/tg/Station 13

Subject: Proposal for Protagonist Role System

While we have a variety of antagonist roles, I believe introducing a protagonist role system could enhance game dynamics. Here's a suggestion that aligns with the game's setting and adds new layers to station events.

Purpose:
To create more engaging experiences and provide a counterbalance to antagonist activities. Protagonists would have their own agendas and objectives, independent of normal crew roles.

Example Scenario:
During a security breach at Black Orbit, a ling goes on a rampage. Upon breaking into Medbay, they discover that the medical doctor is a Central Command field agent, who have m1914 on him.

Protagonist Roles:

Central Command Secret Service Agent: A covert operative with specific objectives related to Central Command's interests.
Superhero (Random Superpower): A rare role with unique abilities, adding an element of unpredictability.
Survivalist: Focused on survival, starts with a random sidearm and healing supplies.
Agenda Variation:
Protagonists would have distinct agendas. For instance, during a station rebellion against Central Command, the field agent might not align with security, adding complexity to the gameplay.

Benefits:

Enhances game dynamics and player interactions.
Provides a counterbalance to antagonist activities.
Adds depth to the game's narrative and role-playing opportunities.
Next Steps:
I welcome feedback and discussion on this proposal. If there's interest, we can further refine the roles and their mechanics. For immediate discussion, please bring this up in the #coding-general channel on Discord if you find it worthy your time.

Thank you for considering this idea.
PS (i Had a stroke follwing forum rules never again my first and last sugestion)

Cool idea. I could see some of these concepts being fun if enough work and consideration went into them.

midround centcom intern inspector spawns would be sick as fuck

I love the idea of random crew members gaining superpowers or being undercover agents.

I want to expand on this. Why not randomly have Security be central command agents with special equipment? It would be funny to have a random round where all of sec are equipped with deathsquad gear

the protagonists are the crew, making a dedicated protagonist (anti-antagonist antag) would make the crew side characters (???)

My concern would just be that this role seems prone to validhunting.

Wait why is this from August

Can you imagine the rules headaches regarding what that kind of things the protagonist could and couldn't do? Restricted antags are already annoying enough to play as where you feel like you never know exactly where the line is. I feel like it would have the same pitfalls that "Friendly Antags" had because its just not conducive to play when you have one player that is friendly, but also has an inordinate amount of power that they can wield to control people's experience. We can hardly trust normal players with powerful stuff as it is. Chances are it would devolve to just being "Antag 2" and just another obstacle to a normal round rather than being any kind of help.

I would say if anything, ERTs are close to this already. The concept of a paramilitary response team going to a hellhole station is the setup for loads of sci-fi stories.

Jokes Beyond This Point

What if we add an antag, who like kills a guy sometimes. Maybe this guy like knows that an antag fella is out to like get him, but he doesn't have any like proof. So like the guy who is the target maybe has reason to be paranoid, but anyone could claim they're maybe like hunted like. like maybe perchance

I could see this as being a very easy way to get arrested by security unless they have a mindshield and/or something distinguishing them on security records.
I think it makes perfect sense though and would be awesome, airplanes have sky marshals so why not have a station with space marshals.

Isn't this just Internal Affairs Agent?

What if per every protagonist role, 4 antagonist roles get assigned? Y'know, for balance.

We already have security

I have had a similar idea, inspired by Person in Black from Rimworld and Mysterious Stranger from Fallout.

A midround role that spawns in the maintenance if:

• Security is dead
• Antags are still alive

He is dressed in all black with a special .357 revolver which plays a riff when holstered and unholstered. I didn't make any special abilities for him, as I originally wanted him to be a "Last hero to stop the foes" who just got a revolver to keep it balanced enough not to be just a large slap into successful antags face.
I even have some videos and a screenshot of what I have done so far. I didn't pursue it because some maintainers said it was not that great of an idea, but mostly because I got lazy with coding.