Hey there guys, on the subject of implant weaponry, if you had one implanted in your offhand would it be acceptable to reduce the penalty for firing this weapon on its own or at the same time as firing one in the main hand? Or even would it be justification for ambidexterity?
On a similar note, how well would mechandrites compensate for the lack of said offhand?
Rob
In my view, no. Unless implant weapons are considered easier to use overall, it is still their off hand being used. One of my characters has an implanted powerfist and still gets the penalty, when I remember it. It's a fairly lazy justification for ambidexterity as well, since an implant weapon wouldn't affect someone's handedness.
Mechadendrites, on the other hand, clearly have their own set of neural links and maybe should be classified as off hands due to that, but fall outside of normal handedness. Same with actual bionics, possibly.
I agree with Myriad. Although a lot will depend on the quality of an implant. For example, if a guardsman gets a bionic arm with a crude neural interface to replace their good hand, they should count as having two off-hands. On the other hand, a high ranking tech-priest who gets himself a fancy new arm and fancy new cranial circuits may find his dexterity improved so he's effectively ambidextrous.
Ok thats cool, to put it in context (and so the reason I asked) is that the implant weapon will occupy the whole lower arm more or less and my thinking was that it made it very simple to point and fire, but I am more than happy to accept the penalties.
In terms of mechandrites I more meant how wold they compensate in terms of normal hand actions, as obviously he will be limited in his actions with one hand, so for things like climbing ladders, reloading etc. Things other than mechanical interface which they obviously provide a benefit.
Again for context the character is a Phaenonite Inquisitor, the controlling hand of a large sub-sector crime syndicate, as well as being in connection with a radical tech-priest, who is not fully aware of the Inquisitors allegiance, so thinking him only a minor radical.
Cheers all anyway :)
Ps. I hope it doesn't come across that I'm just trying to cheat my way out of penalties, thats really not why I'm asking. Sorry if it comes across as that though.