/tg/Station 13

Recent discussions on stun baton balance has made it abundantly clear that many people (including mothblocks AND jaredfogle) think that stealth antag is fun, and rely on the stun baton as an incredibly robust ambush weapon.

I think it would be cool to brainstorm some examples of nonlethal weapons that might fit a similar niech as the stun baton for traitors to buy.

A non-original but simple example would be a highpowered handheld stungun that worked exactly like a baton, but small sized. It could also only work when attacking from behind, or have varying power based on what direction you attack them from.

Another idea is to bring back the garrote wire PR that I made along time ago as a traitor item. Get an immediate aggressive grab if you attack from the back, makes it more difficult to break out of grabs, and decreases grab upgrade time. If we also add a mechanic for muzzling people with your hand while grabbing them by targeting their mouth while grabbed (and also maybe blinding someone while we are at it.) It could be a pretty robust stealth weapon.

The traitor uplink as of current has very little when it comes to stuns, the closest to a nonlethal weapon being the energy crossbow, which can stam crit after a few shots. I should also mention the sleepy pen and radiation health analyzer as dedicated knockout weaponry.
Other than that, its usually easier just to beat your targets into crit if you don't have as stun baton.

Aggressive grabs while aiming at the head should prevent the target from speaking but be easier to break out of.

passive mouth grabs should muffle someones words over comms. Like if telecomms were screwing up. Or maybe just force them to whisper.

I like stuns. I've always wanted to kidnap someone as tator and throw them into a Saw-like gauntlet/escape room that they have to solve a puzzle to escape, but there just aren't a lot of options for non-lethal combat that don't leave you open to "HELP ARRIVALS JOHN DOE BAD"

Farquaar wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 8:48 am I like stuns. I've always wanted to kidnap someone as tator and throw them into a Saw-like gauntlet/escape room that they have to solve a puzzle to escape, but there just aren't a lot of options for non-lethal combat that don't leave you open to "HELP ARRIVALS JOHN DOE BAD"

The radio jammer is your friend. One of my favorite uplink items because of how subtle it is. I remember trying to assassinate the captain once by luring him into the subverted AI's upload which would then close on him and turn lethal. To keep him from yelling "AI MALF" i hid an active radio jammer under the law boards. Of course it didn't work since he came with the RD and HOP, but the fact remains that the jammer can be used in unexpected ways.

A non-lethal, cheaper version of the poison kit would be nice, get some tranquilizer shenanigans in.

Some variety of stun or power gloves would be neat as some more Engi-exclusive tot gear.

Maybe some sleep-gas grenades for purchase?

Side note, don't forget the toy pistol with riot darts for non-lethal, compact ranged weapons.