diff --git a/src/SUMMARY.md b/src/SUMMARY.md index 5e93c2878b..25e46c533a 100644 --- a/src/SUMMARY.md +++ b/src/SUMMARY.md @@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ Space Station 14 - [Turf War](en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/turf-war.md) - [Changeling](en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/changeling.md) - [Paradox Clone](en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/paradox-clone.md) + - [The Creature](en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/the-creature.md) - [Revolutionaries Rework](en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/revolutionaries-codeword-rework.md) - [Tourists](en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/tourists.md) - [Station Ecology](en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/station-ecosystem.md) diff --git a/src/en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/the-creature.md b/src/en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/the-creature.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..9d2651644a --- /dev/null +++ b/src/en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/the-creature.md @@ -0,0 +1,137 @@ +# The Creature +**Type:** Midround Solo Antagonist (Ghost Role) +**Status:** Draft + +--- + +## Summary + +A stealth-based predator that hunts crew and department pets from maintenance tunnels. Fills a gap in the current Wizden midround roster, while the ninja does use stealth, its not used in the same way as this proposed antag. +**Gameplay identity:** Hit-and-fade. Sting a target, drain blood, retreat before crew can respond. Punishes reckless play; rewards map knowledge and patience. + +--- + +## Design Goals + +- Make maintenance feel dangerous again — maint is currently treated as a safe loot corridor for passengers +- Add a stealth archetype currently absent from upstream midround pool +- Increase midround variety +- Generate emergent crew behavior (buddy system, patrols, paranoia) without admin involvement + +--- + +## Objectives + +| Objective | Description | +|---|---| +| **Eat 3 department pets** | Must consume Ian, Poly, Momo, or other map-assigned pets. Forces The Creature to leave deep maint and enter department areas. | +| **Consume X units of blood** | Tracked via Drink Blood ability, which can be utilized in the future for vampire antag. Scales with player count at spawn time. Requires repeated engagement across the round. | +| ** Kill x crew or specific crew** | Gives the creature a reason to fight other players, not just static NPCs. | +| **Survive** | Standard survival objective. Reinforces the retreat-and-hide loop. Gives Security a valid win condition. | + +> **Pet edge case:** If a map has fewer than 3 pets, the objective count adjusts to match available pets. A fallback target (e.g. station mice) may be needed — TBD. + +--- + +## Abilities + +| Ability | Description | Design Purpose | +|---|---|---| +| **Passive Stealth** | Visibility float from fully invisible (at rest) to fully visible (active). Moving, attacking, and using abilities increase visibility; each tick it decays back toward invisible. | Core identity. Rewards patience, punishes recklessness. | +| **Drink Blood** | Channeled action on an adjacent target. Drains blood, heals The Creature, and increments the blood objective counter. Requires standing still for the channel duration. | Sustain loop tied to objective. Creates a vulnerability window during use. heals | +| **Sting** | Short-range attack that stuns the target for a set duration. Moderate to long cooldown. | Setup tool for Drink Blood. Creates the Sting → Drink → Retreat sequence. | +| **Attack** | Standard melee. No wide-swing. Applies a brief stagger. | Combat fallback if cornered. No wide-swing discourages open-hallway fighting. | +| **Eat** | Action option. consumes valid animals - crew are blacklisted, similar to dragon | Completing eat pet objective | +| **Speed** | Faster than standard crew. | Enables disengagement. The Creature should be able to choose to flee a bad fight. | +| **Door Pry** | Can force doors open at a significantly faster rate than crew with a crowbar. Produces a sound cue. | Allows station navigation without access cards. Sound cue is a discoverability breadcrumb. | +| **Body Drag** | Can drag incapacitated or dead crew with reduced speed penalty. | Repositioning for safelu drinking blood. Evidence removal. Horror moment generator. | +| **Darksight** | Has a client sided point light. | Navigating dark areas. | + +--- + +## Stealth Visibility Detail + +Visibility is a float with a minimum (fully invisible) and maximum (fully visible). Thresholds determine visual state, uses existing steath and stealthOnMove component / systems. + +Actions that raise visibility: moving (already implemented). Possibly attacking (needs implementation) or other actions. +Visibility decays passively each game tick while The Creature is not acting. + +Bonus - increased stealth recovery in darkness, if code complexity permits. + +All specific float values, thresholds, increment amounts, and decay rates are TBD pending playtesting. + +--- + +## Upgrade System (BONUS) + +Blood consumed via Drink Blood accumulates in a persistent pool. Between hunts, The Creature can spend blood from this pool to purchase upgrades from a radial menu (similar to the Ninja's UI). This creates a meaningful decision loop: spend blood on upgrades now, or bank it toward the blood objective. + +Each upgrade has three ranks (+1, +2, +3). Purchasing rank 2 requires rank 1, and so on. Each rank costs progressively more blood. All specific blood costs are TBD. + +### Upgrade Tree + +| Upgrade | +1 | +2 | +3 | +|---|---|---|---| +| **Predator's Strike** *(Attack damage)* | Minor damage increase | Moderate damage increase | High damage increase; | +| **Quickness** *(Movement speed)* | Slight speed increase | Moderate speed increase | Moderate speed increase again | +| **Shadow** *(Stealth — faster decay rate)* | Faster passive visibility decay | Significantly faster decay | Near-instant decay | +| **Venom** *(Sting — stun duration)* | Longer stun | Longer stun | Longer stun | +| **Ravenous** *(Drink Blood — channel speed & heal)* | Faster channel | Faster channel | Fastest channel | +| **Pry Mastery** *(Door Pry speed)* | Faster pry | Significantly faster pry | Near-instant pry; no longer produces a sound cue | +| **Iron Hide** *(Damage resistance)* | Minor resistance to all damage | Moderate resistance | High resistance; The Creature can drag bodies at full speed | + +### Design Notes + +- No upgrade should push any single stat into "unkillable" territory. The intent is to broaden The Creature's options, not create a mandatory optimal path. +- Balance to be determined during playtesting - current values at 500 health, 300 blood, crit at 400. + +--- + +## Intended Round Flow + +1. **Early:** Spawns in deep maint fully invisible. Player scouts pet locations, camera positions, etc. No pressure to engage immediately. +2. **Mid:** Begins hunting. Isolated crew in maint are prime targets. Pet kills leave discoverable evidence (blood decal, sound cue). Crew survivors can report sightings. +3. **Late:** Crew is now aware. Security patrols maint; AI watches cameras. The Creature must adapt routes or accept higher-risk department incursions. If objectives are done, it hides and waits for round end. + +--- + +## Crew Counterplay + +**Individual:** Don't go into maint alone. Bring a weapon — a stun baton can interrupt a Drink Blood channel. Flashlights help in dark maint sections. + +**Security:** Patrol maint, respond to missing persons/pet reports, arm crew if threat level warrants. + +**AI:** Monitor maint cameras for stealth shimmer or door pry cues. Bolt doors to restrict movement. + +**Medical:** Fast treatment of blood loss victims prevents death from repeated taps. + +**Engineering/Atmos:** Seal maint hatches to restrict The Creature's movement network. + +--- + +## Design Pillar Alignment + +| Pillar | How The Creature satisfies it | +|---|---| +| **Just a Spark** | Cannot end rounds alone. Crew reaction (lockdowns, panic, overreaction) generates most of the chaos. | +| **Escalation** | Each successful hunt raises tension and crew awareness. Blood objective scales with pop. | +| **Full-Time Job** | Stealth degrades when inactive in open areas; objectives require active predation. No path to victory through crew-blending or passivity. | +| **Back and Forth** | Must expose itself to attack when striking. Cannot stay aggressive indefinitely — must retreat and wait. | +| **Discoverability** | Leaves evidence: missing pets, blood trails, pried doors, shimmer sightings from survivors. | + +--- + +## What This Is Not + +- **Not a murderboner.** Sustained combat breaks stealth; Security can coordinate to kill it. Stealth takes time to regenerate, meaning prolonged or agressive fights are severely punished. +- **Not a station destroying antag.** No station-wide threats, no infrastructure attacks, no explosives, no nuke interaction. Can still be a major threat if played well or ignored. +- **Not a conversion antag.** Victims do not become allies or infected. +- **Not an NPC.** Ghost role only — human unpredictability is the point. + +--- + +## Open Questions + +- **Spawn rate:** Suggest starting comparable to Space Ninja or Revenant and adjusting from playtesting. +- **Appearance:** Visual design unspecified. requires new sprite(s) and sfx, stealth handled by existing code. +- **Multi-antag interaction:** Should spawn weight be reduced when a major roundstart antag is already present?