Head of personnel
| COMMAND STAFF | |
  Head of Personnel |
Access: Full access to all civil and supply departments, Morgue, Security Office, Brig, Research Division, Medbay, Engineering, Construction Area, Maintenance, EVA, AI Upload, Bridge, Vault, Gateway, HoP locker, Personal Lockers, ID computer. Difficulty: Medium Supervisors: Captain Rank: Not defined Duties: Altering access on ID cards, manage civil and supply departments, being Ian's bodyguard, running the ship when the captain dies Guides: Space Law, Chain of Command, Default ID Access List, a few forms |
No, I didn't give all-access to the Clown, nor did I give all of the Assistants access to the Toxins lab. What do you take me for, a liar?
You are the Head of Personnel. You are the one on the left. The one on the right is a dog. You are not a dog. Your main responsibility is to sit in your office and listen to people request access to X area or ask for Y job. You are also in charge of making sure the Quartermaster is managing the supply sector well and that each civil department is working. Should the worst come to pass, as well, you will need to assume command of the station as acting Captain. High in access and low in responsibility, they are often seen running around other people's departments, evading security and angry crewmembers alike, their motivations only known to themselves.
Responsibilites
ID changes
Your primary purpose is to sit at your desk and process people's requests for access. People often wish to change jobs, or require additional access in order to do their job more effectively (or further their dirty Syndicate goals). It's also your responsibility to wipe access from the IDs of troublemakers at the request of other heads.
If you want to maintain a good relationship with the other heads, make sure to clear the requests with the appropriate department head. If you can't reach the head, ask the Captain. If you can't reach the Captain, decide for yourself. If there's no Captain, you're probably acting Captain, so again, decide for yourself. Promoting someone to a command position should not be done without consulting the Captain.
Every now and then, someone wants to become a superhero of some sort. Use your own judgement to decide whether that's wise. People will come to you with requests ranging from outlandish to mundane, so use your own brain to sort out their trustworthiness (or just hand out access like candy at a parade and get arrested).
Your ID
It may be wise to make yourself a captain-level ID. A quick way to do this is to set your job to "Captain" then click "Custom" for job title and enter "Head of Personnel".
Bear in mind that access is not equivalent to permission, and security may arrest you and throw you in the brig or the comdom may demote you if you're seen waltzing into high security areas you're not supposed to be in. Talk to the head of the department you're visiting, and ask before taking anything valuable.
Job slots
Your ID console has the ability to open and close slots for most jobs. This is useful for opening infinite clown positions oh god situations where no more positions remain available (for large crews), where an extra janitor or detective or whatever might be useful, or where a crewmate is incapacitated, incompetent, dead, traitorous, demoted or a chucklefuck.
Departmental management
Technically you're supposed to be in charge of the civilian and supply departments. Nobody in these departments is going to listen to whatever stupid orders you give, but feel free to befriend the quartermaster by opening secure crates for them, smoke weed with the botanists, or take a relaxing break on the mining asteroid.
Backup Captain
If the real Captain is dead, missing or never arrives, it's your job to step up and take their place. When you spawn at the start of the round, the first thing you should do is check whether there's a Captain. If there isn't, make sure that after giving yourself access you run to the Captain's Quarters to secure the nuke disk and the captain's spare ID. You do not want to be "that guy" when the station explodes as the nuke ops find the disk sitting exactly where it spawned.
Crew relations
Due to your low workload compared to other heads, it's a good idea to always pay attention to general radio. People will often try to use this to summon you to your office when they need an ID upgrade. Aside from that it never hurts to have an awareness of what's going on around the station. Chat with the crew so they know you're not the stereotypical helmeted all-access mute that has come to epitomize the position.
Security
If security is low on officers, or when shit really hits the fan you can help make up the numbers. You have access to security lockers and security records, so make sure you grab a security HUD, security encryption key, and carry plenty of handcuffs (lasering someone to death because you didn't have the foresight to bring enough restraints is incredibly shit). Remember that your high level of access is a double-edged sword: if you get yourself trapped or killed somewhere that security officers can't access, they won't be able to rescue you, so be careful. Also, everyone will hate you for playing HoPcurity. You cannot win.
Even if you're not playing officer, you have a lot of power to respond to an emergency. Order the AI to bolt EVA open, order relevant supplies from cargo, and hand out extra access to security and engineers.
The Five Points of Human Resources Management
The Head of Personnel can either be a Godsend or worse than a banana-flinging clown for the station. He can also savor the prestige or feel shackled to the ID computer. If you find yourself wearing teal, make the most of it by doing your job correctly.
- Support the Captain. Always be on the captain's side, at least publicly. Remember that since you'll take up his banner if, or more often when, he's slain, you're the de facto second in command. Be sure to work as a team to lead the crew. If he's demanding, be persuasive. If he's soft-spoken, be a task-master. This means anyone annoyed at his leadership style will likely follow yours, but it also means he has to trust you. Earn this trust by making frequent use of command chat (:c) and deferring to him on matters of great importance, like assigning new heads or calling the shuttle. Recognize, however, that you do not outrank any other Heads of Staff. You are simply sitting at the Captain's right hand, entrusted to the keys to the station, while all other heads must beg at your feet for access to so much as the bar. Don't let it go to your head, and the Head of Security won't brain you.
- Uphold the Rights of Crewmen. Only the Captain can authorize a death warrant, and you are sometimes tasked with judging trials under Space Law. You are normally considered the most impartial officer for this task, which prevents the appearance of a mere kangaroo court. Furthermore, Security often commits excesses and the Captain is either dead or personally involved in a case. For these reasons, you need to be sure to call for trials for high crimes before the accused gets left to rot in a permacell forever. While this may put you at odds with Security, you should find them fanatically loyal to the Captain, who hopefully makes clear his full confidence in you. This delicate balance of power prevents excesses against the crew. Almost always, a weak Captain and Head of Personnel will result in shitcurity.
- Follow the Principle of Least Privilege. When assigning new access levels or creating new jobs, ask yourself just how much access is really needed to perform the task. If a hardworking engineer wants EVA access, consider if he really needs access or just for you to open the door for him while he gets a suit. If the chaplain is being proactive about finding bodies but often needs people to open doors, maybe the risk of giving him more access is less than gain from increasing his effectiveness. Decisions like these keep the station more secure from thieves weaseling their way to their targets and cuts down on the number of accidental arrests made by Security for assumed trespassing. Remember to write their increased access or privileged items on a sheet of paper and give it a good stamping so the janitor will be able to show why he's mopping Medbay's floors.
- Talk to the Crew. The Captain gets nervous when someone stands next to him for too long. The Head of Security is too busy beating the clown. The Research Director is on fire, the Chief Medical Officer is up to his elbows in gore, and the Chief Engineer is trying to keep everyone warm and breathing in a vaccuum. You're really the only head able to take time and listen to the crew. Invite crewmen to talk to you when there are conflicts. Defuse the interpersonal and interdepartmental problems you discover during these conversations, and prevent grievances from becoming grief. Advocate on behalf of the robusted to security, and generally reduce the frequency and intensity of mutinies.
- Manage your Department First. While technically you can demote everyone who's ID you sieze to assistant, managing civilian workers not under another head is your immediate responsibility. Keeping janitors on task, directing the chef to throw a pizza party, ensuring the Quartermaster is on top of things, and getting the records up to date are the first thing to do after assigning job and access changes. Demoting bad security officers or stepping in for an absent department head also falls on your desk, but going into other departments to micromanage in front of their head is both bad form and likely to make you reviled. Always clear a demotion with their department head, or ideally, have all the heads aware they can send troublesome employees your way to be sent to the mining base. This lets you focus on your immediate underlings and avoid stepping on toes.
Ian
Just so we're clear. Ian is your little buddy. Protect him from the various dangerous criminals, and make sure he escapes on the shuttle alive. This is your most important job of all.
Taking a Stroll as John Doe
When Revolution abounds, you will be one of the more well armed and threatening heads. A tendency for disappearing acts makes the Head of Personnel usually the hardest head to kill.
You first move should be to deconstruct your ID console and reassemble it somewhere more secure (probably security). Leave an ID computer ID in it so security officers, heads and the implanted can give themselves all-access.
If shit hits the fan and you need to hide, pick a job where it's natural to be wearing a mask that hides your face. Scientist, engineer, mime and clown are all good examples. Make yourself a Captain ID with that job title and a false name. Travel to where the equipment lockers for that job are kept, and get dressed. Put your old clothes and equipment in your old backpack and put it into the locker, locking it after you're finished. If you leave your Head of Personnel's jumpsuit lying beside an open Engineer locker, anyone who sees it will figure out what you're disguised as. If you want to be an even more stealthy HoP, head to genetics and turn a monkey into a human. Proceed to stab yourself with the UI+UE of said monkey. Then just go and use your ID console to get an all access ID with your new name on it.
If you're the last remaining head, in the interest of fair play, you should try to escape the z-level instead of extending the round for your own benefit at the expense of all the dead people stuck sitting out. This will cause the revolutionaries to win, but you will survive. Self-preservation is a valid reason for ending the round.
Fuck that shit, grab the nearest blunt object or gun and go out in a blaze of glory
Cult
You have the ability to mass produce all-access IDs, and you do not start the round loyalty implanted. As a result of this, you are a prime target for conversion. As soon as you hear that a cult has been discovered, move your ID console to security and get yourself implanted, assuming security hasn't been consumed by eldritch horrors.
Inhuman Resources
Short of a Chief Engineer tasked with stealing his own blueprints, traitor HoP is the easiest traitor job on the station. Give yourself all-access, use cargo for free parapens and guns.
