mrbits

When a crook goes SSD, I process them as though they were still in-game. Search their shit, put their non-contraband in the locker, set the timer, boom done. It's technically a violation of the rules regarding SSD players, but I'd argue that - since they still "have" their gear and haven't been murderized - the spirit of the SSD server rule is preserved. No one gets abused, no one gets killed and NO ONE ESCAPES THE LAW.

Security: "Ah, yes... Once more unto the breach..."

Neeevermind! I see now that there is an "Escape from Brig" modifier which resets the prisoner's timer. I think this is sufficient to discourage a prisoner from being a pain in the ass.

The clarification of laws and standard operating procedure looks good, I like it. My only concern/ complaint is that a prisoner's sentence begins counting down as soon as they are brought to their cell instead of once they are securely put away. Specifically, I'm worried about how it interacts with Code 101 - Resisting Arrest. If a person can only be charged for a 101 once per arrest, then they have no reason to stop resisting once they've been brought to their cell: Their timer will continue to count while they keep dicking around. Perhaps a note or clarification could be added to Code 101 stating that prisoners actively resisting during the brig phase have their timers reset upon being locked up? I know there's a note about adjusting a felon's timer after being properly put away ("Modify their brig sentence for additional offences or good behavior, if applicable.") but I feel this sort of thing can/will end up being a semi-regular occurrence. Or not. Who knows, we'll see.

Once during the Bad Old Days of my tabletop group, our party was on the way back to town with an old relic we pried from a group of raiding lizardmen, eager to collect the large gold reward promised us. During the night one of the party's badass lone wolf assassins - lets call him Twiddle-Dee - was awoken by the party's OTHER badass lone wolf assassin - he'll be Twiddle-Dumbass. Also yes, our group WAS choked with edgy loners and so on. I DID say this was the Bad Old Days of my group. Anyhow. Twiddle-Dumbass had a simple proposition for Twiddle-Dee: "The reward for returning the relic will split much better 4 ways than 6 ways, and we can get rid of our goody-goody sorcerer and paladin." After a moment's consideration and collective groans of "not THIS shit again..." from the rest of the players at the table, Twiddle-Dee agreed to the plan and they set about thinning the ranks. Twiddle-Dumbass passed his Stealth roll marvellously and, using his Sneak Attack damage, silently dispatched the elf Sorcerer on watch with a single strike. Twiddle-Dumbass then glanced over to see how Twiddle-Dee was doing with the sleeping dwarf Paladin they'd agreed to kill... Only to see that Dee had instead chosen to wake the Paladin and point out Twiddle-Dumbass' misdeeds. A violent bout of smiting later and Twiddle-Dumbass was right: With the party down a sorcerer and an assassin, that reward DID split much more favourably.

While this is certainly true, I think there's still room for abuse - repeatedly Aiming at someone to keep them toggling walk/run so you can catch up in a chase, for example. Related: The force-your-target-to-walk thing about Aim Mode always struck me as strange. It'd be akin to being able to toggle someone to help intent by saying "help me!" or setting someone's energy gun from kill to stun by screaming "mercy!"

I can attest to being forcefully implanted as a Changeling, as I was overpowered, captured and then implanted. So, if anyone was somehow confused as to how you could get loyalty implanted as a Changeling, there you go. Related: The round that I got loyalty implanted the Captain demanded I tell him the names of my Changeling allies, and I did: Mr. Rho, Mr. Sigma and Ms. Omega. We Changelings did not share our identities with each-other, so I the player could not truthfully give the Captain the information he was looking for, even if I wanted to (which I did since lol friendchip is magic.) A Changeling ratting out its allies is not a symptom of a broken system: It is a symptom of sloppy Changelings. Just like the admins don't refund telecrystals for bad traitor items or blood for bad vampire upgrades, I don't think they should squash loyalty implants to accommodate bad Changeling play.

omg are they adding the pinecone asshole code from /TG/ into Paradise? Fucking FINALLY.

I made a suggestion like this which can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2929 It's a very similar idea except without the need of special equipment which may end up getting abused, nor does it blur the line between the officer's duty as a guard and their supposed new mini-duty as a doctor/engineer/whatever. Also, there really shouldn't be a karma cost in my opinion - this sort of position is less about having special perks on Paradise and more about security being better set up at the start of a game to actually do their job properly. Other servers have done the department security officer thing pretty well and (from what I've seen) it doesn't lead to extra abuse, since there's barely any new items added to the mix and the officers assigned to these departments only have the power to open some doors - they CANNOT operate any machines or unlock any lockers to take insulated gloves, medicine, research supplies, etc.

Haldo, On several other servers I've played on there have been small security offices found inside each department. Each office has a desk, filing cabinet, locker with some basic gear, a security terminal, a camera terminal that links into the cameras of the given department (medical, engineering, etc.) and a charger for tasers, batons, etc. Oh! And a book on Space Law. Furthermore on these servers, one security officer is randomly assigned to each of these departments at the start of the round. They spawn with the appropriate department armband on their uniform (R&D, Supply, etc.) and their IDs are tweaked to allow them access to the department's DOORS - they don't have clearance to use the machines or unlock the lockers in the department. Also, if a new security guard joins the round and a department doesn't have an assigned guard, that guard would be assigned to that position with all the tweaks as if they had spawned in at the start of the round. I feel the danger of people breaking into the security offices to steal gear is mitigated by putting that gear in lockers, and the minor increase in clearance for a few officers shouldn't provide too much room for new abuse (and having the department assignments be random prevents dedicated troublemakers from picking which department they want to terrorize.) We already have a similar office in the Medbay where a dedicated officer can sneak in to steal pills be on-hand to deal with violent patients: It would be cool to have dedicated officers in other areas to respond to saboteurs, space carp, intruders and the clown. This sort of change would require some coding and likely some mid-major remapping to fit these little offices in, but I think they'd make a great addition!

What about the chef?

What? WHAT Jesus Christ, are you INSANE?! Do you have ANY IDEA what happens when those emergency shutters go down? No, of course you don't. NO ONE does. Who KNOWS what could be going on in there! I mean sure, maybe there's a plasma fire burning with the fury of a million exploding suns. MAYBE. But MAYBE a wizard has filled the room with guns and pizza! MAYBE the clown and mime are performing a rendition of "O Brother Where Art Thou?" with nothing but pantomime and balloon animals! MAYBE the HoP is giving out all-access passes to the station! It's like the goddamn Cave of Wonders from Aladdin - riches beyond measure, all for the taking if you are brave and clever enough to enter! When I see an emergency shutter, I don't see a warning - I see a CHALLENGE. A challenge that MUST be overcome with this stolen crowbar, and which will reward me with riches and adventure the likes of which no man has ever seen. The slim possibility of the station imploding under the weight of my stupidity bravery is a small risk to endure.

That's fair. I cede that on Paradise the odds of you getting banned without recourse for an honest mistake are practically non-existant. Despite the malicious verbal OOC thrashing a player can expect for screwing up anything aboard the NCS Cyberiad, that outlash of negativity rarely (if ever) guides the banning hand of the admins. I suppose I Iost perspective there.

Man. Dungeons & Dragons has gone through so many iterations that 2 people can play completely different systems and still correctly say they're playing D&D. Hah! But I digress. Dungeons & Dragons is pretty rad. I'm on a sort of hiatus from high fantasy right now, but I've played in as well as run a couple of short 3-5 session campaigns using the newly-released 5th edition. I feel 5e is pretty good, its a return to its original intent of being a tabletop roleplaying game - as opposed to 4e, which was (in my opinion) a pen-and-paper MMORPG complete with dungeon raids and gear grinding. I totes suggest people check out D&D 5th Edition. It's easy to pick up, quick and fun but still allows complexity and depth in its execution. Also: Some doofs here on Paradise Station did a D&D campaign using Roll20.net a few months ago. They can prolly tell you how things went and provide any info/tips on assembling and running a campaign online!

That's a legit concern. We are all someone else's minority: It just takes a little rewording of the situation to suddenly find yourself marginalized. On the topic itself: I also don't want to see the NCS Cyberiad become more of an easy-mode station than it already is, but I'm super skeptical of situations where you can be banned for goofing up or being incompetent. A hard game where mistakes happen is fun, but when your first mistake can be your last on the server then how are you supposed to improve? (And don't say "read the wiki" because we all know practically every SS13 wiki is an outdated mess in constant flux, struggling to keep up with changes made to the game's code in real time.)

So long as the fraction who vote are a representative sample of the player base aboard the NCS Cyberiad then the poll can still be informative - unless we have some reason to believe that people who post on forums are more likely to favour one engine type over the other?

Spectacular, sure, but will also get you banned.

Coding aside, I see it like this... Supermatter Engine! Pros: 1. A little more technical in its execution (so, y'know, engineers can play the game) 2. When it explodes it only ("only") makes people sick and maybe die a bit from radiation 3. If tossed away, a new supermatter crystal can be ordered 4. If destroyed, the supermatter room can be rebuilt reliably (I think) 5. Has a "Warning! Reactor meltdown imminent!" thing on the go when exploding, which is super-cool (not a real point, I just like it a lot) Cons: 1. Complexity of system (compared to the singularity) causes regular accidents among new engineers Singularity! Pros: 1. A little more straightforward in its setup and execution (ideal for low-pop rounds or new/understaffed engineers) Cons: 1. When the singularity escapes and runs into the station, the round is OVER as the damage is simply too great to repair 2. When the singularity escapes, the whole server begins to lag 3. When the singularity is let loose, the players responsible are BANNED Admitedly I haven't played engineering as much as others so some of my info regarding supermatter's safety or complexity may be inaccurate. That being said, I HAVE done a lot of work with the singularity as well as having witnessed numerous instances of players getting into shit for misbehaving around the thing - accidentally or otherwise. IN CONCLUSION: I like the supermatter because it's cool and only kills characters when it malfunctions, as opposed to the singularity which swallows up whole BYOND accounts.

what

ACTUALLY, there is a Traitor item that does just the thing you described! They're called "Pickpocket Gloves." They look exactly like black gloves and, when you attempt to take someone's ID card or the contents of either of their pockets while wearing these gloves, no BIG RED MESSAGE appears warning them (they'll still see their ID vanish or pockets go empty if they're paying attention to their UI, but no information will show who took it.) So, yea. Half your work's done already. I think it would be worth expanding the pickpocket role into a full-blown "Thief" role, creating a sort of burglar/corporate spy antag with Syndicate gear who must collect a shopping list of items from the station. Edit: SUBTLY collect a shopping list of items from the station using stealth and subterfuge, no running and gunning like some ridiculous graytide. Perhaps killing 2+ targets would result in a failed mission - though I'm not sure if the current code can keep track of who has killed who...

Hello, As I understand it, the server is reviewing the way stun weapons and handcuffs work. That's fine. However, after playing a few rounds with the new system, it really does make me miss the old system. I'm not going to paint a story, that would be excessive. I also don't know exactly how the code for the new system works, so I won't make any assumptions about values. Let me just list the specific instances that made me feel this way. 1. I managed to evade a security officer who, upon whacking me twice with his stun baton, I was able to disarm. He picked up his baton, whacked me a third time, then I disarmed him again and ran, screwdrivering the door behind me to prevent pursuit. That officer had me dead to rights, but it didn't matter. 2. Later in the same round I was shot in the chest 4 times with a taser, causing me to (finally) drop. As the officer was grabbing me to put cuffs upon my wrists, I woke up and walked away. He was out of shots for his taser and he missed with his baton, so I was free to go. 3. Me and an officer were chasing some random who was beating a victim to death with a fire extinguisher, dragging them around departures. It took both of us about 2-3 hits each to stop his rampage, during which time his victim died. I repeatedly stunned the murderer while the other officer grabbed and cuffed him. It took 2 fully-equipped officers to stop a random with a fire extinguisher. I sincerely consiered beating the random to critical and/or breaking his legs - not because I was frustrated, but because it would guarantee he'd stay down long enough to get cuffed. 4. As a security officer I acquired a banana peel early in the round. The banana peel became my go-to peacekeeping tool, because it still offered a 100% take-down. I think I understand the reasoning behind these changes: On their own 1-hit stuns are strong, and being able to slap cuffs on anyone nearby can be pretty abusive. That being said, I've always felt the trade-off was the fact that both these items require you to melee your target - a dangerous proposition and sometimes not even possible (behind a table, behind a player, running faster than you, etc.) TL;DR: I feel the change to stun batons has removed one of the biggest advantages they had over ranged stun weapons, and making an officer grapple their target in order to use cuffs creates a difficult situation that is easily exploited by perps in order to escape capture.

Cards Against Humanity is a game you play with your friends, not strangers who can't tell when you're joking. Also, the cards in Cards Against Humanity are pre-written requiring no input from the players - you just drop them as you draw them. The gang laughs at how shocking someone ELSE is being, not because dead babies and race jokes are the pinnacle of comedy. Back on target: I don't feel "SS13 has X and Y so why not Z" is a point that really sells the game round. Also, I think IamnotDave had the right idea with the Mutiny game round: If we want to have parts of the crew/ station subject to arbitrary laws that chafe the crew's morale, Mutiny gets the job done without having to get into any sensitive areas.

Yes that's true, I should have clarified. Roll20 has a lot of really well-done options for macros, maps and tokens, but to get the best out of it you should set things up ahead of time. The games I've run have gone so much more smoothly when the PCs joined and instantly had access to their own character journals and combat macros, but that required me spending the previous night doing all this writing and "coding." If you're the sort of GM who prefers to do everything on the fly, well, I don't think you'll be getting as much bang for your buck. I'd really recommend just a little bit of prepwork, it goes a long way.

Well, the first and biggest difference would be that there is no event currently on Paradise requiring players to physically and verbally hate characters in order to win the round. This sort of social commentary is very important, but like any message you need to consider the medium and the audience. A rousing round of genocide could shed light on the stupidity of racism, but I think the average doof playing SS13 would just chalk it up to trollin' good times on that wacky Internet where anything goes - especially when he helped win the round by cuffing and evicting those dark-haired fellows. I don't have a lot of faith in the mob. Sorry, I misinterpreted your point as Security opressing the spiritual beliefs of the cultists. That being said, I still don't think it stacks up neatly. The cult's dark juju is not so much a way of life as it is a means to an end - whether that end is murdering specific people, destroying the station or slaving the crew to a dark master who cannot be disobeyed. Cultists don't do these things because they hate the crew's beliefs or way of life: They do them because that is their mission, and Silly Old Nar'Sie will not be denied.

I strongly recommend Roll20.net for your online tabletop venue. Even if you're just using a free account, you still have access to every core feature that makes the table work - Initiative tracker, sample tokens, the ability to upload and use your own tokens, scripting macros, etc. Additionally, Roll20 has a bunch of pre-made scripts and materials specifically for Pathfinder!