Command Policy
General Overview and Standards - OOC
Members of command staff aboard the station take on the primary role of the Captain, Head of Security, Research Director, Head of Personnel, Chief Medical Officer, Quartermaster, and Chief Engineer. As any of these roles, you are the designated leadership and delegate for your department. Even if you choose an alt title for your job, you fall under these standards.
Your role is that of a leader, not a boss. Remember that other real, human players are behind those pixel spacemen in-game, and they have their own thoughts and feelings. Be considerate of them from an ooc perspective, as well as an IC perspective. An asshole boss in real life doesn't usually last too long if they're severely toxic, so take that into account.
General guidelines for all head/command positions are as follows:
- As a head, you have primary control over your department. You should be familiar with your department and its policy to be able to adequately perform the tasks needed for it and yourself to function. The captain cannot normally overrule you to issue orders to your department.
- Do not harass, berate, or otherwise displace your department members. Trust your subordinates to get the job done.
- Act in good faith when interacting with other command members.
- ERP comes second to your job; especially as the alert rises.
- Avoid involving yourself in security matters outside of your department.
- Do not trade equipment specific to your role with other command members.
- Be a role-model for all players, lead them, and treat them all with respect when it comes to ooc manners. This includes helping new players learn your department if they’re struggling to understand, or delegating another experienced player to show them the ropes.
- Use loud mode sparingly outside of higher alerts, do not use it as a tool to instigate or fuel bad faith behavior.
- Avoid forcefully entering departments without permission, even if you have access.
- Command access should only be given on the condition of remaking a lost or destroyed ID, or in the case of promoting someone to an acting head of staff. Do not give command access out to your friends because you want to, nor to create "bridge assistants".
- Do not use the identification console (nor its PDA counterpart) to change your job title outside of the titles provided.
Command Code of Conduct
Being a member of command comes with a great deal of power and responsibility, what comes with this is a higher standard of roleplay expectations. You are expected to:
- (1.) Always hold some semblance of professionality in how you conduct and dress yourself (even when not in uniform). You’re not a normal crewmember, you represent Nanotrasen(or one of their respectable partner)'s image.
- (2.) Maintain a certain degree of level-headedness and fair temper. Keeping yourself calm on an OOC level is extremely important.
- (3.) Keep “inappropriate” remarks and acts away from public knowledge.
Acting Captain
Acting captainship is something that is encouraged to be discussed among all heads and determine who is best fit to run the show based on merit rather than job title on a round to round basis. If you're the HOP but you and other heads feel the CMO or QM is a better pick, you are 100% allowed and encouraged to hand the reins to them should you feel unsure of your own abilities to lead. If you are all having trouble deciding, then work together as best you can to keep the station functioning by keeping constant communication up between each other or speak to the NT Representative for their advice on the matter (more info in the NT Rep section). As it stands, only members within the chain of command may take the role of acting captain. The NTR and Blueshield, being outside the chain, cannot assume this role.
As acting captain, you play the role of your initial job above all else. You are to take the Nuclear Authentication Disk, the spare ID, the disk pinpointer, the door remote, the spare captain headset (leave the bowman alone), and nothing else. You are advised to spread these items out to other heads, as well, for security purposes. Leave the clothing, sword, gun, and anything not listed above alone unless it is an actual emergency and you need the equipment.
As acting captain, your role is to manage your department like normal, but you also are responsible for more advanced duties should the need arise. You are the one who will need to raise and lower alert levels as needed, call the shuttle as needed, and even delegate to different departments and security in emergency situations such as viruses, meteors, or severe security issues such as extreme antagonist behaviors and round ending threats. However, until a severe emergency happens, your authority is limited and you should leave issues to their respective department heads. If departments lack a head and they need someone to delegate or take leadership, offer your assistance as much as needed in order to get them back on track, but do not be a tyrant.
Also, this should be obvious, but do not leave the station with the disk in your possession.
Captain
As Captain, you represent the station itself, and the department of command, but do not have supreme authority over everything. Your responsibilities are:
- Communicate with command members.
- Delegate tasks between command members.
- Help solve disputes between command members.
- Provide reasonable orders to command members.
- Engage in diplomacy when needed.
- Raise alerts as needed.
- Call for ERTs if needed.
- Provide alerts to the crew to improve safety.
- Handle Demotions of command members.
As captain, you have authority over heads, not their departments. You should help command members who are struggling, but this does not give you authority to usurp their department, nor their position.
The only time you have acting authority over a department is when there is no current head available; be it they are dead, captured, or incapacitated. You are to follow the policy pertaining to the member of command you are standing in for.
You are also able to issue orders to departments on code red, but should still rely on delegation when possible.
Research Director
You are the head of the science department, and as such hold the expectation of competency in your position, your responsibilities are as follows:
- You are expected to know toxins and robotics to an extent, in the event that you are the only person available to run them.
- Ensure that members of your department are conducting their work safely (or at the very least in a way that won’t harm others besides themselves).
- Ensure upgrades are delivered to various departments when asked, and that equipment stays up to date.
- Keep tabs on cyborgs and the AI, they can be your best friends or your worst enemies
As RD, you have final say on the distribution of gene mods, augmentations, and the construction of combat mechs.
Head of Personnel
As the Head of Personnel, your department is the entirety of service.
Your main responsibilities are:
- Providing access changes to crew (with discretion).
- Communicate with heads about access changes.
- Selling weapon permits
Other responsibilities include:
- Delegate lawyers to lawsuits and other legal matters (if no lawyers are present, you may handle the legal matters yourself.)
- Help with disputes between crewmembers and service members.
You are able to set further criteria for your services, such as requiring paperwork for access changes, lawsuits, and weapon permits.
Chief Engineer
As Chief Engineer, you oversee the department of engineering. Your responsibilities are:
- Have a strong understanding of both engineering and atmospherics.
- Delegate tasks, repairs, and projects between all of your staff.
- Ensure your staff aren’t constructing, dismantling, or removing something vital to station integrity.
- Oversee operations that present a possibility of serious risk.
- Help new or inexperienced engineering staff during projects or when attempting to experiment.
Experimental SM Setups should be:
Run by you firstly,
If dangerous, or elsewise risky, should be prefaced with an ahelp, or elsewise reject it.
Chief Medical Officer
The CMO is the head doctor who oversees the operations of all of medical. You have a few responsibilities, many of which you are likely familiar with from medical itself.
- Delegate tasks and communicate events to your various subdepartmental teams, including projects and emergency responses.
- Ensure your doctors are following medical policy and maintaining ethical practices.
- Use the crew monitor to alert paramedics of dead crew, but also as an excuse to yell about suit sensors.
- Assist your subordinates when medical gets overrun.
On top of this, as CMO you have the ability to authorize the distribution of:
- Chemicals and chemical manufacturing.
- Beneficial viruses, and who they are given to.
As always, take other jobs and the various races of the station into consideration when deciding on these.
Head of Security
The head of Lopland Security, you oversee one of the most extensive departments on the station. Your position is of high importance and high influence, and as such you should:
- Be extremely familiar with security policy, SOP, and Corporate Regulations.
- Ensure your officers are following SOP, Corporate Regulations, and Security Policy.
- Delegate tasks between officers and brig personnel to ensure maximum efficiency
As HoS, many of your decisions can have a serious impact on the gameplay of antags and regular players. You should not be involving yourself in minor security incidents. However, major incidents may require your assistance. You should be the front-liner for diplomacy if your officers cannot do so, such as with hostage situations and bomb threats.
Quartermaster
As Quartermaster, you represent the department of cargo, which has been outsourced from the Free Trade Union. You are considered to be head of staff.
- Oversee the approval and denial of orders. You have ultimate authority over their approval or denial.
- Check in on miners, call for medical if they need to be retrieved.
- Ensure both cargo and mining are running efficiently, and are ready to respond to emergencies.
- Ensure that orders are delivered in a timely manner to their proper destination.
Cargo is arguably one of the most important departments during an emergency, make sure to pay attention to comms and be ready to order supplies to assist those tackling it.
Central Command
Blueshield
While Blueshield isn't a member of command, you still protect them. As such, Blueshield will be covered here because its fitting.
- Do not ask for all access; you aren't meant to have it, or elsewise, you'd start with it.
- Your job and mission as Blueshield is protecting the command team and Captain from danger, performing recovery on them if they're incapacitated or killed as well if need be, and pacifying aggressors. You are not security and not authorized to chase down random criminals. Keep your reach to your jurisdiction exclusively in protecting the captain and command team. If someone attacks the heads of staff directly, you're authorized to restrain or incapacitate them until security is able to get them, or alternatively mow the assailant down with automatic gunfire if need be.
- If the HOS runs into combat like a normal officer, it’s their problem. If the Captain runs off to hit an antag with their sword against all sense of self preservation, stop them from doing so.
- Lethal force is authorized if you can tell that someone has intent to kill a head of staff.
- Remember: you should focus on protecting the heads of staff as people, not assets. If they lose their items, that’s on them. Just keep them alive and safe.
Nanotrasen Representative
You represent the image of Nanotrasen itself, and are a guiding hand for the command team. As the Nanotrasen Representative your job is to advise the entirety of command. However; don’t forget your actual authority on station doesn’t reach very far. Your main responsibilities include:
- Communicate with central command about station incidents and ongoings.
- Loom nearby command while they discuss matters; and pretend the invited you.
- Advise command, whether or not they asked you.
Being the Nanotrasen consultant requires you to be familiar with corporate regulations, command policy, and security policy, as you are expected to be able to reference them for guidance on decisions.
Misc Rulings
The following are various rulings that pertain to multiple or all members of command, or are needed for quick reference.
Demotion Guidelines - OOC and IC
OOC: Demotion can have a detrimental effect upon anyone it targets, and steps should be taken to mitigate the issue before resorting to demotion. Be considerate of context and the round at hand when deciding to demote someone. Don't demote a player for simply doing their job differently, or a new player for not completely understanding a mechanic. On top of this, don't make up rules on the spot to demote people over, give clear warnings about your standards as a head. As always, you are expected to act in good faith when following this policy, and keep demotions within their grounds.
Grounds for Demotion
The following are grounds for demotion:
- Repeat breaches of policy.
- Recklessly endangering the crew through an active decision
- Major felonies or higher crimes.
- Long term abandonment of your job, without clocking out. (Dereliction)
Who Can Demote?
All heads can demote subordinates within their own department provided the subordinate is within grounds for demotion.
Subsequently the captain has the power to demote a head, provided the head of staff is within grounds for demotion.
A head cannot demote another head of staff, nor can they demote someone outside of their department, with exception to a Vote of No Confidence.
Vote of No Confidence:
In the event command finds themselves with a captain who is within grounds for demotion, the members of command can hold a vote of no confidence. If passed on a majority vote, the captain is to be considered demoted and expelled from their position of power. The captain themselves can only vote in favor of their own demotion.
Permits
Weapons Permits are at the privilege of the Captain to dispense. They are given-out via ID modification at the appropriate consoles. They are often, but do not have to be, subject to a reasonable cost. It is solely the directive of the captain in how this is handled, this means:
- It is the captain's ultimate authority to determine how to dispense permits, and to whom, and any additional fee attached within reason.
- The captain can decide to work on consensus with other heads as in example to require HOS approval for each permit.
- The captain, however, does not have to receive the approval of any other head, and no other head can countermand their decision
Who can relaw the AI?
Only the Captain and Research Director have permission to relaw the AI, the exact semantics can be found in Silicon Policy.
Pardons for Crimes
Pardons for crimes are something the Captain and the HOS must agree on together. If there is no HOS or Captain (acting cap doesn’t count), then pardons cannot be made at all. They may only pardon minor crimes, specifically level 1-2 crimes in the corporate regulations.
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