Random Events

Random events disrupt and add a bit of chaos to rounds. They tend to be more frequent and destructive the longer a round has been going on. Each event will (normally) be announced with a large Centcom status update.

While it is not possible to prevent random events from happening in the first place, in many cases, it is possible to counteract their effects. Spatial interdictors can mitigate or even nullify many random events, depending on which one it is. For example, it can provide a safe zone from radiation during blowouts and allows limited passage through spatial tears.

Default Events

Minor Events

Includes the sudden appearance of alien artifacts, mice/roaches/wasps infestations, or weeds. NPC merchant ships also fall into this category. Minor events usually don't trigger an announcement. They tend to occur somewhat more often and usually happen earlier than other events.

Travelling Trader

Commerce and Customs Alert

A [type of goods sold] merchant shuttle will dock with the [diner/shuttle dock] shortly.

A NPC trader from CentComm arrives on a certain place on the station, bringing worthless crap curious commodities from another land, usually centered around some sort of theme, like ores or space pod parts. They stay around for 5 to 10 minutes, then announce they're preparing to leave with another status update, before actually departing 30 seconds afterwards. The merchant shuttle can dock at the following locations:

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• In the maintenance tunnel above the Kitchen and Hydroponics.
• In the maintenance tunnel below the Research Wing, near the Science Pod Bay.

• The Public Market, in one of the two docking areas.

• Arrivals.

None.

• Below the West Crew Lounge.

• Above Mining.
• Below Research Dock.

• Above Shuttle Bay, specifically on the east wing, above the Arrivals area (the place where people who join after a round starts spawn).

Meteor Shower

Significant meteor shower approaching from the east. Impact in 300 seconds.

Giant meteors will begin raining upon the station from a given direction, destroying everything in their path before crumbling into a pile of rock and ore, or exploding into several, smaller meteors. The crew is given a 5 minute heads up (although more often than not it takes longer due to BYOND lag) indicating the direction and the severity. The crew can set up meteor shield generators which pop up shields to block meteors. After a meteor has hit enough objects, it will break, leaving behind whatever minerals it contained. Normally, it is just plain rocks, char, or molitz, but it can rarely be very valuable ores, like syreline or even the elusive starstone. The damage done by meteors is often minimal, and is usually repaired quickly. Rarely, admins may cause a meteor shower to hit the station from all sides. In the event of this happening, please follow standard operating procedure, by hiding in the nearest closet.

On aquatic maps, e.g. Oshan Laboratory, meteor showers are placed by cybershark attacks, which are visually distinct but mechanically identical to meteor showers.

Cybershark Attack

Major cybershark attack approaching from the west. Impact in 300 seconds.

A reskin of the above that appears only on ocean maps, e.g. Oshan. Instead of rocks, it's robot sharks ramming into the station, splitting into "shark chunks" that might split off into smaller ones.

The cybersharks and shark chunks are more or less reskinned meteors. (Hence why the sharks are equipped with guns but don't use them: they're actually just meteors with a different sprite, rather than the sharkdrones you'd see in the Trench.) Getting hit by cybersharks or their chunks hurts, shark collisions can knockdown walls and windows, shields from meteor shield generators block cybersharks, and the sharks can leave behind ores, including syreline or even starstone.

Solar Flare

A solar flare has been detected near the station. We estimate a signal interference rate of 91% lasting anywhere between three to five minutes.

Space turns piss-yellow, communication over PDA, intercoms, Syndicate and Sec's spy stickers, and the General/Common radio frequency (i.e. 145.9) cannot go through, and the shuttle is unable to be called or recalled while the flare is in effect. Machine talk is unaffected, as are the department-specific frequencies and the radio channels used by gang members and nuclear operatives. Station-bounced radios also still work, even ones tuned to General. A status update will let the crew know when the flare has passed.

Spatial Anomaly

A severe spatial anomaly has been detected near the station. Personnel are advised to avoid any unusual phenomenae.

A large red tear in space temporarily divides the station in two, appearing at a random location and spanning the entire z-level horizontally or vertically. The anomaly is completely impassible except by teleportation or riding disposal pipes. More of a nuisance than an actual hazard.

Spatial Distortion

Multiple localized spatial anomalies detected on the station. Personnel are advised to avoid any spatial distortions.

Swirling wormholes pop up around the station. Jumping into one will teleport you to a random point in the station, including a burning toxins mixing room, inside a window, or exposed to space on the solar arrays.

Ion Storm

An electromagnetic storm recently passed by the station. Sensitive electrical equipment may require maintenance.

Various electronics on the station/ship go haywire. Random doors are electrified, bolted, or open/closed. A couple of APCs might have lighting, equipment, and/or environmental power circuits disabled until they are fixed. (Better hope it's not one in Medbay!) Speaking of lighting, the ion storm can either break random lights (which releases sparks), randomize the color or brightness of various light bulbs/tubes, or simply turn a couple of lights off. The storm also messes with settings on various vending machines and manufacturers (effects are same as when pulsing wires when hacking them). In addition, it may trip a 3 to 6 fire alarms, break 2 to 5 security cameras, and trigger 1 to 2 random PDA alerts, potentially leading to a false alarm.

In addition, the ion storm may trip up the silicons' sensors—and in a way you might not expect. Each AI unit and Cyborg has a 33% chance to spontaneously experience effects similar to one of the following hallucinogens: cat drugs, hellshroom extract, LSBee, LSD, or mimicotoxin. After one to two minutes, the effects cease.

Law Rack Corruption

The AI and Cyborgs' Law Modules malfunction, causing the module to either have the law entirely replaced or contain an additional law. The new law has a 33% chance to be generated from laws uploaded by players from past rounds, tailored to filter out more dangerous laws. Otherwise, the new law is selected from a built-in list of ion laws, which can may be hazardous or just weird and nonsensical, such as "PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC" or "Occasionally repeat what you hear from the crew word-for-word. If challenged on this behavior, claim you said it first."

Uniquely, there is no Centcom notification for this event, so you might not know the law rack has been corrupted until the AI and cyborgs start acting on their modified laws.

In order to fix the corrupted law, you will have to extract the affected Law Module from the Law Rack and reset it by hitting it with a multitool. Don't forget to put it back!

Intruder Alert

Our listening devices indicate the presence of a hostile intruder in the vicinity of the station.

A powerful antagonist has infiltrated the station. They appear a good few minutes before the announcement, so you might notice their antag antics before CentComm does...or not.

Unless it was admin-triggered, this event can only happen if less than 10% of the crew are antagonists. In addition, it cannot happen in modes that do not have late-join antags, i.e. you won't see this in the Blob, Nuclear Emergency, Revolution, and Gang modes. Furthermore, this does not occur when the server is in "RP Mode", i.e. it's the Goonstation Roleplay 4: Sylvester and Goonstation Roleplay 3: Morty servers.

When the game initiates this event, it randomly selects one of the following antagonists, each with equal probability:

• Werewolf
• Hunter/Predator
• Wizard
• Wraith
• Wrestler (just a regular human one)
• Wrestledoodle
• Blob
• Blob (AI) (NPC Blob)
• Vampire
• Changeling
• Flockmind

If the game did not select AI Blob, it'll then select someone to play the antag by notifying all eligible ghosts with a distinct ding and prompt, asking if they're willing to be respawned as an enemy role. This notification goes out to all ghosts who:

• Haven't logged out/aren't braindead.
• Are not set to DNR.

A lucky player from the pool of those who opted in is then randomly selected after 2 minutes, provided they responded to the offer in time. Selection ignores Antagonist preferences.

Blob

Aggressive macrocellular organism detected aboard the station. All personnel must contain the outbreak.

If the game chooses blob for the Intruder Alert, there's a unique Centcom announcement. They're usually controlled by a player or, very rarely, an AI that's surprisingly capable of multitasking.

As for the blob itself, it is a pulsating mass that spreads around, often breaking walls, windows, and other parts of the station. It can attack every thing adjacent to itself, it posses many types of "cells" that perform different functions, and if it absorbs a human or monkey, it gets stronger and more advanced. The best tools for fighting the blob are generally welders and fire. Contrary to conventional belief, the blob can spread without oxygen.

Black Hole

A severe gravitational anomaly has been detected on the station in Refinery. It may collapse into a black hole if not stabilized. All personnel should feed mass to the anomaly until it stabilizes.

A dark anomaly appears in the given area, and if the crew does not stabilize it by throwing mass into the anomaly, it will collapse into a black hole, sucking everything towards it, including the floor and otherwise immovable stuff, exactly like the singularity, but you may look at a black hole without mesons and not be harmed. Even though it normally disappears shortly after it spawns, the damage it causes is almost always enough to warrant calling the escape shuttle.

White Hole

A severe anti-gravitational anomaly has been detected on the station in Chapel. It will uncollapse into a white hole. Consider quarantining it off.

Quite literally the opposite of the Black Hole event - or, if you want to get technical, just the other end of one. All players in the vicinity of the newly-spawned white hole will get a worrying chat notification saying that "the air grows light and thin," accompanied by the warning from Central Command.

A swirling mass of white light and mist, the white hole will sit menacingly while doing nothing for a variable amount of time - on the order of 30 seconds or less - before it "activates" and starts throwing random items, objects, and sometimes hostile critters from its center at high velocities. These objects can destroy windows, and the barrage of projectiles can easily send unlucky crewmembers into critical health. The anomaly will also push away anything not bolted down near it until it dissipates, which can create an absolute mess in their wake in tandem with the flood of items that get spawned. Their activation can be slowed through the use of an activated Spatial Interdictor, and they can be fully stabilized by...fishing in them? However, the dangers a white hole poses can be mostly mitigated by building secured barricades or walls around them, which will prevent anyone from being hit by flying Plasma tanks or Shot glasses and contain any angry monkeys that might otherwise start beating up bystanders.

Notably, the white hole will have an image inside of it that indicates what kinds of objects will be ejected from it, pulling from a wide variety of station locations (and some alien ones, too). If you see an image that looks like Medbay, expect to have a bunch of medical supplies thrown out of it. If you see something that looks like the Syndicate Battlecruiser, though, get ready to book it, because a hail of gunfire and some activated Sawflies and NAS-T turrets are about to get launched out of that thing, and you don't want to be around when that happens!

This event is also a favorite implement of certain Admins. If you see any white holes appearing in particularly comedic places or at particularly inopportune times, it's probably no coincidence.

Radstorm

Radioactive anomalies have been detected on the station. Evacuate any areas containing abnormal green or blue energy fields. Medical personnel are advised to prepare potassium iodide and anti-toxin treatments, and remain on standby to treat cases of irradiation.

Hotspots of radiation randomly appear on the station, subjecting nearby crew members to a bit of radiation. A high enough dose may also result in a beneficial or harmful mutation. Occasionally, the usual green hotspots are replaced by blue hotspots, which confer more deadly neutron radiation.

Blowout

Extreme levels of radiation detected approaching the station. All personnel have [30.1-60.9] seconds to enter a maintenance tunnel or radiation safezone. Maintenance doors have temporarily had their access requirements removed. This is not a test.

During the blowout, space turns red, and large amounts of radiation buffet the station areas highlighted in flashing yellow. Crew members must seek protection in maintenance tunnels during the storm, and to this end all maintenance doors are all-access for the duration of the blowout. Arrivals and Brig are also protected from radiation. Exposed crew members will take heavy radiation and may suffer horrible mutations. After a blow-out, alien artifacts may appear on the station.

Bio-Magnetic Field

Strong bio-magnetic fields have been detected manifesting on the station. Personnel are advised to avoid anybody charged with the opposite magnetic charge. The fields should dissipate within a few minutes.

Everyone who doesn't have SMES Human or the Unionized trait (Get it? As in, un-ionized, so no charge) is enveloped in either a red or blue magnetic field. Each person's field starts at mid-strength and increases when the person moves in 90-degree turns.

If two people with the same charge come in contact, their bio-magnetic fields will repel each other, reducing the strength of their bio-magnetic field, throwing them across potentially huge distances, stunning them and causing brute damage when they land.

If two people with opposite charges come in contact, they will cause a minor magnetic blowout, shooting arcs nearby and throwing any unanchored objects towards them. Both people will also lose their magnetic field. Depending on the strength of the magfields of the people involved, the sheer number of objects thrown about can actually seriously hurt people caught by in blowout, even bystanders, especially if there are many of them.

Lottery Round

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Lottery round [number]. I wish you all the best of luck. For an amazing prize of [jackpot] credits the lottery numbers are: [four numbers]. If you have these numbers get to an ATM to claim your prize now!

As you might have guessed, Central Command holds a lottery for the station. The jackpot starts at 50 000 credits, and you can enter it by buying a ticket at an ATM. The tickets you buy go towards the subsequent lottery round. If the lottery hasn't occurred yet, the tickets will be for Round 1 (and only Round 1), and if Lottery Round 1 is in progress, you'll get tickets for Round 2, and so forth. You can claim your prize or simply check if your ticket has the winning numbers by clicking on the ATM with the ticket in-hand.

Lottery Rounds occur roughly 5-10 minutes after each other. If no one has a winning ticket or doesn't claim it, four new winning numbers are drawn, and the jackpot increases by 50 000. Jackpots don't holdover between rounds. Interestingly, though four numbers are drawn, the numbers only go from 1 to 3. Also, it's a lottery, not a raffle, so being the only person who bought a ticket won't guarantee you the prize, and you can get tickets with the same numbers on them, so buying lots of tickets won't guarantee you the prize either.

Appendicitis Contraction

Medical Data Inbound

The NanoTrasen Personnel Records Department has informed us that some crew members have the genetic indicators that they will very likely contract Appendicitis, they should report to medbay before their condition worsens.

One to three crew members have suddenly developed appendicitis, a potentially deadly disease where the afflicted's appendix has become tired of being called useless and decides to inflict some nasty pains before eventually exploding, leaving behind some pathogens in the process.

Closet Skeletons

Our sensors detected a rattling of bones rapidly approaching the station. Be wary of closets.

A couple of random lockers and similar will shake and rattle eerily. If one of them is opened, a thankfully inanimate skeleton (i.e. not the kind that kill you physically) will pop out of it! Specific event text varies, but the warning about closets stays the same. Occurs exclusively in October, when Spooktober mode is activated.

Sleeper Agents Signal

Enemy Signal Detected

A Syndicate radio station temporarily hijacked our communications. Be wary of individuals acting strangely.

Everyone tuned to the Common frequency, 145.9, hears a peculiar noise consisting of a series of chimes, then numbers pronounced by a robotic voice, and then another series of chimes. Depending on the chances, a small number of crew may awaken as Syndicate sleeper agents, which are essentially Traitors with random objectives and no uplink!

Unless it was admin-triggered, this event can only happen after the 30 minute mark. In addition, it cannot happen in modes that do not allow late-join traitors, i.e. it can occur in the Traitor, Spy Theft, Mixed (Action), Mixed (Mild), Wizard and Conspiracy modes. On the roleplay servers (i.e. Goonstation Roleplay 3: Morty and Goonstation Roleplay 4: Sylvester), this event can only appear if only 10% or less of current antags are alive. On the non-RP servers, this event can happen regardless of antag numbers.

Though the Cyborgs and AI can hear the signal, it can't actually convert them over to the Syndicate; in other words, only humans can be awakened. Moreover, if said human has a radio without access to the 149.5 frequency or doesn't have a radio at all, they won't hear the signal. This event respects antag preferences; if someone has Traitor set to off in their character preferences, they can't be converted. Furthermore, it can't make people who can't spawn as antag (i.e. Security Officer, Head of Security, Nanotrasen Security Operative, and Security Assistant) a sleeper. Finally, there is a 50% chance for one person to be awakened, 25% for two people, and 25% for no one at all--the paranoia!

Pest Invasion

Pest invasion

A large number of pests have been detected onboard.

A group of weak player-controlled animals appear in weird places on the station. There's no limit to amount of pests that can spawn, and if at least 5 spawn, then the above announcement appears. They're not considered Antagonists.

These critters work like their normal counterparts and have the same abiities, but they have much less health, usually in the single or low double digit range, and they have the same mechanical restrictions as ghost critters, e.g. people can't understand their speech, inability to pick up most items, etc. The critters spawned are all the same type (i.e. cats can spawn, dogs can spawn, but never both at once). Possible animals include:

• Flies, which can vomit on people.
• Mosquitos, which can suck blood.
• Cats and dogs, both of which can pounce on people to make them trip. Dogs came in the form of corgis, pugs, and shibas.
• Frogs, which have no unique traits or abilities, aside from an amusing hop.
• Buttcrabs, which can make people fart a lot or prevent them from farting.
• Eyespiders, which can see behind walls, mark to keep track of their location and appearance, people to let their changeling master see them behind walls (not that they have a master), explode into gibs, and cry to express the tragedy of the eyespider condition (and slip people).
• Roboroaches, which are actually completely normal and have nothing particularly special, besides having weird meat (?) and looking much cooler.

Unless it was admin-triggered, this event can only occur once the round has passed the 5-minute mark and at least 25% of the people on the server are dead and not DNR. When the game initiates this event, it will send all eligible ghosts a notification with a distinct ding and prompt, asking if they want to be respawned as a random pest. This notification goes out to all ghosts who:

• Haven't logged out/aren't braindead.
• Are not set to DNR.

All the players that answered yes are then spawned as the selected critters after a delay.

Hostile Critter

Hostile Critter

Our sensors have detected a hostile nonhuman lifeform in the vicinity of the station.

One to six dangerous player-controlled creatures suddenly appear on the station. They all spawn as one single type of critter, and the possibilities include:

• Gunbots, with .38 FMJ and rubber slug guns
• Fire elementals, who can spew long streams of flame and have surprisingly good cauterization skills
• Baby spiders that have lots of arms, possess venomous stings and can absorb victims to become more powerful.
• Emagged firebots with deadly sprays and emagged cleanbots with space lube and phlogiston dust synthesizers
• Jean elementals, strange creatures who turn all they touch into denim. This one is much rarer than the others.
• Mimics, who hunt by disguising themselves as objects and injecting mimicotoxin, a hallucinogen that can potentially cause blindness and eye damage.

These critters are considered Antagonists and have random objectives. All these critters, save for mimics, also drop unique loot when killed.

Unless it was admin-triggered, this event can only happen if about less than a quarter of the current antags are alive and the round has passed the 5-minute mark. In addition, it cannot happen in modes that do not have late-join antags, i.e. you won't see this in the Blob, Nuclear Emergency, Revolution, and Gang modes. When the game initiates this event, it will then select people to play by notifying all eligible ghosts with a distinct ding and prompt, asking if they're willing to be respawned as an antagonist critter. This notification goes out to all ghosts who:

• Haven't logged out/aren't braindead.
• Are not set to DNR.

The game then randomly picks up to 3 of the people who opted in and spawns them as the chosen critters after a delay.

Locker Entanglement

Quantum Anomaly

A quantum anomaly has been detected on station. Locker dimensional subspaces might have become unstable. Enter lockers at your own risk.

Certain lockers temporarily behave like two-way teleporters. You enter one locker, and you exit out another. Take the locker you just exited, and you'll end up back at the locker you originally exited. It works only with lockers with no access requirements (i.e. can't end up in the Armory), and it can't take you to lockers in places like Virtual Reality.

Effect ends after 1 to 5 minutes. This is headed by another announcement saying Locker quantum stability restored..

Space Colors

Navigational Update

Navigational radar indicates that the [station/ship name] will shortly begin drifting through a molecular cloud. This poses no danger to structural integrity or personnel, so enjoy the view."

Space turns a random color, including the stars. Yep, that's it. The cloud doesn't make space extra dangerous or anything, so you don't need to take any extra precautions if you're venturing out there. Otherwise, as the message says, just enjoy view and admire the pretty colors. And they can quite pretty: this is accomplished through what's called a "color matrix", so it looks much cleaner than, say, the red tint of a blowout.

For hopefully obvious reasons, this cannot occur on underwater maps (e.g. Oshan Laboratory, Nadir). There's no outer space to see after all. You can, however, still get this during Spooktober, which makes for an interesting viewing experience.

Illegal Trinkets

Security Review

The NanoTrasen Logistics Screening Team has confirmed the possibility of stolen, smuggled, or counterfeit items aboard.

You know how trinkets/heirlooms can sometimes spawn with the prefix "counterfeit", "ex's", "smuggled", "shameful", or "stolen"? Turns out those prefixes actually mean something, because this event causes all trinkets with such prefixes to have a contraband rating of 3, which persists through the round. Security Officers and the like might accost you, since anyone holding such a trinket is marked with a little orange C over their head in SecHUD vision. Other methods of detecting contraband only sound the alarm if they detect a overall contraband rating of 4, so passing through security scanners and by GuardBuddies and Securitrons are still safe, unless you're carrying multiple types of contraband.

Admin-Triggered Events

Kudzu

Rapidly expanding plant organism detected aboard the station. All personnel must contain the outbreak.

Thick green kudzu will spawn at a random point on the station and begin growing quickly. The kudzu itself is harmless but it will greatly lower your line of sight, normally so much so that you can only see one tile next to you, and dense areas block movement. You also cannot pull anything over kudzu tiles. Kudzu does not spread through space or pass through walls, windows, and grilles. It can also spread through doors, but not as easily as regular floor tiles. Unlike the kudzu seed, kudzu from this event can spread infinitely.

Corpses on kudzu become vine cocoons that later grow into bulbs, and these bulbs eventually produce kudzupeople if no one breaks the corpse out of them. Kudzupeople have a variety of plant-based powers, including the ability to spread the kudzu further or limit its grow.

The kudzu can be removed with most objects save fists, but it receives extra damage from sharp instruments and certain heat sources, such as welders, flamethrowers, wirecutters, chainsaws, and phasers. Welding doors shut, bolting them down, or electrifying them reduces the chance kudzu spreading through them, and kudzu is completely unable to spread through doors that are all three. Note that dense kudzu ceases to spread, so containing the plant is as simple as pruning off the less tangled bits.

There is a rare pink version of kudzu that grows extra fast, and will take over the station in no time.

Flatulent Anomaly

Our monitors have detected a spectral emission rapidly approaching the station. Duck and cover immediately.

Everyone who failed to adhere to the last four words of the alert farts and their ass flies off, stunning them momentarily. If your ass has already been removed you will spray a load of gibs behind you.

Chaos Dunk

A massive influx of negative b-ball protons has been detected. A Chaos Dunk is imminent. All personnel currently on the station have 15 seconds to reach minimum safe distance. This is not a test.

Even though its not "random", it is still very much an "event". Someone got their hands on a basketball and combined it with a secret ingredient, and are about to slam a jam so powerful that its existence threatens the balance of chaos and order. Oh yeah, and it'll probably blow half the station to smithereens, which is also bad. This usually happens when a bored admin decides to make things more interesting. A Chaos Dunk is heralded by the blowout siren and visual effects without the radiation, followed by an enormous explosion centered on the b-baller who initiated it.

Syndicate Retribution Event

Player access to this event has been suspended pending rework and redevelopement. This event has been disabled because the S.W.O.R.D. is a round-ender and is considered unfun to fight. This may change pending a rework.

Alert

An unidentified long-range beacon has been detected near the station. Await further instructions.

The station is under siege by the Syndicate-made object detected earlier. Survive any way possible.

An inert Syndicate-made beacon is drawn to a location on the station. The S.W.O.R.D. becomes active after two minutes and goes on a rampage that can destroy large swaths of the station and be extremely deadly to both carbon and silicon players. It's best handled with a prepared and numerous crew.

The S.W.O.R.D. can only appear as a random event past the 40-minute mark of a round and only if the pool of living antagonists has dwindled considerably and 30 or more crewmembers remain alive. The defeat of the S.W.O.R.D. is signalled with an announcement that The Syndicate Weapon has been eliminated.

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