1. Mental Parasite / AKA, Town of Salem "SCP Edition" (Subject Name: EREBUS)
This is to enforce further paranoia. Sometimes, one of the subjects will become a host for a parasite. This parasite is not a biological life-form that has a physical form, rather it is a very powerful psychic transmission that exclusively attacks the subject's mentality, affecting their behavior and even their abilities. This is orchestrated through private messages; I just select a random subject at a random time, tell that player they are infected with an invisible brain worm that uses its current host as a vector, trying to infect other subjects. In a certain period of time, players that have been infected have to find a way to get discreetly rid of the parasite. If they are discovered to be infected by other subjects or the researcher, they will be quarantined to avoid an outbreak and eventually terminated. If they manage to hide their condition but fail to cure themselves in time, they also die and the parasite will spread to another subject. Anytime there is an outbreak, the entire complex goes on high-alert so everyone will be fully aware that one of the subjects has been compromised; whether they attempt to deduce who has the parasite, hide to avoid getting quarantined or infected or just carry on obliviously is up to the players.
2. Roleplaying as an entire Room (Subject Name: NEXUS MARE)
I thought about leaving a special slot that lets a player literally roleplay as an entire room that is sentient and capable of changing its interior layout on a whim. The goal for this special character is a little different from the other test subjects; they cannot escape, as they are confined to Sector 13 which was built around it, so instead they can choose to either help the subjects or the researcher, or even just act impartial should they not see either side as favorable. It is literally a room, after all and aside from changing or making things like decor and furniture, it cannot actually move and is completely inanimate in that regard. There are limitations, but it does offer a unique niche for those that want to play as something very bizarre. Again, this is just an idea and nothing is absolute. While they are incapable of harming anyone (they can't like, create a couch to crush someone for example), they can hinder or help the subjects. Because this role plays outside the established rules of the RP, this may require some additional patching to ensure it doesn't become game-breaking or a negligent factor that loses its significance as an independant character.
3. Co-GM, playing as a secondary researcher
As the RP stands now, I currently only have one human character who runs the story and serves as the IC's GM representative. In case people like the idea but don't want to exclusively play as eldritch beings, I thought about allowing an additional slot for a second researcher who will be studying the test subjects. Due to the role of these researchers, they have to Co-GM. I'm personally not up for this, as while it'd be interesting to have two humans work together, it also means that the flow of this RP becomes more competitive since the two researchers would just team up together against the subjects. Not to mention I would have to change too many things to allow a Co-GM to join in.
1. I like the idea of the parasite, but you know, there are people who join an elimination role-play and have outright asked
can you please not kill off my character to the GM in seriousness. While I'm not saying to
not make an elimination a factor, I will ask you how difficult you think it will be to rid oneself of the parasite, before an issue arises with a player whose character dies, and they swear on their mother that they tried everything. Since it's a parasite of the mind, I don't suspect it will be too hard to get rid of, or that there is only one way to subdue or be rid of it, but without spoiling the fun, my question still stands.
2. Interesting concept, poor player agency. I can imagine that character's posts will be mostly comprised of rehashing introspective summaries of other player's words and actions, and a few wardrobe changes. It doesn't give the player any other reason to participate in the RP than to be a very limited support, as passivity can get to a point where it's a chore to be involved when a more opportune time for their one talent is available. This concept is best handled as a GM character, or some sort of typical functionality of the rooms themselves as orchestrated by the researcher (like a hologram thing). Otherwise--since we're free to make whatever we want in so far as what you've described is capable--let the players choose what to be. If someone signs up as a room, at least they have their own idea of how they want to play their character, instead of something that is especially regulated by the GM as a support.
3. No one quite knows your vision for your story and execution like you do, unless you worked with them on the idea from the start and have clear guidelines and an outline you both have in place to follow. I personally don't fancy the idea of a Co-GM in this instance for the reason that you're a fresh face here and so you haven't really had the opportunity to participate in a role-play to get a feel for who you could trust to understand your personality and motives and to cooperate sufficiently. Having fun chats from time to time is not the same as coordinating together to lead a group of people all on the same page for something you've described as being--to a point--experimental. Besides, you already said you're not for the idea yourself, so why even suggest it to
us? You're the GM; if you don't like it or find it to be a hassle, you have every right to dash it, especially now while we're still in the organization stage.