Not to be confused with the men of plasma.
Sometimes derogatorily referred to as "hot heads," or "plasmemes," 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.
History
Plasmamen are only a recently discovered species, operating out of large enclaves in the asteroid belts around Centration. Their biology allows them to subsist off the pure plasmic crystals found in the rock where they make their homes. In 2532 first contact was made, and shaky trade deals were worked out. Recently, several asteroid enclaves under the "Rightful Nanotrasen Land Claims Act" have voluntarily joined Nanotrasen's work crews as a source of income. Now, a select few have been allowed to staff the special Space Station 13 research hub, due to their experiences handling and working with plasma.
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. This name format is not used in random names; those are identical to human names.
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 recoreded 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, though happy to assist, are often extremely wary of physical intervention in violent events, except in self-defence or defence of the station. In their fragile state, it is fairly expected that they wish to avoid physical confrontation, though if frightened, 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 Plasmamen awaits the aftermath of a conflict before assisting those injured. They are merely preserving their own safety and that of others.
Gameplay
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. They have special sealed suits to prevent this, made up of a jumpsuit and a spaceworthy helmet. Plasmamen helmets are also flash-proof so this lets the average plasmaman do welding without risking eye injury.
Plasmamen breathe plasma, and carry their own plasma gas tanks; unlike standard plasma tanks, these can be carried on their waist. Plasmamen don't release plasma into their environment.
Plasmamen do not have blood. Chemicals can be injected into their bodies through their jumpsuits.
A plasmaman's chances of being brought back to life are smaller than the average crew member. Cloning a plasmaman will fail, because the developing body will suffocate from a lack of plasma in the air. Surgery can be performed to remove a plasmaman's brain from their burning body; fortunately the brain won't burst into flames and can be used like any other brain. Since plasmamen lack blood they cannot be turned into a Podman.
Note that as a plasmaman, the AI does not consider you human and is not obligated to listen to you. Also, certain crew members will show you 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.
Notes
Plasmamen start with their sealed clothing, a plasma tank in hand and a breath mask in addition to their job's equipment. You'll need to switch on your internals soon after joining so that you don't suffocate from a lack of plasma.
