Multiple Arms (X) on page 137 of Dark Heresy 2E Core, or Black Crusade pg. 141, got me trippin'. I can see what was intended, but trying to read this entry has me questioning life itself. I'm not a super aficionado of these rules due to growing up on a feral world, so any Highborn rules lawyers please pardon my layman's language and poor attempts at humor.

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This creature has more than one pair of arms. The exact number of arms is indicated in parentheses (X)...

Already I see an issue. Multiple Arms (1) defies this opening line by causing a creature to have no pairs of arms. I guess that just means no creature with less than 4 arms should ever have the Multiple Arms trait even though that's not explicitly said. Hold on. In Black Crusade, when developing a minion, a Lesser minion may have Multiple Arms (1-2) as a trait. Ok, what? Multiple Arms (1)?!? "This minion has more than one pair of arms... and by that I mean no pairs of arms." But let's go on.

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It gains a +10 bonus on Athletics Tests involving climbing and swimming.

Ok someone definitely did not consider Multiple Arms (1-2). There's no way a monster with a normal number of arms, or even less arms, would gain a bonus via this trait.

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"...for each full pair of arms it has... ...it can make an additional attack as if wielding multiple melee weapons. ... a creature still requires the Two-Weapon Wielder (Melee or Ranged) talent to make multiple attacks in the same turn."

So with Two-Weapon Wielder a human with two arms can use all of its arms to attack. That human with Multiple Arms (4) can use all of its arms to attack. But a Multiple Arms (6) creature with Two-Weapon Wielder gets three additional attacks meaning it can not use all of its arms to attack . Huh... Ok. Balance over logic I guess. Also, if an arm gets damaged to the point it can't be used currently but can still be saved with medical help/repairs and restored to full functionality, do you still consider it in the X for Multiple Arms? Does that fifth attack get to stay even though it only has 5 currently functioning arms?

Wait a hot messy wtf moment. "...for each full pair of arms..." HmmmMmmMMMmM? So a human with Two-Weapon Wielder can make one additional attack. But if that human has Multiple Arms (2) (which humans essentially do but perhaps if this is gained via a human gaining Multiple Arms (CB) from a mutation but having a CB of 2) then "...it can make an additional attack..." So now a human can make three attacks?!?

Ok I get what this trait entry is trying to say. Sure a human with Multiple Arms (2) can logically still only make 2 attacks 'cause it has two arms... but what if it has three arms? Does it get to take advantage of that third attack now? The trait entry just doesn't seem well worded in multiple areas. Perhaps a more clear wording could be -

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"Multiple Arms (X)

This creature has the number of arms indicated in parentheses (X), so a Human with Multiple Arms (4) has four arms total. If one or more arms are destroyed beyond any hope of healing or repair reduce the X value of this trait by the number that were destroyed. This creature gains a +10 bonus on Athletics Tests involving climbing and swimming unless the creature gained this trait post-creation but didn't gain additional arms (e.g. a human gaining Multiple Arms (CB) from a mutation but having a CB of 2). In addition, for each full pair of arms it has beyond one pair (e.g.: Multiple Arms (4, 6, 8, etc.)) it can make an additional attack..."

Seems nit-picky but I was trying to dream up a surgery/combat Servo-Skull with a bunch of arms ending in blades made via the Minion rules in Black Crusade and my head imploded trying to figure out how many attacks it could do if arms start to get destroyed.

Well you're trying to mesh black crusade with dark heresy second edition, there are differences between the rules.

Yeah the wording on that one is weird. I was making genestealer cultists (who have 3 arms alot of the times) for a game and was like **** it I'll interpret it for my own sanity. I just look at it like this: Humanoid creatures come standard with 2 arms. Multiple Arms (X) represents how many extra arms they have. After all standard human NPC's don't have the Multiple Arms(2) as traits so obviously its not intended to describe standard amounts of limbs.

As far as this goes though:

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Also, if an arm gets damaged to the point it can't be used currently but can still be saved with medical help/repairs and restored to full functionality, do you still consider it in the X for Multiple Arms? Does that fifth attack get to stay even though it only has 5 currently functioning arms?

That's one of those things that's kinda up to a GM/DM. Theres alot of logical arguments both ways and RPG's typically have wiggle room on their rules for the purpose of fun. Personally I might make it dependant on what items are in said arms/ if the weapons are part of the arms. Example a mutant human wielding two small swords with its extra pair vs one great weapon would make a big difference if one of the arms got chopped. Or say a tyranid loses a single arm out of its pair of scything talons. Each of these situations is a tad different in my mind. The nid as a creature narratively programmed via its DNA to use its multiple arms would probably be less affected than either of the human mutant situations. The difference between the human mutant situation is that the set holding a two handed weapon obviously cant swing anymore while the two one handed weapons is more nuanced. Could be that narratively he wasnt trained to use all 4 arms at once and that he only ever actually used 3 out of 4 at any time (a lore reason/out behind why 4 arms means 3 attacks instead of 4), so he can still make 3 attacks though because he has 3 arms. Or you could follow rules as written and say he's below 4 and therefore only gets 2 attacks now effectively making the 3rd arm useless.

I actually dealt with said hypothetical situation with my previously mentioned genestealer cultists. Some cultits had 3 arms and some had 4 so I decided that 3 arms ones didn't get an extra attack but they did get one free draw/stowing of any weapon that could be considered one handed one each turn in combat. Then they could pick to use 2 out of the 3 equipped items, or could have a basic class weapon and a single handed weapon at the same time. That way the arm isn't useless but its not granting extra attacks. And I had the cultists who were high strength with 3 arms always count as being braced for the purpose of firing heavy weapons, so long as all 3 arms were using the single heavy weapon. So if your the DM its up to you man. If not run it by your DM should you ever have it come up for the game actually and see what they say.

Also yeah some things from different systems just don't mix well sadly... best to avoid when possible and if anything use the wording from the system your in over the one your taking from to avoid confusion or balance issues.