[Sugarpink]

So, it's been a long time since I last time played Shadowrun (Sixth or otherwise). And last time I didn't really get a chance to dive into the matrix  really. This time though, matrix is going to play a heavier role and I would like a few things to be clarified before the game starts. The GM also doesn't really know better here so we are all eagerly trying to figure it out together.

The particular topic in question is if and how a decker/TM can defend the equipment of the group from opposing hackers. In 5E, my street sams usually just bought a really good commlink and where done with it, as commlinks had some pretty good firewall back then. This isn't the case anymore, with the best commlinks having only a Firewall of 1. So that's no bueno. So, even if I slave my stuff to my commlink, they are only going to have F1 + my not so super high Willpower which is basically nothing, unless I am mistaken about something here.

This leads me to the question (and a few subquestions): Can I slave a device that lives in my PAN to a device controlled by someone else. So specifically, can I slave my Smartlink to my decker's Cyberjack and benefit from the very high F? And if yes the following:

• Will I use my own Willpower or the Decker's Willpower in defense tests?
• Does this work at unlimited range, so can my decker chill in the car or at home while protecting my gear?
• If the device gets hacked, is my PAN compromised or my decker's or both?
• In any case, I presume I can't slave an entire PAN, so even if this is possible, I'll have to slave each device separately, which will eat through master/slave slots quickly if one decker has to provide for the entire team

And if no, what are the alternatives outside of getting a cyberjack myself?

Thanks in advance, girls and guys!

[MercilessMing]

Since the third errata, aka Seattle City Edition, commlinks and decks can connect any number of personal devices to them, and Data Processing is the limit for how many devices can be slaved for remote operation.
Banshee has said that commlink daisy-chaining is possible, so you should take that to mean a decker can be the team's master network and protect everyone with their stats.
Technomancers can't make their living persona participate in a PAN without the Living Network echo, so until they get that, they're poor defenders. 
An RCC or M-Toc system are both good options for matrix defense with their beefy D/F.  RCCs cannot be combined with a cyberdeck to form a persona.  M-Tocs probably not also. 
Banshee's Matrix FAQ has an optional rule where commlinks have better stats: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DYgYXlKQ5XUG_3R4aDbaTTcm5XeYfdjf6Kqlop1J72k/edit?usp=sharing

If your device gets hacked, is your decker's network compromised?  Assuming your device is protected by the decker's network, it depends on the nature of the "hack".  Was your device hit by a Data Spike?  That can be done with Outsider access, so in that case no.  Is someone downloading your communication logs?  That requires user access, so the answer is yes.  In both cases though, your PAN was subsumed by the the decker's PAN; it's their network that must be breached, and breaching it also breaches yours.

This leads me to the question (and a few subquestions): Can I slave a device that lives in my PAN to a device controlled by someone else. So specifically, can I slave my Smartlink to my decker's Cyberjack and benefit from the very high F? And if yes the following:
Will I use my own Willpower or the Decker's Willpower in defense tests?
Does this work at unlimited range, so can my decker chill in the car or at home while protecting my gear?
If the device gets hacked, is my PAN compromised or my decker's or both?
In any case, I presume I can't slave an entire PAN, so even if this is possible, I'll have to slave each device separately, which will eat through master/slave slots quickly if one decker has to provide for the entire team

[Sugarpink]

Thanks so far! This helps a lot already. Two more things.

So, when they are connected (not slaves for remote operation) they gain the firewall benefits? If yes, cool!

And daisychaining, would that work across town or only when the decker is with the team?

[Banshee]

Thanks so far! This helps a lot already. Two more things.

So, when they are connected (not slaves for remote operation) they gain the firewall benefits? If yes, cool!

And daisychaining, would that work across town or only when the decker is with the team?

Yes you would gain full Firewall benefits of the master PAN.
As for distance of a daisy chain, I honestly can't remember if it got put into wrt8ng officially anywhere yet but my suggestion is to use noise as the basis. So if the noise penalty due to distance is enough that the commlink is effectively reduced to zero than you are too far from the decker to link to thier PAN.

[Sugarpink]

As for distance of a daisy chain, I honestly can't remember if it got put into wrt8ng officially anywhere yet but my suggestion is to use noise as the basis. So if the noise penalty due to distance is enough that the commlink is effectively reduced to zero than you are too far from the decker to link to thier PAN.

From what I understood regarding distances, it seems a little less rigid than in 5E. But that makes a lot of sense. If the devices can't communicate, they can't link.

Also, good pointer by MercilessMing. I need to pick up Seattle City Edition or at least the errata. I am working off of my original PDF I got when 6E released which probably has a few errors in and outside the Matrix chapter. 

[Xenon]

In 5th edition the idea was that all nearby wireless devices was helping out to rout traffic and that any wireless device could access any other wireless enabled device in the world via this network of connected devices no matter distance and no matter noise levels (except if the source or target was placed in a Faraday's cage or in such a remote place that satellite link was required but no satellite link was available). Noise basically just acted as a negative dice pool modifier (think latency). There was also a rule in the wireless bonus chapter but the intent with this rule was that wireless bonus functionality would stop working if noise levels became too high (not that the device itself would suddenly become disconnected from the entire matrix).

In 6th edition the idea instead seem to be that personal networks (more often than individual devices) have a limited handshake range depending on the ratings of the devices running the network (typically a commlink). That noise still act as a negative dice pool modifier but that the intent is now that noise (including distance) also set a hard limit on the range in which you are able to communicate with (and hack) other networks and wireless enabled stand-alone devices. And that if noise in your vicinity is high enough your commlink would even become completely disconnected from wireless devices (even if they used to be part of your own PAN). In this sense distance (or rather noise due to distance) play a more important role than it perhaps used to do in previous edition.



When it comes to daisy chaining, the idea seem to be that the street samurai's PAN need to stay within range of the decker PAN in order for them to stay connected (limited by noise, including noise that increase due to distance). While the two PANs manage to stay connected they will, for all intent and purposes, act as one single big network. Not only sharing matrix ratings for defensive purposes, but also sharing access levels. If an enemy hacker successfully brute force the network (which the decker get to defend against) then he or she will gain access on the entire network (including all files and both wireless and wired devices that are part of either of the two PANs).