Captain
| Command | |
|---|---|
| Captain | |
 Captain |
Roleplay Difficulty: Hard |
The Captain. The head of the station.
You are the top of the command chain on the station, answering only to Central Command and in some cases, the Nanotrasen Representative. Your duties are very straightforward and dependant on how the rest of the station is doing. If everything goes well, you're pretty much free do whatever it is you wish, have a responsible drink or two at the bar, visit the chef to try out their gruel, check in on departments, engage with your crew. Your access to everywhere on the station, opens a lot of opportunity for roleplay, teambuilding and troubles.
Be the shining beacon of expectation on the station.
Your Superiors
You listen to Central Command. Any faxes or personnel coming from them are your orders. If admins are planning on running an event of sorts, your actions will affect them the most severely. Similarly, as a member of command, you fall under Rule 13 of the Server rules (Starlight).
While the Nanotrasen Representative does rank higher than you, they do not hold any immediate power over you nor do they hold a seat in the line of succession unless special needs are met (such as Central Command intervention). Their advice could save you some troubles, they're the SoP freaks after all.(keep in mind they techniclly can fire you, please mind your language and how you treat command and crew when they are present)
Before diving into this role, make sure you go over the Command Guide and Command SOP to ensure what you generally should and shouldn't do.
Getting Started
Just as your title, your office carries a lot of swagger and prestige. Within your locker, you will find a great number of items and gear.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
 |
The Captain's ID. Plated in gold to showcase it's significance, comes with a spare backup for when you lose yours. Will most likely be stolen by the time you need it. Has access to everything on the station as well as most areas in Central Command. |
 |
A fancy sword with an even fancier red sheath for extra style points. Carry it around for decent self defence or for just a fashion statement. Knight a fellow cremate, dispatch hostiles, get slipped and have it stolen by a clown. |
 |
The stamp of Captain's approval. Use it to verify any documents you wish to send to Central Command or elsewhere. Ensure the documentation is valid and always read the fine print, you never know what consequences might follow. |
 |
Unlike the Door Remotes that other command members get, yours doesn't open anything by itself, rather, it opens every door and airlock that the ID you currently wear has access to. In most cases, since you're carrying your Captain's ID, it too will have All Access. |
 |
The most important item in your possession. Used to activate the self destruct Nuclear Bomb present on every station. Losing this disk will not only end the station but every life present on it |
 |
A headset for true omnipresence, with access to every single station channel except binary. While it can be a little overwhelming to hear every single channel at once, taking some time out of your day to check in on your crew to get more information on everyone's goings is important. |
 |
A very effective jetpack that is compact enough to fit in your backpack occupying only half the space as a void jetpack does. Despite it being smaller, it's capable of holding the same volume of gas. Keeping it on you is in most cases redundant as you're not expected and in most cases, not allowed to leave the station. But certain situations may call for it. |
 |
If the station is not doing well with keeping it's atmosphere, don this moderately armored suit to prevent your internal organs from becoming external. For use only during emergencies such as breaches and gas leaks. Due to it's somewhat decent protective values, if your life is in danger, you may have it on as a precaution. |
  |
A self recharging laser gun capable of dishing out powerful shots. Locked in a glass display case. Due to it's recharging capabilities it's very viable during any situation as you will not need to run back to recharge it. |
Your Duties
Your duties can be compacted into one sentence. Keep the station running.
Now, this does not mean you have to micromanage and do everything yourself, that's why so many heads of staff were hired. Check in on your command personnel. If your lights are flickering, see with the Chief Engineer on what's taking so long for the power. Heard a loud boom and crew is blaming the Science Department? Ask your Research Director what's going on. Medical is getting swamped with injured? Coordinate the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Personnel on whether or not they need extra hands.
Managing Command
Hiring and firing of the Command Staff, i.e. Chief Engineer, Research Director, Head of Personnel, falls onto you. If someone comes to you with a report of your subordinates not following their SoP or disregarding their duties, you may see to their demotion. Likewise, if a department does not have a command member, you may seek out and appoint a new, temporary one. As the Captain, it is your decision on who will get promoted. While the promotions are Head of Personnel's duties, only your ID can grant accesses needed to command offices. Speak to the Head of Security or Warden to get your hands on a mindshield implant for the new department boss.
However, firing a Head of Security and hiring a new one is not as straightforward. In this case, contacting Central Command via faxing is advised.
Communications Console
Since you will be spending most of your time within the bridge, you will have easy access to the Communications Console. This console is your true control over the station. The utility of this console is vast, not just for you but for your entire command team.
Announcements
Communicate with your crew in a very ear-catching manner. A loud 'Public Announcement' sound will play catching everyone's attention to what you have to say. Greet your crew at the start of the shift, lay out a gameplan. Promote the Chef's cooking, invite people to DnD or the Bartender's bar. Warn about a dangerous criminal or approaching shuttles/meteors. Call a vote or make a joke. While you can announce whatever you please, as the captain, you're expected to adhere to certain standards.
Alert Levels
Some situations call for an alert level change. Ensure you have plenty of information to avoid over escalating or embarrassing yourself. Speak to the respective command member on whether the alert is necessary or not. While anyone can change the alert level, this should be run past you in most cases.
When and why should you change the alert level? Changing the alert level will not only let the crew know that the flow of their shift is changing, but what they should focus towards and how they will act. Most notably, it will affect security as higher alerts give them more freedom in performing their duties.
Upon changing the alert level, it's customary to follow up with additional information with an announcement. You may choose whether or not to. Except when changing to Red Alert, in which case you must provide a reason.
For more information on the different alert levels and expected behaviour during those, visit the General SOP.
Calling the Emergency Shuttle
While the shuttle call can be sent, a follow up fax to Central Command may be a very important step in the process, lest they cancel your pleas. See below.
If a situation is dire enough, an emergency call may be the only solution to get the hell out of dodge. As it naturally ends the shift, this should be a last ditch option, but an option nonetheless. It is mostly your call, as long as it doesn't breach any rules and is within reason.
You could announce you will call the shuttle prior to doing so, asking for a vote to gauge the crew's opinion or the opinion of the crew that matters: command. Depending on the ongoing situation, speaking to one of your heads is highly advised to ensure if the shuttle should be called at all. If the Chief Engineer believes power cannot be restored, the last standing Security Cadet does not radiate protag energy, Medical reports mounting casualties and nothing to treat them with...
Similarly, you may choose to recall the shift end shuttle. This should probably be run by the crew as a lengthened boring shift may displease most crew.
Bridge
The Bridge holds most, if not all, station's consoles for information and action.
Manage the station's finances and shift what percentage each department's budget will get, check in on the station's power and atmos grids then yell at the CE on why their engineers are sleeping on the job. Whenever a problem arises, your best course of action would be to check in on a console or two, delegate your work and only intervene if absolutely necessary and safe.
As the second most secure department on the station, rivalled only by Security, access to this department lies only within the heads of staff. Being such a secured area, only you can authorize and grant access to it. While you could appoint a Bridge Chef/Bartender, do ensure their are appropriately checked, mindshielded and are not a threat to your safety. After all, you are one poisoned drink away from a nuclear end to your reign.
Pen is mightier than the sword
Faxing and paperwork are true bureaucratic hell. But it can be as powerful, if not more than any arsenal your station may hold.
Being the Captain puts plenty of responsibility on you, since most CentComm communication will pass through the bridge, which is you or the Nanotrasen Representative. Any faxes between the crew and Central Command is an in-character method of communicating with the admins. You may receive some information about an event that's going on, warrants for arrests of criminal crew, situation updates as well as requests.
Even though the fax machine can be a very important tool, approval of such is not guaranteed and depends on many things.
Utility of the Fax machine is vast, you could be facing a serious threat that may require ERT (Emergency Response Team) intervention, bluespacing supplies to ATS, experimental equipment, spare lawboards, Gamma Alert and so on. To ensure your request gets approved, consider if your request would be fair, reasonable, format it as nicely as possible and try to keep out any vulgar words. Central Command has no eyes on the station, at least not the ones that let them know everything that's going on, explain your situation in detail to paint them a picture.
Captain's Expectations
- While you get some powerful equipment, you are expected to abide by your Command SOP and Server rules (Starlight).
- Keep your Antique Laser Gun in your office unless on Red. Blue Alert critters may also warrant some stronger self defence. Similarly, keeping your Hardsuit stashed away until it's needed due to breaches and loss of atmosphere and pressure.
- While the Captain is explicitly not allowed to chase criminals and perform security duties, you may choose to defend yourself if such need should arise as well as intervene when you witness a crime being committed.
- As the Captain of the station, you should probably stay on the station. Leaving the station for a trip to the ATS is rarely needed as you have a Quartermaster and their team.
- You should not put yourself into any danger and risk the powerful ID, Door Remote, Antique and jetpack to fall into enemy's hands.
Tips
- The Custom Door remote is very useful. Bolt down bridge doors in case you're in danger. Use it to open up doors as you run towards them to not get slowed down from bumping into them. You can also try bolting the doors behind you to buy valuable seconds.
- Hide your Spare ID someplace. Even though you may be tempted to put it in your locker, whatever went through the troubles to get into your office will not mind getting into your locker as well.
- Be communicative and helpful to your crew. Approve their fun shenanigans and, chances are, when troubles arrive, the crew will be more willing to put themselves in danger to help you out and save your life.
- Hiding in the bridge all shift, while it may seem safe, will possibly lock security and helpful crew away from aiding you. Patrol around and spend some time outside the bridge.
- Check in on the manifest at round start to see how well the station is staffed. Speak to HoP to hire more people in shortstaffed departments.
- Visit engineering early on and make sure the CE doesn't kill themselves in the Tesla room by forgetting internals.
- Most of your duties are heavily RP dependant, don't be afraid to experiment and enjoy your time. Talk to the crew, dish out a commendation in a nice medal ceremony.
p.s. when facing nukies, WHAT EVER YOU DO, don't go to the front lines, alot of people make this mistake and it breaks my heart seeing captains do this, please stay with your bso and in the FURTHEST place from the nukies. (sec on certain maps is the safest, or bridge.)
