[CoyoteNZ]

Weird question, but...

Say we have a Commlink with an attack dongle installed...

Now if that commlink is slaved to somebody else's commlink/deck/RCC/etc., can the person who has control of the master device use the Control Device test (assuming they have correct number of marks for the action they are wanting to undertake) to then hack with that slave device?

Ie. Can you do a Data Spike test using a slaved commlink, using a Control Device test to make the commlink to do what would be possible if you were the owner of it?

I can't see any reason why you can't from reading the description but maybe there is something I missed.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Can't daisy chain commlinks/RCCs/cyberdecks in 5e.

[CoyoteNZ]

Can't daisy chain commlinks/RCCs/cyberdecks in 5e.

I realize you can't daisy chain, but this is just the standard master/slave arrangement I am talking about.

I have always assumed that the person with the best firewall/Will in the group has been able to be the master and have everybody else's devices slaved to his/her comm/deck/RCC/etc. (apart from RCC and decks which can't be slaves)

I was just wanting to know if they could use one of the slaved devices this way.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Put another way then:

Commlinks can't be slaves. Only masters of their own PANs.

[CoyoteNZ]

Commlinks can't be slaves. Only masters of their own PANs.

Did not know that, thought only RCC and Decks couldn't be slaves.

That changes a lot then, as it means the team's decker can no longer protect the rest of the teams commlinks and opens everybody wide open to hacking

Are you sure about the commlink can't be slaves rule?

[Michael Chandra]

The commlink cannot hack. Someone using it to create a persona can. If you're not in the matrix through the commlink, I would probably say you cannot command it to hack.

[Xenon]

You (or rather your matrix persona) need to have an attack or sleaze rating if You want to take an Attack or Sleaze action.

If You base your matrix persona on a RCC then you don't have an attack or sleaze rating (but You now instead have access to multiple channels to send the same instruction to multiple slaved drones and You can compensate for noise etc).

If You base your matrix persona on a commlink then you normally don't have an attack or sleaze rating (but they are often rather cheap for the amount of firewall they provide, and if you use advanced rules there are actually dongles that could provide you with an attack or sleaze rating).

If You base your matrix persona on a cyberdeck then you will have access to attack or sleaze ratings (but in case you are a technomancer you will not have access to your resonance rating).

Ie. Can you do a Data Spike test using a slaved commlink, using a Control Device test to make the commlink to do what would be possible if you were the owner of it?

No.

Device just provide the persona running on it with matrix attributes. Devices themselves don't take matrix actions on their own, personas do.

You need to reboot the device you are currently using as well as the commlink with the attack dongle, then you base your matrix persona on ("log on to the matrix with") the commlink that got an attack dongle. Now You (or rather your matrix persona) have an Attack rating and You can take the Data Spike action.