flimflamm

Parrots can be really cool birds. Much more cool than cats and corgis. In order to better reflect this obvious reality please consider the following additions to poly: - Parrots parrot. If you take over poly and hear a ping, or a skrek, or a buzz, or combat boot sounds, tazer, lazer, and many other noises, poly should be able to replicate them, just like some parrots do. This would make poly cute and exciting, certainly not annoying... - Parrots have long been known to perch atop shoulders. Diona nymphs can do it, why not poly? It's blasphemy really. Poly would be so loveable. And just think of the pirate role play!!!!!!! -Insert your own suggestion here! Well, Yay or Neigh?

While I have never played as an ERT (too busy having a life ) I have generally found them to not be very useful outside of the medical types who save the day at medbay. They take forever to gear up, or so i reckon, because they seem to spend about the same amount of time getting ready as a teenage human female on prom night... Maybe just remove the whole security aspect of it and have it be an 'EMT' emergency medical team. I recently suggested that science be given their own guard with a post, maybe a karma role, maybe just a random sec office, and other people echoed their desire for more security guard posts in various departments, similar to what med-bay has. If the ERT are to be removed, then perhaps this slight buff of security could compensate for the loss...

Science at first is one of the most tedious and difficult jobs to learn. It is not rewarding at the beginning and frankly takes a long time and a lot of experience to get good at (unless someone who knows sits there telling you every detail of the process). Once you are good at it however, it is incredibly easy, and your knowledge allows you to speedily do whatever experiments you like, giving you all the boons that come with success. The lock-boxes are a nerf for scientists who can do it all themselves (I once brought 6 super cell upgraded energy guns AND powered armor and single handedly defeated a blob at around 15 minutes into the start of the shift), but for scientists who are already wildly hindered compared to others by a lack of experience, it is even more of a nerf, because now they will seldom be able to learn about things which come locked, and thus have much less incentive to learn or do the job.

I suggested this a long time ago on the face punch forum and people seemed to get a kick out of it, but since FP has passed away, maybe people will take a shining to it here as well. The main cool function of this 'tether' will be to link two players together with one in the lead position and another in the follow position. It will be similar to dragging a cuffed person but different in that the pull cannot be interrupted without unhitching, and the person in the follow position, if uncuffed, can walk around the immediate blocks next to the leader. When either of the players cross a Z level, or are teleported, the other person tethered to them is brought along. So essentially, the tether could be used for co-op space travel where people won't get separated upon crossing z levels. This means you could recover bodies or players that are found in space. Both players can unhitch the tether at any time, but the tether will stay with the leader no matter who unhitches it. If a player is handcuffed, they cannot unhitch the tether, which brings me to the next cool function of a tether: Chain gangs! You can simultaneously be the follower of one tether, and also the leader of another tether, which can create a chain of people tethered together. If these people are all handcuffed, then what you have is a prisoner train, making it possible for one security guard to potentially manage and haul around multiple criminals at once! The good thing about the tether is that there isn't much visual stuff that would need implementing, and the actual coding for it in theory is pretty straight forward. Mostly an item for security, but EVA could use one or two and perhaps also telescience (for the purpose of teleport rescue). Thoughts?

^ This, please. We need it. It's been only 4 rounds, and I'm already tired of asking a head to unlock my plasma pistol for research every shift. A lot of times as a scientist I do all the mining myself, all the research myself, I walk the roboticists through updating exo-fabs properly, and then at the end of it all, I need to go around looking for a head and beg them to unlock it while they begrudgingly do so and pontificate about extoll the virtues of safety protocols... I think to myself, if this was one week prior, I would already have the plasma pistol, and if I was evil, would be shooting you with it... In short, I too feel exhausted at the prospect of having to deal with potential super condoms just to complete my job.

Getting science access from the HoP every round is time consuming, and the HoP is going to likely give you a hassle about it and ask for stamped and signed signatures from umpteen different people... Usually running paperwork errands is the most boring and time consuming part of the game, for me at least...

I'm not suggesting that sec needs more access, merely that a science officer would have science access because it is they area they are meant to patrol and guard. The real boon I see emerging from this is that instead of scientists and roboticists arming themselves and becoming vigilantes, they will actually be able to arm their science security officer, who in turn can deliver weapons and such to the rest of the sec team if necessary. Aside from being armed and kitted out by science every round because they are the protector and hero of science, nuke ops rounds, alien rounds, and other such station wide danger rounds will finally be able to see a full strength response from the sec team! P.S I also really do like the idea of having security posts in and around the other important departments, but really science would be the one that has the biggest impact on inter-departmental relations. If science is too independent, as has been suggested elsewhere, then this will bring a little bit of law their way while giving them a reliable and consistent way to interact with security.

It would be all locked up so only the science officer would be able to dish out weaponry. That said, all you need to do is deconstruct a flame thrower, then a stun prod, then two durand or gygax weapons chips, and weapons research is pretty much maxed. There would be very little raiding of sec gear for pro-lathe research i think. People have even stopped stealing the xenoarch stun baton!

I'm making this thread to get feedback about an idea I posted in another thread... viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2725&sid=07641cf327a31d052408c07a06b0989f#p14386 So the function of this new security guard would basically be to chill in his office in science and generally respond to any security threats in or around the science area. They would be a fully fledged member of security but they would also have access to some science departments, a science radio encryption key in their headset, and they would work closely with the RD whenever required. An important greater function that this role would fill is to be the link between security and science that currently does not exist. Science has long been quietly building and using advanced weaponry for their own desires, while security rots with their honestly crappy weapons selection. With the implementation of a science officer along side the new lock-boxes, the HoS, Warden, and the security team could be poised to take advantage of science and research in ways that previously have never (very seldom) happened before. I would put this at a 10 or 15 point karma role, maybe more (mostly to ensure competence). Thoughts?

Thanks for the reply. So I totally agree with you that science is far and away the strongest department, and I do tend to agree with the argument that science needed a nerf. Regarding powered armor I 100% agree with the fact that the diamond armor module makes you too durable (when it works), and I suppose I can force myself to publicly admit that the speed boost of powered armor is in fact ridiculously OP (I've always known that the speed buff was incredible, while most everyone else tended toward the opinion of "powered armor sucks", I knew the truth!). I suppose I figured that the difficulty of getting the materials for powered armor (including the armor module) was the balancing factor, but in honesty I always personally found it easy to get plasteel and uranium while most people don't know how... I did think though, that powered armor was something new and under development, but in the light you portray it (as some unknown import from a server with perhaps very different play styles) perhaps it is better left locked away. (To be honest perhaps it could even simply be removed, as there are serveral serious bugs with them that need fixing ( cannot weld to repair, sometimes the power module fails, sometimes the activation and deactivation triggers become inaccessible which leaves you stuck inside potentially unpowered and slow armor, and sometimes the individual modules turn off or on when they should be otherwise upon activation or deactivation of the suit)) Being in all likelihood the single most powered armor using-est player, and knowing how often they work and how often they bug, I can now only scarcely imagine myself making powered armor for any reason, given that getting them unlocked can be very time consuming, because the risk is greater compared to the new cost. But enough about powered armor, aside from agreeing with your reasons for nerfing the prolathe, I still feel like there is some improvement needed to the way the science department works... Here is my suggestion: Create a new karma role: "Science Officer" - Is security but reports to the RD as well as directly to the HoS. - Has some science access, has a guard office in science, has sec access for arrests and such. -Most importantly can function as a kind of liaison between science and security... Scientists and roboticists can give lock-boxes and mechs directly to them for delivery to security or to the HoS to be unlocked and used. Instead of me dragging a welded crate of E-guns through the hallways to security because of an alien invasion or a blob, this way an actual chain of custody and communication can take place, and for once the station at large might actually see the benefits of research weaponry rather than scientists simply arming themselves as always. This would also be a way that scientists could securely have lockboxes unlocked when they need to deconstruct what's inside instead of begging the ever busy RD to have someone unlock it, or spending an hour convincing the other skeptical heads of staff that you aren't going to kill people. If you don't like that idea, then maybe make plasma pistol lock-boxes deconstructable for level 4 plasma and lvl 5 weapons?

I'm updating this thread because something is rotten in the heart of Scientopia... It seems that only people i know of that can unlock prplathe lock-boxes are the HoS, Captain, and maybe the HoP. Security cannot open them, RD,CMO, CE, cannot open them... The pro-lathe items are simply not going to get used if this remains the case... I reckon they removed security access to them because the RD has security access and they don't want the RD to have easy access, but in doing so the pro-lathe is now so heavily nerfd that it's broken. A few days ago I had to sit and listen while a ridiculous captain spent ten minutes lecturing me on how much of a favor he was doing me by unlocking a stun revolver box so I could deconstruct it. I might make a new thread with some sort of poll to determine opinions about what should be locked, what should not be, and who should have access...

Not good enough. Clown all-slip PDA or no deal... Anyone can get about one hundred of each of those things with a quick saunter to the clown planet

I support this idea... Make clown and mime people be a karma unlock... Although they would need some sort of benefit because I'm not sure who is going to spend karma on a genetically deficient clown or a mute mime. when they can just go to the clown planet and get gear for role play.

I don't mind having to deconstruct an extra durand chip, but the plasma pistol will prevent weapons 6 and plasma 5... It will induce more interaction between security and research, which could be good... Overall I suppose I am for it... Just that powered armor issue though... They are already so underused and buggy that now they will simply never be used, and as a result likely never get fixed... I like them because they help me during xenoarcheology... If i don't have lazer weapons to defeat the monsters i encounter at least I could run away from them...

A change was made and now dangerous or restricted items from the science pro-lathe come in lock-boxes openable only by security or a head. (not sure if RD can open it). I agree with this and am not too shaken by it except for one instance. The new powered armor, which is still incredibly buggy, now comes in lockboxes. The justification I heard was that the armor statistics are too high, and so why not just have the diamond armor module locked? They are basically never going to get used if they remain locked, and without the armor module (even with it because of their buggyness) they are rendered useless with a single stun shot... those are my two bits, anyway, share opinions regarding prolathe lockboxes here.

Not only will he not have to check the tracking computer, but he will be able to pinpoint and move directly to moving targets. I'm not proposing that it should be a mobile crew monitoring console, but simply something that can pinpoint people with suit sensors, and also tell if they are hurt, nothing more. It would add a lot of power for paramedics and I think result in a lot more successful retrieval of and dying bodies. Traitors who get hold of it also become much more powerful, which adds to the age old question: To activate suit sensors, or not to activate suit sensors. I think the HoP should get a spare personnel pinpointer, in my opinion they are glorified ID access custodians, so this way they can repeatedly deny the detective their requests to use it, and in doing so feel more important/prestigious. This might make the crew over-powered, but imagine TWO paramedics on TWO of those medical transport things with TWO personnel pin-pointers. It would foster healthy competition and by golly we would all get rescued.

This would be similar in form and function to the nuke disk pin-pointer, except it would be able to locate anybody who has their suit sensors turned on with a small and simple GUI which gives the option to select individual crew members who have their suit sensors turned on. One would be given to the paramedic for obvious reasons, and perhaps another to an appropriate head. The research division should be able to make them, but only once they get blue space 5 and biological 5 level of research (this ensures that research is totally complete, which requires assistance from mining and robotics). This would make the paramedic occupation much more dynamic, perhaps there could even be a built in alert system where it automatically locks on to newly injured crew members. It would also add an interesting capacity for traitors to get hold of one in order to locate targets.

How about the head of each department rules over their subordinates like a lord, and each department vies for a single crown which bestows AI loyalty. The AI's objectives could be to obey the one who wears the crown and to keep the peace as much as possible.... Kinda similar to nations, but I think the FFA you propose would be too violent, and besides, we already have highlander mode!

So, going to condense what I've envisioned so far in a rough draft of a presentation along with some prefacing lore MAFIA Experienced long term and high ranking crew members of this station have had their ambitions soar beyond the limitations set before them by Nano Trasen and as a result have defected to the syndicate on the promise of wealth and power. These high ranking officials have went AWOL during one of their shifts and have taken with them their crucial and intimate knowledge of the workings of NT research stations. These traitorous scum are believed to have constructed some sort of base of operations in outer space and we have intelligence that suggests it is equipped with some of the most advanced technologies known to science. There is no way to adequately stress the immediate danger this situation presents, it's possible their intentions are more insidious than any syndicate force we have yet to encounter. They have taken inspiration from organized criminals of Earth's 20th century history and are calling themselves the MAFIA. They have issued threats and demanded the surrender of the station and we have not yet responded. Let our actions during this, perhaps our final shift, stand as a message to all would be criminals and traitors who would seek to disobey Nano Trasen law. --------------------------------------------------- - Goals: The end objective of the MAFIA will be to use one of their special e-mags (or unique item) on a communications console in order to unlock the ability to send the syndicate shuttle, and to have at least 10 living and free crew members board it for departure. In order to achieve this, the MAFIA will in theory require total control of the station and its crew. - Secondary goals: These can include assassinations, potential conversions, extortions, AI subversion or creation, theft, and generally anything which can help towards the main end objective - Initial setup: At the beginning of a well populated shift, the first auto-selections for station heads will become their MAFIA counterparts, this is done primarily to ensure well rounded knowledge for antags, but also opens the door for interesting role-play or potential objectives detailed further below. Each MAFIA member will be equipped with a specialized teleportation implant which gives them two abilities: firstly it allows them to instantly teleport to the MAFIA station via special verb command (has large timer), and the second ability is to teleport both themselves and a captive they are holding, but it takes extra time to activate (this ensures that victims are adequately incapacitated when they are kidnapped, much like how changelings require a malleable victim to absorb DNA). The MAFIA members will begin the round on the MAFIA station in order to discuss their plans and prepare. In order to achieve their end goals the MAFIA station will be equipped with the following: Teleporter: Can teleport to any beacon or way-point that the other teleporters can, but cannot itself be targeted as a beacon to teleport to. It serves the function of getting the MAFIA agents back to the NT station Medical/Science station: The station will be equipped with full medical (maybe even cryo or a cloning), a chem-dispenser, autolathe, and an undecided array of other science gear or apparatus. It could be a selection of slime cores, could be a prolathe with existing research, could simply be a plethora of materials for bombs/grendes.... I'm not sure what science elements would be best for the mafia goals, so input here is requested. Brig: The MAFIA station will be equipped with a small but securely built brig with a communal area for the inmates. The purpose of this brig will be to hold hostages and kidnapped individuals. Food/meeting area: A simple place for the 5 ex heads turned mafioso to discuss their plans Individual gear lockers: Instead of having a pda up-link, each role will be given their own locker which contains various gear/traitor gear deemed appropriate to their role (exception perhaps for the godfather so they can have more options in planning). While ALL mafia members should have at the very least a chameleon jumpsuit and one agent ID card, each role will be given a little something extra to help them in their intended functions --------------------------------------------------- Roles Godfather: The Godfather will be the ex captain, they will know everything a regular captain might know, having done the job many times. They will be responsible for making final decisions regarding the coordinated actions of the rest of the MAFIA. Their role in the operation to take over the station will be completely up to them, as they will likely concoct the plan and have a wide array of skills and knowledge. As a potential additional objective, they might be required to steal a captains ID. The mole: The Mole will be the ex HoP. Any HoP worth their salt will know a great deal about the hierarchy of command, the various departments, and the general procedures surrounding personnel and their functions. This makes them perfectly suited to go undercover. They will have access to all things chameleon, including multiple agent ID cards, full diguise, voice changers, and maybe the syndicates could even swing a paralysis pen or two. They will be able to kidnap people with ease, but also be directly responsible for any necessary impersonations depending on whether or not the godfather has any clever rouses planned. They could potentially have a secondary objective to steal an all access ID. The hit man: The Hit Man will be the ex HoS. Being the HoS for an extended period of time exposes you to all the various facets of combat and use of force, and also how to make an individual stop breathing. While the hit man can play just about any role required of them, if the plan calls for assasination, they are specially equipped and ready to present the heads of his targets to the godfather back at what they jokingly refer to as the mobile oppression palace. Like their counterpart MAFIA members, they might have a secondary objective to steal the ID, or the head, of the HoS. The mob doctor: The Mob Doctor would be the ex CMO. They would be given more than adequate facilities in order to either heal their fellow mobsters, or to maim and experiment on their enemies. Being the ex CMO they should have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the meat sacks they call humans. This will make extortion particularly interesting as I know they would be more than willing to push the envelope of what somebody can achieve with a scalpel in spite of moral boundaries. They will also be equipped with implants of various kinds, along with a chemical dispenser and the apparatus required to fully utilize them. The Mob Doctor could be given a secondary objective to acquire the hypo spray or the CMO's ID. The mad scientist: The mad scientist will be the ex RD. While not all RD's are overly competent in all areas of science, most of them happen to be pyro maniacs and bomb experts. When it comes to rigging the entire station to explode, nobody could do it like the mad scientist could, with backup PDA's and voice activated grenades there is no limit to the lengths that can be gone to in the making of, and making good on, threats to the station for the purpose of hostage taking or mass extortion. Being a personage of science they will work in conjunction with the mad doctor in order to coordinate in many devious ways. It is unknown how much scientific equipment they stole before they went AWOL, so potentially anything from the science department could make an appearance. The MS's secondary objective could be to put Lamar on his face, or to blow up the RD. The hacker: Played by the ex CE, The Hacker fills the much needed role of mechanical and electronic expertise. What cannot be controlled can either be hacked into or broken by the hacker. Having access to all the engineering related gear they could ever need, along with EMP's and and E-mag, there's not much aboard the station that is not accessible to them. Their knowledge of power systems and electronics makes them perfectly suited for the task of breaking into dangerous areas such as the AI for subversion. While like all antag roles in this game mode they will do what the godfather requires of them, the speciality of the CE will be to gain control of or disable the station wide systems themselves. --------------------------------------------------- Desired gameplay: The goal of this game mode is to create an atmosphere of high stakes role-play. Given that the MAFIA members are would-be heads, we should be able to expect a good amount of role-play from them, and the crews reactions to the MAFIA and their method of subterfuge and domination could determine the survival of everyone aboard the station. The task at hand is a difficult one, which also promotes very technical and advanced strategies, which will only be made more potent and interesting via the role-play that is necessarily entailed. This game mode also cuts very quickly to the role-played moral limits of a crew members loyalty to Nano Trasen. Very certainly the MAFIa will make some sort of move, and then the reactions of the crew will determine the successor failure of the MAFIA, but also potentially their own survival on the other side of the coin. Personally if I had a remote controlled grenade implanted in me, or I was trapped in a crowded area under threat of bombing, I would do what was asked of me. When it comes to my own life, I try to be heroic, but when the lives of my friends and family are under threat, I won't be so hasty... How would you react?

I may be blowing up this thread but I had another idea for MAFIA that I wanted to quickly share. One of the dilemmas with this game mode is that in some ways it will require very well rounded skills and knowledge of the station to be successfull on the part of the mafia, so I figure, why not have each MAFIA member have a unique title, like a job, and an intended role in the operation, like, doing operations... (to implant people with grenades!) And better yet, to ensure the quality of these mafioso's, have them be taken from the first choices of the would be heads from the start of the round, so that the insane doctor role is filled by the CMO, who would presumably at least be competent. The RD would know about bombs and other advanced things like AI and telecoms, the CE about all the systems of the station, the HOP would know all the departments (and whatever else it is HOP's know), the captain could instead be the godfather, presumably knowing more than everyone and being particularly robust, and finally the HOS would know about all things security and combative. Between the 5 would-be heads, they should understand just about every role on the station and be able to concoct a viable plot to take it over. This might result in some heads not existing at the start of a round due to lack of applicants, but this will only make it more conducive to mafia takeover. And in my opinion the MAFIA already have their work cut out for them... Having competent heads run specific mafia roles would bring fast order to their operation (not having necessarily to select their own godfather and clear and defined roles within the hierarchy). So as always, what do you guys think?

In an attempt to drum up interest, I'm going to list the traitor items or general items that I think could be used by the mafia in the taking over of the station, and I encourage anyone to chime in if they have some good ideas. Agent ID Card is just plainly essential. With an agent card you can impersonate anyone through your PDA messenger meaning you could manipulate a large number of individuals instantly and safely. Voice changer and chameleon jumpsuit/stamp this is an extension of your agent card, now you can impersonate anyone over radio, and in person, giving you an incredibly potent opportunity that not many people take advantage of these days. E-Crossbow I think this ought to be the weapon of choice for the mafia, they would use it primarily to stun and escape capture, but also to stun and kidnap for the purpose of bringing them back to the mafia station as a hostage or, god knows what else. E-Mag Something tells me that when all is said and done, the MAFIA will simply require one or two of these to get shit done. EMP kit/grenade While not the most destructive of items, it will come in very handy when trying to subvert the AI or in dealing with those pesky borgs. Hacked AI upload I'm not an AI expert, but a board capable of subverting the AI would be needed. Thermals Once the mafioso's get to the station, they are going to need to know what is going on around them at all times, so I recommend these Binary translator Key these are used to talk directly with or listen in on the AI, which would be very useful. Various grenades and bombs for extortion The grenades, which could even come disassembled with a chem dispenser ready for use, are for mostly implanting into the stomachs of hostages, the larger bombs for extorting the entire station. Obviously one individual equipped with all this would be insanely powerful, so I'm not sure what and in what quantity would be balanced (each mafia member doesn't need an e-mag or crossbow for instance), so if you can see something wrong with this list or know of any syndicate or even non syndicate items that would be creative or useful for taking the station hostage, please share!

Can I ask what the purpose of mapping it as an away mission is? Is it that the admins/game would not be able to swap out the old derelict for the renovated derelict whenever they wanted to do the game mode? What we need map wise is a place that only exists during MAFIA rounds, that would be difficult to find for telescience... Perhaps instead of reno'ing the derelict, a brand new mini station could be designed roughly the size of what I had planned, and it's placement could somehow be randomized each MAFIA round. Perhaps it could also have the ability to move to a new random position once or twice per round if telescience were to lock onto it early. The syndicate radios are a great idea, but regarding the up-links, I think that the mafioso's should only have access to certain types of traitor items as opposed to the full gambit. The main items I'm opposed to are mostly the brute force items like an e sword (although publicly beheading the captain on the bridge with an e-sword would certainly make a powerful statement to the crew) or ballistic guns. I would rather have the intended plethora of items already be laid out for the mafia to use at their leisure (also it will serve to direct them toward a particular play-style instead of giving them the chance to take the nuke ops frontal assault approach). If they are given a specific set of tools then they will be forced to use them accordingly, remember that the glory of this concept doesn't lie in antags robusting non antags or vice versa like many other game modes, but instead in the careful planning and preparations of the mafia, and the role-played reactions of the crew, where if the mafia has done its job right, the crew will have to choose between loyalty to centcomm and their desire to continue living, and if the mafia really does their job right, the crew wont have a choice at all and will unwittingly in one way or another assist the mafia in the completion of their end goals. While the whole "taking over the station" thing is on its own a full and lush objective, but I think there needs to be I think some way to cement mafia victory. The idea of a MAFIA shuttle somehow being called in place of the NT one I very much like, it would require for no heads or AI being able to recall the mafia shuttle or to call the real NT one, and it would require the MAFIA to have at the very least complete control of the bridge. Secondly, the mafia should need to get a certain number of crew to willingly enter the mafia shuttle. If they truly are in command of the station, they should be able to get people onto the shuttle without issue, and there should be enough living crew remaining, otherwise their takeover was too bloody. (for example threatening to blow the station once in transit will get people onto whatever escape apparatus they are close to). (also the normal escape pods should not function in the event of a mafia syndicate shuttle arrival, and the crew should be aware of this). All in all I think this could be a really awesome game mode, It requires a great deal of skill on the part of the MAFIA I think, and not the normal kind of combat skills that many antags thrive upon. If anyone sees a major issue with this concept please point it out to me, whether it be a coding dilemma or a conceptual fault, I know that many game mode suggestions, while coming from genuine love and enthusiasm for the game, tend to be a bit ill conceived when it comes to them actually working out the way they desire.

I'm interested in getting some feedback so here's an image of the location I propose be made into a MAFIA lair (would only existent during MAFIA rounds) It's big enough for several airlocks, a teleporter, medical, vending, brig, arena, command and control consoles, teleporter, basically everything a team of antagonists need and desire, just immobile and in space. The gameplay of MAFIA would be most similar to nuke ops in that a team of 5 or so syndicates (maybe crew are convertable) begin the round in space (though on the derelict station with access to some of the same gear instead of the syndi shuttle (covert/incognito traitor items like agent id card, voice changers or maybe even the syndicate jumpsuit that changes appearance)). The game mode will differ from nuke ops in that the main objective wont be to blow up the station but to own it, where the antagonists will be forced to use espionage instead of brute force. What the MAFIA lacks in firepower (i'm thinking they could be given energy crossbows as their most powerful starting weapon) they would be forced to make up for via cleverness and intelligence. If the main goal of the mafia is to take over the station, as the original admin who dreamed it up envisioned, it simply cannot be done with guns and traditional manpower without wholesale slaughter, instead it has to be done through extraordinary cleverness and and good execution. Subverting the AI is a major step toward this goal as the AI alone can wreck and station wide "control" you may gain, and, once subverted, gives the MAFIA great control. The heads of staff need to be neutralized or extorted via similar extraordinary measures. You could force the captain to cow tow if you could convince him you can blow up half of the station at any time, or you could simply kidnap him and implant him with a remote controlled grenade (though you might need to go even further to make sure they cannot figure out a way around it). I don't personally know all the theoretical ways in which a station can be taken over (they can include impersonation, gentrification, murder, genocide, brute force, kidnapping, extortion and more), so I would be really interested to hear back with some input on the concept!

One of the admins tested out a concept for a game mode called MAFIA where several of us were given code words to identify one another and our objective was something like, decide on a godfather communally, whom you must then obey, and then through whatever means, be it blackmail, sabotage or murder, gain control of the station. Needless to say that is a pretty open concept, and we had serious issues, namely communication and resources, but the objective of holding a station hostage entirely has fascinated me as has the whole manipulation of non antagonists through the threat of violence thing (I know how that sounds ). Anyhow I have tried to think about what it would take for such a thing to occur. To begin, think of what a syndicate team can accomplish (5 completely armed individuals with advanced gear). Sure they can blow the station up, but could they actually take it over as easily? As a lone antagonist it would take something like subversion of the AI combined with 6 or 7 cleverly placed bombs to publicly threaten the crew with(2 or 3 of them need to be used just to make them take you seriously). As a group, I think it might actually be more difficult unless people had their orders properly delegated to them or were given gear before hand. All this aside, as great as it sounds, I have a slight twist to the MAFIA concept: I propose these MAFIA individuals be given a stronghold in space; a place that they can teleport to with some sort of implant device (special verb with cooldown timer). This place would be where they meet to discuss their plans, decide who the godfather is, put on their disguses and makeups, and perhaps other interesting things... Imagine that center of the current derelict station was covertly renovated and spruced up by these syndicate mafioso's, and had everything from toilets to operating tables, and perhaps also a brig and small combat arena (with exterior buttons controlling doors). A very interesting objective could be to kidnap particular individuals (or a number of individuals) alive (by incapacitating them and teleporting them to the mafia station). What would happen role play wise if an antagonist said to two of his captives, "fight one another with these crowbars to the death and the winner can go free, if you refuse to fight you will both die" ? I'm envisioning enthused mafiaoso's being motivated to kidnap more crew just so that their prized fighter (whom they continually give medical treatment to after their fights) can have more challengers (of course, they could then send the bodies back to NT to be cloned or perhaps they could have a cloner themselves so they can re-fight captives). This area could also have an operating table equipped with chemical or explosive implants and voice or remote activated grenades or materials (for extorting people into your service, like say, the captain or HOS via implant in the brain or bomb/grenade in the stomach). An interesting aspect about what such an operation would do to the crew of the station is something almost nothing else does: force them to actually enter space to deal with the threat. The station crew, having no way to directly teleport there themselves unless they jump into a mafioso's portal (not advisable) would need to scramble and muster all their know how in order to actually deliver an effective response to the enemy which is located in space (I think telescience would be key). I'm not sure how it would all end, maybe if the mafioso's achieve their goals, their shuttle comes instead of NT's at the end of the round. The Z level that contains the derelict could be swapped with one containing the mafia lair before the round starts (I think that's how it would be done) Perhaps this idea could actually be feasible? Is it a good enough idea? Is it doable doo's you's think's? Edit Here is what I have come up with so far, it is posted below but here it is just in case So, going to condense what I've envisioned so far in a rough draft of a presentation along with some prefacing lore MAFIA Experienced long term and high ranking crew members of this station have had their ambitions soar beyond the limitations set before them by Nano Trasen and as a result have defected to the syndicate on the promise of wealth and power. These high ranking officials have went AWOL during one of their shifts and have taken with them their crucial and intimate knowledge of the workings of NT research stations. These traitorous scum are believed to have constructed some sort of base of operations in outer space and we have intelligence that suggests it is equipped with some of the most advanced technologies known to science. There is no way to adequately stress the immediate danger this situation presents, it's possible their intentions are more insidious than any syndicate force we have yet to encounter. They have taken inspiration from organized criminals of Earth's 20th century history and are calling themselves the MAFIA. They have issued threats and demanded the surrender of the station and we have not yet responded. Let our actions during this, perhaps our final shift, stand as a message to all would be criminals and traitors who would seek to disobey Nano Trasen law. --------------------------------------------------- - Goals: The end objective of the MAFIA will be to use one of their special e-mags (or unique item) on a communications console in order to unlock the ability to send the syndicate shuttle, and to have at least 10 living and free crew members board it for departure. In order to achieve this, the MAFIA will in theory require total control of the station and its crew. - Secondary goals: These can include assassinations, potential conversions, extortions, AI subversion or creation, theft, and generally anything which can help towards the main end objective - Initial setup: At the beginning of a well populated shift, the first auto-selections for station heads will become their MAFIA counterparts, this is done primarily to ensure well rounded knowledge for antags, but also opens the door for interesting role-play or potential objectives detailed further below. Each MAFIA member will be equipped with a specialized teleportation implant which gives them two abilities: firstly it allows them to instantly teleport to the MAFIA station via special verb command (has large timer), and the second ability is to teleport both themselves and a captive they are holding, but it takes extra time to activate (this ensures that victims are adequately incapacitated when they are kidnapped, much like how changelings require a malleable victim to absorb DNA). The MAFIA members will begin the round on the MAFIA station in order to discuss their plans and prepare. In order to achieve their end goals the MAFIA station will be equipped with the following: Teleporter: Can teleport to any beacon or way-point that the other teleporters can, but cannot itself be targeted as a beacon to teleport to. It serves the function of getting the MAFIA agents back to the NT station Medical/Science station: The station will be equipped with full medical (maybe even cryo or a cloning), a chem-dispenser, autolathe, and an undecided array of other science gear or apparatus. It could be a selection of slime cores, could be a prolathe with existing research, could simply be a plethora of materials for bombs/grendes.... I'm not sure what science elements would be best for the mafia goals, so input here is requested. Brig: The MAFIA station will be equipped with a small but securely built brig with a communal area for the inmates. The purpose of this brig will be to hold hostages and kidnapped individuals. Food/meeting area: A simple place for the 5 ex heads turned mafioso to discuss their plans Individual gear lockers: Instead of having a pda up-link, each role will be given their own locker which contains various gear/traitor gear deemed appropriate to their role (exception perhaps for the godfather so they can have more options in planning). While ALL mafia members should have at the very least a chameleon jumpsuit and one agent ID card, each role will be given a little something extra to help them in their intended functions --------------------------------------------------- Roles Godfather: The Godfather will be the ex captain, they will know everything a regular captain might know, having done the job many times. They will be responsible for making final decisions regarding the coordinated actions of the rest of the MAFIA. Their role in the operation to take over the station will be completely up to them, as they will likely concoct the plan and have a wide array of skills and knowledge. As a potential additional objective, they might be required to steal a captains ID. The mole: The Mole will be the ex HoP. Any HoP worth their salt will know a great deal about the hierarchy of command, the various departments, and the general procedures surrounding personnel and their functions. This makes them perfectly suited to go undercover. They will have access to all things chameleon, including multiple agent ID cards, full diguise, voice changers, and maybe the syndicates could even swing a paralysis pen or two. They will be able to kidnap people with ease, but also be directly responsible for any necessary impersonations depending on whether or not the godfather has any clever rouses planned. They could potentially have a secondary objective to steal an all access ID. The hit man: The Hit Man will be the ex HoS. Being the HoS for an extended period of time exposes you to all the various facets of combat and use of force, and also how to make an individual stop breathing. While the hit man can play just about any role required of them, if the plan calls for assasination, they are specially equipped and ready to present the heads of his targets to the godfather back at what they jokingly refer to as the mobile oppression palace. Like their counterpart MAFIA members, they might have a secondary objective to steal the ID, or the head, of the HoS. The mob doctor: The Mob Doctor would be the ex CMO. They would be given more than adequate facilities in order to either heal their fellow mobsters, or to maim and experiment on their enemies. Being the ex CMO they should have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the meat sacks they call humans. This will make extortion particularly interesting as I know they would be more than willing to push the envelope of what somebody can achieve with a scalpel in spite of moral boundaries. They will also be equipped with implants of various kinds, along with a chemical dispenser and the apparatus required to fully utilize them. The Mob Doctor could be given a secondary objective to acquire the hypo spray or the CMO's ID. The mad scientist: The mad scientist will be the ex RD. While not all RD's are overly competent in all areas of science, most of them happen to be pyro maniacs and bomb experts. When it comes to rigging the entire station to explode, nobody could do it like the mad scientist could, with backup PDA's and voice activated grenades there is no limit to the lengths that can be gone to in the making of, and making good on, threats to the station for the purpose of hostage taking or mass extortion. Being a personage of science they will work in conjunction with the mad doctor in order to coordinate in many devious ways. It is unknown how much scientific equipment they stole before they went AWOL, so potentially anything from the science department could make an appearance. The MS's secondary objective could be to put Lamar on his face, or to blow up the RD. The hacker: Played by the ex CE, The Hacker fills the much needed role of mechanical and electronic expertise. What cannot be controlled can either be hacked into or broken by the hacker. Having access to all the engineering related gear they could ever need, along with EMP's and and E-mag, there's not much aboard the station that is not accessible to them. Their knowledge of power systems and electronics makes them perfectly suited for the task of breaking into dangerous areas such as the AI for subversion. While like all antag roles in this game mode they will do what the godfather requires of them, the speciality of the CE will be to gain control of or disable the station wide systems themselves. --------------------------------------------------- Desired gameplay: The goal of this game mode is to create an atmosphere of high stakes role-play. Given that the MAFIA members are would-be heads, we should be able to expect a good amount of role-play from them, and the crews reactions to the MAFIA and their method of subterfuge and domination could determine the survival of everyone aboard the station. The task at hand is a difficult one, which also promotes very technical and advanced strategies, which will only be made more potent and interesting via the role-play that is necessarily entailed. This game mode also cuts very quickly to the role-played moral limits of a crew members loyalty to Nano Trasen. Very certainly the MAFIa will make some sort of move, and then the reactions of the crew will determine the successor failure of the MAFIA, but also potentially their own survival on the other side of the coin. Personally if I had a remote controlled grenade implanted in me, or I was trapped in a crowded area under threat of bombing, I would do what was asked of me. When it comes to my own life, I try to be heroic, but when the lives of my friends and family are under threat, I won't be so hasty... How would you react?

I asked for an objective from the admins after completing my starting objective very quickly, this is what they wanted me to do!