Make Librarian useful

[Helios]

There's been some complaints that Librarian is useful, and it is just an RP job.
There's some ideas that people that people had which would be reactive.

Cult tome:Give the librarian the ability to research a cult tome. This would be possible during cult rounds (obviously), as well as traitor/traitorling rounds after his console is emagged. This allows some idea of neutral cult. Balance reasons this could be runes like form wall, as well as possibly Soulstones/Fabricate shell, where in the rare round a traitor librarian co-operates with security/another traitor gives him an emag, we have an alternate form of "borg".

Wizard book. Give the ability for the librarian to research wizard tomes, to get some kind of spells. Be it smoke or blink, or other less used spells.

Strange Objects Let the librarian be able to research and use strange objects found in maint hallways. These could just be R&D items, or existing ones.

Combine with books already throughout station:Someone suggested we also combine this with the books that are already on the station. The book on how to set up engine? Low level fireball. How to wire stuff? Knock. And so on.

The only thing I am blanking on is the way these would be researched. Some kind of mad libs function where different words are combined together? Like people brute forcing runes.
Or, the more boring option. Have them read a special book in their back room, be it the wizard book, cult tome, or their own special book for strange objects, and by putting time in sitting there they can just have it researched.
Any other ideas on how it could be researched? Looking into books in the library for key words?

[Takeguru]

Well, there is the table in the back room

But really, Librarian is just an RP job, like the lawyer.

It gives you a big room to mess around with, too.
I like turning it into an arcade, myself.

[Helios]

Lawyer is an RP job, but can get people released.
Librarian is an RP job, and can...?
Take photos?

[Takeguru]

There's plenty they can do.

They have a very big room to modify.
Get a toolbox and start remodeling.
Like my arcade gimmick.

They have easy access to a newscaster, a camera, and replacement film.

Even without changing the room at all, they have the space and materials to host a quick /tg/ session mid round, if you can get people to join in.

[Jacquerel]

I think it's good that there are some jobs that just don't have any responsibilities at all, and never need to worry about being called on to step into a position of importance even in very specific instances.
But are still a little more interesting than "assistant".

Sometimes people just want to chill, you know?

[Spooce]

the librarian's computer has access to Tor, and he's perusing all these awesome deep web sites that he has to interact with that are somewhat randomly generated each round

he finds cool wikis and forums and stuff and learns forbidden knowledge that can be printed out in a book form. like who did 9-11, ufo cover ups, a wiccan dude's forum where he posts these weirdass spells like making your enemy wet the bed, x-files esque occult stuff, strange porn of course, even the silk road

the way we balance this is by deploying another useless job-IT guy, right? he monitors the net, makes sure that no one is looking at illegal pornography. if they are he sends security to come and beat the librarian to the ground with their batons without ever getting a search warrant. it guy also monitors telecommunications and stuff, or i guess it could be the AI????

[confused rock]

What if you put what you need/ do what you need on the desk in the back, and then part of the process is just waiting a few minutes while staying close to the desk, with that close including most of the library, so you would be more likely to do your job when learning a spell or something.

[Scones]

It's a menial service job, not a warlock.

[Zilenan91]

It's a menial service job, not a warlock.

I dunno, the way the library console works is pretty damn arcane. I print a book and it jitters up and down for like 5 seconds, and if I scroll up or down at all during this it instantly goes all the way back to the top of the list.

[Saegrimr]

Is this what we're doing now? Taking the last bit of potential roleplay/flavor jobs and arbitrarily trying to balance it with the rest of the game?

[Helios]

Is this what we're doing now? Taking the last bit of potential roleplay/flavor jobs and arbitrarily trying to balance it with the rest of the game?

You can have a job feature RP and actually do stuff. Look at Chaplain

[Zilenan91]

/tg/ as a whole is not geared towards roleplay. There are almost no mechanics in the entire game that give you any reason to do anything but valid hunt without being bored out of your skull, so let's stop deluding ourselves here.

Also we're not saying give him free fireball spells, but like Knock or Blind or Smoke or something. Maybe fireball could require a stupid amount of work or an anomaly core or something like phazons do.

[Saegrimr]

There are almost no mechanics in the entire game that give you any reason to do anything but valid hunt without being bored out of your skull

Here's a free reply for you.

[Helios]

/tg/ as a whole is not geared towards roleplay. There are almost no mechanics in the entire game that give you any reason to do anything but valid hunt without being bored out of your skull, so let's stop deluding ourselves here.

Also we're not saying give him free fireball spells, but like Knock or Blind or Smoke or something. Maybe fireball could require a stupid amount of work or an anomaly core or something like phazons do.

What is the bar?

[Zilenan91]

The workplace of the only non-sec person on the entire station who spawns with a shotgun, armor, instant stun chemicals, rags to instantly apply them, cable coils to make cuffs, maint access to get a toolbox, coins to get insuls, and possibly sunglasses? It's a powergamers paradise.

[Saegrimr]

Or, you know, you could not be a powergaming cunt.

[Helios]

The workplace of the only non-sec person on the entire station who spawns with a shotgun, armor, instant stun chemicals, rags to instantly apply them, cable coils to make cuffs, maint access to get a toolbox, coins to get insuls, and possibly sunglasses? It's a powergamers paradise.

I mean the people who go to the bar.
Usually when you go to the bar, you see a pile of drinks, which serve no positive benefit. In fact, the opposite, they make you drunk, etc.

[Zilenan91]

Or the one round you don't do any of these things, a process that takes under 5 minutes in total, you get completely shat on by a traitor/ling/whateverthefuck who then hides/gibs/spaces your body, something you could've prevented by taking 5 minutes to do what the game is mechanically telling you to do due to there being little reason to roleplay. Roleplay shouldn't, and isn't, something that's expected of players to do all of the time. It's why so many people hate Bay. There needs to be mechanical reasons for it or else you'll eventually grow tired of perky barman #581279 or overly hostile medbay doctor #1230192 and promptly quit the game like I did.

Also I'm not saying you can't roleplay as Bartender, you can, and it's quite fun at times, it's just that there's little mechanical reason for doing so. You don't gain anything by giving the angry, alcoholic janitor so much vodka that he dies of alcohol poisoning, except maybe the harmbatons of a secborg once the AI finds out since I play a lizard. Because sure, the drinks themselves are quite fun, especially gargle blasters what with them being easy to make and they get you high, but without there being actual currency in the game that has a point, there is no real interaction between you and your patrons aside from occasionally tossing drinks onto the table while you tab out due to the bar being totally empty, your 3 whole patrons being either braindead in chairs near the center tables, playing slot machines up above, or being totally silent.

[Jacquerel]

If you don't want to roleplay, don't pick the Librarian.

[Jacough]

Is this what we're doing now? Taking the last bit of potential roleplay/flavor jobs and arbitrarily trying to balance it with the rest of the game?

Compare the number of librarians you see actually doing rp shit sound the library to the ones who just read WgW over the radio five minutes into the round and get lynched or just go brain dead after ten minutes of bumbling around

[Ricotez]

my favourite librarians are the one publishing "scandalous" stories on their tabloid newscaster channels

[Helios]

The fact that examining his desk reads "A desk covered in arcane manuscripts and tomes in unknown languages. Looking at the text makes your skin crawl", as well as all of the text of emagging his console to get a tome makes me think he would research that shit

[PKPenguin321]

okay here's how we make librarian useful

make him no longer the librarian but the Intellectual
he now works in both literature and math and can make math books
when he reads a math book to someone they get knowledge and get smart
someone who is smart has a message saying so in their examine text, and being smart heals brain damage

HOWEVER if he reads to you too much you get too smart and your brain gets too big and explodes, leaving you nothing more than a brainless corpse

help i cant find the shitty suggestions thread

[Danowar]

I made a thread earlier about how the library's archive should have a critique system. That way librarians, or other avid readers, could sort through the vast collection of books that we have on hand and write reviews for them. It shouldn't impact the game all that much, and it would give librarians something to do if they haven't come up with anything else to occupy their time.

[Zilenan91]

I think it would be best to make the external server for the books not shit and buggy before that happened.

[Danowar]

I will literally pay someone to revamp the external archives if anyone wants to do it. Seeing it be neglected for so long really sucks.

[Not-Dorsidarf]

Sorting books by rating? YES PLXZ

[AnonymousNow]

Giving the librarian access to cultist stuff with research has been a suggestion made 5ever.

Personally, I'm for it; but of course, it should be tempered with effort, like science.

[Miauw]

"effort"

[DaemonBomb]

Giving the librarian access to cultist stuff with research has been a suggestion made 5ever.

Personally, I'm for it; but of course, it should be tempered with effort, like science.

>Science
>Effort
You mean put the things in the RnD list in the machine and wait for mining to do it's job?
That's not a lot of effort.
The closest thing to effort in science is Xenobiology and that's because of RNG. And the only things anyone uses from Xeno seem to be the sentimeme potions.

[Not-Dorsidarf]

Giving the librarian access to cultist stuff with research has been a suggestion made 5ever.

Personally, I'm for it; but of course, it should be tempered with effort, like science.

>Science
>Effort
You mean put the things in the RnD list in the machine and wait for mining to do it's job?
That's not a lot of effort.
The closest thing to effort in science is Xenobiology and that's because of RNG. And the only things anyone uses from Xeno seem to be the sentimeme potions.

Toxins needs effort, if split-second timing counts as effort

[Helios]

Genetics is science, kind of. And takes effort. Not much though

[Incomptinence]

I think the RP job title is misused. They are more suicide/get ignored jobs.

[Void Slayer]

How about if you do not want to play a job that is giving out books to people don't play the job that is giving out books to people?

You can run role playing games, fill the shelves with books, hand out books in departments, hand out books to specific people, run book clubs, read books on comms, run a newspaper, pretend to have occult powers.

You know library stuff.

Also you got a large room to do shit with like others said.

Don't knock newspapers either, I have gotten captains overthrown and clowns lynched with biased news stories! Mostly you get ignored though.

If we had job related traitor items though that would be a prime area for extras, but we don't.

[420weedscopes]

I will literally pay someone to revamp the external archives if anyone wants to do it. Seeing it be neglected for so long really sucks.

i asked mso to give me the database a few months back so i could sort through all the garbage and cloned books and empty books and meme books
he didn't give it to me rip

[Bombadil]

Giving the librarian access to cultist stuff with research has been a suggestion made 5ever.

Personally, I'm for it; but of course, it should be tempered with effort, like science.

>Science
>Effort
You mean put the things in the RnD list in the machine and wait for mining to do it's job?
That's not a lot of effort.
The closest thing to effort in science is Xenobiology and that's because of RNG. And the only things anyone uses from Xeno seem to be the sentimeme potions.

Toxins needs effort, if split-second timing counts as effort

Split second timing?

Bitch i put the plasma canister attached to a heater and oxygen to cold and I have max cap bomb in less than 5 mintues