/tg/Station 13

Drunk idea coming from discussion of among other things, R&D: Ghost busting equipment.

Now hear me out; when the station is dealing with the terrors of a Revenant, or various ghostly cult constructs, usually they're almost completely reliant on either brute force or the Chaplain, who may be dead, incompetent, crazy or drunk. (especially if the Chaplain is me)

But of course, we have pop culture precedent for dealing with supernatural horror without having to get priests involved; the use of specialised technology, usually based around unlicensed particle accelerators, to locate, stun and contain optionally-corporeal supernatural entities. The use of Proton Packs, which reveal and stun ectoplasmic entities, and Ghost Traps, which function something like inverse grenades and contain them.

I don't think I need to explain much more about the mechanics. It is interesting to note that as presented, Ghost busting equipment is impressively SS13-fitting; aside from the generally retro feel, it's cumbersome, difficult to use, and incredibly dangerous when used wrong. Proton Packs would function much like the Janitor's water tank or defillibrators, having to be worn on the back with the projector part unholstered for use. Ghost Traps, meanwhile, could work rather like grenades. (since I think the cable and foot-pedal mechanism seen in the movies and cartoons might be difficult to code in-game) And of course, you really don't want to cross the streams.

I figured that Proton Packs and Ghost Traps, along with PKE meters for detecting ghosts (which may or may not include player ghosts and observers to some extent- I think I'll leave the balance decisions up to others) can be products of Research and Development, in whichever form it may take in the forseeable future, though Cargo may also be able to order Ectoplasmic Containment crates. They may require firing pins to use, especially considering the Proton Packs can likely fuck up anything else that they hit.

Slime cannons optional, but probably hilarious.

I approve of this idea, but probably in a state that stops people from using them to wreck normal crew.

Probably a good idea, though I wasn't sure on the specifics. As weapons go, at best the Proton Packs probably be worse than just making an energy gun, and prone to causing yourself damage when used wrong. Minor Burn damage and maybe setting things on fire, maybe? While the Ghost Traps wouldn't do anything to regular crew at all.

The effect on revenants, constructs and such should probably be equivalent to a stun, maybe with a lock-on effect like Medi-Beams. (Only on ectoplasmic entities, likely. Might fuck up zombies too?)

Slime cannons... probably would be a high-end R&D weapon, require a firing pin to use, and hilariously terrifying when emagged and in the hands of a competent chemist.

Should make it possible for R&D and cargo to order ghost buster gear. A crate comes with:

• Handheld PKE meters - Acts like a hot and cold meter for nearby ghosts. Similar to the AI detector and can tell if a revenant is not here, when it's nearby and when it's in the room with you
• Ecto goggles - Mesons for ghosts, allows you to see through walls and in the dark (a la meson vision) and let's you see revenants plain as day. However you cannot see other people or objects unless they're very close by.
• Proton Packs - Takes up your backpack slot and needs a power cell inserted to be functional. Allows you to tag a revenant and drain their essence, like a reverse medigun, as well as revealing them whilst they're tagged. Very mildly radioactive when in use.
• Buster jumpsuit - A specialised jumpsuit with high BIO and RAD protection.
• Ghost traps - If a revenant runs over a ghost trap, they are force revealed and made to stay still, and suffer a huge essence penalty. If a Revenant dies while above one, their remians are placed inside the trap which can then be sold or researched in R&D.

Scientists do not believe in ghosts. Make this a Chaplain thing!

Chaplains do not believe in tech.

Unless they're filthy rat whores.

>People genuinely want to deny me the chance to play:
[youtube]m9We2XsVZfc[/youtube]

I feel like the janitor should get the ghost hunting supplies as a nod to Luigi's Mansion

Ghosts should be able to opt in to be visible and join the world in exchange for haunting the said z level only and being disconnected from deadchat (also unable to orbit and teleport) so they become 'active' observers.

Catching ghosts with above post's tools should also be a source of ectoplasm material to push into the experimentor for rare objects and whatever else. When ghosts 'die' figuratively they return into regular deadchat. A bit like how we can get ultra rare void cells now.

Eh the janitor should get a backpack vaccum hoover anyway as a alternative for the binbag (spray OR vaccum, two janitors can take 1 piece of equipment each)

Gun Hog wrote:Scientists do not believe in ghosts. Make this a Chaplain thing!

As I said, the whole issue is that relying on a single limited-role job, which isn't expected to do anything useful most of the time and is thus usually incompetent/insane/drunk/belligerent, to deal with an entire category of antagonist, is a bad idea.

Professor Hangar wrote:

Gun Hog wrote:Scientists do not believe in ghosts. Make this a Chaplain thing!

As I said, the whole issue is that relying on a single limited-role job, which isn't expected to do anything useful most of the time and is thus usually incompetent/insane/drunk/belligerent, to deal with an entire category of antagonist, is a bad idea.

cult

Professor Hangar wrote:

Gun Hog wrote:Scientists do not believe in ghosts. Make this a Chaplain thing!

As I said, the whole issue is that relying on a single limited-role job, which isn't expected to do anything useful most of the time and is thus usually incompetent/insane/drunk/belligerent, to deal with an entire category of antagonist, is a bad idea.

It's a good idea for the exact reasons you listed.

kevinz000 wrote:

Professor Hangar wrote:

Gun Hog wrote:Scientists do not believe in ghosts. Make this a Chaplain thing!

As I said, the whole issue is that relying on a single limited-role job, which isn't expected to do anything useful most of the time and is thus usually incompetent/insane/drunk/belligerent, to deal with an entire category of antagonist, is a bad idea.

cult

As opposed to just killing cultists, the chaplain's role is minor.

>>>>>>source of holy water that doesn't involve a competent cargo team unimportant
Uninstall right now tbh.....

>be me
>metaknow that if a antag has killed a whole bunch of people they're going to all be orbitting him
>keep a pke in my pocket
>when that shit goes off i know he's near

tactical ghost action

Oddly fitting! Why wouldn't a serial murderer be surrounded by the ghosts of their victims?

If you aren't using the Camera Obscura to meta antags I don't think you're playing the game correctly.

I hope this will let me be a paranormal investigator

Anonmare wrote:I hope this will let me be a paranormal investigator

Ayy counter, starts with a tinfoil hat with TV aerials attached that let them hear ayys speak within range and has undisclosed access to using usually ayy restricted technology. Or alternatively just give something the detective to do in the meantime.

I mean we already have a camera obscura, you could just implement a fatal frame system in which every shot causes damage based on range to revenants when they can be seen.

Crossing the streams making an explosion can already happen with nuke ops medical beams, so this is highly possible. Perhaps when a revenant random event is triggered, Centcomm can ship the station a tech disk with ghost-viewing goggles that can be put in an auto/protolathe, and R&D has to build a particle thrower.

Big criticism is that it's extremely specific in that context PKPenguin for scripted events tipping the round by centcomm giving very specific relief aid.

If any of that stuff has RnD tech value it'll probably go into a meta guide of "literally wait for admin to hit button, nab disk and put in the experimentor, try not to die from revenant" quickly like you just said. Or force admins to hit buttons more often because people want to play with the toys/fill a antag hole.

Yeah, hence I figured it'd be good as a niche set of R&D items to be kept around when needed. The idea is specifically for use against revenants, some cult constructs and wizards, a little bit for annoying regular ghosts, the rest of the time just there for flavour and occasional quackery.

We do definitely need tinfoil hats and possibly trepanation though.

(Oddly enough befitting the original Ghostbusters pitch where they were the equivalent of specialised pest exterminators in a spacefaring society and a common profession)

[youtube]v6EkU3ZezLY[/youtube]

Mmm, something about this thread feels like it should have been something the detective & the librarian co-opted with. But the *cough* curator is already too strong to be sci fi nut too with any reasonable experience of the paranormal.

The jump to adding a full separate xeno archeologist hasn't been made yet so we can rule that out.

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Tinfoil is just metal wrapping paper right? Why not print off a tube of it at the autolathe for metal content and pull off a piece of it using our stack divider of [alt] for 1 sheet of tinfoil, and apply it to the head. Done. The chef should start with some.

Why would you need to trepan someone? (bore a hole into the head to release evil sprits or pressure), unless the revenant got a new ability to infest people with a shade of their essence by spiking the food/drinks/chemicals and tricking people into injesting it or something. Then have a pernament slow burn income of the lifeforce of that person.