Robotic backpack that adds additional arms

[Glamurio]

Okay, so hear me out.

What if we added an item that lets you have more than two arms. I know, it's crazy. But what if we made it a backpack, like a robo-backpack that gives you two robo-arms. You exchange a 7-slot backpack for 2 slots on your arms. That's a 5 slot deficit for the ability to potentially fiddle around with 4 objects.

Is it worth it? Arguably. I don't know the balance on wielding two shotguns at the same time. But is it cool? Absolutely.

These are the ramblings of a madman, but I had the idea, so I felt like tossing it into the void.

[Goat_Real]

can we use it to carry four people at once and become an absolute wall of people. Imagine someone carrying four people with weapons all charging at you.

[Cal]

kinda cool idea

[Frank_Stein]

I like having more equipment on slots that are normally only used for a few things

[Judobum]

Thatd be a neat idea. Would be funny to see a four armed clown and it has uses for most jobs. Doc's can use it for menders, hemostats, sutures, etc. Engineers could use it to hold their t-ray scanners, and mech scanners or other tools and so on so forth. Would assist with a Admech chaplain gimmick or just a roboticist trying to get as close to the line of being machine as possible.

[Doop]

I would love this, it's classic goofy sci-fi and fits the roboticist aesthetic perfectly.

[Kotlol]

DR. OCTOCLOWNAPUS!

[Dhaidburt]

I LOVE the idea of extra arms, especially for surgery. Just keep a hemostat in one of the extra arms at all times and go to TOWN. Robotics also becomes far more popular too, though I'm not sure if I want them to come straight outa the fab completed (causing people to eat all of robotics' stuff) or if they'd be more fun if they needed to be manually created (giving robotics more work at the cost of it potentially being built elsewhere)

Trying to think of ways to break this...

1. Would they be able to hold any item, such as a jetpack? That could give you more handspace in the longrun, given you're able to get one in the first place though

2. Would you need 2 pairs of handcuffs, or would security need to detatch the backpack? Maybe the handcuffs are now magnetized so they force the extra arms to be attached too

3. Should there be a chance to break the arms, like how you can zap your arms off by messing with an ACP with no gloves? Might be better to have a chance for it to completely break instead, losing both extra arms.

4. What unspeakable horrors would be unleashed upon us if these extra arms are attached as item arms? Is mankind going too far with 6 limbs? (or can backpacks already not be attached as arms, I haven't experimented)

And the dumb ideas:
Suplexing 4 people at once should come with a unique sound effect. You sure did it champ
Washing hands with extra arms increases how fast you're able to wash. Speedruns, baby!
Clowns juggling some extra arms causes the juggled extra arms to also juggle

[Glamurio]

I LOVE the idea of extra arms, especially for surgery. Just keep a hemostat in one of the extra arms at all times and go to TOWN. Robotics also becomes far more popular too, though I'm not sure if I want them to come straight outa the fab completed (causing people to eat all of robotics' stuff) or if they'd be more fun if they needed to be manually created (giving robotics more work at the cost of it potentially being built elsewhere)

Trying to think of ways to break this...

1. Would they be able to hold any item, such as a jetpack? That could give you more handspace in the longrun, given you're able to get one in the first place though

2. Would you need 2 pairs of handcuffs, or would security need to detatch the backpack? Maybe the handcuffs are now magnetized so they force the extra arms to be attached too

3. Should there be a chance to break the arms, like how you can zap your arms off by messing with an ACP with no gloves? Might be better to have a chance for it to completely break instead, losing both extra arms.

4. What unspeakable horrors would be unleashed upon us if these extra arms are attached as item arms? Is mankind going too far with 6 limbs? (or can backpacks already not be attached as arms, I haven't experimented)

And the dumb ideas:
Suplexing 4 people at once should come with a unique sound effect. You sure did it champ
Washing hands with extra arms increases how fast you're able to wash. Speedruns, baby!
Clowns juggling some extra arms causes the juggled extra arms to also juggle

Asking genuinely good questions, here's some thoughts.

Definitely big time believer on the idea of having to assemble them. Robotics is all about creation, putting together a robot is the most fun part of the job and giving them a new tool to hand out to people strolling in is just fun. It also opens up the possibility of using different kinds of arms on the backpack, perhaps impacting weight/movement loss? Trying not to overcomplicate the idea and make it a headache to code, but food for thought.

1. I think they should hold any item, there's no reason they shouldn't be able to. Functionally, they're a second pair of hands.

2. I'm not sure how the handcuff code works, thematically you would certainly need two, but I like the magnet idea as an excuse. Balance-wise, I don't really want to have security double-cuff people, especially when we're dealing with someone who's been to robotics and most likely has robo-arms that are able to break cuffs already.

3. If we're sticking to the assembly variant that's allowed to have different kind of limbs, it's not too far-fetched to implement a limb system to the backpack and allow for arms to be individually broken off. Again, this entirely (to me) depends on how much of a nightmare it would be to code. Thematically I love it, though maybe practically just breaking the backpack instead is more feasible.

The main reason for my concern is targeting; right now you can target all limbs, but if they wear a backpack, how do you specifically target that? Perhaps a 50/50 chance on getting punched in the chest? No clue how to do that yet.

4. Pretty sure backpacks are able to be attached to arms, but since this isn't so much a backpack but rather an item taking the backpack slot, having different rules for it shouldn't be an issue. Plain and simple, I'd rather avoid being able to attach these things as arms. In fact, that's part of the reason why I'd suggest a backpack in the first place, it's supposed to be a trade-off, not a simple upgrade. If people could have them as arms it'd forgo the entire reason of having them.

[Goat_Real]

Suplexing 4 people at once should come with a unique sound effect. You sure did it champ

I believe right now you can only suplex one person, the one in your active hand, at a time.

[fungicidal]

This is a really cool idea, I'd love to see more backpack slot items. Wouldn't it be trivial to just hold a backpack and fill it in one of the four arms though, if they can hold any item without limits?
Because then Johnny Robotlimbs has all the benefits of having a third arm, along with a backpack full of stuff.

[Kotlol]

This is a really cool idea, I'd love to see more backpack slot items. Wouldn't it be trivial to just hold a backpack and fill it in one of the four arms though, if they can hold any item without limits?
Because then Johnny Robotlimbs has all the benefits of having a third arm, along with a backpack full of stuff.

Well the thing is.. it can be knocked out of your hands or you can drop it. That's the trade off.

Also by doing so you only obtain 1 extra arm and allows you to drop the bag by slipping, tripping and more.

So no... it shouldn't be OP since you are more exposed on losing your bag of gear.