Yeah, there was a lot of that thought process going on.

you should be able to find coal or other fuel sources fairly easy.... especially if you have a map of local power plants, foundries etc... and if you in the kentucky,virginia area there are multi hundred ton stockpiles laying around.


yeah, poison spitting tendrils creeping into your camp should only occur in certain disreputable animated movies. of course if they are targeting the cannibalistic mutants trying to get in to eat you.....then it's a source of free entertainment.

Depending on how sadistic the mayor, self-appointed god king, or other guiding entity is, he might find it just as funny if it happened to be a citizen.  But that should be the exception rather than the norm, I would think.

For defenses: what do you think about living in a subway tunnel?  I know it's been done before, but I wonder how viable it is.

problem with tunnels is flooding, and how quickly the air can go bad. Mold mildew, and such can pull the oxygen out of the air in a confined area scary fast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackdamp

Well, disregarding the problems arising with food and water, it has some good and bad points.  So say you have a crap load of food and water...

Your settlement will be quite hidden and you can focus your defenses in pretty much two directions.  This also helps the enemy if they assault by letting them focus their forces.  But for the most part you can make your fortress extremely tough.

It also nixes any siege weapons other than ballistae.  The darkness does provide cover for the enemy.  If your defenses are breached though, you are in some deep starfruit.  You are reduced to running down the other main tunnel or maybe some access tunnels.  Where in an open area above ground everyone can scatter forcing a pursuing force to either focus or split up.

Fires, gases, and liquids are a serious problem with tunnel dwelling.

Being that I look at worst case scenarios, I would suggest against it.

See, the great thing about running a game is that the failed attempts only add to the horror. ;)  Imagine the players' surprise when they're told about a 'safe community', the last holdout at the very edge of a city... Only to show up and find every last soul dead.  Scorched, or trapped and mowed down after a valiant last stand.  Everything looted.  Or even worse: a natural disaster floods it and the whole place is underwater... Nothing but flood water and a few drowned corpses floating near the opening, to signal the final fate of the others entombed below.

This is why I'm just as willing to accept less functional forms as well.  If we can think of it, so can the would-be survivors.  And if it's doomed to fail, well, that just makes the situation seem all the more gloomy.  Just like in the weird west (a western prequel to the apocalypse one) ghost towns were frequently stumbled upon, less frequent failed settlements can be a good way to show just how violent and desperate the new world has become.
This message was last edited by the user at 02:03, Sat 16 Aug 2014.

In reply to Dark Devine (msg # 44):

If it's an ongoing campaign let things get bad.  REALLY bad.  Have the characters limp into the safe haven, they are FINALLY safe and secure.  Give them a couple of days for the safety to sink in.  Start having the town talk to them about new missions or thing that the town needs them to do.

Then RIP THE FRUITING rug out from under them!  I has more impact that way.  Let them get to know the townspeople.  Let them think they have safety.  They won't expect it!

One thing that works real well irl and in games

After you plant all you thorn bushes go through and set up a razer or barb wire fence along them so it will grow all around the fence and the fence is in the middle of a think mass of bushes.

This hides it very well and makes it very likely intruders will hurt themselves if they try and go through.

Works better though with non thorny bushes though I think....just have them tall and thick with no trees around, so they have to go through and can't go over

pfarland, I've done something similar once before with a different group.  They stopped off at the same village (it was a fantasy RPG) at least a dozen times throughout the campaign.. But those 'd*** orks' the townsfolk kept complaining about were 'beneath them'.  They never went and took care of it.  Every time they went through there were numerous complaints from townspeople, and about 8 game nights worth of foreshadowing (spaced periodically throughout about a year).  Things were progressively getting a little worse, they were hitting farms on the outskirts.  Still the PCs couldn't be bothered to waste their time.  Bigger problems to take care of and whatnot.  One day they came into the village, expecting their normal heroes welcome (despite the ork problem they did take out several other nasties)... But the village was gone.  Sacked.  Burned to the ground, and their (being the townsfolk) remains were graphically described among the wreckage and hanging from their own town walls.

Them's the breaks.  Shoulda done something about them 'd*** orks' instead of deciding 'they haven't been a big problem so far, the guards can handle it'.

They went on a warpath so to speak.  The PCs, I mean.  They stormed the area where they suspected the orks to be, but they had moved on six months ago.  Nothing but small reminders that they were ever there, including a dropped earring from one of the PCs' on-and-off romantic interest...

A bit dark, but dark is good.  Consequences usually aren't sunshine and rainbows.
This message was last edited by the user at 03:58, Sat 16 Aug 2014.

In reply to Dark Devine (msg # 47):

That's just good RP.  Plus, they kinda deserved that.

In reply to Azraile (msg # 46):

Not bad.  Not bad at all.  Could also put some other traps in the hedge row.  Bear traps and the like on the 'inside', after they think they've made it there's still a chance of breaking a leg. ;)

pfarland: Darn right they did.  :\   One of the players even said "Stop trying to wrangle us into a plot."  He seriously misinterpreted.  I never lead them, I only put the options there.  I never force them, but if they don't at least look into a situation there have to be repercussions.  That one was more extreme than most of my consequences, but honestly "They're raiding our farms" is sort of an escalation of force.  It'd have taken 4 level 15s a very short time to at least chase the orks off.

In one of my games a large amount of the cities souls were stolen by the midnight carnival. They managed to get there hands on one of the two phalactories but that was it. So they only saved half the souls.

On the bright side only having the souls for one of the two horrid evils in charge ment some drastic changes in management lol

On the down side they let the guy who had already sold his soul hold onto it.... And he promptly used the souls of several thousands to buy his back and claim more demonic power. Then told them he found a way to open it and set all the souls free.  X.x

Lol

Yay for city wide disastrous allowed by pcs

In reply to Dark Devine (msg # 49):

Lack of consequences is just one of my annoyances with fantasy campaigns.  Good to see at least one GM that doesn't let that happen.

But, yeah, pulling the rug out in a situation that the PC's have no capability to really respond to is a very good way to keep the grimdark setting in a post apocalyptic game.

Oh yah

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/...Midnight-Circus?it=1

Awesome supplement if you don't play WoD I might still adapt to your system

But now you got me wanting to use it in a post apocalyptic setting

lol can you imagine in a post apocalyptic setting.... A circus coming to town?  0.o

Oh sure it's an evil soul stilling body warping mind altering circus of death, but it don't seam like it... Not until it's to late!

Lol though I think anyone smart enough to survive the end of the world would be awfully suspicious about the place

I played one with some friends a while back.  Necropolis something or rather.  Savage worlds game.  We were given a choice...  Abandon a city and 500 citizens, or die with them.  That was it.   There was no alternative.  Not enough ships and the dead were leading a mass siege.  Our PCs ordered all NPC sergeants (the backups, think Imperial Guard in Warhammer 40k) to evacuate and the knights (elites, like Space Marines vaguely) stood their ground.  We were rewarded with a completely epic death though, and even got to draw up new knights a level higher than those we sacrificed.  Worst thing is, the way the GM ran it, I genuinely felt bad for the townsfolk NPCs.
This message was last edited by the user at 04:25, Sat 16 Aug 2014.

In reply to Azraile (msg # 52):

All I have to say is: get Hell on Earth Reloaded.  Seriously.  There's a carnival of the dead in it, lead by some screwy AI that went brain-fried.  It would send in an audio-recording on some kind of giant blimp (can't remember if it was a blimp or a hover-plane of some kind) and broadcast a cheery message about the carnival coming.  That night, hundreds of semi-intelligent zombie carnies would overwhelm and destroy.

Carnival!  Why didn't I think about using a carnival or amusement park as a settlement?  Has that been done before?

Heck, that would be the BEST thing about it.  If the GM got you to feel that, he was doing a better job than most other ones out there.

And somewhat.  Zombieland.  And it would be horrible to try and defend a place like that.  The only way I see a settlement springing up is for some sort of resource there.  If it isn't an already established town, there has to be a reason people chose it.

True, I was just thinking of creative ideas.  Seems a little outlandish though.  Also, we saw how well that worked in Z-Land. ;)  But yeah, no carnivals then.  Unless it's some kinda crazy mutant cult that worships 'the great wheel' (ferris wheel).  That could be interesting.

The GM did a very good job of it.  But then, I was also very emotionally committed to my character.  We all were.  So it was really a joint effort to make the world.  And that is what I don't really like about RPers these days, or at least the majority of them.  Everyone wants something but they don't want to contribute. :(

EDIT:

Apparently *** is still profanity on here.  This is news to me, I haven't read the rules in a looooong time and just decided to refresh myself.  Sorry to anyone offended by my asterisks.
This message was last edited by the user at 04:34, Sat 16 Aug 2014.

Noooo the midnight circus is much more subtle most people don't even know there soul is bing stollen or the guy next to them was just brutally murdered no no no that all comes later when they get home and the confetti that shot out of the target the guy held up for the archer is blood and the sure toy remember the horrid truth that the target was actually a brass ring he shot the flaming arrow threw not into

While I have no idea what you just said, I'll take it. :P

Back to structural defense brainstorming.  Burying buses, semi trailers, shipping crates and con-ex boxes are apparently good ideas for makeshift tornado/crisis shelters.  If you're ever running a P.A. game and want to utilize it, perhaps some pre-war survival types set some up somewhere and the PCs stumble across it?  Whether or not they're the first is entirely up to you.

LOL

There is an EXSTREAMLY powerful glamor over the midnight circus blinding people from it's true horrors for some time. Until they are fully entangled into them or they have been away long enough to realize what really happened.

One of the ring shows is the 'four horsemen' (of well you know) some people in the audience are given 'targets' these targets to hold up in front of them. The targets are brass rings, the glamor makes them seam to be wooded circles with the standard kinda arrow target on them.  Burring the act one of the horsemen shoots flaming arrows through the rings and into the hearts of the people that hold them up. The glamor makes it look like the arrows hit the targets and explode into glitter and the like.

There is also a side show where a (were) bear on a motorcycle with chainsaws chases clowns around..... There not clowns, and the blood is not fake....

Then there is the magic show... the exploding men dose not explode into puffs of smoke and ceffetie, and he dose not show back up in the audience perfectly fine .... he dose get dragged off stage though for the next part of the act.....

then there is a demonic whore house where anything is possible.... anything....


yah.... there is a lot of stuff there..... that is worse and worse, that I can not talk about here with out it getting deleted.  lol

It is down right twisted. While hiding behind a happy family safe face.

Sounds cool.  Off topic as heck, but cool. ;)  Moving on.  Anyone has any more suggestions for re-purposed goodies, especially anything large that can be utilized as part of a solid wall, let me know.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was off-topic, at 08:24, Sat 16 Aug 2014.

In reply to Dark Devine (msg # 61):

Well, I kinda need to know where the safe haven would be and how many years after the end.  And what kind of end, nukes tend to jack everything up where zombies tend to leave a lot of the fun stuff around.  There is just so much different stuff around and it's just a matter of thinking about what uses it has.

It also really depends on what your enemy is.  You always have humans, but if your other antagonist is zombies, you set up defenses differently than you do for mutant beasts.  Also especially with zombies the details matter.  Are they shamblers, runners, or do you have a full out Dead Reign spread?