Sleeper Agents (Kill the Meta, Part 1)

[NethIafin]

 

Disclaimer:

 

I know that we have feature freeze and none of this will be implemented until that feature freeze is completed. I’m going to learn about BYOND and try to implement all this myself but I will need help.

 

 

So! Sleeper Agents are born in my mind from phrase Necaladun said at the community meeting. Paraphrasing: “there is always at least one Syndicate agent onboard, and security knows about this statistics. They might not be active, but they are there”

 

This creates new “antagonist type” and you will see why quotation marks are there. Their round will start with the following message:

 

 

You are a sleeper agent. The day has not yet come and you have to ensure that this day will come. You may help other agents in their tasks, but do not get caught! THIS DOESN’T GIVE YOU RIGHT TO KILL ANYONE OR STEAL IMPORTANT ITEMS.

 

Objective 1. Escape on the shuttle or an escape pod alive and free.

 

 

A quick FAQ

 

Q: Why this is needed?

A: To soften the line between normal antags and civilians. Also to give some players a way to roleplay more. Give security a way to find syndicate keywords (described later). As an introduction to antags for newer players.

 

Q: How does it work?

A: Whatever the current gamemode is, sleeper agents will be created. They will be given list of keywords, even if there are no agents.

 

Q: How many sleeper agents there will be?

A: 0-1 per each 15-25 pop, and there is always at least one.

 

Q: What changes there will be to other modes?

A: Nuclear operatives and changelings will receive syndicate keywords. Nothing else will change.

 

Q: What sleeper agent CAN do?

A: Open door to the corresponding agent. Perform surgery on them without checking for implants. Give them access if you are HoP (risky). Give them needed items and chemicals (if that doesn’t uncover you). Give them hiding place.

 

Q: What sleeper agent CAN’T do?

A: Kill, steal any high importance items, other methods of griefing. Also actual job HAS to be done, so no failing surgeries because you are “antag”. In other words – follow non-antag rules AND DON’T GET CAUGHT. Good idea will be to bwoink anyone permabrigged/executed/fired who is “sleeper agent”, since that is against the “sleeper agent” idea.

 

Q: What tools sleeper agents have?

A: They don’t have any special tools beyond what their job gives.

 

So, give your feedback. Constructive criticism is good, booing is okay-ish.

 

Thanks

 

[FlattestGuitar]

 

I don't see what the sleeper agents add to the game, to be honest. All of the actions you're describing can already be performed by either a bribed or threatened crewmember. If anything, I'd say this would only lower the amount of roleplay that takes place.

 

On top of that, there seems to be pretty much no incentive to actually be a sleeper agent. "Oh WOW, it was SO FUN when I pulled an implant out of that guy and let him go and then drank a cup of coffee while staring at a wall." A regular traitor is just way more interactive and allows you to do a lot more things.

 

Lastly, us admins don't want to have poorly defined roles that will only cause confusion and lead to people demanding bwoinks over things. We already have a massive amount of ahelps for things a certain person will consider self-antagging while another one will deem just fine. In my opinion, the line between the way the crew acts and the way the antags act should be very clearly defined.

 

[Rurik]

 

While I see some of the appeal to this idea, I do not really see the entire point of adding it. Please correct me if I am wrong, but regular bribed, threatened, or smoothtalked crew members can open doors, perform surgery, provide information, and help hide antags. The only difference there seems to be between sleeper agents and bribed/threatened/smoothtalked crew members is that sleeper agents are aware that the person in question is a antag and their intentions/orgins.

 

Also on a side note, syndicate nuclear operatives directive is to kill everyone on board with a nuke, that would directly interfere with the sleeper agents goal to get out alive if they were to help them. That being said, no reason to theoretically change that gamemode

 

[DayZ Me Trolling]

 

This basically creates quote on quote antags that are impossible to actually really catch. You could never prove someone was a sleeper agent, because you can just plead ignorance and say you have no contraband on you, at worst you get slammed for like, aiding but chances are that won't happen. What will happen is security will take the smallest piece of evidence, claim you're also a syndicate agent, and then perma you.

 

It's a nice idea on paper, but honestly I personally don't think it would work.

 

[Kyet]

 

I worry that softening the line between antags and non-antags will result in confusion and bwoinks.

 

The existing "attitude towards NT" system is *meant* to do this already, but it doesn't work at all.

 

[Sothangel]

There are other ways you can mess with meta - Variable TC amounts, giving a specific chance to have regular traitor antags on any round (Might make less all access IDs fly out of the HOP's office at War Ops (doubly better if it's a secret nukie)) Making another thing be classified as a Level 5 biohazard (And especially making it so that "New command report" can't be meta'd)

[Dinarzad]

 

There are other ways you can mess with meta - Variable TC amounts, giving a specific chance to have regular traitor antags on any round (Might make less all access IDs fly out of the HOP's office at War Ops (doubly better if it's a secret nukie)) Making another thing be classified as a Level 5 biohazard (And especially making it so that "New command report" can't be meta'd)

 

In addition to that, I mean... the level 5 biohazard announcement is basically fuckin instant the moment the blob spawns (The Random event ones)

It should PROBABLY have a delay, since... everything else does. (Spiders, Borers, Xenos, etc.)

 

[FPK]

 

The way I see it, the intent of this addition would be to kill the metagaming that occurs when security catches a specific type of antag, then assumes that there must be more of that type of antag onboard the station and goes out hunting for the rest.

 

For example, lets say security catches a traitor. From that point on, security and the crew knows that there are other traitors onboard, and possibly either vampires or changelings as well. They also know that the game mode can't be nuke ops, shadowlings, blob, wizard, vox raiders, cult, revolution, ect. After a few more traitors are caught, security assumes that they've caught most, if not all, of the antagonists onboard. From the moment that the first traitor is caught, the other traitors onboard know that their cover has been blown and that any traitorous actions that they make are more likely to land them in the permabrig/electric chair.

 

Random events and admin intervention do help, but I think we could take it a step further. Instead of having a set game mode, I suggest that antags on round start are given a random antag role, rather than conforming to what antag roles are given by the current game mode.

 

For instance, instead of having a round of traitor where five traitors are onboard, there is no set round type and five antagonists are picked and given a random antag role. Goon has a similar system, which allows for very unpredictable rounds, where the crew isn't sure exactly what they're up against.

 

Of course there would have to be a cap on how many specific antags there can be (No one wants to go up against eight shadowlings or eight blobs). Antags like cultists and nukies would always have their required amount of starting members, but if the crew size allows it then additional antags would be added as well. Imagine a nukie round, while there's a wizard onboard. Or a cult of Nar'sie vs. Shadowlings. Odd combinations like these would help break the meta as well as create far more interesting rounds.

 

[improvedname]

If we had like a mixed gamemode like vampire + ling + traitor or changeling + wizard (with a spell penality based on the pop) and then put it in secret then its rip meta!

[Farya]

I want to see cultists against wizards. That would be fun. Or nuke ops against shadowlings

[NethIafin]

 

Thanks for all the responses!

 

I want to address few misconceptions.

1) They are explicitly told not to self-antag

2) 99% of my and other traitor's experience with bribing and/or threatening ends in absence of fun. In SS13 traitor has chance while they maintain cover. While you write and hold your weapon of threatening, you will get robusted. If you threaten security, security WILL attack you even if that will cost their life. etc etc

 

I see the point that admins try to show, but I also see how it can be ommitted. Being sleeper agent doesn't give you ANY rights to do criminal activities. On the countrary, your task is to stay alive till the end even more than any other. That is your only greentext.

 

And yes, changing other modes is not needed.

 

Thanks!