Week 1: Design PhaseRolling is done using higher-is-better, and using 3d6. This tends to smooth out and normalise probabilities, so it’s a bit less swingy. I’ve decided to tie break using a coinflip, too. 1 is Spears, 2 is Concrete. Generally, a result of 12 is perfectly average, and results above or below that get respectively better and worse at a faster rate.
The Newcomers realise things quickly: they are the Newcomers, and they can’t continue this ramshackle method of running around and getting things done like this anymore. As such, they have to organise. The scout patrol has a nagging feeling about the outside world too, and so they work on a plan for first contact. However, there is a bit of a tussle over cracking into the concrete or getting weapons done. Optimism vs Pragmatism lock horns for the first time, the dual possibilities that people out there might be hostile, and that the Newcomers might be able to build in peace, clash….
Contact Protocol Roll: [13] No Prototype
The first thing that captures the imagination of the Newcomers is the idea of people out there, right now. So, their minds drift towards how to meet them.
New Field: Diplomacy Level 1Organisation XP: 5/10The ideas are simple enough. Keep their aims in mind at all times, and work around them, telling them what they want to hear. The fault points lie in discovering their aims and figuring out what they want to hear. Regardless, they do feel a little bit better prepared for the outside world, and this knowledge leaks into the ad-hoc organisation of the Bunker.
Social Delegation Roll:[12] Prototype
The second thing that is collectively decided is that this current system of organisation sucks. So, they turn their heads towards those charismatic people…
Organisation: Level 1 XP 10/20New prototype: Head ThinkerThis new theorising is best described as a jam between those who are charismatic, trying to impart their emotional intelligence in an easy to understand fashion. However, slowly, they come to realise that maybe assigning a leader is a good idea for tasks like this. As such, they soon assign a
Head Thinker, a Newcomer with skills in organisation to streamline theorisation.
Tie-Break! Roll:[1]
The tie-break comes down to simple chance. A bang heard on the bulkhead, then, nothing. The Newcomers become scared, and a frenzy descends on the bunker. Proponents of the study of concrete become smaller, but continue to argue that it was just a hailstone or a tree branch.
Get to the Point: Roll:[8] No Prototypes
Fear is not conducive to good thoughts. The study of pointy weapons goes along earnestly, but with too much power-fantasy (and a lack of available materials.) It is figured out rather quickly that maybe the plastic in those crates might be a good idea, as some of it is in poles that could be sharpened.
New Field: Weaponry Level 0 XP 3/10New Field: Melee Weaponry Level 0 XP 5/10However, without actually allowing themselves to crack into those stores, they can’t actually do much. And besides, some of the theorised designs are made to look powerful without being good weapons.
It is now the Design Phase, and the time has come to put those ideas into action. General knowledge must be turned into repeatable action: design. Ideas turned into training and consistent application. Physical things created.
The Design Phase is simple. Using your current knowledge of a field, perhaps based on an earlier theorem, put it into practice. A doctrine can become entrenched. For example, Paramedic Training (and what that entails) could be a design. A weapon or vehicle design could be used. Designs have three rolls: for Expense, for Efficacy, and for Bugs. Paramedic training could be slow to teach, hugely effective, but actually enshrine a small piece of wrong information, for example. During the Design Phase, Two designs, or one Design and one revision, are allowed. A revision is simply to fix bugs in the original design, or give some new functionality. To continue the example, Paramedic Training could be revised, so that a paramedic knows what to do during combat.
Materials: Level 0, EXP 0/10.
Precursor materials such as plastic and metal can be used in a very primitive way. But we have no way of replicating their manufacture.
Allows:
Mining: Iron Ore
Mining: Copper Ore
Fuel and Power: Level 0 EXP 0/10.
The generators in our bunker thrum. But we cannot understand them. Not yet.
Organisation: Level 1 EXP 10/20.
We know now we need a leader. Assigning the leader can be fraught with problems, but it helps us a lot.
Tactics: Level 0 EXP 0/10.
Any military knowledge we might have had at some point is lost.
Allows: Scout Team
Fabrication: Level 0 EXP 0/10
We can make things if they fit together.
Allows: Improvised Weapons
Weaponry: Level 0 EXP 3/10
We understand that some things are good at hurting people, and some aren’t.
-Sub-field: Melee Weaponry: Level 0 EXP 5/10
We know that close range has its advantages.
Owned:
Home Bunker: Links to Valley. Home Bunker is an ancient building set inside of a mountain. It was not finished and contains some empty rooms that can be used to expand, and has an incredibly sturdy bulkhead protecting it from the outside world.
Known:
Valley: The Bunker immediately leads into a grassy valley with cool air and small copses of trees. What appears to be the remains of roads can be seen down at the base of the mountain, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Infantry:
Scout Team: A group of ten people sent to explore and then report back orally. No special equipment or training is given, only the standard-issue jumpsuits. Cost: 10 people.
Improvised Weapons: Enough pipes, wrenches, shivs, and more to equip a squad. Truly terrible weaponry but better than fists. Cost: 10 junk, 10 Production Points.
Buildings:
Command Centre: The mysterious centre of the Bunker. If it falls, so do our people. The consoles and map tables have yet to be awoken…
Bunker Warehouse: Using simple, rugged systems, it keeps 2500 units of resources in a protected atmosphere.
Ancient Mine: Using a number of complicated, automated tools, it can bring 100 units of accessible materials to the surface each week, with no workforce necessary.
Logistics:
Head Thinker [Prototype]: One of the Newcomers has a sharp knack for directing these communal idea assemblies. If assigned to a Theorem, they give +2 to the end result.
Bases:
Home Bunker: Represents the home of our people, equipped with basic survival facilities. Command Centre, Bunker Warehouse, Ancient Mine, Bunker Quarters. Space: 2/6 free. Housing: 0/1000 free, Storage: 1500/2500 free. Food: 6 Weeks
Resources:
300 Ancient Food: Nutritionally-dense survival food that has been preserved by some unknown mechanism. 1 unit feeds 20 people per week.
200 Ancient Plastic: Tough, lightweight material. Unknown uses.
300 Steel: Hard, heavy metal. Unknown uses.
200 Coal: Black, combustible rock. Unknown uses.
500 Concrete: Bags of powder that harden when mixed with water. Unknown uses.
Units:
Scout Team Alpha:
Experience: Green Equipment: None Task: None
People:
1000 Population in Home Bunker
-10 used in Military
Total Free Population: 990