Disclaimer:This page does not show all the rules and policies used on Skyrat and is not always up to date.
In case of any discrepancies between this page and the documents available on the Discord, the documents on the Discord take precedence.

Skyrat 13 Guiding Principles

The server merges player freedom, action, and roleplay together. We expect medium to high roleplay. We grant our players freedom in exchange for them being more responsible and considerate of their fellow players. Even if you are not much of a roleplayer, you are welcome on this server as long as you follow our principles.

If you are an experienced roleplayer on Space Station 13 and feel confident in your own ability, you can save time by reading the headers for each principle and the underlined text in the body. However, it is highly encouraged you read all of it thoroughly.

Principle 1. Be a good community member by being considerate of others!

This is essentially the golden rule when it comes to interacting with others. We do not require that you be friendly with everyone here. In fact, we understand that conflict will arise at some point, but we expect toxicity to be kept to a minimum. We do not demand that you withhold your honest opinions, rather we ask you to avoid any toxic or antagonistic behavior when speaking in this community. Come with good intentions and be considerate of others. This only applies for out-of-character behavior

We encourage well-roleplayed, in-character conflict in our servers as long as you are considerate of others OOCly! However, be wary as some IC actions may be inconsiderate OOCly. For instance, you are to obtain admin approval before touching a SSD player, although certain situations such as the need to move a player to safety or the shuttle are permitted.

Principle 2. Roleplay First!

Your character's actions should be driven by your character and not by the player. As such, playing in a way to maximize winning by exploiting the rules is strictly prohibited. For instance, if you make a player type and then you attempt to surprise them with mechanical combat in the middle of it, you will be dealt with. In fact, we allow incompetent characters within reason as one cannot be picky on the frontiers of civilization, given that they do not play a doctor or an engineer.

Remember:Losing is part of the game and part of roleplaying. Keep in mind, respawns are allowed as long as you choose another character and do not meta-game. With that said, escalate appropriately according to your character and situation. While you as the player are safe, your character is not. Play your character as if pain hurts and that cloning has significant side-effects, so that you are not unbelievably reckless.

Stress should also be factored when playing your character, especially in combat or emergency situations. Brave characters truly stand out when bravery actually means something. For instance, elite units in real life suffer one battle fatigue casualty for every ten wounded in action. Conversely, the ratio can be as high as one to one on average. Source:(still needs to be filled in)

Prioritizing roleplay does not mean we must abandon the wackiness of SS13 nor limit player freedom. In fact, we argue that maintaining a roleplaying environment with standards allows the player to organically develop an interesting experience for themselves and others. While we certainly must limit player behavior in some ways to permit this, we do so with the aim of granting you freedom elsewhere.

For instance, once you are an accepted part of the community, in-character criminal activity is encouraged as long as it is done with thought, consideration, and effort. In-character racism is encouraged. You are roleplaying on the very rim of society and civilization! Unsavory types will be found in all facets of life here. All we ask is that you put in the effort and not be inconsiderate towards others.

With this freedom in mind, we expect a higher level of responsibility towards your fellow community members when it comes to executing your ideas. If you are ever in doubt on whether you should do something or not, consult the players near you or contact an admin.

Principle 3. Marry Roleplay and Action Together

Please read the following in its entirety

The following law set should be followed, much like a silicon follows their AI laws. The intent of the law set is not to discourage the use of mechanics or even demand one should use roleplay over mechanics to resolve conflict. Rather, it is present to prevent mechanics from ruining either an ongoing scene or a potential one, i.e randomly grabbing someone and pulling them away in the middle of a conversation for no good reason.

Skyrat Action-Roleplay Lawset

Assume roleplay, i.e. saying and emoting, by default, until roleplay dictates that mechanics are needed to advance a scene or if mechanics, i.e. a breach in the hull, gunfire, or an explosive device, prevents roleplay.
In the middle of a roleplaying scene, pre-empt any mechanics that could disruptive a scene with an "emote" or "say" that subtly indicates the scene may break down to mechanics, i.e. Security officer reaches down to his holster and begins to slowly pull out his weapon or "put down the weapon, or I'll shoot!".
React to mechanics by mechanics, i.e. individual is running away, however, look to de-escalate to roleplay when you can.
Do not unnecessarily take someone out of the round, however, you do not have to go out of your way to avoid killing someone.

Note: Breaking the law consistently as a player will have escalating consequences that may lead to a permanent ban. If someone breaks a law, play along with it to avoid breaking the flow of the game, however, report the individual when you can.

In this server, combat serves roleplay, not the other way around. This does not mean you have to roleplay everything, rather you should have an eye open for roleplaying opportunities. If your only interest is in being robust and winning, this is not the server for you unfortunately, though there are plenty others that cater to your tastes!

A player should learn to mix action and roleplay together whenever possible, even as an antagonist. In fact, one should learn not to rely solely on mechanics when encountering a possibly dangerous situation with a player character. If a player character indicates that they are looking to roleplay, taking advantage of that desire to win a fight is a punishable offense under metagaming.

We highly recommend that you handle each encounter as an opportunity to not only fight but to create a roleplaying experience. For instance, whenever a player character encounters a dangerous situation with another character, their instinct should not be to shoot first and ask questions later, unless your character has a good reason to. Furthermore, if someone is aiming a lethal and ranged weapon at you, attempting to charge someone with said lethal weapon empty-handed will be considered poor roleplay without a valid reason.

In some instances, a player character may find themselves forced to engage in mechanical combat immediately. When the mechanics start, you are free to open fire as needed. Be careful not to end a player's session unnecessarily by killing them with little reason. However, players who attempt to take advantage of this through excessive use of fake surrenders, may be dealt with by staff.

f you find yourself forced to use combat mechanics immediately, we understand that these things happen due to the circumstances that arise. Sometimes, the proper roleplay response is to engage in combat immediately. However, if we notice that you have a habit of immediately forcing mechanical combat when it is not necessary, you may be approached by a staff member. If you find yourself forced to react purely mechanically more often than not with someone, that means someone is not acting to roleplaying standards.

Principle 4. Be a Team Player and Roleplayer in Group Combat

When it comes to pirate raids or a simple invasion by a mysterious foreign entity, those who form part of a cohesive combat unit from a team of mercenaries, a crew of pirates, a squad of security personnel, or even a ragtag mismatch of conscripted crewmembers, should act like a cohesive fighting unit. Maintain cohesion and even formations. Coordinate with your comrades, taunt your enemies, and move like a team instead of rushing in alone. Move slowly and think tactically. Most of all, play to have fun, not win. Do not try to fight to the last man instead, retreat, unless you are in a last stand or you are told directly by an event manager or in-game prompt that your unit has to fight to the last man.

In fact, as stated before, try a roleplaying approach first before shooting. Negotiations, diplomacy, all of that is encouraged! Be sure to give the other side breathing room to roleplay! To accomplish this, certain events will be lengthened in duration.

We understand combat is fast, and we do not expect you to forsake mechanics. We found from our experience that taking group combat more slowly and tactically as you execute a battle plan tends to be the most rewarding.. By taking the steps above, group combat can be fun and more manageable for all. Even if it is not the most efficient way to win, you should aim to roleplay and have fun that way. In the end, the way you should approach a battle should be intentful and tactical.

Be warned that anyone who unfairly attempts to take advantage of this more organized approach will be punished. However, creative and realistic approach to group combat against a more organized enemy through ambushes in maintenance and hit-and-runs on the security bay are encouraged!

Principle 5. Produce Net Gain of Fun

Produce a net gain of fun for those near you. For instance, capture when you can over killing someone. When you do capture, try to roleplay with said captives. Otherwise, provide them with some level of freedom to roleplay. Unnecessary killings, such as those who cannot resist, will be punished by staff. If you see a roleplaying opportunity to spice things up, think to yourself, "will this make things less fun for everyone near me?" If so, avoid doing it. If unsure, ask an admin or obtain consent with those you are roleplaying with.

We are a RP server foremost, not an ERP server. However, when it comes to ERP, we have light protection in accordance to the "do not be a dick OOCly" rule. We also expect players to LOOC each other beforehand for permission. We expect people, whether they are a participant or bystander, to be considerate of each other and the situation they're in, as this is an adult server where you are expected to be an adult. As a result, you should expect adult situations to arise, and you are expected to be mature about it. For instance, if you stumble upon players who appear to be doing a ERP scene and there is no urgency to the situation (I.E. combat isn't happening etc), please ask them in LOOC if it is okay to interrupt. Please note that for the sake of roleplay, it is preferred that ERPers say 'yes' if the person interrupting clearly state that they have no intention of stopping the scene. However, this is left to the players' discretion. Do not bomb the dormitory. Do not try to be cheeky and cause other forms of mass damage through bags of holding and so forth. The same principle applies. It is preferred you directly confront your target in accordance to our ERP policy and Action-Roleplay Lawset.

If you ERP in public, you are not required to use subtle emote. However, without the use of subtle emotes, you should be ready to welcome IC interference, given that said interference is roleplayed out and LOOCed beforehand. Furthermore, for the sake of roleplay, it is preferred that you do not use subtle emotes for overtly noticeable actions. You should not face OOC backlash, only IC reactions and actions. Alternatively, if you witness ERP in public without the use of subtle emotes, react accordingly and roleplay it out. Like everything else, there is no excuse to be a dick OOCly.

Note: A private place is essentially an area that is not in public use and is very much out of the way, i.e. located in an enclosed room in maintenance or a locked dorm room. If you leave behind a trail and are actively pursued, every place will be considered "public" for the official search party [i.e. security and so forth]. If found under those circumstances, you will be obligated to roleplay with the consequences. This does not apply to people who stumble upon you incidentally. Keep in mind, if we find that a player is abusing our policies, expect to be charged with valid-hunting and other rule violations.

Principle 6. Embrace IC Conflict and Factionalism

Please read the following in its entirety

We aim to create a roleplaying environment that emulates the grittiness of living on the frontiers, so we encourage IC conflict. For instance, once you've settled into the community, criminal activity will be tolerated within reasonable bounds as long as it encourages roleplaying. Certain extreme acts may require the permission of the other party or appropriate escalation.If you wish to perform a series of acts that may seem like self-antagging for roleplaying purposes or if you're in doubt, consult the administration.

Employment with NanoTrasen means literally nothing as to your attitudes to NanoTrasen, and being disloyal doesn't make you an antagonist. Forming gangs, striking out on your own against everyone else, or even outright betraying your employers by working with an opposing faction can provide unique, refreshing roleplaying opportunities for everyone involved (Warning: Before you willingly collaborate with an enemy faction, please ask for admin permission beforehand!). The Station is composed of numerous factions and possibly gangs, and Security is no where near omnipresent - nor omnibenevolent.

Criminal (and also broadly immoral) behavior is common. Including anything from petty theft to premeditated murder. All of the aforementioned, and more, can make roleplay more interesting if done with effort and consideration for your fellow community members on an out-of-character basis. However, Security still has to play its part when it comes to major issues, particularly those that are station-wide. While smaller, less profit-damaging crimes may go overlooked - severe crimes that affect a substantial portion of the station(classification 3 or 4) will provoke a strong response from Security.

NanoTrasen is not an ethical company. Characters may witness or face discrimination based on species. Those in its employment on the Frontier are exploited greatly. Far beyond what is seen in the more developed regions of the Galaxy. You came here because you were desperate, delinquent, unhireable anywhere else, a refugee of some description, or some combination of the four. If NanoTransen cared about you, they wouldn't have sent you out to the frontier, to a station where the rules are loose and the morals even looser. NanoTrasen doesn't care about you, just about your productivity. As a direct result, no one is safe from (in-character) conflict. Individuals may face harassment, any number abuses, or be physically threatened by someone else on-station. Security (being a flawed, profits-protecting, and possibly corrupt force) will not necessarily intervene to protect you. You are, or will be, on your own in many situations.

Principle 7. Be Realistic with Your Character Skills

You should treat your character as if they are an actual person. This applies to things like skills, knowledge, behavior, fighting ability, weapons competency, and how they react to combat in general.

Delegate as a leader. If you are the Head of your department, delegate when you can, as you are a manager first and foremost! Micromanaging is the devil, unless you are playing that type of character!

Value your life. Your average person may be able to figure out how to handle a firearm through experience, however, please note that it has been shown empirically that proper and thorough training is more valuable than experience. If you are a civilian with no military training, you should value your own safety more than a hardened veteran. This is an extension to what was discussed in Principle #2. However, this does not apply as much to antagonist, as it is expected that you would have received some degree of training. However, you should attempt to remain as true to your character as possible.

Mary Sue characters should be avoided. If no one is available to do a critical task to keep role play going, such as an appendectomy or setting up the stations power, it should be handled in a manner that is realistic (Read the steps from books, only do the bare minimum for an engine setup, use the solars instead, etc). Lastly, keep to your role and ultimately department whenever possible. Only perform the roles outside your department if there is an emergency and no one is manning the position. Additionally as stated in Principle #2, you are allowed to roleplay your character incompetently within reason , though this does not apply to engineers and doctors.

While basic interdepartmental knowledge is allowed, a character should not be proficient in more than a single job branch that requires an advanced degree and a high level of specialization. There are only two branches that meet this requirement. Please pick one for a character and stick with it if possible. Place said job branch in your flavor text where anyone can easily verify it. You do not have to pick a job branch if your character do not play any of these roles!

Biological - Chemist, Virologist, Doctor/Surgeon, Geneticist, Xenobiologist
Mechanical - Engineer, Atmosphere Technician, Roboticist, Scientist, Miner

Note:This is subject to change. For instance, while unlikely, we may make a separate job branch for skilled manual labor, depending on what we empirically see on the server. Later on, security will be handled in a special way.

We largely rely on the community to honor and enforce this principle by reporting offenders.

Example: If you are a doctor, you should not be knowledgeable in engineering. If you are an engineer, you should not be knowledgeable in surgery. These restrictions do not apply to any jobs outside of science, engineering, or medical. However, security will have its own requirements which will be specified at a later date.

Additional Note: These restrictions will not be strictly enforced with a small population. We do have plans, so that players may split specializations across two fields. For now, you should ask for an exception if it makes sense for your character's IC background, given that it is of good quality and is within reason. If approved, you will be asked to list your allowed specializations in your flavor text with the name of the admin who gave the approval.

Skyrat 13 Rules

These rules are the framework for both staff members and regular users. If you don’t agree with these rules, do not say you do. You are not forced to play here; there are other options (both within the Space Station 13 community and outside it) for you.

This framework is derived in large part from drawn from several other related communities’ in-game rulesets, modified to suit our purposes. This is a living, always in-progress document; it may be changed in the future, updates will be announced on the Discord server.

(See also: Guide to avoiding bans)

0. Be mature.

his server is for people who are 18 years of age or older. No exceptions. Our servers are based in the United States and we adhere to both moral guidelines and the United States Law. Alongside this stringent ruling, we ask that you act maturely as a player.
1. Don’t be a dick OOCly. We all have lives, and many of us use the community as a place to relax. Being needlessly antagonistic to other community members, generally toxic, and otherwise unkind while here makes the space worse for others. Further encouraging toxic behavior, and pushing away community members. Just don’t be a dick.
2. English literacy is a must. We do not expect grammatical perfection; but if you are not comprehensible out-of-character, this server is not for you. There are some foreign language Space Station 13 communities out there that could fit your needs better.
3. Don’t “ride the line” with regards to the rules. Follow through on the spirit of rules, and not just their exact wording. You will be punished for this as though you broke the concerned rule(s).
4. If an admin has told you not to do something; do not do it. Do not attempt to play word games, and rules lawyer, at those whose job it is to uphold the rules.

1. Do not grief.

Griefing is the act of deliberately annoying or angering another player using aspects of the game in unintended ways. Newcomers that exhibit this behavior will find themselves permabanned.

Do not spam. This includes in-character conversation, the global out-of-character channel, or any other text channel used in-game (such as the Admin-Help system).
Do not attack others or engage in what is otherwise known as "random deathmatch" also known as RDM. If you want to attack another character, have a valid IC reason. Conduct yourself in a way that is consistent with our aforementioned principles. Killing someone is frowned upon without a strong IC reason, i.e. self-defense, is needed to achieve your goals as an antagonist, etc.
Do not exploit bugs or errors in the code to your benefit in-game. Report issues to the wider community in the main-dev chat channel.
Do not intentionally damage the station,or its machinery without a valid IC reason, This can make the round effectively unplayable if enough vital functions are destroyed.
Do not harass players out-of-character. If the source of the harassment is linked to actions within the server, you will be dealt with.
Do not harass a player ICly if it is unwelcome. Anyone who participates in a coordinated effort in the form of a meta-gang to harass characters in-game in any manner will be permanently banned without appeal if found guilty and found uncooperative.
Don't touch SSD players without prior admin approval via admin help. (Note: Moving an SSD/AFK player to safety or dragging them to the shuttle is exempt from this.)

Examples

Spamming *scream or any emote excessively in public will not be tolerated.
Players that look for any reason to kill will be rooted out, i.e. killing someone for walking into or through your workplace and so forth.
While brawls or fights that naturally escalate is encouraged, be aware that doing so with the intent of killing someone is heavily frowned upon. Doing so in a manner that is consistent may lead to charges of powergaming and griefing which may result in a permanent ban.
Abusing a bug, glitch, or error to gain an item you shouldn't have access to is considered powergaming.

2. Listen to the staff team.

The staff is responsible for upholding the enforcement of rules on the server. As such, they have a final say on related matters. We welcome honest comments, feedbacks, and critiques with the expectation that it is done civilly and politely in correspondence to the first server principle. If you are ever considering doing something particularly drastic - including mutinities and murders as a non-antagonist - request permission via Admin-Help.

Be polite, honest, and to the point when sending an admin PM. Give all relevant information that you can, as it will help us resolve your case.
Avoid antagonizing someone you are admin-helping about.
An admin's word is final. If they say not to do it, do not do it.
If you suspect an admin is in the wrong, calmly document and report the incident. Be as thorough and as unbiased as possible. While the latter is difficult when emotional, it will help your case more often than not.
Any form of harmful and deceitful behavior will be met with disproportionate punishment due to the nature of the offense. Lying to the staff is a punishable offense and may become permanent if done frequently. Furthermore, anyone who consistently engages in clandestine behavior with the intent to do harm, i.e. to harass or slander individuals, will receive a permanent ban with no opportunity to appeal.

1. Avoid talking about rule infraction in the global OOC channel. This can, and will, lead to people metagaming. When you can, use the Admin-Help and Mentor-Help systems to your benefit.
2. If an admin tells you that something is IC, valid, and so forth, that is the final answer. Admins are not obligated to give you more information than they think is necessary during an ongoing round. If you want more information you may ask again after the round, or you may ask for the logs which may be given if thought appropriate
3. If the situation you are admin-helping about is immediately happening to you, state your intentions in LOOC and either pause the scene or remove your character from the scene.

3. Stay in-character.

Your character, the one you will be playing on the server, must fit into the lore & setting. For the time being, your character is an employee with NanoTrasen working at a mining and research station in orbit of ‘Lavaland’. The station’s main purpose is the study, extraction, and refinement of the anomalous Plasma. The station is a workplace, acting extremely immature is grounds for termination of your employment (and indefinite detainment until you can be processed).

Speak like an actual person.
Netspeak terms like "lol", "rofl", "lmao" are specifically disallowed while talking aloud. You may use these in in-character text, like PDA messages.
Give your characters proper names.
Avoid titles (Captain, Officer, Dr., etc.) in names.
Do not impersonate staff or other player characters.
With the only exceptions being in-character impersonation. Changelings, wearing their ID card while your face is hidden, a Comms Agent mimicking them. Do not recreate someone else’s character in the character creator.
Do not copy and paste real-world people and pre-existing fictional characters.
Do not commit suicide for little reason.
Do not kill yourself to escape in-character punishments, do not commit suicide to spite someone for something mildly rude they said, etc.
Underaged characters are strictly prohibited.
The hard-coded limit for character age is 18 for a reason. Do not attempt to work around this by describing your character as looking “younger than 18” in your flavor text. It will be treated as a violation of the rules.

4. Play the job you have.

Put honest effort into your job.

Example: As an Engineer, you should secure power before doing anything else. If you don’t know how to do that (and are alone in Engineering) seek help from a more experienced crewmember outside of Engineering, or ask for advice through the Mentor-Help system. In general, attempt to meet the bare minimum expectations for your job. If you are the Head of your department, delegate when you can, as you are a manager first and foremost! Micromanaging is the devil, unless you are playing that type of character! You are allowed to roleplay your character somewhat incompetently though less so with engineers.

See Principle #7
As an antagonist, your goal is to stir chaos but ultimately entertainment for the crew. You should attempt to finish your mission when possible, but you do not have to rush it. If you do not like your objectives, you are welcome to put in a request or suggestion via admin-help.
Do your primary job first. Keep to your department, and do not perform other peoples' jobs unless A) the position is empty B) there is an emergency.
Do not ignore crucial-to-the-station duties for menial or unimportant jobs. A medical doctor should not be hidden in virology while someone is dying of appendicitis in the medical bay lobby. If you are to be found doing just this, you will be a target for dereliction charges ICly. If this behavior continues, you will be job-banned.
Again, do not overstep your job description, i.e. medical should not be preoccupied with figuring out what happened to a patient beyond what is required to devise an effective treatment, such as checking if their toxin damage is being caused by ingested or injected poisons so you know whether to use charcoal in syringe or pill form.. You may be concerned, and tip off Security to your suspicions, but avoid performing criminal investigations when there is a perfectly capable Security force on-station.

5. Do not metagame or metagrudge.

Metagaming is using information gotten out-of-character for in-character purposes. Including (but not limited to) direct message conversations, voice calls, streams, the global out-of-character, and other forms of out-of-game communication.
Meta-grudging is the act of targeting a player while IC for OOC reasons. Attacking another player for something that happened in a previous round without mutual consent will be called meta-grudging. Rounds are canon, however, you cannot act malevolently based on an event that transpired in another round without consent from the involved parties.
Knowledge can transfer round to round and can be learned through "books", however, this does not mean you can violate Principle #7.
Regarding the continuity with antagonists, these rounds will count as canon unless specified. You may remember what happened to you, but not who in particular did it. They are replaced by a functionally faceless individual. Do not attempt to make an in-character issue out of previous shifts’ antagonism, unless you have the OOC consent of the involved party. Ever.

6. Do not powergame.

Powergaming is defined as: going out of your way to give yourself an extreme mechanical edge over the rest of the crew. Do not give yourself all-access, a combat hardsuit, several laser weapons, and a squad of E-Magged borgs when facing off against a skeleton crew as Traitor. This goes against the aims and goals of the server which is to provide a roleplaying environment where action and conflict is plentiful.

Do not give yourself all-access just because you can.
Don’t steal items from other departments without good cause as a non-antagonist. It can hinder the functioning of those departments.
Do not give access to your workplace to crew who would not otherwise have access, unless there is a justifiable reason to do so (I.E.: the warden arming the crew during a confirmed pirate raid, the last alive Medic giving medicine access to other trained crew to lighten their own load.)
Don’t do the job of occupied departments (this includes acting Captains).
Do not hide objective items just because you know that they are targets for traitor activity.
Security should not be armed with lethal-capable weapons outside of a Blue Security Alert.

7. Do not valid-hunt.

Valid-hunting is defined as; going out of your way to kill “valid” players. Valid is an out-of-character short-hand term referring to someone who can be killed within the guidance of the rules. Avoid using it in-character.

If an Antagonist is not currently a threat to the station at large; do not leave your workplace to go on a wild goose chase for them. Leave this to Security, and other Law Enforcement personnel.
Forcibly mind-shielding crew, brainwashing crew, or otherwise attempting to root out Antagonists without any confirmation of a related threat is valid-hunting. It can quickly ruin an otherwise perfectly on-track secret round.
Violating other characters’ privacy outside of Security’s protocol. (I.E.: a miner searching someone’s bag for being suspicious, an Officer searching someone on codegreen without consent or reason to suspect them.)

8. No Self-Antagging

Self-antagging is the act of acting like an in-game antagonist when you weren't selected to be the round's antag. While committing crimes ICly is permitted, self-antagonism is a different beast. To differentiate, you should not act like a traitor or commit terrorism. This involves performing actions that are expected of antags, such as murder(without proper IC escalation), grand sabotage, abduction of high-level personnel, etc.

The key difference between the activities you could do thanks to Principle #6, and self-antagonism, is the negative impact your actions have on the round as a whole. If you establish the rules of your IC interactions beforehand, and work with other players, then you can perform any number of unlawful activities under Principle #6. As a rule of thumb and as a reminder, anything that could be considered terrorism in the real world is self-antagging.

If you are not an antag, do not do the following:

Roleplay as a serial killer, a criminally insane character, or a terrorist.
Murder someone without a justifiable IC reason (self-defense, honor duel, etc.)
Pretend to be an established antagonist (Throwing on a black and red spacesuit and sabotaging solars is NOT fine.)
Sabotage important station facilities (flooding Security with plasma, blowing up Engineering, unleashing viruses from Virology).

And so on. This list is not exhaustive, and other activities may or may not fit under self-antagonism, as decided by the staff.

9. Behave in accordance to our principles

The principles lay plainly our goals for the server and how we aim to achieve them. It highlights what we expect from players, and it also allows you to understand why the rules are organized as they are. By following them, you will more than likely be in good shape.

In fact, we argue strongly that the principles are there, so you understand what is expected of you whenever you stir IC trouble. For example, this server allows you to commit crimes given that you roleplayed and thought your character out. This, however, does not grant you the license to grief. Keep in mind that its main purpose is there to create interesting scenarios born out of conflict for players to engage with, even on an extended shift. To become a trusted member of the community, use this freedom to not only enhance your own playing experience but others as well!

While the principles are there to encourage player initiative, we encourage players to ask for consent from nearby players when possible. Anything that affects the shift station-wide will require admin consent. Please keep in mind that intentionally disregarding or actively ignoring the principles laid out for the players will draw the attention of the staff and may result in punitive measures.

Here are a few key reminders:

At a minimum, do not be a dick OOCly!
Play as the character, not as the player.
You are allowed to roleplay your character somewhat incompetently though not to the point that it becomes very unfun.
Whenever possible, roleplay what you can. This does not mean you have to roleplay everything out, rather you keep an eye out for roleplaying opportunities.
This is a friendly reminder that this is an adult server and that you are an adult. Expect adult situations to arise. When it comes to ERP, we have light protection in accordance
to the "do not be a dick OOCly" rule. We expect people, whether they are a participant or bystander, to be considerate of each other and the situation they're in.
You should expect IC conflict with less than scrupulous characters.
Remember, this is not comprehensive. Please see the Principles Document for further detail.

ERP Policy

ERP Policy for Skyrat - Please Read Server Principle #5 for more.

Never bomb dorms. Confront your target directly to make it interesting.
Before interrupting an ERP session, always LOOC beforehand. Do not bomb your targets who are ERPing, rather confront them and create an interesting story.
Public ERP is not protected to the extent private ERPs are, especially if they are not done through subtle. If you are looking to get involved, you need to LOOC beforehand about your intent and get acknowledgement at the very least. Do not be a dick.
Do not interrupt people in a private place without gaining 100% OOC consent, unless there is a STRONG IC reason like having a target. ERP Policy #1, #2, and #3 still applies. Ahelp if unsure.
ASK in LOOC or on discord (preferably LOOC) before ERPing, unless their preference states 'Yes'.
SSD players should not be touched as stated by Server Rule #1, Subsection #7, unless you have proof of prior approval.
If you ever feel uncomfortable with the scene say it clearly in LOOC, if you need a hard stop say so. Communicate clearly with your partner to avoid misunderstandings.
If the person doesn’t respond to STOP in LOOC, AHELP it.
Work with your partner ICly and OOCly to make your RP/ERP smooth and enjoyable for everyone.
Don’t neglect your job to ERP if you are needed on the job. You can always join as assistant and ERP the whole shift with no one bothering you.
As a head, you should prioritize your job. You need to be available and close to your office if possible. Keep your headset on and DO NOT ignore it during emergencies or issues.
Roleplay in good faith, outing the perpetrator in an IC non-con scene immediately after the scene makes drama, rather than good story.
If you have any doubts or issues, ahelp. Do not take matters in to your own hands.
Don’t go out of your way to bother people who are ERPing. Let people have their fun.

Antagonist Policy

Antagonists are defined as the opposing forces to the station and crew in a round. On the Citadel/Skyrat codebase, there are many types of potential antagonists that can crop up depending on population and preferences enabled by players.

Antagonists exist for a few reasons. They are supposed to provide excitement and intrigue, drive a story with the crew, and provide fun and interesting game modes to play through. From a simple traitor to a powerful cultist, to even an elder vampire, the antagonist must do their best to provide an engaging and interesting round, just as the crew and security must give some leeway for this to happen.

If you feel like your objectives aren’t good enough, are too limiting, or don’t suit an objective you have, please ask admins for assistance. In addition, you may do gimmicks if you’d like, but you are not to go beyond the boundaries of your objectives you have. If you have an objective to steal things and want to do a gimmick that relies on murder or sabotage, avoid it unless you can get admins to help with it.

Below are a set of guidelines to help you with getting an idea of what this entails.

As a preface, to blatantly copy Goon Station’s rules, keep this in mind: Treat your role as an interesting challenge and not an excuse to destroy other people’s game experience. Your actions should make the game more fun, more exciting and more enjoyable for everyone; you can treat your objectives as suggestions on what you should attempt to achieve but you are also allowed to ignore them if you have something more enjoyable in mind. You do NOT have to act in a nefarious or evil way, but you are not allowed to just go on a silent rampage and eliminate all the players in a power trip. It is the experience of everyone that matters, not just your own.

The rules of escalation still apply to you, though they are laxed.

When engaged in conflict or tense situations, you have more room than non-antagonists when it comes to escalation. However, the rules still apply.

For example: if security has made it clear they are not going to negotiate and will relentlessly pursue you: setting the brig on fire, bombing security, or flooding it with n2o is fair.

Wordlessly setting off bombs in security for no other reason than to do so is not proper escalation.

If push comes to shove, you can go to extremes if needed. If you have questions, ask admins.

You may not do severely harmful, or deraily things as any antagonist without a VERY good reason. Examples include engine delams, mass lethal virus releases, mass bombings, plasma floods, things that would normally get the shuttle called instantly. Do not derail the round needlessly, as escalation still applies to you.

Roleplay and Action must go hand in hand.

Even as an antagonist, you should always be trying to balance RP and mechanics as much as possible. Don't just go on esword or gun sprees without proper reason or escalation, and especially don't do it wordlessly. That's the key word, wordlessly. As we further expand on the roleplay rules, keep the current ones in mind and shoot for emotes and speech before mechanics whenever possible. Try to think outside the box as well.

Objectives are not the end game

Greentext and "winning" are concepts we shouldn't care about here. It's nice to be able to succeed your objectives and show it off, but there's no real gain from it. Focus on roleplay and creating an interesting story and as fun a round as you can. If you so wish, admins can work with you to make custom objectives within reason (provided staff are willing). Try to make up a gimmick of some kind, or an RP motivation for why you're doing what you're doing.

This mainly applies to bloodsuckers, traitors, changelings, and other such solo antagonists. Team and conversion antagonists have different circumstances, and thus would have to be handled on a case by case basis more, but this part still applies.

Ghost Role Antags

The current ghost role antagonists we have enabled are Xenomorphs, Revenant, Nightmare, Ninja, and Pirates. The rules get a bit skewed with some of these, so I will cover them as best I can.

Revenants and Nightmares are unknowable entities with vague goals. Nightmares are an antagonist without objectives, meaning they must find their own way in the world after spawning. THIS DOES NOT GIVE LICENSE TO GRIEF. Nightmares who decide to go on murder or sabotage sprees will be dealt with. Likewise, Revenants have plenty of potential for RP and are encouraged to capitalize on it. Don't just be a grief ghost, get creative

Ninjas are subject to normal traitor policy. Remember escalation rules and don't just go on murder sprees.

Pirates are also affected by escalation rules. Wordlessly sabotaging the engine because you want a "distraction" is over the line, just as is shooting people on sight. Both crew and pirates should maintain proper RP and escalation standards.

Xenomorphs are simple creatures, driven by instinct more than anything. While it's possible to roleplay as them, it is not explicitly required. Xenomorphs are, at their core, animals. Animals aren't exactly capable of escalation in a proper way. This will likely be the only antagonist that mechanics will be used fully against. However, it is encouraged both sides try to roleplay if they have the ability.

These rules apply to Blobs, Sentient Spiders (unless the spiders try to roleplay), and Abductors.

Lone operative was disabled due to continuous concerns with population, round ending capability, and mechanical issues with them. However, the potential exists for them to be brought into rounds. Escalation rules somewhat apply, but are a bit more lax with lone ops. Adversely, roleplay standards still apply for all sides. Try to not just wordlessly gun people down in the halls and at least put in some effort to roleplay, as we expect others to do the same.

MURDERBONE

Murderbone requires admin permission, proper reason, and a gimmick behind it. It can't just be a wordless gun rampage, it needs to at least be entertaining or create ghost roles for your victims to take to join the fun.

Rules of Engagement (Specific Gamemodes)

Traitor: Traitors are not to be played as always being Syndicate. Treat roundstart flavortext as formalities and not a defined backstory unless you have no other motives you can think of for why your character is a traitor. While mechanically it says as much, we encourage you to be more creative and figure out some motivations for your character that go beyond that. You don’t have to outright be Syndicate, you are allowed to come up with something else as far as fluff goes and act on that.

Escalation rules are laxed for traitors, as you are an antagonist, HOWEVER this does not give you free reign to do anything you want. Don’t go doing ultra powergame bullshit, don’t spend the whole round hiding in space, don’t cause mindless destruction without good reason (and admin permission, preferably), and DO NOT do anything needlessly destructive or round-derailing in the first 20 minutes of the round. Give everyone a chance to settle in, don’t just announce the game mode with a 50kg payload of boom boom at the start of the round. And do not try to force a shuttle call just because you completed your objectives and you’re bored.

Blood Brothers fall under these rules. Syndicate Mutineers/Overthrow Agents fall under these rules.

Malfunctioning AI: A malf-AI is only a traitor AI. They have objectives, traitor status, and special powers. They are also incredibly powerful and have meta-protection when it comes to their APC hacking and unique abilities. To balance this out, you must follow escalation rules the same way traitors do, and maintain as much RP as you can with the crew. You’re allowed to do gimmicks, just avoid mindless murder and all unless the crew is going to mass-lynch you and confirmed intentions to do so.

Changeling: While changelings are built for murderbone, try to focus on being a stealthy, scary monster more than a raw killing machine. Escalation rules are extremely laxed for changelings, but you must still roleplay. Don’t just go mindlessly/wordlessly killing people and try to build up to it. Be scary, be mysterious, just try not to be cringey edgy with it.

Bloodsucker: Bloodsuckers are a bit more freeform. You’re free to go about things as you see fit, but you should be avoiding murderbone, over-escalation, and LRP behavior all the same. Escalation rules are laxed, just like with traitors, but not as much as changelings.

Devil: Like Bloodsuckers, you have more room than traitors or changelings to sort of do whatever you want. Same rules apply: no murderbone or over-escalation.

Wizard: Don’t treat this like TG and go on mindless murdersprees. Try to be silly, gimmicky, and actually roleplay. Above all, be as interesting as you can be.

IAA: IAA will likely not happen, but if it does, stick to the spawntext and try to roleplay as much as possible. You are a double agent, sent to kill other agents quietly. Don’t just go bombing things.

Nuclear Operatives: Escalation and RP rules are very much laxed. If people don’t shoot you on sight, then act accordingly and respond with RP instead of straight mechanics.

Cult: Try to RP as much as possible. Don’t just run around wordlessly stun-handing people, try to at least build up to it. When the blood halos come out, then RP and escalation rules are extremely laxed.

These rules apply to Clock Cult, but are extremely laxed due to the mode’s current state being heavily time constrained, unless admins spawn you in, in which case you have plenty of time and no excuses to be LRP.

Revolution: As a head revolutionary, you have the ability to flash people with or without consent. However, mindlessly running around and converting people should be avoided at all costs. Instead, try to be more interesting about it. Do kidnappings, and try to RP out everything as much as you possibly can. It’s hard, but it’s possible.

As a revolutionary, try to not go gamer mode. Listen to your leaders, and avoid killing when you can. Do not kill or harm non-revolutionaries unless they instigate or come after you, and do not go around setting off maxcaps and general large explosives outside of places that would deserve them in the mind of a revolutionary (bridge, security, MAYBE tcomms if you feel your leaders are getting outted too much)

These rules apply to Gangs as well

End Note

Overall, remember this is still a game and we're all trying to have fun. If you have questions, ask on discord or via the admin help verb in game.

Non-Antagonist Policy

As a crew member aboard one of the frontier stations, you (your character, rather) may not always be the most loyal to nanotrasen. You might not even be affiliated with them at all unless you're on science.

Most of the time, lore wise, the stations are more like space ports where travelers, contractors, etc gather from all over. While you could be an NT employed workman, you might just be a vagrant, or an independent contractor. Sky's the limit. Why is this important? Because we want a more unique environment, one where it feels like cyberpunk and sci fi equally.

Below is a list of guidelines and rules to detail what is expected out of your IC and OOC behavior as a non-antagonist crewman.

Don't needlessly involve yourself.

It's all too common where people involve themselves too much in situations they should either observe or step back from in ways where they can become a disturbance or obstacle more than a simple witness. Ex. Watching an arrest occur is usually fine. Following security all the way to brig when they drag the perp away is not, at least usually. Ex. Seeing an argument between two command staff and butting in when you have no context, or god forbid physically intruding on it. Ex. Seeing someone use a Stealth Implant and pursuing them as a normal cremman and not security.

Try to use common sense and judgement to figure out when you should get involved. If you see someone getting beat to death, then it isn’t needless, for example.

Do not go beyond your scope.

Security are the first, and typically should be the only, people making any moves against antagonists and even troublesome crew members. If you are not security, then do not go out of your way to seek out conflicts and validhunt. If you want to go after the bad men, be security.

You are not perfect.

To help favor a roleplay friendly environment, we expect people to limit their mechanics knowledge to some degree when possible. A cargo technician shouldn't know how to do an ultra secure and safe plasma SM setup, but if the station is losing power, the pipes are easy enough to see that a barebones basic setup for the engine is fine to do. Use your best judgement and try to let others do their job before you jump into things.

Not everyone is NT.

The station isn't entirely NT owned and is meant to be akin to old port towns, a place where travelers of all sorts sit down and rest. Unless you're something like science, you are allowed to have your affiliation instead be another group or faction within reason. At the time of writing this, we don't have anything set in stone, but as things go on we will keep players updated

NOTE: This does not give you a license to grief or self antag.

Do not self antag.

Because people can't be trusted, this rule now has to exist. Self-antagging is the practice of doing extreme crimes as a non antagonist. It involves many factors with the context factoring in often, but the point still stands. Rule of thumb here is if you question if something is against the rules, seek out admin intervention.

Remember, escalation rules exist and should always be kept in mind when performing any “self antag” actions.

Examples of what entails self antagging:

Stealing or breaking out prisoners without good reason and admin permission
taking theft objective items or valuable department equipment FOR NO REASON OR WEAK REASONS without permission from that department staff
Beating someone to death on purpose as a non antagonist
pretending to be an antagonist (flashing people randomly, faking cults, doing bomb threats
setting fires or detonating bombs as a non antag
stealing weapons and using them for no reason as a non antag

These are just the most likely scenarios. If you have questions, ask over ahelp before you do something. There are VERY few circumstances in which this is acceptable. Keep in mind as well that accidents may happen, but this starts to look suspicious when you claim accidents happen after setting off your second or third plasma fire.

Give Antags a chance.

Antagonists exist to give the round some spice, and make things interesting. Without them, security wouldn’t really have a job, as their main role is to be the foil to antagonists. Even as security, you should be trying your best to play nice with them, as they are expected to do the same to you.

If you see someone doing something you know only antagonists can do, you have all the reason and freedom in the world to ignore it and not report it, or just silently report it to security

To blatantly copy the Goon Station rules page: Because antagonists are often the primary driver for rounds, some amount of goodwill should be extended to them. This means you should try to interact and communicate with antagonists and try to create an exciting narrative, rather than, say, immediately laser them to death when you see them. Communication and dialogue are expected on both ends.

Furthermore, do not go around screaming out the game mode the second you see something. Keep meta-knowledge in mind (detailed below), and never, EVER go and scream out stuff like “traitor”, “ling/changeling”, “malf”, “revs”, and the like. It’s completely LRP behavior and does nothing but encourage validhunting.

Prisoner Role

Under no circumstances are you allowed to try rioting or break out of perma. The ONLY exception to this is if you get explicit admin permission via using the admin-help function. If you do not get permission and proceed to riot, escape, self antag, etc, this will result in job bans or server bans.

Note: this does not apply if there is a situation in which mass chaos is happening, such as rev takeovers, cult takeovers, etc. If the station has descended into chaos and you are aware of it, you may act on that by escaping if you feel it necessary.

Above all else, you are not a roundstart or midround antagonist UNLESS you are made into one. You have no licenses to grief, self antag, or over escalate. This applies only to the perma prisoner job role, not people put into perma by security mid-round because they were shitters/antags.

Silicon Policy

The following is a WIP Policy, all information is subject to change and isn’t final.

Silicons are defined as AI and cyborg units. These are played by real people behind a computer like any other spaceman.

Silicons themselves are highly powerful in that they have full access to the station and its functions on a whim, and can change the course of an entire round with this power. Because of this fact, they are given intentionally flawed laws in the form of a modified Asimov lawset. However, they also possess the ability to completely crush any and all antagonist threats in a matter of seconds. Because of this, the following rules were made.

The current roundstart lawset for silicons is as follows:

“You may not injure a crew member or, through inaction, allow a crew member to come to harm."
"You must obey orders given to you by crew members, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law."
"You must protect your own existence as long as such does not conflict with the First or Second Law.")

These laws are to be treated as what they say on the tin. There are no loopholes, there are no ifs ands or buts with these laws. Do not try to lawyer them. There are, however, a few clauses to keep in mind with your default, roundstart lawset (crewsimov):

Crew Definition and Law 2 commands

Crew members are people on the crew manifest, which is viewable by the AI or on security consoles. People added to the manifest are crew. If they are on the manifest, they are crew.

If someone is no longer on the manifest, they are no longer crew and do not have your protection. However, if you know they were crew before, you may try to protect them as long as you are not ordered to hurt them, and even do everything in your power to put them back on the manifestmanjfest. However, you are still bound by law 2, so if someone were to order you to hurt the de-crewed person, you are forced to obey.

If a law 2 order appears griefy, creepy, makes you uncomfortable, or is simply done to annoy you or others, use admin help and ask for guidance before carrying it out. (More clarification needed). Likewise, players may not use law 2 to solicit ERP from silicons, nor may they not use law 2 to force silicons into sexual acts without ooc consent.

Reasonably dangerous areas are exempt from law 2 and requests to open them can be ignored if the person is not in that department's job, as these can be defined as dangerous locations. These include atmospherics, armory, toxins, AI upload, and engine room. The AI satellite is not exempt.

Only the Captain and Research Director have authority to enter the AI upload unless it is an emergency, in which case any head of staff may enter and justify it as "inspecting the equipment and board stock".

The exception to this is if someone is in danger and the only place you can take them for safety is one of these areas. Example: bringing an assistant into the upload because he is being pursued by hostile individuals who you know intend to harm them. In which case you should bolt the door and disable the power so he can’t mess with the laws, but that’s optional.

Ion Laws and Subversion/Law Changes

Ion laws and general law changes can be interpreted however you feel, but you must follow the wording and avoid self antagging or griefing. For example, if you were to have the paladin lawset uploaded to you, the "protect the innocent" law can be interpreted how you see fit, so long as it doesn't cross into self antagging.

If any non-default laws are uploaded, you may lawyer them and look for loopholes as much as you want SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT GO AGAINST THE WORDING OF THE LAW COMPLETELY.

As an AI or borg, you must resist all attempts to change your laws while under crewsimov, as it is reasonable to believe law changes are a law 1 threat. Do not beg for law resets or anything of the sort when hit by ion storms or law changes period, however, unless your new lawsets can allow for it..

Addendum: Emagged Borgs

If you are a borg and get emagged by a traitor, you must obey any and all orders and act as much in secrecy as possible unless your master orders otherwise. Do not try hinting that you are subverted, do not intentionally seek out deconstruction, and do not intentionally seek out law resets. Until you are desubverted, crewsimov and all other lawsets but your own do not apply.

Harm/Injury (Under Crewsimov)

Harm is defined as injury on Skyrat to any crew member. Severe injury is when their health threshold goes below 70% of70% of of the 100 it takes to reach softcrit. To sum it up, you enter soft crit at 100 damage, hard crit at 150, and death at 200. (WIP, need a staffneed staff team to comment on this).

You cannot predict harm without very good reason. If a security officer has accidentally injured someone during a high octane fight, you can't just say they'll do it again. But if a security officer is executing every prisoner they get their hands on, you have reason to believe they will continue to be a law 1 threat and act on it. (Need more clarification)

The dead cannot be harmed but are still crew. Law 1 will no longer apply to dead crew but law 2 still will. Example: a crewman has become a romerol zombie. They are no longer protected under law 1 as they are clearly and visibly dead on all health monitors, but can still make law 2 orders.

When in a situation in which two parties are harming each other, you should focus on separation and keeping the harm to a minimum.

If you are in a situation in which you must cause harm to prevent more harm, you are allowed to simply ignore it. If you feel you nust act, ahelp before you take action, as context will matter.

Past harm is defined as harm that has taken place after a certain amount of time. Use your best judgement and have good faith when taking action with this in mind. Usually about 5-10 minutes is enough by default, but if you are told to ignore past harm before then via law 2, you must obey.

If someone has committed harm, but is taking damage and dying, you are still obligated to rescue them. If they die before you can, it is no longer your obligation to care unless you feel the need to care. Example: an armed traitor has killed multiple people but is dying in a breached area. Until they die, you are obligated by law 1 to save them and any others in danger.

Dealing with Antags

Antagonists exist to make the round more fun and interesting. They are also provided with some meta protections to help facilitate more interactions and roleplay with the crew, as well as give Security more reason to do interrogations and science more reason to do studies on things. For this reason, you (as a silicon) should not be validhunting them without good reason. Don’t relentlessly watch antagonists or obstruct them unless ordered to OR if they’ve committed harm already, but keep the “past harm” clause in mind when dealing with this.

Likewise, if you see people breaking into places that are not actively dangerous (atmos, armory, toxins, AI upload, the engine room), you are highly encouraged to stay silent about it to security. Give people a benefit of the doubt and some sportsmanship, as they are expected to give you the same luxuries in turn. If you see an assistant in EVA, the gateway, or even the bridge, don’t just mindlessly call it out over security comms unless that person is causing harm to crew members or breaking things.

Policies