reincarnation & possession

src/SUMMARY.md

@@ -33,17 +33,20 @@
 - [Roundflow]()
   - [Lobby & Readying Up](design/roundflow/lobby-readying-up.md)
   - [Roundstart, Arrivals, & Latejoining](design/roundflow/roundstart-arrivals-latejoining.md)
-  - [Stagehands](design/roundflow/stagehands.md)
-  - [Evac & Roundend]()
+  - [Radstorm]()
+  - [Warp Drive]()
+  - [Stagehands & After-Death Gameplay](design/roundflow/stagehands.md)
 - [Decay]()
   - [Filth]()
   - [Fire]()
   - [Rust](design/decay/rust.md)
 - [Power]()
   - [Antimatter Engine](design/power/antimatter-engine.md)
-- [Lathe](design/lathe.md)
+- [Access]()
+- [Armory]()
 - [Clothing](design/clothing.md)
-- [Combat]()
+- [Lathe](design/lathe.md)
+- [Reincarnation](design/reincarnation.md)
 - [Stats]()
 ---
 - [Jobs](design/jobs.md)

src/design/reincarnation.md

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Reincarnation {.es-unimplemented}
+
+Reincarnation is a mechanic designed to reintroduce players that die in potentially unsatisfying ways into the round, with a strange twist for variety.
+
+When a player dies, their **soul will be weighed**. If they die very early into a round (<15 minutes), if they were killed by someone else (especially of their own troupe), if they were the last remaining member of their troupe, or if they haven't killed anyone, their "karma" increases. If they have killed others, especially of their own troupe, their "karma" decreases.
+
+This "karma" heavily affects the chance that a player will reincarnate. If they are chosen for reincarnation, their soul will instead be transferred... into **any living pet on the station**!
+
+While in this state, they will retain their mind and thus objectives. The reincarnation happens immediately, so they have no chance to gain meta information from stagehanding beforehand--however, they can simply choose to not reincarnate if they'd rather spectate. The amount of living non-reincarnated-into station pets also affects the base chance that reincarnation can occur at all.
+
+Pets have some gameplay features that make them distinct from (and generally lesser than) humans, but more than just a vessel that walks around and can't interact with anything:
+- Cannot speak or freely emote, except for a handful of unique emotes per pet.
+- Cannot hear the speech of others--simply appears garbled.
+- Movement speed decently faster than even a completely unburdened human, to aid with escapes
+- One item slot (generally rationalized as like, being in the pet's mouth or something), albeit with a doafter to pick anything up, and the ability to do basic interactions
+- Different abilities depending on the specific pet: Polly with the ability to speak random sentences from your memory, Ian with same action as the [Avenger](masks/crew/avenger.md) for sensing your killer if you had one, etc.
+
+There are a few gameplay goals with reincarnation:
+- To reward players who may have died in unsatisfying or narratively unfulfilling ways with a final chance to enact their story
+- To incentivize keeping good care of station pets when possible--maximizing the chance that you reincarnate later if you die
+- To minorly incentivize avoiding certain behaviors (killing when you really don't need to etc) that tank your karma (although I doubt it will alter decisionmaking that much)

src/design/roundflow/stagehands.md

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-# Stagehands
+# Stagehands & After-Death Gameplay
 
 {{#template ../../templates/partially-implemented.md issue=https://github.com/EphemeralSpace/ephemeral-space/issues/70}}
 
 Stagehands are an OOC role that players can take after they die.
-They take the place of the conventional observer/ghost, though they share a lot of the same properties.
+They take the place of the conventional observer/ghost, and they share a lot of the same properties.
 Stagehands are able to invisibly observe the show, flying around the station and watching events unfold.
 Additionally, they're given strong metaknowledge tools like players' masks and objectives, which help them follow along with peoples' motivations.
 
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ Stagehands also create a way to keep people involved with the round without reso
 For a ghost role, their impact on the round must necessarily be inversely proportional to their frequency, as to not allow them to overrun the action of the round.
 With stagehands, however, since each player only has a small part in these high-impact decisions, many more players are able to participate than they would otherwise.
 
+Stagehands have ways to both directly and indirectly affect the round.
+
 ## Voting
 
 Stagehands are collectively able to influence the round through votes which are run regularly through the round.
@@ -29,35 +31,36 @@ These observers, by virtue of being equal parts spectators and participants in t
 Additionally, it creates a situation where, even though stagehands are not part of the physical round, they are still capable of having an impact on things as a group.
 Stagehands can freely talk with each other and coordinate votes to create interesting decisions, which helps lessen the feeling of being "excluded" from the round after death.
 
-## Stagehand Emotes
+Some masks interact with voting as a concept, like the [Tragedian](../masks/crew/tragedian.md).
 
-Emotes are actions made available to stagehands which play a matching audio sample to the stagehands and have a chance for living people in the area to hear.
-
-Deadchat is often filled with people complaining about someones actions, rightfully or not.
-This allows a way to vent some frustration more effectively than just yelling to other stagehands, as it is actually directed towards the offending player.
+## Possession {.es-unimplemented}
 
-It also allows living players to recieve feedback on their play; a syndie who just completed an objective may get a round of applause, with obvious benefits.
+Voting on events not enough intervention in the round for you? How about directly affecting objects ingame with your ghostly backstage powers?
 
-## Nudges {.es-unimplemented}
+Stagehands have a resource called *ectoplasm*. Ectoplasm can be spent to possess an object (a variable amount depending on the object), and it recharges over time. Some possessable objects will refund the ectoplasm spent if a condition is met while they are being possessed. The earlier in the round one becomes a stagehand (either from roundstart or dying early), the more base ectoplasm a stagehand has--in effect, giving them more backstage power in compensation for having spent less time in the actual round.
 
-Nudges are used by stagehands to influence specific players in round with status effects or other small boons.
-A nudge can be positive or negative, but opposing nudges nullify eachother, i.e. 4 positive nudges and 6 negative would come out to be 2 negative.
-Once a nudge is applied to a player, it can only be retrieved once they complete an objective or die.
-Each stagehand has a small amount of nudges depending on how many of their objectives they have completed in their time in the spotlight.
+Possessing an object takes many forms, depending on what exactly it is. Some objects inherently require multiple stagehands to possess--if so, a vote will be started on an attempted possession, allowing someone to chime in and spend an equivalent amount of ectoplasm to start it. Certain possessions are *cancellable*: meaning, a vote will be started on an attempted possession, and another stagehand can choose to spend an equivalent amount of ectoplasm to instead ensure it doesn't happen. Objects can have multiple actions occur as a result of being possessed: stagehands select which one they want with a radial. Sometimes effects happen instantly (or after a vote, as mentioned), but sometimes the stagehand will be directly put into control of the entity for an amount of time.
 
-This continues the concept of an organic game director on a lower level; the stagehands compete for their favourite individuals, whereas votes act as an influence over the station as a whole.
-For example, it allows a natural underdog bonus, as a troupe that has killed a large number of people will have many enemies beyond the curtains.
+Examples of possessable objects and their effects include:
+- **Vents and scrubbers**: lets out a gust of air and pushes entities away (vent) or sucks entities in (scrubber).
+- **Lights**: can either be turned off immediately, turning back on after a delay, or made to flicker ominously for a time.
+- **Vendors**: can be possessed for a time, giving the possessor the ability to shoot random objects in any direction and speak random advertisement lines; or, with a high cancellable cost, made to fall over, prioritizing falling over onto the nearest mob and crushing them.
+- **Entity storages (lockers, crates, morgues)**: when not locked, can be opened or closed with a creaking sound. Cancellable.
+- **Airlocks**: can be unbolted temporarily, or made to open with a creaking sound if already unbolted. Requires multiple stagehands, and is cancellable.
+- **Jukebox**: can randomly switch the jukebox track.
+- **Disposals**: can be possessed for a short time, giving the possessor the option to immediately flush contents or to violently eject contents around the room.
+- **Sabotage targets**: with a medium cancellable cost, and requiring another stagehand, can instantly trigger any [sabotage degradation effect](../machine-degradation.md), like telecomms or the announcement console.
+- **Radstorm machines**: with a very high cancellable cost that requires multiple others, can instantly depower the nav console for a time, or burn welding fuel from a thruster; can only occur if enough people are dead.
+- **Pests**: pest mobs like mice, spiders, roaches, etc can be possessed and moved around normally for a short time; if the stagehand completes the pest's objective (like eating a wire), their ectoplasm cost is refunded.
+- **People**: when attempting to possess a person, many options are available: giving them a small burst of adrenaline, forcing their next shot fired in the given time period to jam their gun for a few seconds, etc etc you get the idea im writing a lot of these. Maybe there will even be a fellow who is directly possessable by stagehands to take actions. that would be weird though
 
-The passive nature of the effects mean the player can still go up against all odds, or fail dramatically even with the backing of every single audience member.
+Stagehand possession is an action. When the action is used, all possessable objects nearby are highlighted in purple for ease of choice.
 
-The nullifying effect of nudges are the main balancing factor.
-A character that attracts a large amount of nudges in one direction will likely draw in opposing nudges as well.
-Allowing the stagehands to see the total and effective number of nudges on characters naturally invites this behaviour.
+## Stagehand Emotes
 
-### Radstorm Nudges {.es-unimplemented}
+Emotes are actions made available to stagehands which play a matching audio sample to the stagehands and have a chance for living people in the area to hear.
 
-Stagehands can use nudges to shift the radstorm closer.
-It has no effect unless a proportion of the stagehands nudge for it, to prevent abuse.
-This allows a round that has petered out due to decay and/or all the troupes failing to complete their objectives end at a good pace.
+Deadchat is often filled with people complaining about someones actions, rightfully or not.
+This allows a way to vent some frustration more effectively than just yelling to other stagehands, as it is actually directed towards the offending player.
 
-![](../../assets/design/roundflow/radstorm-humour.png)
+It also allows living players to recieve feedback on their play; a syndie who just completed an objective may get a round of applause, with obvious benefits.