Using -1 Difficulty

Some people have asked me about the long range shooting rules. Using a gun in close combat is just fine - at a bonus even due to closeness, but calmly lying sown with a scoped rifle on a bench rest risks breaking the weapon in addition to range penalties.

The answer is: That isn't part of the genre.

Dead and back is not so much a simulation of a real life-outbreak of flesh eating ghouls, as a chance to star in your own personal horror film. Of course, movie logic is quite different from what occurs in real life.

-1 difficulty is for actions that are ill advisable - either from sheer danger, or because they don't fit with the Game Master's story. Its not a blanket excuse to openly antagonize players, but a chance to bring in complications and new scenes.


How often do characters in a show call the police, rather than take justice into their own hands? Use a handgun with a proper two handed grip at only a few feet range? Of course they have to split up and give the serial killer a better chance - or it wouldn't be much of a danger. And then there are all the ways explosives are misrepresented.

On a less general note - it rarely proves possible to eliminate all the ghouls at range, regardless of how one tries. If fact, the noise of the shooting is likely to bring several more for each one that goes down. Thus failure indicates that simply more creatures have show up. Or perhaps, the new guest is a human opponent who notices the precision shooting, and decides they want that sniper weapon for themselves.

Depending on the situation, any failed rolls with -1 should help lead to new sub-plots. If a failure leads to a team mate getting injured - then finding  medical supplies, or a doctor becomes a new goal. Perhaps wading back into the horde to rescue them is a chance for good roleplaying and a heroic scene. Getting lost might lead to new locations of potential friends, except for the fact they have their own problems they need help with first.

Of course, a game master could discuss their expectations for the game beforehand, and hopefully everyone is on the same page about genre expectations, meaning -1s don't need to come up much. conversely, they can acquiesce to the players' desire for action and not penalize stunts - even reverse the situation and punsih those who are being repetitive and boring..

Yet we keep trying and the tapes rolling (Part II))

"I hope this isn't too embarrassing to ask, but do citizens wear clothes? I mean, we never see you without that power armor."
"Of course we wear clothes Mr. Hobbes. The upper parts are rather similar to your own. Of course the other half goes on rather diffeREntly than how you wear them with two sets of legs. Most things have fabric hook and loop faster strips to allow a little pressure to couple Even where we can't quite reach. Generally over the back and tail is one garmEnt that fits around the belly and tail, with leg coverings Either omitted or separate garmEnts, depending on the weather."
"If you don't mind the comparison, it sounds like a combination of shirts and a something akin to a horse's saddle, with optional leg warmers."
"Reference: Horse not in database - see Mustang, 57. No, No [squeal!]... I will say yes, then move on to my question. How many humans were there before we arrived?"
"Somewhere between nine and ten billion people. The national area we are in had about 450 million. At least 80% of the USA was urban or suburban, though its a large country, and thus not as crowded as some of the others. Single family homes were still common, though apartment towers, or even single building cities were becoming far more the norm.Continuing the clothing questions - is there much difference between what males and females wear? For that matter, is it common for females to be using those power armors?"
"Clothing is rather similar, more a matter of traditional colors and symbols asso-ciated with each gender, age, and rank rather than diffERent cut or cloth. FE-males tend to be kept at home due to slow rate of re-production and thus need to protect them, though this is more historical. FE-males using Eekaidie is com-mon. These units are more gen-eral pur-pose used in con-struction though can be weapon-ized. Military mostly male, but there is little difference in ability. Is there much division between human genders?"
"By law, there is no difference, women can hold any position a man can for equal compensation by law - though in some places older habits of discrimination exist."
"Who is the leader of the human government?"
"We never had a single world leader, the United Nations tried to work out differences between governments peaceful, to some extent. The United States was a democracy of elected leaders, the last election for president being in 2052, and the next one scheduled for 2056. If you hadn't arrived right now we would be in a rather heated contest because the incumbent had served two turns, and thus it would be a contest between two new people. As is, its supposedly under martial law. However your disruptions of communication, large scale mutiny by certain parts of the military, and groups of survivors declaring independence means only a little of the country is nominally under control. Parts of California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, the Dakotas, Illinois seems loyal, as are NEST arcos along the coast - but generally they act alone, and simply are under contract to rejoin the union no questions asked when that happens, then actually following central directives."
"That is distressingly similar to our current government situation. We are loyal to home-world, and nominally the fleet, but individual settlements are dealing with humans as they see fit." 
"Certainly explains why sometimes the aliens help and others they attack. Is there something we can do to foster better relations?"
"Try to communicate before attacking for one, and listen to directives a patrol might give you."
"You hear that loyal listeners? Use some common sense and courtesy, and and you might have make a laser wielding friend!"
"How many people listen to you anyway?"
"I really don't know. We've got a big tower, plenty of power, and we're using lower fidelity but longer ranged AM channels - depending on weather, you could probably hear us over most of the country. Getting feedback or play-list requests however, is rather problematic."
"Are your transmissions typical compared to a pre-arrival broadcast."
"Not in the least. AM, or for that matter signals weren't used much compared to either satellite or Internet based communication, and we don't play much in the way of what would be called "contemporary" music -  from our individual tastes, and because we feel that modern music will be rather associated with the tragedy of the last few years - so we want something more up-beat. It was also common for stations to specialize in certain formats, while we have music, interviews, news - or what counts as such."
"Some of our leaders are worried your transmissions are used to organize attacks, but I for one am impressed that you chose to do this."
"Thank You. We are quite grateful you agree to these interviews to clear up these sorts of misunderstandings."

Yet We Keep Trying and the Tapes Rolling (Part One)

 "Hey Thomas, I had an idea. Since, we've set a pattern of never quite finishing a line of inquiry, lets try a new technique."
"Have you ask the questions?"
"Yeah - NO! Neither you nor anything else is going to get me closer than six meters from one of those things - sixty if I'm unarmed."
"For shame Diego. This kind of racism is why we can't get along."
"And the EMP, and the orbital bombardment, and the reanimates..."
"You're Not making me more receptive to your new approach."
"Haven't made it yet. Lets go question and answer, tit for tat. Let it... Her - have a chance to inquire about us and human society. Observe what they want to know, questions can be as revealing as answers."
Hobbes paused a moment. "My god Diego, that's brilliant! You have any specific questions you want to use?"
"Some"

***

"So what do citizens eat?"

"Not EE-nuf. In my opin-ion. Supp-osed to be mostly in-sects, some plant matter and small-er animals. Farms contain plants well EE-nuf. But insects might EE-scape - leaders don't want that. So main course is only small port-ion brought from ships. "

"Can you eat terrestrial food?"

"Not supposed to, but can. Tastes fun-ny, often get a little sick - but not bad. Potato chips are very good."

"I don't think Diego wants to share his, sorry. Now what question do you have for us?"

"What can you tell me about your selves? How did you start a radio sta-tion?"

"I was born January 28, 1997, making me just over 58 years old. I'm the youngest of three children - my older sisters are Tabitha and Terry. I studied medicine in Chicago, though my internship was at the ABERHAM research facility down south because my father had family there. I originally worked with nano-treatments, but moved on to neonatal care and obstetrics since I felt that was real medicine rather than telling machines what to do while watching a screen. My in demand specialty granted me the funds for numerous hobbies and classic analog radio happened to be one of them. Luck or fate, I stumbled across this place by chance, and felt it was a more direct way to help people. I could work with one mother at a time, or give advice and solace to everyone in a few hundred miles. As mixed up as lives are now, people still know they can wake up to classical music. Diego?"
"I was born in Southern Mexico, April 26 2006. I have held numerous jobs from from waiting tables, working a motor taxi, serving in the national guard, and doing voice acting for cartoons - the last being why I know so much about recording equipment."
"Can you demonstrate any voices?"
"I am quite positive you did not watch Spanish Saturday morning cartoons, and reasonably sure the alien didn't either. You wouldn't recognize anything. So, no."

"Are you all ways so un-helpful?"

"I don't need aliens getting on my case. I did not get along with my father or the company he kept. He was a criminal, and I walked away from an illegally amassed fortune because of my beliefs. My life is mine, and I don't like talking about the past."

"I under stand, I am sorry. What would you prefer to speak of?"

"What did I want to ask, um, alien families - no, not right now, what you eat, how do you pilot that thing, who programs that vocorder, whats inside those ships... ehh, the vocorder question is probably the easiest, and probably keep this record of twenty minutes without a loud screech going. So who programs them and how do you learn - the quality has gotten a lot better since our first interview."

"They're programed by a bunch of lazy basterds - that is correct english word? 

"Depending on what you want to say - yes."

"We have five years to commun-icate with humans, and they only adjust the thing now? We can listen to some trans-missions, have some friends like you, have tried to decipher computer EE-ntries. Prob-ably the way you would try to learn about us."

"Who else is helping you?" asked hobbes.

"I don't know - we still communicate with each other and exchange some information - mostly. So we get this from citizens across the world. A few don't help - those near spring-field are quite anti-human."

"You have no idea how many "Springfields" we have could you be more specfic?"

"Near the big north-south river"

"That could be a problem - between Chicago and the Lincoln Towers megastructure complex. Not much we can do from this far west though."

"So what do you plan for the future"

"For now", began Diego, "take a break and continue this session. Honestly, I don't have too much more planned than that."

Power Tower Hour

In the darkest hours of July Ninth, adults scurry around hiding fluorescent tubes on top of the ventilators or along the agriculture domes, at the base of the wall, and so forth. Starting noon the next day, children race around to see how many they can find. Come 11 pm on July Tenth, Nikola's Birthday of course, we switch on the giant Tesla coil. Everything lights up, wonderful show, the children who came the closest to getting the right count gets a prize, and then we kick in some fog machines and lasers.

That would be the only time of the year we actually turn on the giant electric transmitter atop our home. But not the only reason of course. Its a symbol. There are more efficient means of getting electrons from one place to another, we probably wouldn't have wanted a series of Wardenclyffe Towers around every city for various reasons. But the point remains.

For over One-hundred and Fifty years now, we have had the ability to make free electricity rain from the sky. And that, is awesome.

In fact, the greatest limit on what Humans can do is humanity itself. We could have made changes to our bodies and lives that would have eliminated the need for nano-vac in the first place, but that was too "expensive", or "controversial".

The Silbervogel was conceived in world war two. NASA's 2046 space plane? Pretty similar, just with detail improvements so it actually works - Sänger kinda underestimated the heat of reentry for one. We had track launched payloads, with giant lasers super-heating fuel from beneath for thrust. Russia finally got a Mars base together, and a couple others followed, but by now we should have city sized orbital habitats made from materials we mined out of the Trojan asteroid fields.

Power armor - thirty percent of the modern army - 1950s novel. Electromagnetic Rail-guns - US patents in 1919 and 1922.

I could list these things for days, but I think you get the idea. It people clinging to old manufactured  ideas like religion, privacy, or the sacred form of the human body that are the biggest stumbling block. Our failures and disasters are not so much malicious intent, as mere not foreseeing all the consequences.

So that big AC transmitter up there? That is a reminder that the human condition can be transcended. However this whole crazy time with aliens and reanimates pans out, one thing must be for certain. Trying to restore the old world is a step backwards. We're not going to put the old governments back up just so they can turn around and pass laws limiting what we can do. Hell, they've already overstepped what should be an election year and still call the same man president - how can we respect those who won't even follow their own constitution?

Don't take this as me reveling in the misfortune of the billions who, didn't make it to this day. Far from it. But this is the shake up we needed, like how recovery from the black plague helped with workers rights and the revolution of cities and guilds. Like a plant pruned back before winter, we can grow to greater heights. Stop living on past glory and make something new.

Nothing I can say about our appreciation for life without boundaries or gods besides ourselves is going to change most minds. We're going to come off as new age hippies or atheists inside a giant rabbit warren playing with gene-splicers and creating new Frankenstein Monsters while refusing to help rebuild. But remember, once Alice got through the rabbit hole, she found a most interesting place. Stick around for tea, and learn just where we're going.

KC Tesla Interview

"Welcome back KC, welcome back."
"You run a good show Mr. Hobbes, and I'm glad to contribute to it."
"Where have you been in the past few months? We haven't had an interview in a while."
"I've been heading North a bit, wanted to see around the border before winter set in much, then go in the opposite direction. Motorcycles and unmaintained icy roads don't mix all that well."
"I had a brother that learned that the hard way. Took a whole week for the stain to get him up and going, but he insisted on getting another bike anyway."
"Its great stuff, isn't it. A few more years and surgeons like you would be out of a job."
"It can't deliver babies, so OBs, like me will probably be the only ones who stay employed."
"Not if the people in Tesla have a say, they go for iron wombs and cloning in a big way! I stopped there on my journey over here."
"We've heard all sort of rumors about that place, but haven't gotten anyone to come and visit. What's it like?"
"It doesn't look like much from the outside, and on the inside they do everything they can to freak out visitors. People less open minded than I should probably keep away."
"So the rumors that they'll actually - in public?"
"Yes. I only loosely followed the who transhumanism debate,  but they go well beyond anything... well, lets hold on if you don't mind me monologuing for a few minuets, they should get a fair description before we dive into racy details.

To began - Tesla was started in 2030 or there about as a San Paulo style arcology. It was supposed to be all recycled materials and green living and one with the environment in a way the exact opposite of a NEST. Everything began blended with the land and rounded, rather than a hundred eight story brick, it even went in the opposite direction, and is mostly underground. Its a fairly non nondescript hill as first approach, though there are various entrances and sky lights sticking out, a few buildings, and a giant tesla coil at the apex, though thats a modern addition, as is the surrounding wall and moat. Mount Suribachi or one of those hidden elf villages from fantasy novels comes to mind for aesthetics -its  mostly grass a nice four hundred foot tall hill or so. There are out buildings, including three- no, four large round geodesic domes that serve as green houses and "outside" space as it were.

If the outside is elves, the inside is definitely an old role playing dwarf dungeon. The passageways tend to slope up and down, rather than run completely level with stairs,  an there is a grand spiral too it, with main areas like the mess hall or meeting rooms being direct offshoots of the main way, and rooms for individuals small and central. In theory there is a holistic way to determine where you are at any moment - different light fixtures, the colors used, a certain style of furniture - but for all practical purposes I just plugged floor numbers into my virtual overlay and didn't play their game. The floor is all bamboo matting or some fancy type of carpeting, and there are plasticized screens everywhere, so acoustics are a lot more private than you'd expect in a giant cave - but they aren't too big on doors.

I'm pretty sure the place has everything it needs for self-sufficiency though I'm not going to declare its inhabitants first generation morlocks just yet. Obviously, they didn't show an outsider the internal workings, but I seem to recall some news broadcasts about installing their water purification from years ago.

"Do you recall when it opened for habitation?"
"Sometime in the 40's. There was a big deal made about how it was a lot cheaper, done quicker, and with less government help than the NESTs or any other arco, which began to raise a big stink in the political sector. If an arco is a planned community, then shouldn't it be planed by its community and keep big gov out of it... In retrospect, it seems a lot of people wanted these things to be independent city-states, even before it became an actual necessity."
"I remember some pretty violent demonstrations."
"I wasn't in a position to attend them at the time, and try to keep away from large groups of police but thats neither hear nor there."
"So did they explain how the current mind set came about?"
"Who explains how a car works, every time you let a new passenger in? Nah, they just kind of give the impression its always been a home of free love and tech."
"You know you're not going to get through an interview without explaining that."
"Of course, of course. One of the weirder aspects of their society is that  they believe in "Radical Transparency." As it was explained to me "If my body is a work of god, then there is nothing sinful I can do with it, if it is a secular organic machine, then then it is built the same just as all the others." If something must be private, its encrypted, or there are personal storage areas, but otherwise you can't have theft if nothing is owned, and everyone is entrusted to be part of the police due to personal recording tech. Exchanging privacy keys for software is a sacred bond to these people, while marriage is a an old relic of times when you traded goats. That said, they do understand personal space and the old social mores and the rumors and occasional public act are more about teasing outsiders than standard practice. If anything, its to point out how silly we are about making such a big deal about it."
"So us having this conversation is just playing into their hands."

[Really boss? Really? For a surgeon you can be so immature.

"Thats not what I meant Diego, get your mind out of the gutter"

"Am I allowed to play with the mute and private buttons too?

"I didn't realize there was one on that side of the console - did you Diego?} 

"I'd guess so, but its not like they're trying to take over the world like New Birmingham. Stay independent of the government forces to their South certainly, but they didn't strike me as expansionist. More live and let live."
"Care to expand in another interview?"
"Its not like I've got anywhere else to be?"
"Well thank you again for joining us, this has been Thomas Hobbes interviewing KC Kats on 104.3 WJMK up next is our 80s at eight rock block."

"And we're good. We actually finished an interview without interruption. I'll go get the champaign."
"We're not that bad!"
"I have to agree with your sound technician - how many separate interviews did you have with those aliens?"
"Somewhere between too many and not enough considering the boss agreed to another one on Friday."
"Diego, just start the program and get the booze."

Getting Around Part Three

Animal Power
Walking is, and will remain for the foreseeable future, the main way of trans-versing the world.

A dog pulled travois is beginning to replace wearable computers as the required personal accessory. Canines have a number of useful attributes, even even when they're not being used for transit. Hunting to supplement food, keen ears to warn of danger, warmth and companionship are all noble traits. Their size means its easier to protect them by bring them inside a shelter, and transport if a vehicle is found. Furthermore, a lot more people are capable of caring for dogs than large farm animals.

Speaking of dogs, cats and terriers are also common pets - because they hunt common pests, rather than their use for transit.

Horses and other draft animals are rarely used in the zone. Not many people have the resources to care for them, and such large creatures are rather inconvenient when scavenging in a city. Given that 90% of the US population was living in cites - riding animals for extended periods could be considered a lost art. Furthermore, there is the difficult process of taming a wild animal, as most of the domesticated ones are gone. They might have starved in their paddocks when their handlers disappeared, or escaped to the country side and reverted to their wild state. Rumors persist that reanimated animals exist. While there was certainly heavy usage of nano-medicine in some animals, nothing has confirmed these stories so far.

Animal powered farming is making a small comeback, but machines are far preferred even when considering fuel shortages - they don't get sick, go lame, while allowing a greater amount of territory can be cultivated. Unfortunately, without GPS satellites in orbit, they tend not to work as automated units like before - but some creative people have set up transponders to get around this, adding yet another advantage.


Other Transit Means

In some places electric or high-speed rail lines are still functional. The USA took a while to introduce fast train service, but was a few branches eventually materialized. The main ones are:

• Colonial Road: a straight shot up and down the east coast from Florida to New York
• Death Valley Express: California, Nevada, Texas - wider gauge, slower, and optimized for cargo, provides the east coast access to the Gulf of Mexico without needing a ship to go through the panama canal.
• "Chi-Ny": NEST 2 in New York state (but not far from the city) to Chicago
• Winter Line: Trans-Canada rail, not actually connected to US system however.

Smaller lines branch off, but the ARRT (American Rapid Rail Transit) was established amongst a few key air-line routes to compensate for a reduced number of usable aircraft rather than everyday commuting.

Following older rail lines is still a common tactic amongst scavengers, as they obviously lead somewhere, and rail hub warehouses are often full of useful supplies.

Although bikes might be limited, motorcycles offer speed, fuel economy, and the ability to maneuver around abandoned vehicles making them quite popular.

Military Multi-fuel vehicles are a two edged sword. Their ability to run on even the poorest home-refined products is a great boon, as is their rugged construction. On board electronics including internally guided navigation systems, night vision, drone support, military map databases, and powerful radios are all much sought after (and more likely to have been emp shielded than their civilian counterparts). Unfortunately, the many powerful abilities make them so sought after they often end up stolen either when the owners are away or when the original users are liquidated. Some people have taken to explicitly avoiding military gear because its used as bait in traps, or attract the wrong kind of attention.

Military exoskeletons are unlikely to be used as transport. Although designed to simplify long marches, most of the ability is due to weigh distribution systems, making a heavy load seem much lighter, but not adding speed, or making normal walking any less tiring. Despite their environmental systems wearing one for more than a few a dozen hours will rapidly lead to chafing and discomfort. Without charging their fuel cells every two or three days, they rapidly become immobile.

The few cars and trucks that are still working are often used in a convoy manner - some running, others being towed. Mobile fuel processing plants are sometimes employed, but more often a central base is established, scouts are sent out, and then the group exploits from there.

Homebuilt Hotrod

Power plant?
"Two 450 fuel cells, driving an class eighty motor on each wheel can make 0-60 in five."
"Very impressive."
"Four seats, designer color, infinite gearshift for any terrain"
"All quite impressive, but what are the fins on the back for?"
"I'm not really sure. A number of the vehicles in the museum had them."
"They don't really seem to add to the aerodynamics."
"I guess it has something to do with the high levels of gloss and how humans recognize shapes and movement."
"But they aren't on any of the cars we've recovered from the cities."
"It does look kind of nice, and its roomy inside - maybe its a mark of royalty."
"That could explain the rearing animal - but I don't think you needed to replicate that on yours."
"You can critique aesthetic choices or you can do the actual work I asked you help with."
"And I know how to how to convert a control scheme for two feet to four?"
"Replicate the suits you work with."
"Doesn't have the right sort of seats, and we don't use our feet to control those, we're just kneeling."
"You figure it out, and I'll let you drive it first."