Expand TERRA
More support and opportunity

Very good points raised here, Necro.

I agree that your natural enemy in the wild will always be a gang member. Often times gang members laser focus on a PC Agent while ignoring the NPC agents that patrol by the hundreds. Going against the gang member is seen as taboo and a "what are you doing?!?" From most people adjacent to you because of the meta and dynamics of the mix. That's not to say TERRA lacks resources to deal with that kind of behavior, and that gangers never experience the "Find out" portion, but it takes awhile to get their in most cases.

I still support uniformed agents because that is a role to fill. Whether it be a mixer who wants to "change the system from the inside!" Or an agent who wants to walk the beat and shake down the stores for protection money, it's still a valid and sustainable role if gangers and shroud killers would allow Agents breathing room.

I have seen generations of TERRA where all the PCs in it played undercover. I've seen generations where none did. In each generation it was a combination of what the GMs wanted to push as theme at the time and what the players wanted to push at the time. his does change a lot over time. I've even seen generations that tried to build up more rounded teams, recruiting medics, investigators deckers and the like and not just baton swingers. I know my TERRA PC tried to do so.

I have mixed feelings about increasing the number of NPCs you can tote about for any role. I may be in the minority but I feel that how much a PC can rely on their faction to solve their problems should be very limited. Upping these numbers is problematic in my eyes. Instead,

I think the backup system used by gangs should be fixed or removed. If there are already two NPC gangers present, no more come running. If not, only one or two come depending. I'd even be fine if it was simply removed.

Another aspect I would love to see fixed, if it hasn't already been done, is making it so NPCs drop out of fights instead of getting back up and joining in again and again in a forever loop.I've had one of my PCs stuck killing them simply to deal with this and that resulted in massive IC consequences even though mechanics forced me to either kill them all or eventually lose.

As far as a TERRA vehicle goes, I have mixed feelings. Maybe it would help. Or maybe the third agent given access gets tinted windows installed then operates full time from the car. I'm not sure. Could be good. Could be bad.

Firearms… I simply dislike their state in the game entirely. Sure. have laws. But also make using them not so troublesome. Though this a tangent, I kind of hare half the detectors in the game. Same with half of the weapon checks. They seem to give too much with little to no UE or play investment. This and the often complete lock down or extreme limitation on smuggling them in. Outside of using questionable tricks. I guess I like more options for players to use firearms ICly, including this change.

And I agree TERRA shouldn't be a good guy agency. But I also don't think it needs to be an agency. I think it's best as a mixed bag and for players to be allowed to play the concept they like most as long as it fits reasonably enough.

"There's already an undercover position at TERRA iirc. I think it's lesser known though and in my own experience, once you're accepted into the patrol job, you can't switch.

I also think making undercover agents the norm will do the opposite for the desired role for law enforcement RP in the mix. That can't be done if everyone in TERRA is playing an undercover spy. What'll happen instead, I expect, is people will catch on and the rep will get worse. "

If there is, it is not made known to new hires, which means you have to recruit someone to a program you know nothing about. Without giving away IC details, my character made an entire outline for a proper undercover program that was very detailed and very GM-lite and was simply told "that's not what we do here." I think that was a ton of missed opportunity. I think an undercover program, one with proper support and oversight, would add an entire new flavor and branch to LE RP. Not everyone should be in it either. I don't think this will deter good crime, because a good criminal should always be paranoid of the company that they keep.

"What I'd rather see is TERRA agent players be allowed to travel in larger NPC packs. The max a group of same-faction players can bring with them is two. I think TERRA should allow 4-5."

But what does this solve? The problem with TERRA is largely that it needs increased tools, mobility, resources, and a more grounded law enforcement dynamic. Interesting and scalable RP aside from the combat loop. This really only adds a spam factor and is probably still useless against your main adversaries. Aside from that, I've found that walking around with tons of NPC's(I did take four once not knowing there was a rule which I learned afterwards) and it actually slowed me down and made it impossible to catch the person.

"Arrest-wise, you can already do this under the right circumstances. You just have to create them, which probably means being crooked unless you're legitimately attacked or stop a crime in progress. I wouldn't be opposed to making it a legit part of their job though. I wouldn't give them cuffs though. "

You can arrest anyone you want if you have the ability to do so currently, be it a legit bust or a planted disposable pistol on the perp to bring them in. The difficulty comes in with the OOC rule that you can only hold them for 1 hour unless you constantly interact with them or they agree to be in custody. I don't really have that much of an issue with that rule.

"Last thing. I actually hated legalization of firearms for TERRA. I liked it better when you had to be a criminal like anyone else and either deal with it or have a Judge in your pocket to overlook it."

This kind of just sounds like a vibes based response that ignores the balance, rp opportunities, and internal consistency of law enforcement rp in the mix. Not everyone gets a gun either, and it comes at expense to the gun person. It also creates a better TERRA –-> WJF pipeline IMO.

"I suppose all of this is to say that TERRA shouldn't really be a good guy agency. The paragon of Law should be an outlier at TERRA, and agents should be visible more often than not. "

I am not suggesting TERRA be a "good guy agency" in the slightest, but I am suggesting that Law Enforcement be the center of a Law Enforcement agency and should see some sort of increased support from the government that contracts it and the WJF.

"As far as a TERRA vehicle goes, I have mixed feelings. Maybe it would help. Or maybe the third agent given access gets tinted windows installed then operates full time from the car. I'm not sure. Could be good. Could be bad."

Vehicles are not fortresses. I think TERRA mainly needs vehicles or a vehicle based on a situation I was once in where the WJF needed a captured perp to be brought to the Hall and they were not coming to pick them up themselves. That was….interesting. It got done, but in an entirely unrealistic way. I feel even a jalopy provided to TERRA also encourages a character to invest in driving, opens up avenues for mechanics, and adds to the general paranoia in the mix. Most factions already have a vehicle too, and while this would be a separate topic, they just sit there. I think a TERRA faction vehicle would be utilized more than say an ambulance.

I think you make a great observation Froggy, and it mirrors my own experience in TERRA. I DID NOT have the gruesome beginner experience because my character joined TERRA after a year of being in the game and learning the field, so to speak. It was still rough, but not nearly as bad as it was for others whom rolled characters and walked right in to TERRA.

As far as the vehicle, I am not suggesting this to the letter, but US cops usually get assigned what is referred to as a "take home car" and they use it to show presence in the neighborhoods. While I don't advocate sleeping in your TERRA issued paddy wagon, I don't think it would be terrible if they sit at an intersection for a while and watch for crime (or be a beacon for a gang with sledgehammers) and then turn it in or something later. I think in Sindome we give too much attention to "You could have this thing, BUT…" and add trivial weights as "balance".

"Would it make sense to set new TERRA agents up with a PC 'partner' when possible? Buddy-cop style? That might make it a little easier for people to get started out as well provided there are enough people to facilitate that."

That has always been an option and doesn't really address anything. The faction seems to go through varying ebb and flow numbers of population and lining up scheduling to patrol together depends entirely on various factors, but nothing stops you from doing that as is and the fundamental flaws of TERRA would still be present.

CHEX, Skyfox, and the Clone Angels allow their employees free use of vehicles as long as they're not doing anything out of the ordinary with them. I don't think it'd be a big deal for TERRA to be allowed a vehicle or vehicles, and to not have it policed so hard that they're rarely ever used at all.

Staff has been discussing TERRA off and on for months now. There are some ideas floating around among the team to improve the faction, but we haven't come to any consensus yet. We're regularly bringing up ideas from threads like these as we continue to discuss.

So keep on discussing!

Now a couple of comments on things mentioned in the thread.

A 1 hour detainment policy was mentioned above with regard to TERRA. This policy does not exist. Detaining individuals as a TERRA agent falls under the same rules as help kidnapping. This is as per our Head GM, Mono, on 11/30/2025. This means you can hold and detain a character up to 24 hours so long as someone is able to engage that player with RP every few hours (1-2 is preferred, but 3 is the maximum). I've seen players on multiple occasions work around this by arranging times to reconvene RP, for example when one or both parties need to sleep or go to work. The same is true of extending that 24 hour period. Both of these are allowed so long as both parties occly agree (thus these are acceptable uses of local ooc).

Second, it is possible to play undercover in TERRA. Past agents have been authorized to do this, but it is rare. There are no dedicated undercover positions in the terminal, but that does not prevent you from playing as such. TERRA is currently meant to be seen in its current theme. Like all in-game rules/policy, feel free to break from the norm at your own risk. There also appears to be interest in seeing forensics and investigators taking a larger role in TERRA, so this may be adjusted as part of our desire to bring change to the company image. No promises though.

(Edited by Logic at 11:06 am on 12/1/2025)

(Edited by Mench at 2:48 pm on 12/1/2025)

I had to deal with it and have an ooc chat with the detainee to reconvene when you two can and it was fine. Life happens, and schedules can be hard.

Yes. That's why you'd have to work it out oocly with the trapped player. And at such times when an agreement is reached to reconvene, give that player access to sic so they aren't trapped in an RPless void.

There are other places to trap characters too. Being TERRA doesn't mean you have to trap them at TERRA. Some food for thought in the event you have others that could provide RP for you when you have to be absent. It's always good to think outside of the boxes the IC world puts on you, intentionally or otherwise.

Just to adjust expectations and correct an earlier post, there is no support for a vehicle for TERRA.

YES! ROBO DOGO PARTNERS! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CAN WE DO THIS?!