Spy (discontinued game mode)

The Syndicate has an exclusive job opening and has sent its candidates to battle it out among the helpless denizens Space Station 13. The last man standing gets the job! The Spy's primary objective is to assassinate all other spies on the station, and they may have a bonus objective. Their main asset is their ability to recruit followers. Through leadership, guile, and deviousness, they will prove themselves worthy of that promotion.

The Spy's Kit

As a spy master, you start with the following essential gear:

Multi-use Implanter

This implanter has 4 uses, and implants a special mindslave implant in your target. The recipient is 100% loyal to you, and unlike regular mindslave implants, this one does not wear off. However, the implant can be removed like any other, and possibly overridden by another spy's implanter. A spy who dies and is cloned does not have the implant in their new body.

It is possible for the implant to not work-- for instance, if you implant someone who has a freedom implant in them. You will receive no indication that the implanting failed, but the target will immediately be wise to you. If they're smart, they'll play along just long enough to slam that dagger into your back.

Syndicate Dagger

More for show than anything else, this pointy dagger nevertheless makes for a adequate weapon on downed opponents. Catching someone with one generally confirms that they are a spy, or one of the spy's recruits.

Syndicate Uplink

A modified uplink, with several items (cloak, energy sword) removed. Don't be greedy, consider buying some items for your mind slaves too!

The Game is a Foot!

You have syndicate gear and the ability to recruit an army. The hitch is that your targets do too, and you have no idea who they are! You will need to be able to gather intelligence, arm your soldiers, and protect yourself all at the same time. Consider what Jobs will be best suited to your strategy. High-access jobs such as Captain and Head of Personnel are often quickly targeted for recruitment. Even Security isn't exempt from being pressed into an enemy's gang-- as if they didn't already have enough reason to try and stop you.

Bear in mind that Spy is meant to be a stealthy kind of mode, so if you're really good, the normal crew might not even notice your activities. When implanting people, try to avoid people seeing you implanting or the jig might be up. If you're a spy master, you should search out people who might be good to implant and get to them before someone else does. Get yourself a decent team together as quickly as you can, make sure no one saw you implanting or followed you, and give your new troops orders. Consider sending your slaves off on the more dangerous or mundane tasks, as you're more important! Remember that you can discretely issue orders by PDA, though a captured PDA message log may trace back to you.

Do try to stop your slaves from going nuts and killing everyone in sight. This is not very stealthy and will most likely bring the wrath of security/the crew down upon you. If other spy masters are smart, they'll realize what's going on as well and quickly move against you. The spies do not need to wipe out each other's recruits-- only the other spies.

Hiding in Plain Sight

So you're a mind slave huh? Great! Firstly, and most importantly, you must follow to the letter every order your new master gives you! If he tells you to set yourself on fire and then jump into space, do it! (Lets hope your master is not that harsh!)

There is no one stopping you, but it's not a very good idea to go nuts and start killing everyone in sight, or launching a one man crusade against security. Most likely you will be captured, beaten to death, mistaken for a traitor or de-implanted, ruining all your fun. If your leader is halfway competent, he'll most likely tell you to scout around and try and find out who the other spies are. If you find them, report back your info. If your leader is even more competent, he might even arm you. Otherwise, consider getting some form of weapon or protection for yourself.

Sound Sleuthing Tips!

• Stealth is the name of the game! The less people who know who you are or see whats going on, the better!
• If your mindslave tries to cheese out of their obligation by running off before you can issue an order, adminhelp it.
• Keep an eye on the Cargo Bay and the Armory, where dangerous weaponry can be stockpiled/looted. Some spies may attempt to eschew stealth entirely and go on a rampage-- do what you can to nip this in the bud.
• Consider what departments you recruit from. Certain jobs will gel together very well, but seeing people from completely different departments congregating in one spot and whispering will raise a lot of suspicion.
• Implants can be taken out at Robotics and put in a regular implanter to use as you see fit-- you can recycle your dead comrade's implants this way, or capture an enemy and turn them to your side!
• Think outside the box with your approach! For example, is a cryptographic sequencer REALLY needed? Why not a radbow for stealth-shooting and renewable rounds? Or a freedom implant, as insurance against being mindslaved yourself? There are lots of items, go nuts!

Supplementary Video

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