Explorer
WIP equipment section.
SUMMARY TO EXPLORATION
As an explorer, you are at the forefront of discovery for the station! This means that you must be prepared to deal with whatever dangers Sif or the gateway may throw at you, you will be thrust into dangerous situation, you will be pushed to your limits, survival is not guaranteed ~ as exploration is one of the most dangerous jobs on the station!
but it comes with perks, Explorers are free to venture as they see fit and with no on-station duties to tend to are one of the most liberal roles. It will be heavily combat oriented, and caution must be exercised~ even the best exporers come unstuck every once in awhile, and having friends in medical will certainly help!
WHAT EXPLORATION DOES AND DOESNT
Whilst combat plays a heavy part in it, exploration is not a purely military role, your job isn't to go out and simply shoot / kill all the things, but to:
- Pave the way in dangerous areas, such as the Sif Wilderness to make it safe for other crew.
- Catalogue local flora and fauna, providing scientific research and study of wildlife.
- Find objects or items of value, scavenging from abandoned hovels, research stations, merc outposts and the like!
- (Strikethrough) Give the Medical team something to do when it all goes wrong and someone needs to come out to rescue you from whatever jaws you've wound up in (End strikethrough)
You are NOT security, and whilst explorers have remit to carry about their frontier and phase weapons (that are safety locked) on the station, you have no authority to simply carry about lethal weapons without express consent of Security through the use of the explorer weapon permit~ leave that 9mm pistol or that bolt action rifle you found on the carrier, or you may find yourself in trouble with security.
Things to know!
You should be familiar with Standard Operating Procedure with regards to away missions. You report directly to the pathfinder, who in term reports to the research Director in the command chain. (Note that the Reasearch Director isn't the ipso facto 'boss' of exploration, but nor should the be ignored. Their words have weight you should consider, but are not direct orders you must follow no matter what. Especially considering they make all your gear. - see SOP)
Knowing the basics as to how to handle weapons is useful, as is -basic- first aid knowledge, even if it amounts to 'bleeding is a bad sign'.
Knowing the basics of electronics, or at the very least how to hack a door without eletrocuting yourself can be useful.
Given the nature of the role and the dangers you will face, teamwork is essential and most experienced explorers will explore in a minimum of a pair, if not full teams for the more hazardous environments.
Weaponry and You
You are permitted to carry weapons to further your job as necessary, but only to and from the shuttle or gateway legally, anyway. For legal purposes, you should secure your weapons in the department or with Security when going off-duty. Any explorer weapons recovered by a Paramedic crew member for example, should be kept to defend against wily predators secured or turned over to Security for safekeeping.
Security is within their rights to charge you with possessing contraband, should you be searched for some other offense while not on duty. If you assault someone in the bar and while being processed security discovers your x-ray laser, you may be charged with possessing major contraband.
BASICS TO EXPLORATION - GEAR AND HOW TO USE IT
- Cataloguer - comes in three flavours, Explorers get access to the full sized, full ranged version. 'shoot' it at a object of interest and it'll scan it, but you must remain still and the thing within range until the scan completes. Scanning stuff logs reasearch and is one of th core components of your role, rewarding you with exploration points that can be spent on various goodies from the vendors on the carrier. (To get points, swipe your ID on the cataloguer to download them).
- GPS - Absolute essential whenever going off into the wilds or gateway, turn it on and you can broadcast your current location in real time, even if your sensors are somehow disabled, if also makes it much easier to find other GPS beacons.
- Survival knife - used for cutting things, self defense, butchering animals out in the field for impromptu rations
unless you feel like gulping them wholeand can fit in combat buits easily.
- Marker beacons - useful for leaving a trail
for preythings to followto help find your way back.
- Short wave radio - heading through the gateway will put you far out of reach of the local communications nets, this will ensure you can still keep in touch with other members of the exploration team whilst you are out
in space, nobody can hear you get gulped.
- Frontier phaser - the main weapon of choice for exploration staff, it can be toggled between low power and lethal modes, trading damage for energy efficiency. It's safety locked, so it wont fire on station, and you can charge it by pumping the handle! (Hold in one hand, then interact with it using your free empty hand, must be still).
- Explorer plate carrier: armoured external vest, the ones in the lockers come pre-equipped with plates to provide protection, a fresh suit without plates however only keeps you warm, you can make better plates using metal for better protection.
- Binoculars - use these to see a little further away, handy for scouting out dangerous areas!
- Survival knife - useful for cutting things and harvesting fruit from trees as well as combat applications, can fit these into your boots for storage.
- geiger counter - useful for detecting radiation in the local area.
- Death alarm implant - this is typically only available on the Carrier, and will broadcast a message on the common radio in the event of your demise, useful for a more rapid response beyond the usual 10 minute wait period for transcore notifications.
- Gas mask - sometimes the areas you enter into will be hazardous, a well maintained gas mask and internal air supply will keep you safe, to an extent.
OTHER STUFF
- Power cells - a spare device cell or two is good for powering weapons and torches.
TIPS FOR EXPLORATION
Tips for staying alive
- Keep people informed, whether it's your team, or medical, if people know your status and you go dark, it's far more likely that they'll be able to look out for you and recover you when things go wrong!
- Do be friendly to medical, they might provide you some tricord pills to make your life out in space a little easier, no first aid knowledge required! and having someone literally watching over your sensors can be a blessing.
- Discretion is the better part of valour, be aware of your limits and when it's time to regroup, or re-arm.
- Make use of the exploration carrier vendor ~ theres plenty there to help make your life easier.
Tips for roleplaying as an explorer
Stuff not to do
- Running out without a backup implant or death alarm and your sensors not set to location, this is a good way to spend a good portion of the round dead without anyone noticing, and can be frustrating to medical staff.
- Complain about waiting when you die~ death is an occupational hazard, you're performing one of the most dangerous roles on station, mercs and aliens will not play nice, if you are averse to dying then Exploration likely isn't the role for you.
- Power game ~ it's incredibly tempting to gather up a big bunch of medical supplies and go ham, but is that fitting for your character? Resist the urge, you can always rely on your team's field medic to keep you up in the field, or take precautions to ensure a fast exit if need be.
The Carrier
The Carrier is effectively a base of operations for the exploration department, seperate from the station itself.
It is accessible by either piloting a ship to it, or by using the mini shuttle located east of Hangar 2 (nestled in the north part of the science department, just above Xenobotany).
It contains the following:
- Medical lab for synthesising medicines and attending to injuries (Though it's not quite as well equipped as station side dedicated medical department! Put the medical team to use if there's any serious injuries!).
- A dedicated prep room, with multiple lockers of gear for Pilots, field medics and explorers. There's also space suits, death alarm implanters and other mission essentials.
- A dedicated explorer ship, plus multiple phasers in the gunlockers in the hangar room.
- The Pathfinders office - including their own personal locker of gear.
- The interstellar gateway - This gateway leads to the unknown, and all caution should be utilised when proceeding through it, meaning gearing up for any eventuality (including deep space), having a team with you and making arrangements for recovery if something goes wrong. Note that bad things can come OUT of the gateway if they wander in through the portal at the other side. Be wary.
- A meeting room, for briefing and debriefing of missions, discussing plans, and spending exploration points through the automated vendor there for gear and rewards.