iprice wrote: ↑Tue Feb 01, 2022 5:36 am
There's no advice against them, they're encouraged, and I think adds a level of un meta-able variation into things which is a good thing.
Personally I don't think I have the right kind of creativity, though if people started a thread of interesting ideas that gets beyond "I'm an OP monster and everyone fights me" then maybe we could source ideas from it.
Time is also an element, both in terms of the time required to figure through something and prep, but also monitor those events during a round as well as having other admins on line to handle "business as usual", during a high pop and even many mid pop rounds on terry for example it's not uncommon for the workload of just handling events (be they things seen or log messages) and tickets to be all consuming (sorry prayers!), sometimes for more than one admin, so there'd need to be a small group probably to make things work out well.
And in fairness I've seen impromptu stuff done from time to time while adminning, when there's more than one of us around and the workload is permissive generally "the other admin" will go off and cook something up, and I mostly stick to smaller things during quieter shifts and otherwise just buffing the threat pot and timing (and rarely exactly which) of mid rounds to try keep a reasonably paced flow going.
Ideas are always good thing, and the hardest part IMO. With free time coming in second.
I'm not cut out to be an admin, but i do like to think up funny events sometimes when i'm bored. Having somewhere to dump them would be neat.
For example, i came up with a bioweapons disaster event:
The story:
The Nanotrasen Bioresearch Division has messed up big time. A shipment containing several experimental bioweapons was ambushed by a syndicate strike team in nearby space, and the specimens managed to escape in the emergency bluespace pods in the confusion. Each one is a highly intelligent genetically and surgically modified human with unique augmentations and abilities, united only in their burning desire for freedom.
As they represent a significant investment of both time and money for the NBD, they must be captured alive (or at the very least revived after capture, however this may damage the specimens more sensitive alterations and is a last resort), and the secrecy of the research requires that only command is informed of the actual nature of the mutants (but it should ideally be hinted at in the official announcement to let crew figure it out). Additionally, a representative from centcom will be sent to the station in order to oversee operations and make sure that the truth about Nanotrasens extremely illegal bioweapons research doesn't get leaked.
The mutants:
These bioweapons would have to be custom made using VV, using bodyparts, augmentations, implants and organs from a wide variety of sources. Each one should ideally have major weaknesses (Ex. A fast, bladed juggernaut with no hands or stun immunity) to force them to cooperate in order to compensate. The number would of course depend on server pop, but anything between 3 and 7 would be ideal.
There'd be several "archetypes" with different functions within the team, much like an ERT.
Ex. The previously mentioned juggernaut: A tough armored monster with increased movement speed and dual armblades, as well as some misc abilities such as xeno/nightmare eyes and some minor regeneration.
None of the specimens are finished however, and the juggernaut is very much vulnerable to stuns and stamina damage, and cannot eat, use tools or patch wounds due to its lack of hands.
I also considered some other types, such as an anti-silicon/machine bioweapon that generates EMP pulses (but has little defense against organics and risks stunning its companions due to their mechanical implants and augments) and an infiltrator with the alien ventcrawl/AA implant and perhaps a tool-arm implant that has less HP than a normal human. Probably also some kind of medic and recon type.
They should work together to stay hidden with the ultimate objective to either hijack the shuttle or last long enough for syndicate or independent smugglers to get them off station. Boning would be disallowed unless they are discovered, and then only in order to preserve their own safety (killing people who run into you in maint is fine. Going out into the hallway to slaughter people is not).
If it's possible, any traitors could also get a message from syndicate command telling them that intercepted NT comms have informed them of valuable NT assets within the station that would strike a powerful blow against them if aquired by the Syndicate. Securing their cooperation and protecting them from the crew becomes the new primary objective for these antags, who could harbour them in their departments/subvert the AI in order to better hide them.
Depending on how strong the bioweapon/traitor team ends up being, the crew would also have to be assisted. Therefore, Nanotrasen would send in an ERT after a while if the crew fails to apprehend their escaped subjects. ERT size and composition would have to be customized after pop size and overall threat of the opposing force, but should ideally mainly be outfitted with nonlethal weaponry as their objective is to take the mutants alive.
I'm not sure how well this event would work in-game of course. Making the mutants should be easy enough with admin tools, if perhaps a bit time consuming (unsure if you can "save" custom mobs beforehand and deploy them instantly), but there are many moving parts to this event which could make it hard to properly oversee without a full squad coming on to help. I also considered giving mutants unstable mutagen as their blood type, which would result in any amount of injected blood effectively killing them with the mutagen-to-blood chemical reaction, but im unsure how feasible it is to give mobs a specific chem as their blood type instead of using the abductor implant that randomises it. Overall the idea still needs some polishing, but i think what i have is a pretty robust framework at the very least. Do tell me what you think!