Captain: Difference between revisions

|duties = Be responsible for the station, manage your [[Heads of Staff]], [[Beyond the impossible|Keep the crew alive]], be prepared to do anything and everything or die horribly trying.

|quote = I don't care what they call me back on the station, I'm not a traitor. I'm a man of principles and standards. And if lives get in the way of those principles, so be it! I'd say I'm the better man here. Once they called me captain. But, once it's all said and done, I'll be a hero.

You are the Captain, the top of the [[Chain of Command]]. It is your duty to ensure the stability and productivity of the station, as well as carrying out directives from [[Centcom]].

You should have experience of all Heads of Staff jobs. At round start, '''take the Nuclear Disk with you''', call the Heads to report in and keep checking in from time to time on what needs to be done and who should do it.

'''Bare minimum requirements:''' Secure dat fukken disk, secure the pinpointer, secure the spare Captain's ID. Only use your authority when it is really required, the Heads of Staff are there for a reason.

When you’re not fighting Revolutionaries, Traitors, Syndicates and Wizards, you are monitoring the crew.  You are on the top of the food chain, and possess the ultimate authority over everyone and everything on your station.

You are the Judge, the final word, the Big Guy. You have the ultimate veto power over all matters and is the only person who can authorize an execution without a trial. Anyone who questions your authority can technically be tried for mutiny. There really is no way to tell you exactly how to run things as many people have different leadership styles. However, as Captain, here are some guidelines you should keep in mind:  

#'''Delegate whenever you can.''' You should never have to do any manual task yourself. If someone says 'Captain, there's a plasma leak!' then you should order your [[Chief Engineer]] to go fix it. Do not attempt to fix it yourself, as you will put yourself unnecessarily at risk.

#'''Follow the [[Chain of Command]].''' You command the Heads. The Heads command their departments. Try not to skip them in the decision making process as they are the ones who ''should'' know their own departments best.

#'''Keep calm and carry on.''' As Captain, be prepared to deal with any or all of the following: Incompetent or absent Heads, traitors and angry crew members banging down the bridge door trying to get in, corrupted AIs on a war path and the occasional aftermath of an Armageddon against the station, thanks to a range of the above. And it's your job to manage it all. Good luck.

Uploading Laws to the [[AI]] isn’t something you should be doing lightly… unless you’re a traitor. Then go crazy.

Do not get angry with the AI if it does not want you uploading a new law, as Nanotrasen has pre-programed them to be sensitive to law changes. Besides, Nanotrasen wouldn't want another SHODAN fiasco happening again.

But remember the Hierarchy. Law 1 overrides Laws 2, 3, 4, etc. A Law 4 telling the AI to kill all Revolutionaries isn’t going to work. A Law 4 classifying Revolutionaries as Nonhuman and that they must be eliminated works much better. Law priority is enforced by the order they are listed. A law is invalid if it disagrees with previous laws in the form of conflicting orders, or challenges the procession of law priority.

If you're unlucky, you might have to deal with a visit from a [[Centcom Official]] or Commander. Official visits vary from standard performance reviews, internal investigations, or some other kind of corporate meddling. Whatever the case may be, it is important that you try and keep the Official happy throughout their visit. If all else fails, just make sure you can't be blamed for anything that goes wrong.

However, keep in mind that you still hold authority over any Officials on your station. That is, as long as you're still the legitimate Captain.  If you piss off the wrong guy you might find yourself relieved of command. If the official is causing trouble, though, you are well within your right to have them arrested, and then contact THEIR superior with a complaint.

Contacting Centcom on your own is possible through the use of Communications Consoles, but unless the transmission is urgent it will likely get caught up for weeks in Centcom's notorious bureaucracy. Even then, it'll be a crapshoot.

'''You are ultimately responsible for the station.''' It is not uncommon for Captains to be court-martialled or even executed if he or she should decide to abandon their ship, regardless of condition. As they hold the ultimate responsibility for the station and its crew, losing them could likely be perceived by your superiors as desertion, mutiny and/or sedition.

* As Captain, you should always be carrying either the Nuke Disk: The [[Head of Security]] spawns with the pinpointer, so he can find your inevitable corpse.

* The Nuke Disk can fit in a wallet. Now the operatives have to search yet another storage container on your person! Nuke Disk into a wallet, wallet into a box filled with wallets, in a backpack full of boxes, in the AI upload.

* Never, NEVER, put the Nuke Disk into your safe. Anyone who needs to steal it WILL be able to easily steal it with a emag or similar.

* Don't go nuts and run off by yourself. Your not a one man army and no one else on the station has your level of access, rushing head along into a Medbay Cult, only to discover the rest of security dosn't have access to follow through the front doors to help you, can quickly lead to disaster.

'''NOTE: By default the Captain cannot be an antagonist.'''

Traitor Captain is less about completing your objectives and more about turning the entire station into your own private playroom. With your access and authority you can pretty much take anything you want, and dispatching a lowly subordinate shouldn't take much effort at all. Chances are you won't even need to open your syndicate uplink.

The only person with more potential to fuck things up than you is the AI, and they’re probably not going to do that. So watch your step, your back, and your crew, or you may just end up floating through space wondering why your Oxygen tank is filled with plasma.