Gamemode: Abduction!

[Loonikus]

Thread theme. Yes, lets just get it all out of our systems now.

Time for a new gamemode idea. The idea behind this gamemode is to have a team oriented mode that relies on stealth and teamwork that also utilizes some of the less used mechanics of SS13. In essence, I wanted it to feel like a fusion of nuke ops and lings, with a little bit of aliens thrown in for good measure. I call it Abduction.

In Summery

Abduction is a team based gamemode where a small team of alien beings known as Abductors must kidnap and perform (often dangerous) experiments on the crew of Space Station 13. A small alien science vessel approaches the station, where its crew disembarks to retrieve living test subjects. Abductors are a reclusive species obsessed with researching and manipulating genetics, and have altered themselves in order to better achieve their goals. The aliens must use their powers to kidnap crewmen in secret and bring them back to their ship, where they will be used as test material for their newest (and possibly unstable) creations, before depositing the crewmen back onto their station. The Abductors win when they reach a certain amount of research points. The crew wins if all the Abductors are killed. Nobody wins if the humans escape without the Abductors reaching their research goal.

The Abductors

In terms of gameplay, the Abductors are somewhat limited. They cannot use many pieces of human technology and have little in the way of their own items. They cannot wear human clothing or wear backpacks. However, Abductors have genetically altered themselves to achieve their goals and have the following characteristics:

-Abductors are fully spaceworthy and do not require oxygen to breath.
-Abductors are immune to energy based stuns
-Abductors can be visually seen on cameras, but the AI cannot track them
-Abductors can camo very much like an Alien Hunter for prolonged periods of time
-Abductors can hear all human radio channels, understand human speech, and speak exclusively in their own hivemind channel. Aside from the hivemind, they are completely mute.
-Abductors have night vision
-Abductors have access to several abilities including Dissonant Shriek (functions the same as changlings, but also shatters nearby lights), an ability very similar to the spell Knock with a reduced range of two tiles, a sting that behaves exactly like a sleepy pen, and another sting that injects the target with a large dose of Leporazine and Dexalin Plus.

This set of tools is what the abductors will use to kidnap crewmen and transport them back to their ship. To abduct a target, a smart Abductor will first stake out a quiet area or search for a secluded target by using their camo and staying in the dark. It can use its ability to open doors to access private areas to ambush targets. Once it is ready to strike, its first move will be to shriek, rendering the target unable to call for help and possibly plunging the target into the dark where the abductor will be able to move in unseen. The Abductor will than sting its target with its first sting, knocking the target out cold. The Abductor will than drag the unlucky human back to an opening to space, where it will inject the human with its second sting to keep them alive in space.

The Experiments

So you got the human back to the ship, now what? Now the real fun begins. The Abductor Ship is outfitted with the latest in horrible, invasive surgery suites. The Abductors kidnap humans to test their latest genetic cocktails and modifications, which are kept in fleshy sacks that are surgically inserted into the humans chest cavity. Captured humans are laid on the surgical table, while sedated to ensure "cooperation" of course, where genetic cocktails are implanted inside them. Once a crewman has undergone alien surgery, he receives the message:

Your memory becomes very cloudy and indistinct. You lose track of time and cannot remember anything that has recently happened!

Once a human has been experimented on, they are to be returned to the station for observation. This is done by chucking them through a special, one-way teleporter that only accepts humans that have been experimented on. Once the test subject passes through the portal and the built in scanner detects its alteration, the abductors are awarded a research point, and after a predetermined amount of research points, the abductors win!

However, its the aforementioned genetic cocktails that really shake up this round. They are highly experimental and after a short while of incubating, can induce:

-Nothing
-Brain damage
-Hallucinations
-Turning into a corgi
-Heavy toxin damage
-Catching a rare disease
-Forming superpowers
-Turning into a monkey
-Becoming a thrall to the Abductors
-Turning into a space carp
-Turning into a ling (Ever wonder where lings came from?)
-Gibbing
-Spontaneous combustion
-Turning into an Abductor
-Being infected with a blob spore
-Synthesizing a random chemical in your bloodstream
-Honking
-Turning into a skeleton
-Dissolving into a pile of spiderlings
-Turning into a slime/slimeperson
-And more

The fleshy sack carrying the genetic code dissolves once its done incubating, but it can be removed before hand in the unlikely event the crew realized what happened. The hosts death obviously stops the incubation as well. Of course, between the hosts indistinct memory of the abduction and the meta-knowledge that he might be killed to stop a possible catastrophe on the station (because your average MD is far too stupid and lazy to perform surgery), the host might not want to be cured or even know he needs a cure...

Closing Statements

Abductors would hopefully be a low key antagonist, their presence should not be well known on the station if they play their cards right. However, the results of their experiments could range from barely noticeable ("Why is the janitor a corgi?") to outright round endingly horrible ("OH CHRIST THE CAPTAIN JUST EXPLODED INTO A BLOB ON THE BRIDGE AND THE HOS JUST MELTED INTO A PILE OF SPIDERLINGS!"). The abductors are balanced by the fact that they are not very robust and rely mainly on stealth to complete their objective. The crew are balanced by the fact that abductees can't really remember the fact that they were abducted (And don't want to be killed for being a ticking timebomb) and many of the things caused by Abductors experiments can be explained by other possibilities.

As always, feedback/thoughts/insults are welcome.

[Septavius]

hot damn this sounds fuckin' radical.

[Steelpoint]

The abductors would need something akin to a Space Ninja level of stealth. The Aliens stealth is very easy to see through and would not work well for extended circumstances.

Either way, this is a interesting suggestion.

[mrpain]

I'm all for it. Time to learn Coder-fu!

[Stickymayhem]

My issue with this is the abductors have very limited options. You've given them the exact tools to kidnap people in a specific way with no variations.

Abductor's having some kind of way to make their rounds a little more unique would be a good idea to prevent the exact same scenario playing out over and over.

[JStheguy]

My issue with this is the abductors have very limited options. You've given them the exact tools to kidnap people in a specific way with no variations.

Abductor's having some kind of way to make their rounds a little more unique would be a good idea to prevent the exact same scenario playing out over and over.

I'm assuming the options and tacticool decisions and variation comes from deciding what shit to jam in the crew for maximum fun/objective completion.

[Whoisthere]

I love this shit but there are issues:

- crew learns how to remove implants after a 3rd abduction round to the point of assistants being able to remove alium fleshy sacks. Make fleshy sacks explode when someone attempts to remove them surgically without injecting a crewmember with something kinda hard to get like carpotoxin or whatever. This should also cut down on metagaming ex captives since they'll be killed in the fleshy sack explosion.

- give abductors a flash ability or something, aren't aliums supposed to paralyse people with bright white light?

- are fleshy sacks random? Because if not we'll end up with abductors enthralling erryone.

- maybe let abductors unlock abilities/get items with those research points. You can buy an ability, but it wastes a research point, so you get stronger, but the victory becomes a bit farther.

[Pybro]

Don't we have a chemical that stops damage from being taken due to surgery? If that or anaesthetic is in the patients system, then the bomb doesn't blow. Doctors have a fair shot at removal and Abductees and Abductors don't have their round ruined by the Grey Tide Ghetto Surgerying everyone.

My issue with this is the abductors have very limited options. You've given them the exact tools to kidnap people in a specific way with no variations.

Abductor's having some kind of way to make their rounds a little more unique would be a good idea to prevent the exact same scenario playing out over and over.

Maybe they could buy different powers and have more of a say in what type of effect the sack has upon detonation? Alternatively, they don't have any power choice (Their only real job is to sting and drag people off) and have a lot of ~fun~ choices to choose from as to what the sack does.

[Scones]

Sounds really cool.

Are you sure they should be able to hear all human channels, though? That almost sounds a little much. I really like the earlier mentioned idea that they can use research points to alter themselves with useful things, at the obvious price of pushing victory back a little ways.

[deathhoof]

One very important game changing suggestion: let the adbuctors be able to observe their patients with some kind of camera monitor device so that they can see what the sac they implanted does. That way if its a useful sac they can use the same sac on themselves. For instance, they would highly prize superpower sacs (besides cold resist) and sacs that produce healing chems.

[omnitricks]

I like this. Maybe things get progressively easier for the Abductors the more research points they get just as it (obviously) gets easier for the crew to know something is up (aka the presence of abductors)

In that sense, maybe something to think about how abductors are to start off.
They cannot breathe in oxygen (it suffocates or causes toxin damage like plasma) Who's to say their physiology is the same as humans?
They cannot open airlocks normally (I mean, they already are spaceworthy aren't they? Breach into the station from spess like real men!)
Can't use consoles, apcs, etc (just because)
Healing must be by special items/tubes located in their ship (so they cannot heal on station because they need completely separate items. By the sounds of it the intents is to the stealthy non combative antags correct?)
Fingerprint, blood and genetic markers all point to non human stuff easily seen from detective scanners or consoles which take them.
etc. etc. Everything we take for granted by playing as humans.

Genetics would be nice to be split up into things that vary in probability. Maybe distinct possibilities like beneficial, harmful and weird to humans. In descending probability it should be harmful (because the abductors are opposing the crew anyway), beneficial and weird (weird because it would more likely point to abductors) although the latter two can be switchable. Although something like making other antags (blob and lings for example) should only come in when there is a certain amount of research close to the end because we want the round to end by then.

As for points, instead of spending them maybe its better to unlock stuff which will make them blend in with the crew when the round progresses. All the human stuff like
Wearing clothes/equipment
Speaking human language/verbal communication
Breathing oxygen
Using tools/weapons
Using consoles/apcs/airlocks
a.k.a. becoming very close to human to better get close to prey.

[Rhisereld]

Love this concept. Pull request when?

[PKPenguin321]

One issue I see with the spending points to get powers thing is that it's a team based game mode, and if you spend the points that you need to win without team consent you're trashing their round. Like if it was nuke ops but the telecrystals were pooled and if you spent the telecrystals your team would lose.

[Pennwick]

I have to wonder what the endgame for a human victory is. If its really to kill every alien the crew would be stuck for a long time. Just finding that last half invislbe asshole out in space seems like it'd be frusterating. Once you've routed 3/4ths of them what are the options for the humans to end the round.

One option would be to require the aliens to restock a supply at their ship. Go without it for 15 minutes and they quickly die. That way humans could camp the ship or destroy whatever device they use.

Or you could go with a slightly more cheezy option of finding the station nuke code onboard their ship. and then activate the station nuke before sending their ship back to their homeworld to destroy their hivemind. As much as I like this idea it would probably only be novel the first few times it happened but it would provide an end goal for the humans.

[Loonikus]

Well after sleeping on the idea and getting some good feedback, I think we are ready to start grinding away at some of the finer points of the mode.

Regarding Abductors limited abilities pool: I agree that Abductors should have more abilities made available to them in order to encourage more variety within the round type. I see two possibilities:

-Abductors can spend research points on new abilities. The new abilities could be awarded to the Abductor team as a whole to prevent one person from sucking up all the research points without anyone else benefiting. In addition, perhaps the console would require two Abductors to authorize the use of research points.

-Each Abductor gets to select its own abilities like a ling does. Perhaps they can only start with one extra ability of their choosing, but get another one for every person the successfully abduct.

I'm sure there are other ideas and variations of the above out there, but I believe these two options present the easiest options to code and the most streamlined options when it comes to gameplay. If anyone has any other ideas, please go ahead. Feel free to also toss out more ideas for abilities. Personally, I like the idea of Abductors using research points to buy more abilities. It rewards teams that can do fine using their basic abilities while also allowing for teams to get that little extra boost if they need it.

Regarding Gene Tonics/Flesh Sacs/Whatever-we-wanna-call-em: First off, I don't like the name genetic cocktails or fleshy sacs. I feel like theres a better term for what we should call them, but I can't think of one. English isn't my first language so sometimes I have a hard time coming up with good names. For the sake of the conversation I guess I'll call them implants for now, but I still think we can do better. Originally I thought the effects of each implant could be random in order to help stomp out powergaming or using the same very potent ones over and over again. However, after hearing some good feedback, maybe we can do something a little more involved with them. I came up with three options:

-There is only one type of implant, and its effect is random. There is no telling what will happen to the victim after they are implanted.

-There are three categories of implants: Orange Implants, Purple Implants, and Brown Implants. Each type of implant generally reflects what the effect will be, but each round the categories are randomized. For example, in one round the Abductors discover through trial and error that Orange Implants generally cause the victim to physically mutate (develop powers, turn into a corgi etc.) while the Brown Implants generally cause the victims to undergo neurological changes (Becoming a thrall, brain damage etc. etc.). However, the next round the categories are randomized again, meaning that now the Orange Implants generally cause the victim to undergo neurological changes. This means that every round the Abductors would have to use trial and error to discover which categories generally do what, allowing them to shift tactics or inflict certain things on certain crewmen. They still have no control over the specific effect though, and its not a one hundred percent guarantee that the implant will conform to the category.

-The Abductors get a list of ten different colored implants. The effect of each implant is randomized at the beginning of the round, but each colored implant has the same effect as the other ones. For example, if you implant someone with a Red Implant and they gib, you now know that Red Implants will gib the victim. However, next round the Red Implants could cause the victim to turn into a changling. This means that every round the Abductors would have to use trial and error to find out which implant does what, but once they know, they can accurately reproduce the effect, with the exception of very potent effects (such as blob infection, turning into an Abductor etc.) which are based purely on random chance from any implant. They would also have a hard limit of how much of each implant they could produce, in order to prevent spamming a single effect.

In any case, the Abductor shuttle will need a console on it that can observe victims in order to determine what the implant actually did. This means that at least one Abductor would have to be on the shuttle at all times to watch victims and record what each implant did to the victim. This volunteer could also help perform surgeries, move the shuttle when needed, and coordinate with the other Abductors. Of course, we aren't limited to those three options so feel free to think outside the box.

Regarding Endgame: I admit, the endgame is what I'm having the most trouble with. On one hand, I feel like rounds that end as soon as the antags win cuts the round short too early, and it doesn't allow for the Abductors experiments to really cause havoc on the station. On the flip side, I don't want this mode to provoke the same response as Nuke Ops, which is calling the shuttle as soon as you see a nuke op. I want the crew to actually think they can overcome the threat and stay on the station for a while, and NOT to call the shuttle just to deny the Abductors greentext. That's why I originally opted for the crew escaping to be counted as nobody winning. I do see how the last Abductor camping out on his shuttle and other shenanigans could upset the round flow, so if anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears on this one.

Regarding Metagaming: I'm honestly not too worried about people metagaming. While the round does rely a lot on the victim playing along with their prompt, I feel there are plenty of OOC reasons you WOULD NOT want to charge to medbay screaming about being abducted. First off, you could get some sweet super powers or become an antag for delicious valids. Second, the crew might kill you if they think your going to be a danger and your beyond saving, similar to what happens in a lot of xenomorph infections. Third, I really don't see this as much of an issue with things like revolutionaries, cultists, or rogue borgs. From my experience people tend to roleplay not remembering anything just as often as they scream "GEORGE MELONS IS A TATOR! HE SUBVERTED MEEEEEE!" I'm willing to give people the benefit of the doubt on this.

I'm sure theres more to discuss but my posts are always tl;dr anyway so I'm just going to cut it short for now.

[paprika]

Who is going to sprite greys for us though

[Steelpoint]

Maybe if the crew had to capture a abductor and ship it off to CentCom or something.

Something that requires the crew to stay on the station if they want to "win" but does not involve just killing the abductors.

We've established that a abductor is hard to capture, they are resistant to ranged stuns meaning only melee stun weapons or locking down the area they are in would be effective in stopping them.

[soulgamer]

How about instead of using research points to buy powers we have tiers of powers. The tiers are unlocked at certain intervals of research. Each tier reached would allow each abductor to choose one of as set of 3 or so powers from each tier. With each tier reached the powers become better.

Tier 1
Speed boost, Sting range boost, Damage resist.

Tier 2
Passage (cuts through walls like thermite without fire. Takes a few seconds.), Mental Grasp (TK without sparkles), Xray vision (so no shenanigans of combining tk and xray)

Tier 3
Telepathic link (can look through the eyes of any human on the station), Body thief (jump inside a corpse and use it like a puppet. Medical scanners shows its dead and the abductor still cannot talk. Gibs the corpse upon leaving), Gas Bladder (Tears off a gas bladder and lets them throw it. When it hits something or stops it detonates into a chloral/lexorin smoke grenade. They should have immunity due to not needing to breathe)

Tier 4
Multidemensional step (ethereal jaunt), MInd Thrall (Target becomes an antag that gets linked to you over your hivemind. Forever makes the target unable to be implanted. Kills the target if they are implanted. Long cooldown.), Perfect Form (Five seconds of invulnerability with fairly short cooldown.)

These are just examples. I know these are probably shit/broken but it shows how each one could tailor themselves to fit a role.

[Reimoo]

I like the above idea, that way each abductor can specialize in a certain playstyle making them more unpredictable when a crewmember encounters one.

[deathhoof]

No please dont give them stings. Instead, make it a spray. They secret the chemicals from their skin as a spray.

[Whoisthere]

We should make a poll or something to show that everyone wants this to happen or whatever.

You do it.

[Cheimon]

This sounds incredibly fun. I'm sure in practice that even if it was slightly less exciting it would be great.

Hopefully someone will take interest in making it.

[ThanatosRa]

... I just want to say that I want to be able to kidnap humans and give them ink sacs/change their gender/both and dump them in the captain's office. All of them.

[deathhoof]

I think this game mode should come with some improvements to the surgery system in general. I sure love to do surgery, but there is such a lack of things to do. If the coders are to implement sacs, why not implement other cool bodily upgrades?

[Loonikus]

I humbly disagree. Spriting, coding and testing a new gamemode is a long, painful process as it is. With simply using existing chest cavity surgery, we help streamline the coding process and improve the already marginal chances that this actually makes it into the game.

While I want a revamped and more fleshed out surgery system as much as anyone else, I feel asking coders to revamp surgery and write an entirely new gamemode is asking for a bit much. While these implants could form the basis for other surgical features, I feel like these two projects are better left separate. For now anyway.

[RogerWilco]

ayy lmao

but in all seriousness this might be neat if it were executed properly

Spoiler:

which will never happen because coderbus