---
# System prepended metadata

title: Stories

---

# Stories

## Antagonists and Non-antagonists
Currently on the /tg/station codebase, we have two kinds of players in a round, Antagonists and non-antagonists. This is a binary with no nuance. 
Antagonists are players with mechanically backed objectives, bespoke mechanics to encourage doing said objectives, with the overarching goal of impacting the round, and are assigned by Dynamic using the ruleset system during roundstart, midround, and when players latejoin.
Non-antagonists are players without objectives, have no goals, and simply exist in the round.

Antagonist has another, different definition than the one we use. To quote Encyclopedia Brittanica,
> antagonist, in literature, the principal opponent or foil of the main character, who is referred to as the protagonist, in a drama or narrative. The word is from the Greek antagnistḗs, “opponent or rival.”

If we are to consider the crew of the station as the "main character", then anyone who opposes or inconvienences the crew is an Antagonist. This would, theoretically, open up the gate for antagonists of all kinds. However, this is not the case, as our codebase does not define antagonists this way, and attempting to use this definition results in failure. (see: [Thieves](https://github.com/tgstation/tgstation/pull/69304))

The stark difference between an Antagonist and a Non-antagonist are so extreme that any attempts to add antagonists that aren't at the mechanical depthness level of existing antagonists results in players reporting they dislike playing the antagonist to such a degree that they will go out of their way to avoid it spawning by turning it off because they believe it is "stealing real antag slots" (see: [Thieves](https://github.com/tgstation/tgstation/pull/69304))

## Why players hated Thieves
1. Players were upset that the antagonist role asked them not to kill people without reason.
2. Players were upset it didn't have any bespoke mechanics to it.
3. Players were upset it didn't have some form of return for them when they stole things, much like Traitors and Changelings do.
4. Players were upset that it was "stealing real antag rolls" because if Dynamic generated a Thief, it didn't generate another antagonist who does have all three of the above features.

All of these issues stem from the fact that Thieves were in the same category as the rest of the Antagonists, and thus were held to the same standard.
There was nothing inherently wrong with someone stealing things and causing issues for the crew as a result; the issue players had with thieves wasn't with the actual concept of the antagonist, but with the fact it was adjacent to the rest of the antagonists yet did not function as an antagonist usually does.

Thieves doesn't fit as a non-antagonist, because their goal to steal valuable things and hoard them inherently runs against the protagonist, the crew.

Thieves doesn't fit as an antagonist, because antagonists have a large amount of expectations of impact, bespoke mechanics, and ability to freely murder everyone on the station at all times, and a guy who steals things doesn't have a large impact, bespoke mechanics, or the ability to freely murder everyone on the station at all times.

Under the existing antagonist/non-antagonist binary, the most basic of all antagonists in a story, a petty thief, cannot exist. This is a failing of our system as it stands given that we are an immersive roleplaying game.

## The solution: Stories and Actors
This design document proposes introducing a new system; Stories, which are populated by Actors, which are legally distinct from Antagonists.

Stories do not operate within Dynamic, nor do they assign Antagonist roles. By side-stepping the Antagonist/Non-antagonist binary entirely, we open up a very large development space for unique, intuitive round-based storytelling experiences, worldbuilding, lore, immersion, and "B-plots" going on against the backdrop of the crew protagonist against the antagonists, while leveraging the creativity of the players to play the role they've been assigned.

Stories are bespoke prewritten starting scenarios composed of a basic comcept, actors to play out the concept, very light mechanical backing, and an act system to allow for updates to the story as the round progresses. Actors are assigned by Stories from both active crewmembers and the ghost pool based on the type of Actor, and can arrive at roundstart, midround, and occasionally based on events occuring on the station.

By introducing Stories and Actors, we can finally explore that very large space between the crew Protagonist and the Antagonists and drastically improve the experience of the game as an immersive roleplaying game by putting players in positions to roleplay as potential problems for the crew and play out B-plots, without the player having all the expectations of what an Antagonist is in the context of /tg/station SS13.

## Story Example: Guardnapped!, written by Oscar Gilmour
After an incident involving a guard and a baton, a fugitive must now hide from the law… as the law.

### First Act
#### Fugitive
##### Backstory:
> You’ve run from the law for so long… it was only a matter of time before you slipped up.
> 
> Cornered in a dark maintenance tunnel, with a guard reaching for their alarm, you did what was needed. You snatched their stun baton and zapped ‘em until they were singing space shanties. When they stopped moving, you stripped them of their armor and PDA. Not like they need it anymore, and you can’t risk getting caught again…
##### Goals:
> Survive the shift without anyone uncovering your identity. 
##### Items:
> Standard security starting gear. However, their starting stun baton is covered in blood and missing some charges. In addition, they’re in possession of a newspaper clipping, which references a chemical explosion at a mining facility, though doesn’t clarify if the Fugitive was responsible for it or not. 
##### Newspaper Clipping:
> Tragedy at Pick ‘n Dig Corporation! Seventeen dead in chemical explosion!
> 
> Markets and families were rocked today (physically and spiritually) with an explosion at a Pick ‘n Dig Corporation mining facility on Festan IV. The foreman expressed his sadness at the untimely deaths of seventeen workers, apparently caused due to a miasma leak. Alongside thirty-seven injuries, there still remains one miner unaccounted for…

##### Mechanics:
> No specific mechanics. 
### Second Act
#### Real Guard

##### Backstory: 
> You groan awake, every muscle in your body begging for solace.
> 
> As sense returns, your butt upon the cold steel floor eventually pushes you to your feet. Your head aches and your body shakes, but you’re alive at least. As you search the dark tunnels, the memories come flashing back… Someone attacked you. A criminal you cornered in these tunnels, who managed to knock you out with your own stun baton.
> 
> And who’s now probably running around as a guard.

##### Goals: 
> Survive the shift. Find out which of the guards is the fugitive. Convince others of your true identity. 

##### Items: 
> Spawns naked, with only an old ID Card giving them access to Maintenance but nothing else. 

##### Mechanics: 
> Spawns in a maintenance tunnel, having suffered some BRUTE and BURNS damage. 
