---
# System prepended metadata

title: pAIs

---


## DISCLAIMER

This is mostly silicons spitballing ideas. This is not a hard mandate; if you decide to work on this, you have creative freedom - however any too "wild" ideas should be ran by the maintainers first.

## Niche

pAIs are traditionally ghost-occupiable roles that can basically do nothing but talk. They're meant to be easy to make, and in return, easy to break and pretty much powerless due to these limitations as well as traditional ss13 ghosts being highly salty and pretty much going out of their way to get back at whoever/whatever killed them.

We can probably do differently here.

## Shell

Give them holoshell like on Main, custom holoform, allow them to load their character *and* modify what items they're holding / their states, if at all possible.

Their shells should be holographic. Fluff-wise, they use the same ""hard light"" technology as holospheres/holodecks, but their emitters are so low powered they're pretty much unable to apply much pressure on anything.

- Make them 4 tile/second, not 5 tile/second default runspeed.
- 50 hp, regenerating
- If it breaks, they get shorted out for 10-20 seconds before being able to re-form. Maybe make this take longer unless someone manually resets it?
- This shell breaking should not damage the actual pAI. The pAI should only be able to be destroyed by direct targeting via bullets (to be implemented in atom damage) or by someone picking the card up and wiping it.
- Give them shitty spacemove() like on main - not just slow speed but basically a short ion burst every x seconds so they're not entirely helpless, and can sorta float around messily while in holoform.

## Projections

Allow them to project various graphics, objects, items, etc, around them.

## Imaging

Allow them to take pictures and render them later.

- Stretch goal; this is a bit powerful.
- Maybe make it modifiable so people know that they can't always be trusted.

## Software

I really don't like how they are right now.

- **Remove Security / Medical records + HUD, hard stop.** We are going towards persistent records and IC enforcement that's incompatible with this.
- **Remove universal translators** - give them an adaptive translation context by default (so the upgraded cyborg one) and the ability to download languages via software.
- I don't even know what to do with the rest.

## RIGs

[rigs](/mWH04y8ISzahFFUBRs21iA) will allow for remote control but that's a silicons thing to finish someday.

## Control

- **No bot control.** I do not want mulebot/medibot/securitron "funnies" here, sorry for the anti-fun.
- Allow controlling consoles if plugged in by a **person**, and allow them to project around the console, and eject but not re-insert themselves.
    - Alternatively find a way to control this that doesn't allow for arbitrary consoles being used.

## Hands

- Give them hands, but are unable to melee or ranged.
- Give them a **whitelist** of what they can pick up - coordinate with silicons on this and **do this in a later PR**. I don't want even the possibility of them being funny with suicide bombs or something we miss.

## Holodeck

- If a toggle is on, make them able to do anything with their hands like usual in holodeck, including do halloss damage / participate in boxing.

## pAI combat

- Allow pAIs to basically toggle PVP on and allow them to fight each other without causing any actual damage.
- Do some funny stuff to let them shoot "fake" guns and create holo effects.
    - Colfer asked for this, this can be funny but probably run to the ground; do all of this in a separate PR please.
