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Seems like I'm quite late to the party, but I'd like to pitch in my two cents since I have some experience playing IAA. As pretty much everyone has said, IAA as a role is having an identity crisis. Magistrates(although I have very seldom seen the Magistrate doing anything more than deciding how to punish perma prisoners), representing the Security and Legal Departments, seem to enjoy having control over IAAs, even though in my experience very little has actually come from this relationship, the IAA perhaps being asked to corroborate a report or serve as a placeholder until the Magistrate is avaliable, but no actual "legal" activity, per se. At the very best, the IAA is designated to deal with events deemed to minor for Security to handle(and knowing Security, that's an incredibly small number of incidents)and the Magistrate is busy. The idea of a civilian authority over Security too, seems great, but from my experience, IAAs are ignored, occasionally even actively disregarded, by the whole department, the Detective being the notable exception as they can relate in being in a somewhat sidelined, and very situational position. On the other hand, though I do not often directly interact with the NT Rep, my play-style(and that of the majority of others that I've observed)follows very closely to the HR Complaints/SOP Investigations that the NT Rep is assigned to facilitate. Anything from paperwork to SOP check-ups seem to me more of a fit for the role, essentially the resident bureaucrat rather than some random arbiter. To me, conducting small-scale check-ups on the different departments is much more beneficial than being involved in legal affairs, as it could prevent an entire Security Team having to be sent down to Mining, or the like. The middle ground that is investigating Security would, rather than half-hearted suggestions over the Security Comms, take the form of a fax to CC, or a meaningful complaint to the HoP, Captain or NT Rep(though any sort of CC intervention would probably get redundant, given how often the Security team takes liberties in their position). In my opinion, doing away with IA's obligations to the Security Department would be optimal. They'd still be on the same Comms, and would investigate Security as they would any other department, but all the(ill-defined)baggage that comes with being pushed into the very non-existent legal scene would no longer prevent the IAA from pro-actively conducting investigations out of fear that they might be called up to deal with some legal issue. Going a step further, for IAAs to have a greater impact on the round, ensuring SOP is being followed, I'd encourage they be given some(obviously non-violent)leverage over the Security Department, as it's quite, quite impossible for the IAA(and pretty much any other civilian force on the station)to regulate the officers when they have power in the form of weapons. At the very least, those who play IAA have to break through the mentality of being part of the Security Department, as Security is just as, if not more, liable to SOP violations when compared to other departments.

So. I was playing Bobbie Wilkins, a Chemical Researcher, and I was playing it hard. My goal? Create life through chemistry, analyze and record it, and submit my completely pointless and arbitrary findings into the RD for a fat bonus. Suffice to say, things didn't go according to plan. Initially, things were great. I got all my chemicals quickly, even the coveted Omnizine, which I need to reach my goal, set up my station, and had the first call-out of changelings on the station after a lucky escape from an incredibly unstealthy doctor examining their newly obtained armblade, but this is when things started to fall apart. A doctor reported one "Bobby Wolinoski" attempting to murder them with an armblade, and unfortunately, due to the fact that Bob W. is a relatively rare name on the station, they completely bypassed the actual guy and went after me. The AI shut down the power for the Sci-Chem lab, and trapped myself and three others inside. And then it dawned on me. Two of my fellow chemists had the same name, Alorea Bennett, the same face, and I went into panic mode. On a false accusation, I had been caught in the quarantine zone, and there was a very viable threat. Security was no help, in fact, as the later reveal changeling began to work, my station, the area in which I was waiting out the quarantine in, became filled with noxious gas, and as I was crawling around on the floor, fainting and vomiting, they were entirely oblivious to my plight, and the Detective requested that I, incapacitated and choking on the floor, go and meet him on the other side of the door. I didn't know what to do. So I did the only thing I could think of, I went ahead with my plan, and through the magic of chemistry, the first of my creations were born. A beacon, a xenomorph, a bear, a koi and an icewing watcher. It was amazing. I was going to be able to document my findings, and bring this newfound knowledge to the scientific scene. But, again, I was stopped in my tracks. As the AI finally opened the door, security flooded in and painstakingly check everyone in the room for signs of being a changeling. Somehow, they did not find the changeling, who was hiding in the disposal chute. Then security left, only myself and the two dopplegangers left in the room with me. As one, who I deemed the changeling, approached towards me, I set off another one of my concoctions, this time in the main chemical station, not in the testing chambers, and ran like hell. As a small horde of creatures rampaged through Sci-Chem, killing the innocent doppleganger in the room, security was once more called to the scene to take care of the threat, which they did shockingly well, and then left. Finally. I was to have peace with my creations, contained and able to be studied further. But, one of my fellow chemists wanted them all dead, them all blown to bits, and I, seeing as I still had some concoction left, reluctantly gave them permission to destroy my subjects. I'm not sure what this particular chemist was thinking, because, instead of procedurally filling the chamber with flamable gas and igniting it, they opened the main door and attempted to throw a grenade in. Seeing the door open, the original subjects of my experiments were freed, killing the chemist, pursuing me through RnD and calling security once more to the scene. The xenomorph intently followed me through, all the way from RnD to North of the Bridge, when it got distracted. I was then arrested, for which I, at the time, was unaware as to why. Apparently, I was still under arrest for being an accused changeling, even after being tested, and I was brought to processing. Through no little effort of my own, I convinced security that I was not, in fact a changeling, and also that I was not, in fact, responsible for the creatures ravaging through the science department. Upon returning to my station, albeit, tired and still damaged from the changeling's gas, I announced a third trial of my experiment, in order to make sure that everyone was aware of what I was doing, and to under no circumstances open the testing chamber. However, threats from all manner of the other RnD staff forced me to leave, and go into hiding, the RD threatening a demotion of the entire department for whatever reason, and then proceeding to actually demote Alorea, the innocent chemist who I had inadvertently killed earlier. Hiding in North Arrivals Maints, I heard a report of some else opening the chamber and letting the creatures out, which, as they were dead, left me to take the fall for the damage done. A brief exchange with the AI and some command staff later, I remained hiding, as I was to now be arrested on sight for not surrendering my possessions. It was at this time that a Syndicate Comms Agent, known as Havoc, first contacted me, probably having overheard discussion on the station of how I was a changeling, a traitor, liable to treason and death. Anyways, Havoc made me an offer. They would attempt to get me passage off the station, on the condition that I bring with me some sensitive materials from RnD. I initially agreed to Havoc's request, but then proceeded to walk into the main Arrivals Hallway, where I was seen by the Assistant RD and within 10 seconds, I swear, the Captain, HoS, RD and half a dozen security officers had cornered me in the Vacant Office. My possessions were confiscated, and I was brought to the Brig to serve my time, a measly 15 minutes after gaining favor with the Warden, a stark difference from the promise from the Captain of "never seeing the outside of the Brig again". I served my time, walked aboard the escape shuttle after a crew transfer was ordered and left, being proto-fired from Nanotrasen. And thus, I was finally free to go about my research, no bureaucracy or incompetent co-workers to mess me up.

Don't have much of a direction with this, just a couple ideas to throw out there. New Genetics Sequence: Can talk to sentient animals, not much of a purpose, but I guess you could do something Traitor Things: Couple of ideas: Traitors can take direct control of any animal in their view-range and that animal has a pull ability relative to their size and, if they are small enough, can crawl into vents, traitor will not be able to move for duration of control, could be useful for covertly stealing items -cost: Control can be detected through examination - glowing eyes or something of a similar vein --cost: Player cannot regain control of themselves until controlled animal nuzzles them +cost: Animals can drag items with them through vents +cost: Overrides existing sentience Traitors can take indirect control of sentient animals - similar to mind slave +cost: Player can speak to controlled animals ++cost: All animals can become sentient ++cost: All sentient animals gain stomach storage slot - Player can feed them shit they want to hide

I know that the last time the server needs is more inexperienced people trying to steal, murder and dick around with game mechanics they know nothing about, but hear me out.(Also, I'm completely in the dark regarding whether this idea has been pitched or rejected before and how much effort it would take programming-wise) I've been having a great time playing a Geneticist lately, and part of that is having fun equipping the crew with the shit I find(for the better or for the worse) and seeing how they work with it, and it got me thinking. Most RnD players are given round goals, something to lead them to create something specific and I always thought it was kind of odd that those micro-goals were given exclusively to RnD players. I understand that there are certain skills and play-styles the RnD Department requires from the people who play it, especially in comparison to something as RNG-based as Genetics, but I feel like something should be given to other Departments, especially since some of them have a lot of freedom to experiment, arguably too much freedom. So, I've compiled a short list of some ideas I have for non-RnD members of the Station. General: Escape on the Escape Shuttle or in an Escape Pod with X credits. Escape on the Escape Shuttle or in an Escape Pod with X stolen item(s).(Would spawn at the beginning of the round, most likely something that takes up some space, maybe a tank full of plasma or some organs in a box) Engineering: [Station Engineer] Renovate and reopen X location.(Abandoned Bar, Assembly Line, Medbay Maintenance, etc.) [Mechanic] Build a Space Pod. Supply: [Miner] Obtain X amount of X resource. [CT & QM] Distribute X item(s) to X crew members.(Something Nanotrasen would want everyone station-side to have lore-wise or something slightly illegal) Medical: [Chemist] Escape on the Escape Shuttle or in an Escape Pod with X amount of X chemical.(Drugs or something would be the most reasonable thing that would need to be snuck out) [Geneticist] Find X number of non-blank traits. Service: [Clown & Mime] Have an X mech built by Robotics. [Librarian] Write a book/newspaper article. [Chaplain] Hold X funerals using the Crematorium or Mass Driver. [Botanist] Grow X amount of X plant. (Diona, Bluespace Bananas, Nettles, whatever) Now, this list is pretty basic and janky, but it serves the purpose it intends. There are plenty of goals that can be given to non-RnD roles, just for some sense of direction if the players need it. A lot of them aren't super difficult to complete, and simply require that the player in question actually does their job. Now, I'm going to delve into something I'd like to call micro-antag goals. Some of the things I listed above fall into this category, by virtue of being sketchy enough that a security bag search might raise an eyebrow or two, perhaps even warrant an arrest, but nothing game-breaking or directly harmful to other players. Essentially, the concept of a 'micro-antag goal' is to give someone items, powers and/or abilities they should not have, under the assumption that the person in question is not, in fact, a powergamer or griefer, but a player who will RP out the experience. Obviously, some things can get quite ramped up quite quickly, so I'd limit it to simple, role-based application, like giving the Clown a satchel full of Funny Voice injectors or the Bartender some drugs that they might slip into a drink. Obviously, this idea isn't super fleshed-out and I'm not sure how it could be implemented, but I'd really love to encourage having a couple more back-room deals where the result is a relatively RP-friendly, borderline illegal bit of fun that doesn't hurt anyone too badly and may or may not end up with all parties involved spending time in the Brig.

Perhaps the 'Stowaway' could also have some sort of major debuff, to force them to occasionally venture out of maintenance for supplies or rely on a crew member. A heavily damaged and easily destructible robotic limb might do the trick, or some sort of genetic disability. Honestly, I'd rather have a sort of passive obstacle like that than a hunter-hunted dynamic, because you basically get that every game with Security.

Might have seen me around the past couple of weeks since I've been popping in and out as Bobbie Wilkins, priding myself in being the most baseline human around. Probably the only reason you've had a memorable interaction with me in game is because my character's pretty janky and all over the place RP-wise, but everyone's been great so far and people seem to roll with it so I'm likely going to be sticking around for a while.