Game Mode Suggestion: Monster Hunters

[mrbits]

 

Haldo,

 

I've been on-again off-again designing a special game mode for SS13, but after playing on Paradise Station and seeing the vampire antagonist options I thought this'd be a great place to pitch my idea. So, without further ado, I present...

 

Monster Hunters!

or Hunters, or "The Order," the name's a work in progress...

 

Summary:

Sinister vampires have infiltrated the NCS Cyberiad, pursuing their evil goals at the expense of the station and its crew. Their arrival has not gone unnoticed, however: A secretive order of monster hunters is already here, waiting to strike! Having taken up positions across the station as normal crew, the hunters are tasked with killing these creatures of darkness once and for all.

 

Background:

The Order (working title) is a mysterious cult of warriors who have waged a secret war against the creatures of darkness for countless generations. The Order's goals are ultimately benevolent but they have always acted in secrecy, to hide from the creatures they hunt as well as the fearful and hateful suspicions of the people they protect.

 

In 2557 AD the Order has fallen on hard times: Space travel has allowed evil to run and hide across the stars, while the Order's own ranks are spread thin. Worst of all several influential vampires are secretly operating on NanoTrasen's board of directors, ensuring any attempt to ally with the galaxy's largest corporation would lead to disaster. To adapt, the Order has made friends with The Syndicate, who provide the hunters with equipment in order to act out missions that are (indirectly) harmful to NanoTrasen.

 

Gameplay:

Beginning Play

i. Opting in for being a vampire in a round of Monster Hunters would be done by toggling the Vampire eligibility option to 'Yes' in the Game Preferences menu. Opting in for being a hunter (a warrior of the Order) would be handled the same way (requiring the implementation of a new entry in the Game Preferences menu.)

ii. At the start of a round of Monster Hunters, 2-4 players begin as vampires while another 2-4 will be hunters. The exact amount of vampires and hunters would be dependant on the number of players in the round. Ideally there would be an equal number of vampires and hunters (2 vamps vs. 2 hunters, 4 vamps vs. 4 hunters, etc.)

iii. Vampire players begin play knowing that they are a vampire, but not who the other vampires aboard the station are (if any.)

iv. The hunters begin play knowing that they are hunters, and will see an icon over their head and the heads of any other vampire hunters (if any.) This allows hunters to immediately know who is part of the Order. Hunters will also begin the round knowing exactly how many other vampires are aboard the station, and their true names (assuming vampires have "true names" like changelings? I could be wrong, haven't played a vampire myself, yet.)

 

The Round

i. At the beginning of the round, all vampire players will be given standard vampire objectives which they must complete in order to win (drain N units of blood, kill X, steal Y, etc.) If a vampire player completes their objectives and escapes aboard the shuttle/ an escape pod at the end of the round, they win.

ii. At the beginning of the round all hunters will be given one objective - Eliminate all vampires on the station. This is a communal objective, so if 1 vampire is eliminated by a hunter then that vampire is considered eliminated for all other hunters. A hunter does not need to evacuate the station at the end of a round in order to win; Elimination of all vampires is their primary goal.

iii. Vampires have access to all vampire powers and game mechanics, as normal.

iv. Hunters begin play with a special Order PDA and 10 telecrystals with which to purchase items. This works exactly like a traitor's PDA - secret code to access items menu, same items available, etc.

v. The crew are expected to perform their duties aboard the station as normal, which includes dealing with vampires as well as stopping the Order, who - according to NanoTrasen - are members of the Syndicate and have come to sabotage the NCS Cyberiad.

 

Design Notes

1. I thought it would be kinda cool to have players who opt in for Monster Hunter round be randomly assigned to either vampire or hunter. Sadly that would mean that a player who is toggled 'Yes' for Monster Hunter, 'No' for Vampire and then begins a round as a vampire would know they are in a round of Monster Hunter, removing a lot of the surprise. So, instead I feel the addition of a Hunter antag role would work best. Players who spawn as hunters would know that they are in a round of Monster Hunter, obviously, and that would be working as intended.

2. If it is possible for a new vampire player to join a round once it has begun, then it'd be critical that the Order players be informed of the new arrival ASAP. It would be incredibly uncool if the Order eliminated all 3 vampires and went into hiding, only to learn at the end of the round that they failed to kill an unknown 4th vampire.

3. The idea of giving hunters access to special vampire stalking equipment - silver bolts, holy bullets, etc. - was really tempting, but sadly the presence of these items would be able to prove to the crew beyond a shadow of a doubt that one is indeed a hunter and not a traitor.

4. If possible it would be good to have Vampire + Traitor as an eligible round type so that, if Syndicate items are found in the same round a vampire, the crew can't be sure if they are dealing with Syndicate agents or hunters from the Order. It could also lead to some great opportunities for deception ("You don't understand, I have to kill the Research Director because he's a vampire!")

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

So, yea. That's my pitch for a game mode. I'd love to hear people's opinions on it. Too slow? Too boring? Too chaotic? Not chaotic enough? Are there problems with the items or game balance you feel I didn't address?

 

I think Monster Hunters could be a lot of fun if executed well, but I have an obvious bias since I wrote it down. Let me know what you think!

 

[Fj45]

Maybe there would need to be a new antag for them to hunt as vampire stun can be a little broken.

[Habalabam]

 

So it is like a normal vampire round except their presence is revealed at round start and they have additional and dedicated people after them?

Wouldn't this offset the balancing that today is calibrated against secrecy and a distracted security force?

 

[Eldrin-Kanthos]

 

So it is like a normal vampire round except their presence is revealed at round start and they have additional and dedicated people after them?

Wouldn't this offset the balancing that today is calibrated against secrecy and a distracted security force?

The Hunters would count as traitors to the NT personnel. They would have to stay secret too, so the vampires would only be revealed to the hunters.

 

[VampyrBytes]

I've had a similar round... I was a vamp and my objective was to make sure no lings escaped the station. Whilst I failed, mainly because my bats turned traitor and killed me in a fight with a ling, it was great fun, so I support this idea

[Fj45]

 

I like the sound of vamp VS lings more. Much easier to code anyway.

And it makes more IC sense. NT hires vamp to protect station from lings, pays in blood.

 

[Habalabam]

 

Oh, so it is a variant of the antags who get a protection objective?

That is cool.

 

Maybe they should have some dedicated tools at their disposal, like:

Vampire compass imbued with trace evidence (saliva, bats, blood) pulled from the vampire. There should be some hassle with this, it should not be as efficient as a pinpointer.

Maybe some single use nitrate spray to reveal the vampire "true face" for a duration.

Some field test equipment to run blood sample.

Creating temporary barriers that works only on vampires.

Pills that make the vampire reject the blood (possibly pass out) when feeding on whoever took the pill.

Crucifix that works like riot gear against vampires. Creating an invisible 3-tile wide barrier in front of the person holding it. This should be high-profile by having unmistakable graphics and they could even be chanting something latin.

 

 

I feel that there is a realm of possibilities here, but I would wish that the chaplain and librarian had some angle to the vampire story.

 

[mrbits]

 

@Habalabam: Sorry, my wording must not have been clear. The number of vampires on a station would only be known to the hunters, not the rest of the crew, so only the hunters would begin knowing it is a Monster Hunter round. Also, the hunters would know the REAL names of the vampires (I'm assuming vampires have REAL names like Changelings have Mr. Pho, Mr. Pi, etc.) but they would not know the names of the vampire's crew names. Like the rest of the crew the hunters would need to track down and figure out who the vampires are, then eliminate them.

And yea, as @Eldrin-Kanthos said, the hunters would be treated as traitors by the crew. Sure, a hunter can SAY he's working for the Order, but he's got Syndicate weapons and snuck aboard the station with the Syndicate's help, so it'd be understandable if security was just a little skeptical.

 

@Fj45: I can't speak to the power of a vampire's stun since I've only encountered them a few times, but if the vampire's stun is OP then that's more a problem with vampires than this particular game mode. Also, if that's the case, I'd say a crewmember with Syndicate gear in addition to their standard kit would do better against a vampire than a crewmember with just their standard kit.

Vampires vs. Changelings could be interesting, but I feel Vampires vs. Hunters/Traitors has a cool dynamic - Powers vs. info and equipment, as opposed to powers vs. powers. Also, the changelings would need to be kept in the dark about one-another's presence, for it to be at all fair for the uncoordinated vampires (which would indirectly tip the round's hand and let the changelings know its a hunter round.)

 

@Habalabam's second point: Items like that would be hella cool to use as a hunter, but dedicated vampire killing equipment that only hunters could acquire would be irrefutable proof that someone is a hunter and not just a lying Traitor, removing a lot of the mystery. Of course, if there was anti-vampire techniques/options available in all rounds, even when there's no vampires aboard, that would certainly help obfuscate the situation. Salt, mirrors, garlic, etc...