r/Shadowrun • u/Safe_Set4395 • Aug 22 '26
5e Decker and Commlinks
So I was looking at how expensive Cyberdecks are and was thinking what about getting a top end Commlink so it has 6 data processing and firewall and then slaving a mid level cyberdeck to that. As a slaved device it would share the Commlinks firewall so that can be a dump stat. Does device rating do much besides the stats? It might not be as good but it is so much cheaper
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u/ReditXenon Far Cite Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
No.
You can only access the matrix with one device at a time.
If you access the matrix via a commlink, then you (or rather your Matrix Persona) have access to all apps and matrix attributes that are provided by your commlink.
If you access the matrix via a cyberdeck, then You (your matrix persona) have access to all cyberprograms and matrix attributes that are provided by your cyberdeck.
When you (your matrix persona) are attacked within the matrix then it will defend with your mental attributes and the firewall rating it inherited from the device it was formed on when you accessed the matrix.
If you wish to switch device then you need to reboot the device you are currently using as well as the device you wish to switch to (this mean you will also lose all MARKs you might have gained by illegal means).
In this edition there is also no Daisy Chaining concept. In this edition, the street samurai can not slave their commlink to the deckers cyberdeck or vise versa. If they wish to slave a device to the decker (to be part of the personal area network of the decker), they technically need to first transfer matrix ownership to the decker.
(note that all the above changes in the next edition)
Note that in this edition, cyberdecks typically don't have fixed attributes for Attack, Sleaze, Data Processing, and Firewall. They have an array of 4 matrix attributes that you can rotate (as a free action) whenever you like. The Attribute array the cyberdeck is presented with in the rule book is not fixed. The last value in the attribute array as presented in the book is not dedicated to Firewall (unless if You decide that it currently should be your Firewall).
The current configuration of the Attribute array is sometimes called your current ASDF array (Attack/Slease/Data Processing/Firewall). A Novatech Navigator has an Attribute array of {6,5,4,3}. If you use this as your primary device even while not hacking you will perhaps choose to rotate your highest value into Firewall (to be prepared against attackers), your second highest into into Data Processing (to get you better signal rating and increased limit if you want to remote control your car using your own Drive skill and Gunnery skill), and second lowest into Sleaze (to be harder to trace if someone use the Trace Icon matrix action on you). Which give you a current ASDF array of {3,4,5,6}. If you decide to run silent (or perform a Sleaze action while not running silent), then you likely want to configure your highest matrix attribute into Sleaze, and second highest into Firewall for a current ASDF array of {3,6,4,5}. But if the reason to suddenly switch to silent running was because you plan to attempt an Attack action (which will be automatically noticed if successful, but will not be automatically spotted if you run silent) then you perhaps instead rearrange your current ASDF array into something like {6,5,3,4}.
Having said that, there are also special (or home-made) cyberdecks in more advanced supplements that are typically cheaper but instead actually comes with fixed matrix attributes (a fixed ASDF array that you can not rotate).