[Tagami]

Is there a rule against Audio and Visual Enhancements stacking?

Example: Ear buds with Audio Enhancement 3 and Headphones with another  Audio Enhnancement 3. Does that add 6 dice to the dice pool? (Assume Wireless enabled)

[SoulGambit]

Practicality. Presumably you are only hearing or seeing something at a time, not both. Or rather, only one of those being successful matters in most situations. So you use the higher pool unless one of your senses is inappropriate for the test.

[Michael Chandra]

He wasn't asking about whether you get both benefits at the same time, but whether you can combine 2 of the same enhancement for a higher bonus.

[Mirikon]

There may not be a rule specifically forbidding it, but it is definitely against the RAI, and worthy of massive phonebooking.

[calaen]

Okay, so if you've got a person who has audio enhancement in their cyber implant, and ear buds in their cyber implants... I can only imagine their audio nerve overloading when a pin hits the ground or a cricket chirps, and it doesn't even matter if they're using a damper - the audio enhancement is going to bypass the damper built into their ear to some degree, and you've just done the cartoon thing where you line up a bunch of megaphones.  Sure it'll stack.  Right up until a half second after it is implemented when the person goes deaf in a very non fixable way.

[All4BigGuns]

One would imagine that two audio or two visual wouldn't, but one audio and one visual should.

[calaen]

Ah, if you're talking about bonuses to audio and visual perception... they're different bonuses, and not so much stackable as interlockable.  They matter when the perception is going to be of a certain type - audio perception helps you hear the crack of a twig... but does nothing to help you notice that well concealed gun turret.  On the other hand, Visual perception is great for the gun turret, but you might completely miss the sound of someone breathing.  Put them together, and they'll work nicely to make a generalized bonus to the dice pool, with some few exceptions, like touch or smell (olfactory boosters can do wonders with smell as well, while touch sensitivity might be duplicated through an adept power.)

You're not going to see +2 to audio and +2 to visual = +4, but you'll see the +2 bonus come into play more frequently.

[All4BigGuns]

Ah, if you're talking about bonuses to audio and visual perception... they're different bonuses, and not so much stackable as interlockable.  They matter when the perception is going to be of a certain type - audio perception helps you hear the crack of a twig... but does nothing to help you notice that well concealed gun turret.  On the other hand, Visual perception is great for the gun turret, but you might completely miss the sound of someone breathing.  Put them together, and they'll work nicely to make a generalized bonus to the dice pool, with some few exceptions, like touch or smell (olfactory boosters can do wonders with smell as well, while touch sensitivity might be duplicated through an adept power.)

You're not going to see +2 to audio and +2 to visual = +4, but you'll see the +2 bonus come into play more frequently.

I can see only using one if the GM specifically calls for "Visual Perception Test", but if the call is just for "Perception Test", I do feel that both should be used.

[ZeConster]

There may not be a rule specifically forbidding it, but it is definitely against the RAI, and worthy of massive phonebooking.

If you argue that using two pieces of gear that use the same bonus-giving enhancement should give double the bonus, you should get double-phonebooked.

[Tagami]

Being a munchkin here, but I was (re)building a Street Samie from 4th to 5th and decided to drop the cyber-ears and eyes due to the wireless situation (rebooting your eyes in the middle of a firefight: "Yeah, right!").

To do so, I decided to go the contacts+glasses/goggles way (depending on the amount of physical activity and hostile situations expected) and earbuds-headphones as well.

That led me thinking on getting a rating(capacity) 6 headphone with Spatial Recognizer and Select Sound Filter (3). Which leaves me with an empty slot and I was wondering if adding Audio Enhancer(1) in those Headphones are worth doing so or I should just save some nuyen and downgrade to capacity 5 headphones.

P.S. If I am abusing my gear, my GM is liable to let me have the phonebook, and the blown eardrum, but then again, I am not going to be daft and turn them enhancers on in a club and get my head imploded. Listening to an isolated convo in the next room and amp-ing to the max is with RAI.

[Mirikon]

You can have Contacts and glasses, as well as earbuds and headphones. However, any identical enhancements would not stack. You don't get double the smartlink bonus from having it on both the contacts and glasses, and you wouldn't get double the audio perception bonus for having it on earbuds and headphones.

[All4BigGuns]

I can see reasoning both ways on this one, so why not just say that it's up to individual ruling and call it a day?

[Mirikon]

Because one 'interpretation' is blatant cheese, to the level that it makes Green Bay look lactose intolerant?

[All4BigGuns]

And how would it affect any of you if someone in a group other than yours decided to use that interpretation?

I, personally, wouldn't let someone stack two Audio Enhancement or two Vision Enhancement, but I can see where some could think it would make sense.

[Michael Chandra]

Because once you allow that, you no longer have anything to object against a huge troll wearing 4 armor jackets with Chemical Resistance 6 and Nonconductivity 6 on two, and Fire Resistance 6 and Insulation 6 on two, giving 12 extra dice vs toxins, electricity, fire and cold damage.