Give the CE a sledgehammer (also aurora belt buff I guess)

[Lady Birb]

(Yes I know I already made a thread about buffing the CE, but that one was poo so don't bring it up. this one is actually had thought put into it)

As of right now, the CE is in a sort of a weird spot:

• The Captain and HOS have an egun
  
• The HOP can give themselves all access and loot security
  
• The RD has the gaurdbuddies
  
• The CE has a forcefield belt
  
• The MD has a tranquilizer rifle
  

Notice the odd one out? All of the Heads of Staff except the CE have something that can be used to commit murder, while the CE gets something that is ONLY used defensively, and it isn't even very good at it's job either(it only protects from melee attacks and it doesn't last long enough). How about we fix that, shall we?

Aurora belt buffs:

• Make the 100% heat/cold resistance passive instead of only when it's active.
  
• Give it immunity to radiation.
  
• Make the activated form protect from projectiles as well as melee attacks.
  

That's it for the belt. Moving on to the good part.
MOTHERFUCKING SLEDGEHAMMER!
Because I noticed that of all the tools on the station, there was a conspicuous lack of hammers.

• In the CE's locker, so people can't steal it like their RCD.
  
• Requires both hands to wield.
  
• Decent brute and high stamina damage, but slower swing speed (a coder told me once that we apparently already have code for weapons with reduced or increased attack speed) means it has rather mediocre damage output.
  
• Bulky size, but still fits toolbelts or the Aurora.
  
• Can preform "percussive maintenance" on damaged or emagged equipment to restore it to normal functionality. Reset emagged doors, robots, or borgs to restore their normal behavior, revive dead AIs, repair broken objects (vending machines, pipes, APCs, microwaves, computers, etc).
  
• Can instantly break windows or grilles, and has a progress-bar action for tearing down (in order of increasing time) girders, walls, and reinforced walls.
  

That's all I think, folks. Please tell me what parts of this are good and what parts of this are poo in the replies section.

[crasscrab]

RD used to start with a bomb.

[Noah Buttes]

Smacking the AI's turret control with the sledgehammer should remove enemy sappers the emag effect.

[Flourish]

I really don't see why we need to give the CE a weapon, just because most other heads have one. Is it because it seens unfair to you?

Also, I'm not certain why having a weapon - "something that can be used to commit murder" - at roundstart is so important in the first place.

[Lady Birb]

The CE needs a weapon because more often than not a CE's job consists of setting up the engine and maybe the solars and then either sitting in engineering the entire round maintaining the engine, filling in for nonexistant miners or quartermasters (which also rarely leave their deparment to interact with others) or being a staff assistant with extra access, because there isn't much else they can do. Giving them a way to fight that can't also be obtained by any idiot with a full toolbelt would let them participate in the round more actively by fighting antagonists or beating up crimers. Others may think otherwise, but to me the most fun part of this game will always be combat.

[kyle2143]

Yeah, I agree with Flourish. Heads don't really need to have a weapon to start, and I don't think that completing the set with a CE weapon is that great unless it fits perfectly and a sledgehammer doesn't make that fit IMO.

You forget to mention, the CE already starts with a flash and RCD. So an antag CE could easily do as much damage as the others.

But I do like the idea of buffs to the Aurora Shield. Or just more defensive items of different access levels and specifications in general. Currently the only defensive items are body armour(boring), Drugs(funny), and the Aurora Shield.

[Lady Birb]

If the heads of staff don't need weapons, than remove the medical director's tranq rifle and make it so the hop can't give himself access to security. I do not mean this sarcastically, if you think that the Heads of Staff don't need weapons at roundstart, than make it so "not having a weapon" is the norm for heads of staff, not the exception.

[kyle2143]

If the heads of staff don't need weapons, than remove the medical director's tranq rifle and make it so the hop can't give himself access to security. I do not mean this sarcastically, if you think that the Heads of Staff don't need weapons at roundstart, than make it so "not having a weapon" is the norm for heads of staff, not the exception.

Well, technically the Medical Director can't use his rifle without a scanner going off or beepsky arresting him if he sees you. So that's why it's kind of for emergencies, a good Medical Director should not be carrying it around unwarranted. Similarly it makes sense in an RP sort of sense that the Head of Personnel should have access to security if they are able to give others that access. It's stated in the rules that HoP should not be playing Super-Security Officer unless they are the only Head still around, in which case they are the Captain. I always felt like the HoP should have a different title that is more in line with that, like Executive Officer or First Officer. 

The whole thing, I think, is that heads should have a decent means to defend themselves. Which is not mutually exclusive to murdering others as well.

[Superlagg]

The CE already has one of the deadliest weapons in the game: The Engine.

[poland spring]

Jesus just give them a hammer the miners start with picks snd they're the head miner basically. Plus then we see more people smacked around with hammers! It adds something to the game while detracting from nothing, and is as simple as spawning a single item at round start. Why not??????

[Vitatroll]

I was far more partial to giving them hazard suit. A spacesuit-radsuit-firesuit with no slowdown, basically. A CE has enough at their disposal. Not as easily as other head jobs but CE's tend to last longer than other heads if they stay in/near engineering, for obvious reasons.

[Lady Birb]

The idea I had behind this was, since the other heads of staff we given mostly ranged weapons, that I would make the CE a close-ranged brawler; being able to use the Aurora to move into close range before going to town with their sledgehammer, and using stungloves to briefly disable opponents if they need to disengage. Vitatroll's idea of a hazard suit is why I brought up making the Aurora's 100% heat/cold resist permanent instead of a temporary boost, giving the Aurora rad-proof is a good idea too.

[Frank_Stein]

I don't think 100% passive is quite right. 80 to 90 wouldn't be bad, but 100% should be something that takes power

I like the idea of the sledge hammer working in conjunction with the belt. Maybe since the CE is in charge of the engine, having a good engine setup would work with the items

Like, maybe the hammer has an electrical charge that can be refilled by tapping into the power lines, sort of like stun gloves.

But the hammer should have a construction element to it, like being able to bonk machines to fix them, or use power to rebuild floors and walls

[Mordent]

Decidedly against this. The whole "but the other heads have access to them" is a non-argument.

The barman has a shotgun, should we give botanists and chefs one too? (Anyone taking this as anything but sarcasm will be mocked).

The MD doesn't even have a weapon license, so they can't carry theirs without setting off scanners every twenty steps, and if Beepsky's around they're in for trouble.

The CE also has access to QM, mining crates, ready access to stun gloves and cells (mock them if you want, they still work on people with sunglasses) and can make himself a spear or power-hammer (one of the most powerful non-antag weapons) in no time flat. He has no need for another weapon. Heck, in my experience the CE is the most well-armed of the bunch after the first five minutes or so. As you say, after the engine's going he can happily spend his time equipping himself with his great access to places/insulated gloves to hack in to anywhere he doesn't have access for/RCD down a wall if things are really silly.

I am strongly against the CE getting any exclusive "construction" items. Any new stuff in that regard should be accessible to all, or at the very least mechanics/engineers.

If the argument is "well, after he's set up the engine he needs something to do to feel special", firstly: no. Secondly: go repair the gaping holes the antags are putting in the station. Your job's not to combat antags, it's to mitigate their damage.

[Lady Birb]

bonk machines to fix them

Yes. Percussive maintenance. Smack an emagged device with the sledgehammer to un-emag it! Bombed out APC? Screw that, sledgehammer! Broken microwave? Just give it a few smacks and it will be fine! Someone killed the AI? Hit it in the face and watch it light back up! The possibilities are endless!