---
# System prepended metadata

title: Mortis - Chaplain Overhaul
tags: [Design Document, WIP]

---

![image.png](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkFnOm77T.png)
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# Chaplain Additions & Improvements
This document serves as a design report for the Chaplain Additions and Improvement project.

The nature of these additions, and improvements, aim to establish chaplain as a semi-important role to the sation, without being overly intrusive to the crew as a whole.

The incorporation of the curator largely only serves to benehfit the chaplain's experience. However, content added for this suffienctly adds enough substance to start another patch, dedicated to the curator.

Content is divided into sections based on the roles it 
concerns. 

It should be noted the depth of content isn't particularly covered beyond what is necesary to divulge the design. However, understand topics that pose as resivours for content, such as **spooky events** *do* have more content planned.

## Joint Content
Content accessible to and designed for both roles, chaplain & curator.

### Spectral Trespass
Spectral trespass is a measure of how *spooky* the station currently is. This resource acts as a currency used to push **spooky events**. 

Spectral trespass is increased by actions such as murder, cult-ish activities, and destroying bodies. Anything 'evil'.

The general design encourages the chaplain to stop / reduce this measure. The curator, however, is encouraged to carefully utilize this measure. This is achieved with **spooky events** and **trials**.

#### Spooky Events

Spooky events are purchased by a behaviour personality with **spectral trespass**. These events uniquely spawn different effects, ranging from **possession** to **ghosts**. The behaviour personality choosen for the round is responsible for selecting an appropriate event within a certain timing to effectively enage the chaplain.

:::info
These are intended to be designed in a way that doesn't especially obstruct the crew, or pose a threat they can't fix without the chaplain. 

Although some events *will* require a chaplain or *will* especially impede the crew, they wont spawn without an active chaplain.

Another aspect of these events is the *obviousness* factor, something that represents the crews ability to relay and, most importantly, interact with the chaplain.

Events spawning around the station also encourages the chaplain to travel. Moving the player around is typically good, this can be achieved with map design too.
:::

:::danger
This is a content resivour. There are multiple events, and some events have dedicated content planned, like ghosts.

For now, this content is prototyped to a state that serves for testing.
:::

The chaplain will be rewarded when 'defeating' these events, with **holy favour**. However, when these events spawn and until the chaplain 'defeats' them, a nail associated with the chaplain's choosen trial will afflict them. 

:::info
These act as a sort of challenge, as too many nails will typically kill the chaplain. However, these are designed in a way that allows help from other crew members to potentially negate the nail's effects.
:::

#### Area Temperature
Area temperature is increased by things that would similarly
increase **spectral trespass**. Area temperature contributes to the weight of randomly selected areas of spooky events.
Some areas, like maintenance, start with a higher temperature.

:::info
This means **spooky events** are more likely to spawn in rooms like surgery, where people often die. Otherwise, they will probably spawn in maintenance. This can help with more obstructive events being tucked away.
:::

#### Area Rot
Certain areas, like maintenance, make bodies **rot** faster. However, some can also make bodies **rot** slower, like the morgue.

:::info
This encourages the chaplain to move bodies around, to different areas. It also makes bodies lying around in maints a 'threat' and something the chaplain will be actively combatting.
:::

## Chaplain Content

### Corpse keeping
There are many facets to corpse keeping, most of which aim to act as an active task for the chaplain without being a 100% necesary chore.

:::info
'Corpse keeping' is one of the ways we integrate the chaplain into the station as an important role, it is their duty to manage the dead. From this the chaplain can benehfit, which is an important aspect of designing job responsibilities. Otherwise, you've just designed a chore, and chores aren't fun.
:::

#### Rot
When a person dies, and becomes a corpse, they immediately start rotting. When a corpse reaches a certain amount of rot, it will start to generate spectral trespass, and increases the amount when they pass a second rot threshold.

The chaplain's active goal is to negate the effects of rot increasing **spectral trespass**. This can be semi-easily done by keeping a corpse in the morgue, in a morgue tray. However, this will not reward the chaplain, only producing a nuetral outcome. Should the chaplain choose to put in effort to negate the rot, they can instead make the corpse generate **holy favor**.

Negating rot can be done in several different, cumulative, ways. 

:::info
The more effort a chaplain puts into negating rot, the more rewards they will recieve.

Another aspect here is how the chaplain will typically need to interact with other jobs & players to access the items needed to generate **holy favor** from corpse keeping.
:::

### Litanies
Litanies act as main content for the chaplain, when they're not fighting demons and ghosts. Although not *technically* required to complete facets of the job, litanies provide various buffs, utility, and overall 'fun' to the chaplain.

Litanies can contain up to 6 **litany components**. Roundstart, the chaplain only 'knows' 3 components. However, the chaplain can use **holy favor** to unlock more throughout the round.

**Litany components** work similar to stack based programming, and typically only perform effects related to the chaplains job, with some room for spice. 

An example of two litany components, semi-important to the gameplay loop, are **Alpha** and **Beta**. **Alpha** adds the target to the top of the stack, and **Beta** performs a special blessing to the target on the top of the stack, then removes them from the stack.

Another important part of litanies is how they're used to give the chaplain an active goal. Roundstart, the chaplain is given the objective to bless a person, place, and thing with a litany containing a varying amount of components. 

:::info
This design prompts the chaplain to unlock the required components and attach a litany to the target for a decent goal reward based on the amount of components required. This is something the chaplain can work towards for the duration of the round, but is not necessary.
:::

:::danger
This is a content resivour. There are only 4 components, for early testing, but more are planned.
:::

### Trials

When the chaplain selects a sect, they will also be prompted to choose a trial. Trials represent a flavor of difficulty associated with **spooky events**. For every active spooky event, the chaplain will be afflicted with an equal magnitude amount of trial debuffs.

:::info
This is intended to add an extra level of challenge / interest. However, these trial debuffs are designed in a way that allows the chaplain to interact with the crew to negate them.

Players can choose a trial with no debuff effects. However, this is presented as decreasing holy rewards by %20. 
:::warning
If players *really* don't like this, we can swap the presentation and have all other trials boost rewards by %20.
:::


### Generic Rites

Like regular rites, except for the fact generic rites are accessible from all sects. These are typically used to interact with constant systems and designs.

### Commandments

More for flavor than anything, at the the start of the round 1 - 3 random commandments will be generated. The chaplain will have the option to edit these, add more, or remove them. When satisfied, the Chaplain will lock these commandments in, and they will be accessible from any bible. Just some spice to help Chaplains with selling their religion.

::: warning
This feature isn't implemented yet, and is only outlined for record keeping purposes.
:::

## Curator Content

Content implemented for the curator typically serves the chaplain and has little to do with making the curator's job legitimately bespoke. However, this content does setup the curator for their own dedicated job update, like this one for the chaplain.

::: warning
TODO: Design an active reason for the curator to make curios.

The current WIP solution to this is having the curator also want to find spooky events, similar to the chaplain. However,
:::

### Curios

Curios are items that can be made by the curator to aid them in their job, specifically helping them interact with **spectral trespass** and locate **spooky events**, among other things. These items can be crafted, by sacrificing other items, at the **witching table**, a crafting station available to the curator. These items typically increase **spectral trespass** when used.

These are intended to be as much useful to the chaplain as it is the curator.

:::danger
This is a content resivour.
:::