Head of Personnel
COMMAND STAFF | |
Head of Personnel |
Access: Full access to all civil and supply departments, Morgue, Security Office, Brig, Research Division, Medbay, Engineering, Construction Area, Maintenance, EVA, AI Upload, Bridge, Vault, Gateway, HoP locker, Personal Lockers, ID computer. Additional Access: Not defined Difficulty: Hard Supervisors: Captain Duties: Altering access on ID cards, manage civil and supply departments, being Ian's bodyguard, running the ship when the captain dies Guides: Space Law, Chain of Command, Default ID Access List |
You are the Head of Personnel. You are the one on the left. The one on the right is a dog. You are not a dog. Your main responsibility is to sit in your office and listen to people request access to X area or ask for Y job. You are also in charge of making sure the Quartermaster is managing the supply sector well and that each civil department is working.
Fairy Godmother
Your job is to modify ID's when people request job changes and ask for extra access. Make sure to clear the requests with the appropriate department head. If you can't reach the head, ask the Captain. If you can't reach the Captain, decide for yourself. If there's no Captain, you're probably acting Captain, so again, decide for yourself. Promoting someone to a command position should not be done without consulting the Captain.
Every now and then, someone wants to become a superhero of some sort. Use your own judgement to decide whether that's wise. People will come to you with requests ranging from outlandish to mundane, so use your own brain to sort out their trustworthiness (or just hand out access like candy at a parade and get arrested).
Be Careful What You Wish For
Who ever said Fairy Godmothers had to be benevolent? Whilst a little on the cruel side, you can strip unsuspecting people of their access to areas. This should be used as a punishment and not just a way to be a dick. Please remember that being a dick is bad, and should only be reserved for when you are a traitor.
If you deny someone's access request and they refuse to step out of the line, feel free to tase them with your energy gun so the next person can move up.
If someone abuses their access, you are well within your rights to demote them to a lower position after consulting their Head of Staff. Demoting a Head however, is something that should be done with the Captain's consent.
Security Plus
When shit really hits the fan, make sure to get security officers to come to you. Upgrade their ID's quickly with what ever access is needed for them to do their jobs without the need of the AI to open doors for them. Recommended for syndicate agent threats and revolutions.
You have security access, an energy gun, and access to the security radio channel. If security can't manage on their own, don't be afraid to arrest and brig criminals.
The Five Points of Human Resources Management
The Head of Personnel can either be a Godsend or worse than a banana-flinging clown for the station. He can also savor the prestige or feel shackled to the ID computer. If you find yourself wearing teal, make the most of it by doing your job correctly.
1. Support the Captain. Always be on the captain's side, at least publicly. Remember that since you'll take up his banner if, or more often when, he's slain, you're the de facto second in command. Be sure to work as a team to lead the crew. If he's demanding, be persuasive. If he's soft-spoken, be a task-master. This means anyone annoyed at his leadership style will likely follow yours, but it also means he has to trust you. Earn this trust by making frequent use of command chat (:c) and deferring to him on matters of great importance, like assigning new heads or calling the shuttle. Recognize, however, that you do not outrank any other Heads of Staff. You are simply sitting at the Captain's right hand, entrusted to the keys to the station, while all other heads must beg at your feet for access to so much as the bar. Don't let it go to your head, and the Head of Security won't brain you.
2. Uphold the Rights of Crewmen. Only the Captain can authorize a death warrant, and you are sometimes tasked with judging trials under Space Law. You are normally considered the most impartial officer for this task, which prevents the appearance of a mere kangaroo court. Furthermore, Security often commits excesses and the Captain is either dead or personally involved in a case. For these reasons, you need to be sure to call for trials for high crimes before the accused gets left to rot in a permacell forever. While this may put you at odds with Security, you should find them fanatically loyal to the Captain, who hopefully makes clear his full confidence in you. This delicate balance of power prevents excesses against the crew. Almost always, a weak Captain and Head of Personnel will result in shitcurity.
3. Follow the Principle of Least Privilege. When assigning new access levels or creating new jobs, ask yourself just how much access is really needed to perform the task. If a hardworking engineer wants EVA access, consider if he really needs access or just for you to open the door for him while he gets a suit. If the chaplain is being proactive about finding bodies but often needs people to open doors, maybe the risk of giving him more access is less than gain from increasing his effectiveness. Decisions like these keep the station more secure from thieves weaseling their way to their targets and cuts down on the number of accidental arrests made by Security for assumed trespassing. Remember to write their increased access or privilaged items on a sheet of paper and give it a good stamping so the janitor will be able to show why he's mopping Medbay's floors.
4. Talk to the Crew. The Captain gets nervous when someone stands next to him for too long. The Head of Security is too busy beating the clown. The Research Director is on fire, the Chief Medical Officer is up to his elbows in gore, and the Chief Engineer is trying to keep everyone warm and breathing in a vaccuum. You're really the only head able to take time and listen to the crew. Invite crewmen to talk to you when there are conflicts. Defuse the interpersonal and interdepartmental problems you discover during these conversations, and prevent grievances from becoming grief. Advocate on behalf of the robusted to security, and generally reduce the frequency and intensity of mutinies.
5. Manage your Department First. While technically you can demote everyone who's ID you sieze to assistant, managing civilian workers not under another head is your immediate responsibility. Keeping janitors on task, directing the chef to throw a pizza party, ensuring the Quartermaster is on top of things, and getting the records up to date are the first thing to do after assigning job and access changes. Demoting bad security officers or stepping in for an absent department head also falls on your desk, but going into other departments to micromanage in front of their head is both bad form and likely to make you reviled. Always clear a demotion with their department head, or ideally, have all the heads aware they can send troublesome employees your way to be sent to the mining base. This lets you focus on your immediate underlings and avoid stepping on toes.
Ian
Just so we're clear. Ian is YOUR little buddy. Protect him from the various dangerous criminals.
You can put hats, armour and station bounced radios on him.
Author's note: I am hurt that people think Ian is a reference to Cowboy Bebop, when I didn't even know that show existed when I named him.
Taking a Stroll as John Doe
When Revolution abounds, you will be one of the more well armed and threatening heads. A tendency for disappearing acts makes the Head of Personnel usually the hardest Head to kill.
You first move should be to deconstruct your ID console and reassemble it somewhere more secure (probably security). Leave an ID computer ID in it so security officers, heads and the implanted can give themselves all-access.
If shit hits the fan and you need to hide, pick a job where it's natural to be wearing a mask that hides your face. Scientist, engineer, mime and clown are all good examples. Make yourself a Captain ID with that job title and a false name. Travel to where the equipment lockers for that job are kept, and get dressed. Put your old clothes and equipment in your old backpack and put it into the locker, locking it after you're finished. If you leave your Head of Personnel's jumpsuit lying beside an open Engineer locker, anyone who sees it will figure out what you're disguised as. If you want to be an even more stealthy HoP, head to genetics and turn a monkey into a human. Proceed to stab yourself with the UI+UE of said monkey. Then just go and use your ID console to get an all access ID with your new name on it.
If you're the last remaining head, in the interest of fair play, you should try to escape the z-level instead of extending the round for your own benefit at the expense of all the dead people stuck sitting out. This will cause the revolutionaries to win, but you will survive. Self-preservation is a valid roleplay reason for ending the round.
Inhuman Resources
Short of a Captain tasked with stealing his own jumpsuit or a Chief Engineer with his own blueprints, traitor HoP is the easiest traitor job on the station. Give yourself all-access, use cargo for free parapens and guns. Be careful not to go too crazy with changing other people's access, though, because the other heads WILL be hammering down your door if they think you're doing your job poorly.