[Basic] Advantage of the Week: Ambidexterity

[Otaku]

Last Week: Alternate Identity; Temporary Identity; Zeroed
Next Week: Amphibious; Aquatic; Semi-Aquatic

Ambidexterity (p.B39) is one of those Advantages where the name is spot on: for 5 CP your character is equally proficient using his right or left hand (surprisingly, no rules handy for if you have more than that). This might seem like a Perk level Advantage except the penalty for offhand Skill use is -4. Said penalty is interesting because it is the starting point for the the Off-Hand Weapon Training Technique, which takes 5 points to train a single weapon Skill to the point that you can attack with the offhand at no penalty.

In real life, people can learn to be ambidextrous, and to varying degrees of efficiency; the number I've heard tossed around for those people naturally able to use either hand equally well is about 1 in 100, but tracking down a suitable source for that "fact" is proving trickier than I'd hoped, so take that with a grain of salt. Especially when dealing with older relatives, I've heard stories of how the left-hand dominant kids were forced to learn how to use their right hand in school, and even without the imposition it apparently is a common thing: some devices are just trickier/more expensive to make without favoring a single hand, and since most of the population is right-handed, the left-handed have to adapt or pay more.

Anyway, that little tangent was brought up because Ambidexterity is one of those Advantages that I assumed could be "learned", but it isn't part of the list on p.B294. I think my gaming group from 15-20 years ago, using 3e, allowed it as a house rule, but at the same time I don't think anyone ever bothered; Ambidexterity was priced at 10 CP under 3e rules, plus if you only really needed it for a single weapon, in 3e Off-Hand Weapon Training was 6 CP: one point more than in 4e, but four points less than 3e Ambidexterity.

So...

1. How often do you take Ambidexterity for characters you run?
2. Does it seem useful (especially if you have taken it)?
3. What about other players you know, NPCs, etc.: is it rarely seen or a frequent choice, and does it seem like it is worth it?
4. Does it seem under-, over- or correctly priced to you?
5. What circumstances might justify tweaking the price?

Based on my limited personal experience, for many characters the off-hand penalty comes up so rarely that it would practically seem like Perk territory. For anyone with a combat emphasis (let alone focus), it can be quite the CP saver, however if you've only got one or two Melee skills where it would matter, one might be better off sinking starting CP into another Advantage only available at character creation, and just learning Off-Handed Weapon Training (even if in the long run you're overpaying).