't say it adds to athletic skills, it says physical skills. So taken literally, I see it as +1 to anything that is under the "Physical Attributes" section in the book. I can understand why a GM would interpret it your way, though, so I guess I should run that by my GM before I make an attack roll.

[Bradd]

See SR4A, p. 124, "Physical Active Skills." The ones linked to physical attributes are Climbing, Diving, Escape Artist, Gymnastics, Infiltration, Palming, Parachuting, Running, and Swimming. That's all of the Athletics group, half of the Stealth group, and a bunch of miscellaneous skills.

As for modifiers to split dice pools, see SR4A, p. 150, "Attacker Using a Second Firearm": "Split the pool before applying [dice pool] modifiers." Reflex Recorders are different, though, because they modify your skill rather than the dice pool. See SR4A, p. 61, "A Note on Modifiers" sidebar for a discussion of the difference.

[FastJack]

Bradd's right, Joe.