Game Mode - Invasion

[MGP]

I have ideas for game modes. They'll never be implemented, but maybe someone will be inspired by what I've written here and implement the concept in another way. For this reason the details are vague. I do think this is a new form of game mode however.

Invasion [name in progress] - NT has detected radio signals coming from the old derelict station. Turns out while you weren't looking the Syndicate have rebuilt it and started to staff it. As SS13 is in the same area, this is a grave concern for Centcom officials. It is up to the crew to travel to the derelict and kill everyone on board, capturing the leaders, and finally destroy the derelict station for good.

- Around 10 to 15 players depending on population become crew members on the Syndicate station.
- For every role on SS13 there is a Syndicate equivalent.
- There must be a Captain, Head of Security, Research Director, and Chief Engineer. These Syndicate derelict crew members are wanted for capture and interrogation due to their specialized knowledge.
- An announcement is made towards the beginning of the round alerting the crew of SS13 to their mission. They must prepare to raid the station. They must go through space.
- The Syndicate of course are aware of the possibility of attack. They must prepare a defense.
- The Syndicate Captain can choose to either: Hold out for a certain period of time for reinforcements to arrive or with very few resources, stage a counter attack on SS13 while defending the Derelict and its staff simultaneously.
- The round ends when either reinforcements arrive, SS13 is nuked, all Syndicate leaders are dead, or all Syndicate leaders are captured.

Crew Major Victory! - All Syndicate leaders captured and the Derelict has been destroyed.
Crew Minor Victory - The Derelict has been destroyed
Syndicate Minor Victory - The Derelict has withstood the assault long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
Syndicate Major Victory! - SS13 has been destroyed in a nuclear blast.

RULES: Syndicate Leaders are not allowed to kill themselves.

[Shadowflame909]

Interesting, gets the crew out of their comfort zone, and basically makes the regular crewmembers the bad guys.

Really interesting. It seems like it'd involve little work, other than spawning a completed derelict.

[imsxz]

what would happen when reinforcements arrive? otherwise sounds like it could be lots of fun, i can distinctly remember multiple well received admin events that went like this.

[MGP]

Probably just mass spawning in a bunch of Syndicate NPCs who we can just pretend are about as competent as the players. It's a loss because at that point there is no way NT can deal with the threat without investing massive amounts of resources. The attempt to snip the problem in the bud has failed, and a long drawn out conflict inevitable.

[Jzoid]

Probably just mass spawning in a bunch of Syndicate NPCs who we can just pretend are about as competent as the players. It's a loss because at that point there is no way NT can deal with the threat without investing massive amounts of resources. The attempt to snip the problem in the bud has failed, and a long drawn out conflict inevitable.

I'd say pool in another 5-10 syndicate agents from the ghost pool, don't have the game mode end just there, flip the tides of battle.
Make it so the crew has to end the situation before it gets too big, otherwise they'll have a tough fight.

[nullbear]

So... Nations. But less dumb. I'm for it.

[nullbear]

If the game mode relies on it, how would you ensure that the syndies don't just abandon ship/invade station? How would you /prevent/ crew from either: engaging too early, or not engaging at all?

[MGP]

If you read the original post, the Syndies are given the option of either choosing to hold out for reinforcements or nuking SS13, so it's not actually an issue if they abandon ship. The only people that should not be abandoning ship are the Syndicate leaders, who must stay on station to hold things together (that is the given IC reason at least). In reality this is just to prevent them from evading capture by hiding in space. They must stay on the Derelict Z-level or it will be considered for gameplay purposes, a capture. Much in the same way revs are classified as dead if they flee the station.

The crew can choose not to engage with the derelict, but the likelihood of this is pretty unlikely, as that's literally the point of the game mode. If they choose not to the Syndicate can just call in reinforcements and get an instant victory.

[Stillplant]

How much syndicate gear will the syndies have available?

[Shadowflame909]

I'm thinking the bulky Syndicate Hardsuits (that can still fit in bags.) And memory of nuclear codes?

[MGP]

How much syndicate gear will the syndies have available?

Certainly not the amount that regular nuke ops get. An armory staffed with ebows instead of tasers. A few e-shields instead of riot shields. A few bulldogs over riots. Red syndicate hardsuits instead of Security Hardsuits. Regular red and grey eva suits for other space suits.

A head of staff could get one higher tier Syndicate item. For example, the HoS gets an elite syndicate hardsuit. Give out emags to each head of staff, to use as needed. The main point is that they are not nearly as well equipped as a team whose entire purpose is to infiltrate and nuke a station and that the weapons, much like SS13, are locked behind an ID gated area.

[confused rock]

hurr durr this is os13 from lifeweb
what I liked about os13 from lifeweb was that the station had vastly different equipment from the fort (riot gear to platemail, dirt farms to yeast vats) and moderately different mechanics (meteor storms shaking the station if you don't hold on, massively reduced rates of hunger) and I think that if anything like this were to exist it'd be a good place to test new ideas by giving it to the invadey station for a small scale.

[MGP]

I think Lifeweb is a great game and better than SS13 in almost all respects, but I first heard an idea like this on a /vg/ thread a year or so before Lifeweb even existed. True, it is inspired by Crusade, by this idea has been floating around for a while.

[Shadowflame909]

How much syndicate gear will the syndies have available?

Certainly not the amount that regular nuke ops get. An armory staffed with ebows instead of tasers. A few e-shields instead of riot shields. A few bulldogs over riots. Red syndicate hardsuits instead of Security Hardsuits. Regular red and grey eva suits for other space suits.

A head of staff could get one higher tier Syndicate item. For example, the HoS gets an elite syndicate hardsuit. Give out emags to each head of staff, to use as needed. The main point is that they are not nearly as well equipped as a team whose entire purpose is to infiltrate and nuke a station and that the weapons, much like SS13, are locked behind an ID gated area.

give captain elite, HoS Shielded hardsuit

[Steelpoint]

Think logically on what a Syndicate salvage and repair team/Engineering Corps would be sent out with. I'd wager everyone would have the standard red Syndi space suits, save the Syndicate security and Captain I imagine would get hardsuits. Everyone would have a basic sidearm, in addition to basic engineering equipment and a oxygen supply.

Main idea I can think of is the Syndicate were not expecting to be detected by SS13 prematurely. So the syndi crew are ill prepared for a fight and thus have to decide how to approach this before a confrontation begins.

To better facilitate this concept, both sides should have some way of boarding the other. The Syndi should have a easier way however. So perhaps the syndicate can rig a old teleporter to get them over, or they start with a small transport ship they can fly to the station. Vice versa the station might get sent a small recon craft after some time has passed that can be used to move to the syndi base.