Turn 12 Results
-[X] Cull the Herd: several of the animals in your care are past their breeding age and just living till the end of their lives. It's time to put them to rest and get some more meat for the stores. Due to the closeness of winter, most of the meat will be smoked, salted, or otherwise preserved for use during winter. (Culls populations of pigs and chickens, increasing food stocks.) DC 25
- [X] Scavenge, Winter Prep edition: The food stores at the camp have started to become too low to sustain the cam through the winter to come. While there is still quite a bit of food available in Outland, it would also be possible to get a lot of food from grocery stores on Earth. Head back to Earth and take back all of the Food you can carry to try and last through the winter. Locks in 1 dice until full snow hits. Gains variable (base 1) food every turn until the end.
- [X] Gathering food, wild wheat field: The discovery of a wheat field has the camp in a tizzy about getting access to bread again. The wheat is nearing the end of its harvestability with the onset of winter but there is still plenty of grain available. You can also store the grain a lot easier than many other foods harvested from Outland. (+1 food, +1 additional food for every 20 past the DC threshold) DC 40
-[X] Set up electric lighting around the camp: One of the biggest discoveries in the Inventory stockpile was several diesel generators and enough electric lights to light up the entire camp, with some to spare. This would be a welcome thing to do as it would allow the camp to stay up later and for people to feel more secure. (Puts up electric lights for camp, lighting up at night. Provides a reduction to wild animal attacks against camp due to directed lights at several places on the fence.) DC 35
-[In Progress] Food for the Herd, winter preparations: The animals are going to need a lot of food to survive the winter. Jerry recommends that we immediately start harvesting what grass and feed we can and drying it for the animals in a separate area. (Each turn this is taken, adds 1 turn of animal feed to storage. It may be taken alongside Food for the Herd) Continuous until snow hits, DC 35 each turn
-[In Progress] Warmer clothes: People didn't care about the temperature until they knew when they were in the year. Now that they do have that information, however, they believe that they need to go back to Earth and get some warmer clothes in preparation for the winter to come. Take various people back to Earth in groups to get warmer clothes for the winter in Outland. (negates winter morale penalty) DC 35, 2 dice used, only rolls 1 for the result.
-[In Progress] Stronger Shelter: With winter on its way and many people still in tents, more of the metal shed will be needed for shelter. Go and search through supply stores, warehouses, and lumber yards for more pre-fab shelters you can use to help protect the campers. (Finds enough pre-fab shelters to make all housing next tier) DC 45
- [X] Scavenge, Winter Prep edition: The food stores at the camp have started to become too low to sustain the cam through the winter to come. While there is still quite a bit of food available in Outland, it would also be possible to get a lot of food from grocery stores on Earth. Head back to Earth and take back all of the Food you can carry to try and last through the winter. Locks in 1 dice until full snow hits. Gains variable (base 1) food every turn until the end.
- [X] Gathering food, wild wheat field: The discovery of a wheat field has the camp in a tizzy about getting access to bread again. The wheat is nearing the end of its harvestability with the onset of winter but there is still plenty of grain available. You can also store the grain a lot easier than many other foods harvested from Outland. (+1 food, +1 additional food for every 20 past the DC threshold) DC 40
-[X] Set up electric lighting around the camp: One of the biggest discoveries in the Inventory stockpile was several diesel generators and enough electric lights to light up the entire camp, with some to spare. This would be a welcome thing to do as it would allow the camp to stay up later and for people to feel more secure. (Puts up electric lights for camp, lighting up at night. Provides a reduction to wild animal attacks against camp due to directed lights at several places on the fence.) DC 35
-[In Progress] Food for the Herd, winter preparations: The animals are going to need a lot of food to survive the winter. Jerry recommends that we immediately start harvesting what grass and feed we can and drying it for the animals in a separate area. (Each turn this is taken, adds 1 turn of animal feed to storage. It may be taken alongside Food for the Herd) Continuous until snow hits, DC 35 each turn
-[In Progress] Warmer clothes: People didn't care about the temperature until they knew when they were in the year. Now that they do have that information, however, they believe that they need to go back to Earth and get some warmer clothes in preparation for the winter to come. Take various people back to Earth in groups to get warmer clothes for the winter in Outland. (negates winter morale penalty) DC 35, 2 dice used, only rolls 1 for the result.
-[In Progress] Stronger Shelter: With winter on its way and many people still in tents, more of the metal shed will be needed for shelter. Go and search through supply stores, warehouses, and lumber yards for more pre-fab shelters you can use to help protect the campers. (Finds enough pre-fab shelters to make all housing next tier) DC 45
The Project group eventually decided to split into several groups, with most of the groups, going back to where they were working from last week. The pattern from last week continued, with several groups under the management of Jerry. The groups all had input from Jerry but the majority of his time was spent culling the herd of animals. He said that he did this so that there would be fewer mouths to feed in the herd and more for the camp to use.
Roll=87+15(Professional Farmer)+5(Morale I)=107(Quadruple DC)(Artificial Crit)
It turns out that he was right in that respect. The herd provided a bevy of meat and other usable products once butchered, with the vast majority of it being put to use. The camp ended up collecting quite a bit of food for winter, with most of it being preserved. The influx of fresh meat also removed quite a few cultural barriers surrounding food and the camp had several cultural dishes made out of all parts of the animal.
Some of the older members of the camp gathered at a table that holds a pot of meat soup, enjoying the warmth that it brings to their system. One of the older men takes a big sip of his soup and sighs, resting his hands on his belly. "I can feel it getting colder, my knees are starting to get that feeling. Anyone else?" Several of the others grumble along in that most sacred of elder traditions, grumbling about the world in general. "At least we have some fresh food, I don't even remember the last time I had lengua soup." says an older Hispanic woman, part of her accent shining through. "I've gotta say, that was actually pretty good. I don't know why people look at it so funny," says a balding man with glasses. "It's because they didn't have the trouble we had growing up. They have that food security and so they didn't have to struggle as much for what they got." That causes a renewal in the rumblings of the group as they all talk about the good old days.
(+4 food. Food preserved for later use. Animals are not overly frightened by the loss of part of the herd. Temporary +1 Morale for reminding people of better times.)
[X] Gathering food, wild wheat field: DC 40
The group that found the wild wheat at the last turn was assigned to go back and continue to harvest the field of it. The wheat that was brought back the first time was welcomed and used as a type of cereal for the morning, being bland but still filling. People were still excited about it but there was no real way to turn it into a more usable product without a massive amount of effort.
Roll=2+6(Basic Information, Outland)+15(Professional Farmer)+5(Morale I)=28
It is as the group gets closer to the field that they hear the sound of a large group of animals in the area. They slow their approach and as they get closer to the location of the field, they realize that the sounds are getting louder. "It sounds like a bunch of deer, is it the herd that left the camp a while ago?" asks someone. "No, that wouldn't make sense," says Michelle while shaking her head. "That pack of deer left towards the south and we're somewhere North and West of the camp. Unless they circled around, this is another herd of deer." The group pauses when they get to the top of a hill looking over the field of wheat. The field of wheat, once so majestic looking, is partially trampled by the good-sized herd of deer around it. "Hey!" shouts Michelle as she starts running towards the herd. "Get out of there! This is our wheat!" "Sonofa- Michelle! Don't just rush straight in, we need to come up with a plan!"
Crit Fail Effect Roll=88
The noise spooks the deer and they turn to see the group of humans running at them, one of them in the lead. The deer all out and start to run, trying to avoid a confrontation with the numerically superior group of humans. By the time the rest of the group catches up with Michelle, she is staring at where the animals have run into an extension of the forest across from the group. "Jesus, Michelle. Don't just run off like that! What if the herd had decided to stand their ground?" asks one of the group members, breathing heavily as he looks at Michelle. Then he takes a look around at the field and curses. "Shit, they trampled a good chunk of the field. Is there anything left?" the rest of the week is just the group cataloging the damage, trying to get a sense of just how much more they could get from the field. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they'll be able to get much more, especially if they want what's left to grow back healthy in the spring.
(Failure, no food collected this turn. Crit fail means that only 2 food total is left here. The knowledge that a deer herd is in the area.)
[In Progress] Food for the Herd, winter preparations: DC 35
The last of the groups under Jerry's direction, this group was the one that he had led to getting food for the animal herd at the end of last week. As he had to oversee the culling of the herd this week, he has less time to spend with this group than he would like.
Roll=47+6(Basic Information, Outland)+15(Professional Farmer)+5(Morale I)=76(Double DC)
It seems like his efforts don't go to waste, however, as the group maintains the pace it had last week and is able to get more done for the same effort due to knowing what to do from last week. They manage to get quite a bit of animal feed to be dried in the supply area, managing to consolidate what was available into bales that took up less room.
(+3 Animal feed. 1 used to feed the animals this turn.)
As you work on feeding the animals, Jerry comes up to check on things. "How'd you all get along? Any problems with harvesting the feed for the animals or making them into Bales?" "No problems here, Jerry. We managed to get quite a lot of grass baled and set away for future feed for the animals," you reply as you continue to feed the animals. He nods and then watches the herd, thinking something over. You finish feeding the animals and then head out to get a bite to eat, leaving Jerry to keep staring at the animals.
[X] Set up electric lighting around the camp: DC 35
The one group in the camp that wasn't under Jerry this week was under Richard. They went around and started the process of stringing up lights in all of the major public areas and down some of the roads in the camp. The process takes some time, making sure that the lights are all connected properly and that they won't overload the generator. A day before the end of the week, Richard and his group finish plugging everything in and turn on the generator they have.
Roll=53+10(Organized Camp)+5(Morale I)=68
The camp lights up both literally and metaphorically as the lights, put in place over the last couple of days, all start to come on. People come out to look at the lights, excited for any semblance of Earth and lighting is an important step. The party that happens that day is a wonderful thing, especially the fresh meals that were made from the butchered chickens, pigs, and cows. The party goes on late into the night, providing some comfort to the camp.
(Lights are installed in the camp. Spotlights are installed at the border to be used at night or as needed. Engineering options unlocked)
A lot of people went to Earth this week, amounting to just under half of all the people in the camp. The groups are for several different tasks this week, with all of them doing something in preparation for the winter to come. "Alright, we have a couple of hours until the portals open back up again," announces Bill to the assembled people. "Make sure to meet back up here before the time to head back, that way we can do an accurate headcount to make sure we don't forget anyone. Otherwise, good luck! My groups, let's head toward the other side of town from where we searched last week."
[In Progress] Warmer clothes: DC 35
Bill goes over the ideas that the people in his group had brought up, thinking about where to go for everything. After getting a short distance away from the other groups, he brings everyone together. "Anyone have any ideas about what stores we should search next, aside from the ones on the other side of town? I'm open to suggestions." Several people speak up about possible places to search and one guy suggests they go to a storage warehouse that he had worked at for a while.
Roll=69+6(Basic Information, Earth)+10(Enthusiast of Dirt Bikes)+5(Morale)=90
Thankfully the trip to the warehouse is not needed as the stores they search through have a variety of winter clothes in many sizes. The groups manage to get several hundred items of clothing stuffed into various bags and boxes, bringing them back all they can to the meeting point. The process takes the better part of several days and by the time they finish, they have a large stack of various boxes and bags filled with clothes to bring back to Outland.
"What he have should be enough for the whole camp. I think we even have enough for people to try and be fashionable, as strange as that concept may be," says Bill with a smile. "I wouldn't exactly call it fashion," says one of the girls for the group. "We don't have more than a half dozen styles and cuts to choose from. While people will be able to tell each other apart, fashion will be the last thing on our minds." Bill holds up his hands to ward off the argument that's brewing and laughs. "Wow! No offense meant there, I just wasn't expecting much of anything in the way of clothes. I'm glad we have some choice at all rather than having only a single choice of varying sizes." Several girls shudder at that and there is more laughing as the people in the group compare what outfits they could make with the clothes they gathered.
(Success. Enough winter clothes gathered to negate the winter morale penalty.)
[In Progress] Stronger Shelter: DC 45
Matt and his group went out towards the areas of town that they hadn't searched to try and find more solid structures for the camp. They went over the areas they had checked last week to make sure they hadn't missed anything and when they found nothing else they explored the other home improvement and construction style stores they hadn't checked yet.
Roll=9+6(Basic Information, Earth)+10(Enthusiast of Dirt Bikes)+5(Morale)=30
In a twist to last week, the people in Matt's group didn't manage to find anything usable this week. The group searched the rest of the sites that they knew of in town and while there were several pop-up structures and build-a-shed kits that were found, they were unfortunately found under the fallen parts of buildings or were otherwise compromised. The team did find another mention of a warehouse outside of town when searching through paperwork on the areas, mentioning that the truck normally used for deliveries would be delayed due to engine issues.
"At least we know where to look next week," says Matt as he heads back to the meeting point with his group. "That particular warehouse being mentioned twice means that we need to search through it and any adjacent warehouses next week." Matt notices someone writing something on one of the ubiquitous notepads. "Are you noting that down? Good idea, I'll do the same." as Matt reaches for his notepad, the guy making notes looks up and says "I…actually wasn't but probably should. I was making notes of where the broken down metal sheds and pop-ups were so we can go salvage them for the engineering area in case we need spare parts or anything." "That…is also a good idea," says Matt after a moment of thought. "Thanks for noting that. I know if nothing else the engineers and the blacksmith would be willing to have metal parts they could repurpose."
(Failure. Only broken scrap remains at the sites searched this week. Sites marked for quick scavenging at a later date.)
[X] Scavenge, Winter Prep edition
The last group left under the lead of one of the supply technicians from the military contingent. "My name," says the man. "Is Supply technician James Wilson. I was chosen as the lead for this group as it was believed that my experience as a supply technician for the national guard would allow me to better organize people on what is basically a supply run. I have a list with me as submitted by the Canteen and from the project group of the things that we need to search for in the stores in the area. If anyone hears or sees something strange, let the rest of the group know immediately." The technician says this as he walks backward in front of the group. He turns and almost trips on a bike that was on the path. He gets off the ground, his face slightly red, and calmly moves it out of the way, ignoring the laughs from the rest of his group.
Roll=2+6(Basic Information, Earth)+10(Enthusiast of Dirt Bikes)+5(Morale)=23
Unfortunately, the experience sets the stage for the week as minor inconveniences or accidents befall the group. What makes the matter worse is that many of the stores that they visit are stripped bare of most things or are filled with perishables that have gone far rotten and moldy. They find several cans of vegetables in the backrooms but even those are suspiciously bare. The group is almost convinced that someone is just ahead of them when they come across the culprits.
"I just saw something ahead," whispers one guy to Technician Wilson. The technician gestures for the group to stop and says "Movement as just seen ahead. Everyone stay on guard." As he says this he reaches and pulls out a handgun from a pouch on his waist and readies it. "Move back," he whispers to the group. They comply and he shouts out "National Guard! Come out with your hands up!" There is silence for a minute and then low and disturbing growl echoes from the alley they are all looking at. Out of the alley steps a large German Shepherd, growling at the group. What's strange is that the animal looks visibly unhealthy, with parts of its skin showing through its coat and missing an ear. Several more dogs move out from behind the German Shepherd as it continues to growl, slowly spilling into the street.
The Technician slowly starts to step back, gun pointed straight at the animals. Once he reaches the group, he quietly says "You all need to start backing away slowly, don't turn or move too suddenly; it might cause them to attack pre-emptively." "What do you mean?" asks one of the girls in the group. "They're just dogs." She turns to the dogs again and says in a baby voice "Aren't they just the most precious little…" She trails off as she notices that the dogs have all turned toward her and started to growl. The technician starts blindly grabs to his side and pulls the woman behind him. "Stay behind me and don't let them notice you. You just made yourself a target and they might try to attack you instead if they see one of us being weaker."
"How do you know this stuff?" asks one of the group in a low voice. One of the dogs in the group looks at him when he speaks but then turns back to look at the Technician again when he makes a slow movement. "Listen, don't speak. If you speak, they'll target you. The only reason they haven't attacked yet is that we are too large a group for them and I am presenting as a major threat to them. Once you get around the next corner, you all need to book it for the rendezvous point as fast as you can. Don't look back, don't hesitate, just run." "But they're just dogs," says someone in a high-pitched voice. The dogs all start to growl now and start slowly moving toward the group. "Shit," hisses the Technician. "What did I say?!" shouts the Technician, causing the pack of dogs to pause. "These dogs aren't the dogs you're used to. They've been hungry, thirsty, and have likely had no meaningful human contact since Yellowstone. How stable or sane would you be after a similar situation?"
Crit Fail Effect Roll=75
That finally causes the group to shut up and start to back away at a slightly faster pace. Once they get to the corner, they round it and then run like hell is chasing them toward the rendezvous point. The Technician yells out "Fetch Doggies!" As he throws his lunch toward the dogs. There is barking from the pack and scuffling as the fresh food causes the pack to quickly stop and dive for the meal. The group makes it back to the Rendevou point and relays what happened to the groups there. "Let's get what we can through and then end early for today," says Bill as he looks over everyone. "We don't want to risk those dogs tracking us back here." The rest of the groups agree and move everything they can back to Outland, cover everything else, and then move back to camp.
(Nothing gained. Knowledge of aggressive dogs roaming about on Earth.)
Random Event Roll=06
The camp is startled when loud howls start to echo through Outland over the course of the week. It seems the Dire wolf pack is back and chasing after the deer herd chased away from the wild wheat field. The pack is seen in the distance and they do test the camp more than normal, prompting a heightened response from the border guard.
(Dire wolf pack focus on the area. For this turn, Roll a D20 for the number of Animal attacks instead of a D6)
Animal Attack Rolls: Needs to beat DC 40+15(Prepared Military)+10(Safer Fence, Safer Life)+5(Spotlights)=70
# of Attacks: d20(2)
Animal Attack 1: 88 (Negated By Border Guard)
Animal Attack 2: 10 (Failure)
Despite the intense focus of the dire wolves in the area, the camp only suffers from two attacks in that time frame. The first is another probing attack from the pack as a whole, necessitating the border guards to pull from the other posts to scare away the animals, with only a few of them wounded. The second attack comes later in the week when a younger dire wolf runs up toward the fence, looking at something. The guards watch it and start to raise weapons when they notice some movement near the base of the fence. They look down and see a rabbit, trying to run away from the dire wolf. The guards relax and watch as the dire wolf eventually corners the rabbit against the fence and catches it. The dire wolf spends some time eating its kill and then leaves, the rest of the rabbit carcass sitting near the fence.
AN: It seems like Muphy was having fun trolling me as I was writing this, giving me successes and failures right after each other. I STILL can't believe how low you rolled for that animal attack roll. I was all set to make some sort of battle and then the dice decided nope.
