Not to be confused with the men of plasma.
Sometimes derogatorily referred to as "Hotheads" or "Gasbags", Plasmamen are sentient non-humans hired by Nanotrasen to fill in gaps in their Human workforce. Plasmamen are barred from most authority roles on Nanotrasen stations and are not protected by Asimov's laws of robotics.
Plasmamen are often referred to as a 'hard mode race' for Space Station 13: they move at a slower speed than other races; they must wear a special jumpsuit and helmet in order to avoid burning; they must breathe plasma instead of oxygen, forcing them to carry a plasma tank at all times; fire and laser damage is doubled against plasmamen, making them especially fragile. Under normal circumstances they cannnot survive cloning or surgical procedures.
History
Plasmamen (formal name 'Effigens', scientific name 'Ossius Pyrus') were only recently discovered by Nanotrasen explorers. They are primarily plasma-based creatures, lacking any significant internal anatomy. They breathe plasma gas in a way that appears similar to how humans breathe oxygen. They bear striking similarities to the human skeleton, which lends credence to the claim that there may be a common link between the races. Their clan-like colonies are fairly isolated, deep within the otherwise hazardous atmosphere of Gas Giants. Despite (Or perhaps due to) being a secluded species, they are quite inquisitive, and were eager to engage in a cultural exchange program with Nanotrasen. Personality-wise, they vary almost as much humans, although they tend towards being peaceful, ordered and non-aggressive. They are an industrious and scientific race, preferring to rely on technology rather than their form, especially in the "hazardous" environments that support human life.
Plasmamen, before Nanotrasen intervention, existed in complex societal structures, grouped into clans of convoluted hierarchies near-impossible for most humans to understand or care about. These clans appear to have co-existed peacefully for as long as most Plasmamen can remember, through continuous negotiations around fair resource allocation both between and within their clans. Some elder specimens interviewed do recall brutal conflict in the distant past, but the destructive nature of violent death caused far too much collateral damage to continue. Eventually, physical intervention was replaced by complicated hierarchical structures intended to prevent as much conflict and offence as possible. These attitudes towards careful respect remain evident in the majority of Plasmamen crew will encounter on station.
Roleplay
Plasmamen names are of the form "Name RomanNumeral", where the names should generally be something chemistry related. Names such as Halogen XVI, Ionium CVXI, Radon MXI, are generally good examples of the format.
In general, Plasmamen are steadfast, extremely polite and unreasonably concerned about the rank of themselves and others in the station hierarchy. They will often spend a great deal of effort ensuring they have the preferred honorific of those they address, appending it to the end of most sentences. Plasmamen respectfully use common honorifics such as Sir, Ma'am, Officer, Doctor, Captain for crew who request them. With each other, they may use any number of their own designations, with often unpronounceable consonant clusters based on their own clans and strange customs (Some recorded examples are: Kzzt, Krrn, Zrrn, Krkt, Tstfn and Qvlnl). Though sometimes slow and difficult to work with at first, once comfortable, Plasmamen tend to be among the most helpful crew on station, gladly assisting those of any rank above and below themselves, and always looking for opportunities to do so.
Plasmamen, despite their inclination to assist, are often extremely wary of physical intervention in violent events, except in self-defence or defence of the station. In their fragile suits, it is fairly expected that they wish to avoid physical confrontation, though if forced, some have been seen to demask, briefly igniting in a terrifying spectacle before rehooding as a form of threat. Whether this display is an ancient custom or newly acquired in the oxygen-rich environments of Nanotrasen stations is unknown, though it does seem to vary from clan to clan as many of their customs do. Do not be offended if a Plasmaman awaits the aftermath of a conflict before assisting those injured. They are merely preserving their own safety and that of others.
Gameplay
NOTE: Plasmamen start with their sealed clothing, a plasma tank in hand and a breath mask in addition to their job's equipment. Keep you internals on at all times, so that you don't suffocate from a lack of plasma.
Plasmamen are a optional playable race. You can make a plasmaman character in the character panel. They do not have unique aspects that can be customized.
Due to their Plasmic based biology, they spontaneously burst into flame in the presence of an oxidizer (oxygen). They have special sealed suits to prevent this, made up of a jumpsuit and a spaceworthy helmet.
The jumpsuit contains a self-extinguisher with 5 charges, which activates when the plasmaman is wearing both the jumpsuit and helmet and is on fire. There is a cooldown between automatic extinguishes. Plasmamen helmets are flash-proof, so this lets the average plasmaman do welding without risking eye injury. The helmet obstructs eye and ear items from others, and only the plasmaman themself can take them off without removing their helmet. Neither jumpsuit nor helmet are fireproof.
Plasmamen may eat, but must take off their helmet and breath mask to do so. However they will not become hungry.
Plasmamen breathe plasma, and carry their own plasma gas tanks; unlike standard plasma tanks, these can be carried on their waist. These plasma tanks are not stocked on the station, but additional tanks may be ordered in supply crates. A plasmaman's body will not release plasma into their environment.
Plasmamen take twice as much damage from fire and lasers. They have no blood to remove from them. Chemicals, including food and drinks, can be injected into their bodies through their jumpsuits. Plasmamen are not susceptible to most viruses or diseases, including appendicitis; the only disease that affects them is blight from a revenant.
Once dead, a plasmaman's chances of being brought back to life are smaller than the average crew member. Defibrillators don't work, because plasmamen do not have a heart. Cloning a plasmaman will almost always fail, because the developing body will burn in the cloning pod's atmosphere. Cloning a plasmaman is possible but difficult, requiring measures such as brain transplants or building cloning machines in a room with no oxygen. Blood cannot be drawn out of a plasmaman, so they cannot be turned into a Podman (without turning them into some other species first).
Surgery can be performed to remove a plasmaman's brain from their often burning body; fortunately the brain won't burst into flames and can be used like any other brain.
The AI does not consider plasmamen human and is not obligated to listen to them. Also, certain crew members will show depths of racism previously reserved for the clown. Centcom also maintains a strict "Human-Only" policy for Command Staff appointments. But hey, flaming skeletons!
Lore
Plasmamen have evolved from a new type of Plasma based life, where Plasma substitutes for the Carbon in a normal human biology. This life developed in and on the surface of asteroids in the Centration belts, until eventually Plasmamen emerged. After spreading from rock to rock, Plasmamen did not form a unified society, and instead formed their own small clans of 10-100 people, living in carved out spaces inside the asteroids. Occasionally they attach engines to convert their homes into ships. They excel in gas works, and have minor skill in cloaking technology (their love of cloaked helmets comes to mind, though Nanotrasen has banned this aboard stations). However, the species has not created hyper-spatial travel, and operates on very outdated computer technology.
