Premier
You can and will be scrutinized by admins and players in your department.
| The Premier
"Arbiter, Diplomat and Babysitter all in one." |
Department:
Command |
Access:
All Access |
Supervisors:
None |
Difficulty:
Very Hard |
|---|
Being a Premier
The premier is one of the most powerful men on station. They may veto any vote or decision made by the council unless the decision of three or more heads of staff is unanimous against him. The hold an all access ID, a large amount of unique equipment, and a luxurious cabin. The only one with potentially more power is the AI. This is a very important role and should only be played by experienced players.
Special: Premiers are voluntary and is usually chosen from command staff regulars, but anyone of the appropriate age (+30 years) may volunteer and doing so does not count against your department limit.
Overseeing Command
The premier's main job is to ensure people within the colony are being treated fairly and conducting themselves properly in addition to fulfilling a wide variety of secondary roles. The premier therefore has the ability to decide a council decision is unfair and veto it at his discretion, change the alert level, going to red alert, contacting faction owners, calling an evacuation, and coordinating station-wide emergency evacuation and defense.
In the absence or lack of a head for a specific department, effort should be made by the premier to help any staff in the department. This does not mean you can assume an acting position of that department
It is the premier's job to make sure that all the heads of staff are communicating and leading their departments properly. They should not involve themselves directly in departmental matters unless asked by the head of staff responsible, however the premier may step in if they feel that the matter is being handled poorly. This does not give him any actual authority over the relevant head of staff or members in that department, he may merely choose to step in to resolve the matter peacefully if he feels he can help.
Controlling the Crew
As premier, you are here to keep things running smoothly. There really is no way to tell you exactly how to run things, many people have different leadership styles. However, as premier, there are some things you should be aware of:
- Only involve yourself when there is nobody else available to do the job. If you get involved in every security matter when there's already a warrant officer, it is suggested you get a job change. If there isn't a head for a specific department, you're not the acting head but should aid anyone there.
- Delegate whenever you can. If someone says 'Premier, my arrest is unfair!' then you order your warrant officer to go review it. Do NOT attempt to over step him yourself. You won't earn any favors or respect doing so.
- Follow the Chain of Command. You oversee the council. The heads command their departments. Try not to skip them in the decision making process. They are the ones who should know their own departments best. Orders from you to any crew member, except your guards, can be ignored without repercussion. Remember that.
- Keep calm and carry on. As the premier, every shift should be a normal and productive working day. However, be prepared to deal with any or all of the following: Incompetent or absent heads, subversive elements, angry crew members banging down the bridge door trying to get in, corrupted AI's on a war path, killer meteor strikes, plagues, faulty electrical gear and the occasional aftermath of an Armageddon against the colony, thanks to a range of the above. And it's your job to manage it all. Good luck.
Alerts and SOP
You have control of the station's alert level. See Standard Operating Procedure for more details.
Equipment
There are many items in your cabin, but not all of them should be used all the time. Premiers are not supposed to involve themselves in station matters, such as security, unless asked and you should not expect things to go wrong, so wearing your special armor and carrying a lethal energy on green alert may not be required. You are allowed to carry a weapon for self-defense, though it should not be lethal. The 'chain of command' item is a novelty, and should really not leave your office. The telescopic baton relies on brute damage to topple the target, and does not stun in any way, so use it sparingly.
Your armor and helmet function as a void suit, but this does not mean you should be wearing it all the time. The antique laser gun in the glass case is an antique and should be treated as such, it shouldn't leave its case, and is highly valuable.
The spare premier ID, handheld teleporter, and nuclear authentication disk should be placed somewhere secure, for example the secure safe on your wall, or a secure briefcase.
Despite having access, you may not freely take any weapons, armor, or supplies from either the marshal or blackshield armory. You are given all you need for your job within your room and the command armory. Additional equipment must be obtained by either purchasing it from cargo, the supply specialist, or scavengers. Taking anything from either armory will result in you being charged with grand theft and exceeding official powers in addition to an immediate non-negotiable demotion with possible permanent barring from taking this position again.
Authority
The premier has the final say on any council decision unless the vote is unanimous from three or more heads of staff. The premier has absolute authority only for his own guards and all heads of staff and colonists may treat his demands as suggestions only. Premiers should follow the law and Security has the power to arrest the premier if they do not. The only time the law may be overridden is if there is an imminent and overwhelming threat to the station.
Dangers
The Nadezdha is often under threat from various criminal organizations and natural planetary hazards. As premier, is it your job to assist in dealing with this threats when asked and make sure that they do not interfere with normal activity aboard the colony.
Most of the time, your in-house Security, Medical, and Engineering forces should be sufficient to deal with the threat. Therefore, you are not expected to have to deal with such matters by yourself, save for when you have not been supplied with them, or you feel they are incompetent.
Links to Other Departments
As a premier, you have direct authority only over your guards. When it comes to other departments, your primary job is to coordinate everyone's actions. Your premier's headset lets you talk to all heads of staff and hear any department's radio channel. If a department has a head of staff, your primary interactions will be with them, because they (should) know how to run their department. Without a head of staff, you may have to step in. With or without a head to work with, make sure each department has the information and supplies it needs to work well.
The Reassignment: A Way of Life
Your other job is reassigning people when they come to your desk with one or more access requests. Make sure that he or she has a good, justified reason to want a job change. A chef who suddenly wants to become a ranger is a good example of someone who should be heavily scrutinized.
Feel free to deny someone's transfer request if you get a poor explanation as to how someone suddenly came into possession of his or her sudden inter-department knowledge (My uncle was in a war/I read it in a book/I just know, are all pretty bad reasons). Alternatively, set them up with a subservient, or assistant position, until they've proven that they can do the job correctly (custom assignment titles are useful for this!).
You're Hired, Welcome Aboard
If someone's job transfer request isn't completely ridiculous, then it's time for you to do some background checks. Make sure the crew member knows what they're (going to be) doing inside of his or her new department. Once you've determined someone is a potential candidate for a job transfer, it's a good idea to grab one of several versions of job transfer form. Pick out one that you like and give the form to the guy waiting for his job change; ask him to fill it out. Keeping a record of all of the access changes you give out is key to keeping everyone else informed about what you're doing and keeping you out of the brig.
Here comes the hard part. Now that you have a filled out form, you should get it signed and stamped by an appropriate head of staff. Usually, this involves getting the department head's attention in one way or another, be it talking to them over the radio or sending your man to the department itself. Again, keeping a record of a department head's consent on file is usually one of the best ways to prove that your access change wasn't completely illegal. The shorthand version of this process would be to inform the head of staff in question about the transfer over the Command radio channel and get quick consent from there.
Finally, when everything is signed, stamped, and filled out, you can sign the form yourself. Ask the man for his identification card so that you can officially give them the requested job title and access. Unless someone would like a specific job title, make sure to use the generic job titles near the top of the screen so that security can identify that person much more easily with their fancy SecHUDs.
In the event a head of staff isn't present and someone is requesting access to a new department, such as an engineer wanting to become a prospector, check they're records and see if they are normally assigned to these positions or have an adequate history to support such as change, such as the engineer working as a salvager before or a long term frontier scavenger. If their history does not support the job change you should deny it.
Lastly, always keep in mind, while you technically have the power to promote someone to a head of staff you should only do so upon a unanimous vote by all current active heads of staff.
You're Fired
As well as handing out job transfers, it's also well within your power to demote people and take those jobs away.
Occasionally, a head of staff will request that a crew member be demoted for varying reasons. All heads of staff are within the right to demote members of their own department, and it's your job to fulfill that need. A head of staff cannot physically remove a crew member from the colony entirely, however. That's something only faction owners would need to be contacted to do, as there would need to be special transportation or arrangements to do so.
Rarely will a crew member be removed from his or her position as a colony employee entirely. Only the council has the power to authorize such a procedure and it is seldom practiced. However, it has happened on numerous occasions. When a crew member is removed from the colony, he or she is essentially "exiled": that person is given no job, pay, or privileges and is removed from the colony on the next shift end pending further review by their respective faction owner.
In Case of Emergency, Break Glass
Sometimes people need access to certain departments in an emergency, and the AI isn't up to the task of opening doors for people. Feel free to hand out emergency access to people such as marshal officers and blackshield troopers if the situation calls for it. Once the crisis has been averted, however, make sure to call them all back so you can revert them to their standard access. A number of people really do not like it when crew members go walking into their department for no real reason just because they have access to it. Handing out unapproved and unjustifiable access is one of the fastest ways to get you demoted.
Roleplaying Tips
- In terms of roleplaying, you have a lot of freedom. You should really have some basic knowledge of how each department runs (NOT how to do them all), and who the heads of them are, but outside that you could really have as much (or as little) knowledge as you want. You can play with a background in a certain field, but you should NOT be able to do everything (i.e. Being able to set-up the Engine single-handedly AND also knowing how to do surgery AND knowing how to make bombs is probably going too far). Just remember though, a very incompetent Colony Director doesn't make too many friends.
- Keep in kind premiers are often volunteers from heads of staff among the various groups, having intimate knowledge from the department you're normally a head of staff of is perfectly fine but always remember that you have no official powers if you volunteer as a premier.
- Leave Security matters to security, you don't (and shouldn't) need to step in on every criminal situation. You may act as an lawyer for a criminal requesting it but the warrant officer is better suited for it and you should defer security matters to him. Only step in if you think that a decision could endanger the station or crew.
- Do NOT run around the station with guns, chasing criminals. That's someone else's job
- Don't think that just because you're the premier, that you can do anything you want. That's the absolute worst thing to do. You're there to make sure everyone else is doing their job, not to do it for them.
- Your armor is heavy protective armor that is space capable. It is not for walking around in all the time, and would be anywhere from extremely uncomfortable to debilitating exhausting depending on your premier's physical strength and stamina to do so. There is an armored vest in your locker if you absolutely feel the need to wear armor when the full set isn't appropriate, but keep in mind you shouldn't be expecting to really need the armor under the majority of situations.
- You are the uplink between players and staff. Pen and paper are your strongest tools. Any fax sent or signed by a premier is generally taken under more review, and requirement for a staff response. Likewise, you are player equivalent of an event runner, you have a command bank account to use to levy out tasks to departments that might be bored. Along with this, it is more likely that staff will respond to event requests by a premier trying to set up an event to send another department to handle. Usually via A-helping staff to request a custom event for the premier to introduce to other departments they think could use the activity.
