Heya, all! Never played Shadowrun before, up until I got a copy of Shadowrun Returns. It was cheap and came recommended by a friend who knows my tastes. Plus, they were kinda hoping I would stop angling to try to get them to host a sci-fi game with a lot of magic in it...
I found a decker/mage to be quite effective in Shadowrun Returns. Bit of a magic hit for the necessary cyberware, but enemies tend not to do too well when you're bombarding them with spells...
I'm hoping to give the roleplaying game a try! I have the Fifth Edition rulebook and am slogging through it. The priority system could use a bit of a clearer explanation in text, but I did eventually figure out the confusing bits. Would have to limit playing to online for now.
Also, why doesn't the site accept "Artificial Intelligence" as an answer to "Are you human?"
Welcome~
Decker/mage is certainly a unique archetype mix. In 5th, it's both easier and harder to do. For one, you don't need any cyberware to deck-- Things called "trodes" exist, which are a net that you wear on your head (or under a hat, or as part of a helmet) that let you use simsense and VR without needing a datajack. On the other hand, you need
lots of skill points to be a decker, and a solid number to be a magician too. On top of that, cyberdecks are hella expensive. With the current priority system, it would be very, very difficult to pull it off at character creation.
But don't get discouraged; not only are there a ton of other awesome archetypes and roles to fill in a team, a later book will certainly present alternative character creation methods, allowing a more easily mix-matched character.
As for your last question... I dunno. Could be some kind of conspiracy. Or maybe just a refusal of AIs ever since the rumors around the cause of the SYBIL virus popped up...
