You would be surprised how many people don't know how to deal with reanimates these days. Sure, everyone knows the basics of defending their outpost, but if those plans fail - few are equipped for the evacuation, or the traveling life. Two years of proselyting has won over fairly few converts to my way of thinking, but even if you don't want to tour the zone like me, you can know how to survive it.
First of all - don't travel at night. Reanimate vision isn't that great, but they certainly aren't blind, and at night - its better than a human's...
Come to think of it, the best way to imagine reanimates is as some sort of large cat - puma, tiger, leopard. Maybe not the clearest color vision, but good to hunt at night, a stalking pattern that usually relies on ambush, decent sense of smell - though not a blood hound - and good hearing. Mind that last one - I try to avoid using guns as much out of not attracting attention as any sort of pacifism or desire not to hurt people.
If you're not moving at night, you need a place to stay - simple enough. In the middle of nowhere, chances are a tent or staying in your vehicle are OK. though don't neglect a warning system just in case. Seaborne shipping containers on flatbed trucks make for great mobile shelters - they're built out of steel or carbon fiber to withstand storms and movement by crane. Semi-truck trailers however, are at best aluminum sheeting over a little fiberglass insulation and you can punch right through them.
In more urban areas, you will probably want to take advantage of one of the standing buildings. Avoid basements, and go for the second floor or hither. If reanimates surround the area, escaping an upper floor by going out a window or blasting your own hole is a lot easier than digging out of a basement. Of course, if you avoid being noticed that is even better. Another thing to avoid, is private residences.
The standard house is build to be affordable to the standard family. Construction materials are not as heavy duty as commercial structure. Its not reinforced for thousands of customers, or made from simple sturdy concrete. Houses are mostly wood and aluminum siding, fiberboard, maybe a brick facade. A lot of insulation yes, but blown foam is not exactly meant to stop claws and bullets.
Now I spent some unpleasant time in a government institution before, but I tell you these days, you can not go wrong with a government building. Those things are designed to stop bullets and bombs, armored glass, Kevlar wall paper, flame proof coatings - you name it. Run some heavy chain around the truck barriers, and reanimates will be stymied for quite a while. While many normal glass widows have broken, leaving buildings full of rotting furnishings, government places will still be nicely furnished. Just look out for if the building still has residents.
Ahh, foods here, and I'm famished. If you'll excuse me - how to deal with other humans will have to wait for a bit later.
Domestic homes built between 1945 and and 1965 are to be avoided like the plague. They were built from poor materials and mostly for temporary accomodation for WW2 bomb victims. Anything Victorian is built to stand forever, the brick is less prone to crumbling than 1960s concrete towers. What's more, if you're in a tower block, there's just so much rubble if it were to come down.
ReplyDeleteIn our game, the players use a victorian townhouse as their base of operations, which is inside the wall of a well organised commune. A commune they've been instrumental in building up.