A Few Dead Men


Drifter Man

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Deadman 11 / Day 31

I'm overweight again but this time it is easy to drop some excess sticks and coal in the cave - I have tons of both - to be ready for the trip. I make a trial run to the rabbit zone and recover my three snares. Two rabbits got caught but I dispose of them - I don't need more food right now and can't haul them with me through the wolf country. It's still a bit too cold, so I sleep a little more. The "curve" is definitely ahead of me.

In the afternoon it is still a bit windy but ok for me to be outside. I'll just have to drop a fire early. As soon as I hit the ground under the rope, winds break out in full strength. I spend two hours under the rocky arch next to the rope, warming up at a fire and waiting for the winds to stop.

After a fruitless visit to Low Blind, guarded by two wolves, I head south and cross the railroad at the derailed flatbed cars. With no wolves in sight, I manage my load to be just under 35 kg and stay on my guard. Fog has descended once again on FM and the night is not far away.

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At one point I notice a wolf running in the distance in front of me. It's running away from a bear. The bear is not in my way but the wolf is, and soon I notice another, and another... there are five wolves blocking my path and I don't have time for a detour.

I choose to break through.

Jumping from campfire to campfire, each time I get a few seconds of sprint before the next wolf is on me. It's time consuming and it also costs fuel, but I manage to get through. I use the flare gun once because the night is coming and I have to move on quick. I don't want to be caught in the soup at night.

Two more wolves at the Bunkhouses, another flare shell fired.

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Then I'm at Spence's, tired and overburdened but safe. I stoke the fire up, search the building - two cans of dog food still in surprisingly good condition, matches, coal, scrap metal, nothing else of importance. I don't break any crates and skip the safe. Is it a good idea? There could be a pair of combat pants waiting for me...

I'm tired and go to bed, fire roaring in the forge.

Deadman 11 / Day 32

Hard at work. I put on my favorite MC Walker and craft my sets of arrowheads. A short trip around the homestead for more coal, sticks, cattails and a little meat from a carcass.

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Then back to work until I'm tired, and again to bed. Knife and 16 arrowheads. We're going home tomorrow.

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Deadman 11 / Day 32

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Checking safe first thing in the morning. Pants? No pants :( just an old down vest. At least I have 4 pieces of reclaimed wood, fuel will come in handy.

Meanwhile I make water and prepare reishi soup. I think I can hear wolfsteps behind the barn, but hard as I try, I don't see any wolves from the inside.

Then it is noon, fog descends once again on Forlorn Muskeg. Time to go. I make a dash to the pier, no wolf appears. Soon I make a stop on a nearby island, processing meat from a deer carcass: 1.4 kg, worthwhile. I warm up and make coffee at the same time. A long journey awaits me today.

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I hop from island to island, past the "Peanut Butter rock" and to the High Blind. The weather is perfect. I stop to collect sticks and cattails. High Blind has the usual archery book and a hacksaw. It's in better condition than the one I have - I swap again. I don't give names to my hacksaws and don't stay true to them, but I know their value.

Poacher's Camp and another warming break. Coal, a flare, old rags I have no use for. Two cans of 30% dog food behind the train cars - great find. Dog food is suspiciously common compared to other types of canned food. I notice I made the same mistake as with Deadman 10 - I'm hauling the hammer back, I wanted to drop it at the Spences'. Oh well.

No wildlife blocks my way today. The bear can be seen in the distance, moving away far southwards, along a path I've never seen it take before. I follow the tracks and the weather holds all the way to Trapper's Homestead.

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The usual note from Great Bear Social Security is found slipped under the door. In addition to the crafted tools, I'm bringing back 4 birch saplings (I actually had 4 curing before, not 2 - I didn't leave them anywhere), 50 cattails and plenty of rosehips and mushrooms. I place 6 snares and collect sticks before bed. This has been an exceptionally smooth Deadman run so far.

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Deadman 11 / Day 34

First day of retirement. The previous post was Day 33 - mistake.

I have 9 snares, of them six deployed at the rabbit run at the cabin, plus two spare guts, which I consider saving for making clothes - although broken snares will probably force me to use them for replacements anyway. The first night yields two rabbits. I harvest them completely in the cabin and start a fire next to the building - heavy fog has embraced Mystery Lake and I don't want to go to the cave when I'm blind and smelly.

While I'm cooking the rabbit and making water, weather clears up to light fog, so I make a short trip to the second rabbit run near Max's Last Stand to place my remaining 3 snares. As I turn around, I notice bones in the bear cave. This means trouble. Once I return to my fire, I can see the bear appear and patrol the basin of Trapper's Homestead.

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On the one hand, yes, it's a ton of meat with one arrow shot if lucky, plus material for bearskin coat that could be very useful to a well-fed deadman. On the other hand, the bear will be interfering with everything I do and create dangerous situations. It can home in on me whenever I try to harvest a wolf or a deer, or a rabbit when I'm outdoors. It can surprise me after time-accelerated activities in general. It can shoot wolves around that land unexpectedly right next to me. And it respawns fast on deadman settings. All in all, bear at Trapper's lowers my life expectancy and I should think of moving out of here as soon as I gear up.

Once I'm done for today, I repair some of my clothes that needed it the most (socks and underwear) and go to bed. I'm hardly tired and will wake up long before sunrise.

Deadman 11/ Day 35

Today it's three rabbits at the nearby run, another appears during the day. I'm gradually moving from a cattail diet to a rabbit diet, hopefully I can keep a good amount of traveller's friends for emergencies. I harvest guts from all rabbits but stop with pelts once I have 4 curing. No need to waste time and calories on more pelts, mitts are the priority, hat can wait.

I make a trip to Max's rabbit zone and collect two more bunnies. I do not redeploy the snares, deciding that it is too risky to frequent this place with the bear around. Instead I'll saturate the safe rabbit run at Trapper's with snares and try to make it work just from there.

With guts still curing, I start working on arrows. With the quality tools I brought with me, it's actually quite fast. I also repair my clothes to keep my temperature bonus around +15C.

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Deadman 11/ Day 36

No cattails today, I get enough rabbits. I really hope that one rabbit zone will be enough at cooking level 4. A moose has appeared as bonus, restricting my movement around Trapper's Homestead. It's good that I brought the extra snares back yesterday, I might have trouble recovering them safely today.

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In the evening I finish my sixth arrow. I'm waiting impatiently for the guts to cure.

Edited by Drifter Man
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Deadman 11 / Day 37

Once I'm done with the usual rabbit harvesting / cooking routine, I return to the cabin and take the two spare guts I've been keeping in the locker. I'm getting moose ideas. Wildlife around Trapper's is now too dense and dangerous to allow me roam freely, and a single rabbit run may not be enough to feed me until I'm at cooking level 5. Therefore, getting the moose would kill two birds with one stone. Three in fact - I could make the satchel.

I'm nearly done with the bow when night falls and it's too dark to continue.

Deadman 11 / Day 38

A blizzard rages from the morning into late afternoon. I finish the bow and harvest two rabbits that got caught overnight. When the blizzard stops, the moose returns, and the hunt begins.

I start a campfire at the beginning of the curved path towards the cabin and lure the moose in. As it charges, I shoot and return to the fire, which makes it run away. I miss, I'm really bad at hitting fast moving targets. But the hunt has only started.

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In the end it takes me all evening and nine shots to get three arrows into the beast and take it down. The moose sinks into the ground head-first and its hind legs hover in the air - there is this new item dropping/placement mechanic apparently that causes this - someone probably thought it was an improvement. I recover one arrow and worry that the other two will remain under the ground forever. I get two 0.5 kg steaks out and cook them for immediate use, leaving the rest for tomorrow. It's late.

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Deadman 11 / Day 39

The morning is very cold - I still haven't been able to craft any clothes, the guts are still curing - but it's foggy, and this means that my fire will live when I place it next to the moose carcass. I have to invest almost all of my remaining firewood to stay above zero while working, but I'm confident that the fire will last in this weather. The carcass is now fully above ground and my two remaining arrows lie on the snow.

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After each steak I listen into the fog, which has in the meantime become very thick - I can hardly make out the cabin and the barn. Sure enough, after maybe 30 minutes the bear comes sniffing. It doesn't seem to be too interested, it doesn't head straight for me, but I can't risk time-accelerated work on the carcass with that thing around. This is a key moment for Deadman 11 - dead moose, perfect weather - and I'm not letting the bear ruin it. I stand up, lure the bear in and put a flare shell into it when it charges.

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Then I can return calmly to the moose carcass while the bear is running around. I end up taking the hide and around 20 kg meat - sounds like a lot but actually it will only last around a week. In the evening, when the fog has already lifted and the moose hide is curing in the cabin, I make a short trip to see if I can find the bear. I think I can make out the carcass lying on the path by the edge of the map, in the direction to the Rail Tunnel. I think I can get to it tomorrow and grab the hide.

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I'm really enjoying the pro deadman run so far.  Go go Drifter Man. :)

7 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

I make a short trip to see if I can find the bear. I think I can make out the carcass lying on the path by the edge of the map, in the direction to the Rail Tunnel. I think I can get to it tomorrow and grab the hide.

Do deadmen risk the occasional piece of bear meat?  Sounds like you are flush with shrooms, and in addition to calories it's more carcassing and cooking skill ups.

For normal 'loper (I'm no deadman) I quarter the bear if conditions are favorable.  I may or may not use all the meat but it's fast way to get the hide and guts, and have optional meat on hand.

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16 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

I'm really enjoying the pro deadman run so far.  Go go Drifter Man. :)

Do deadmen risk the occasional piece of bear meat?  Sounds like you are flush with shrooms, and in addition to calories it's more carcassing and cooking skill ups.

For normal 'loper (I'm no deadman) I quarter the bear if conditions are favorable.  I may or may not use all the meat but it's fast way to get the hide and guts, and have optional meat on hand.

Thanks!

My deadmen don't risk bear meat before level 5. It's mainly that I'm not familiar with parasites and don't know if they make me too weak to carry out the necessary deadman tasks under deadman conditions - not to mention reduce my condition that I cannot recover. But more importantly, my freezer is now full of risk-free moose.

By the way, I'm flush with shrooms but I'd prefer using antibiotics if the need should arise. Antibiotics expire and don't warm me up.

Quartering can be faster if you want to get everything, but I really want just the hide - guts come risk-free from rabbits. In my view, doing a 2-hour time-accelerated task in the open is too risky in deadman mode. There's a good chance you'll have to interrupt it midway to save your fire, or your bare skin :)

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16 hours ago, Dan_ said:

Maybe the bear will prove to be a blessing in disguise to rabbit whisperer deadman? 

Ace writing as always, thanks for sharing! / Back to lurk mode. 

Blessing? Hardly... the bear will interfere with everything I do. It doesn't fear fire, you need to be in good position to deal with it... which you generally aren't if you are working on a carcass and the bear comes sniffing. There only are so many times I can use my flare gun. Eight shells are left for Deadman 11.

Thanks for lurking! :D

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11 hours ago, BareSkin said:

I found only recently that a bear was possible there. I was so innocently quartering till that day...

I've always known it can be there, but on most of my runs I got lifeless Trapper's Homestead. So when I noticed the bones in the cave, my heart stopped.

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Deadman 11 / Day 40

The first guts have finished curing and I craft rabbitskin mitts. In the afternoon I locate the bear carcass. It is windy and I'm quite far from base, considering my poor clothing, so I choose caution. I wait for my fire to be ready for coal and only begin working on the carcass when I'm warmed up. I collect the hide and a small amount of sticks in the area of the Rail Tunnel.

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Deadman 11 / Day 41

Today I'm working on the deerskin pants. While cooking more moose meat and making water, I use a short period of good weather to lure in a wolf and kill it with a clean headshot.

Deadman 11 / Day 42

More wolves on the way. This time I manage to lure in the two wolves from Max's and make them attack the deer at the homestead. I score one "combo", the other is a miss, unfortunately. In the evening I collect the hide and a good amount of meat from the non-combo deer.

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Deadman 11 / Day 43

Bad weather most of the day... I finish the pants and begin working on the boots. It's going quickly and I want to be done before cabin fever kicks in.

Deadman 11 / Day 44

Today it's foggy. I collect some branches that respawned behind the cabin. In the afternoon it is nice and warm and I decide to take the other deer hide without fire. While I'm working I hear sounds I don't want to hear.

I have the presence of mind to fire the flare gun as soon as the harvesting sequence is finished. I miss but I'm saved from an immediate bear attack. I cautiously return to the cabin, which is now plastered with hides of animals of all kinds. When the fog starts lifting, conditions should be good for me to kill the bear.

I work for a short time on the boots and when the fog starts lifting, I head out. It's a nice weather at felt -3C, I should last a while. I load up smellies and wait for the bear on one of the rocks that mark the path to the cabin. When the bear attacks, I intend to jump down and make it lose tracking.

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My shot is a nice hit. The bear charges. I mix up keys and hit crouch instead of sprint - funny, just walking off the rock would have been enough.

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Maybe I could have had a chance, with five emergency stims in the cabin. But as soon as I'm on my feet, the bear returns and gives me another round.

I make it back to the cabin... two blood loss wounds, only one bandage. Deadmen don't stock up on bandages.

I die, killed by blessing in disguise.

Edited by Drifter Man
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23 hours ago, Dan_ said:

Maybe the bear will prove to be a blessing in disguise to rabbit whisperer deadman? 

Boy, how wrong was this dumb dude I'm quotin' here? ☝️

Sucks to see such a good run go so abruptly, kinda of a bummer really. I was getting the deadman itch again but I don't feel so good about it right now. 

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With all the experience I have with this game, I could never make it one tenth as far as you, Mr. Drifter man :D . Very nice read, as always, and kind of sad to see such a promising run end so suddenly, but such is the nature of the game. It giveth now, then it taketh the moment right after. And from my experience, when things are looking up is when there is the highest chance for things to turn to horribly wrong right after.

But, if it makes you feel any better... since Redux I had a similar situation like you with this bear, only on a much easier difficulty... I shot it with a bow, it charged me, I dropped off and reset its pathfinding, it ran off into a distance... only to come back 15 in-game minutes later, without the care in a world that it had my arrow sticking out of its neck... and decided to maul me real good. For some reason, if it runs off far enough, the bleeding seems to stop.

So, chances are your initial plan would have failed anyway. Just thought I'd drop this as a warning here. Now, I only hunt bears from the safety of high elevation places that cannot be reached (or with a distress pistol, the orange bear killer is still the best tool for the job :D)

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12 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

Oh no!  Bad bear, stinking up the retirement village.  :(

Bad, bad bear, attacking elderly survivors :D

11 hours ago, Dan_ said:

Boy, how wrong was this dumb dude I'm quotin' here? ☝️

Sucks to see such a good run go so abruptly, kinda of a bummer really. I was getting the deadman itch again but I don't feel so good about it right now. 

It's part of the game, as @Mroz4k said. I like how quickly your fortunes can change. This could happen on Day 44 , 144 or 544, all the same.

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10 hours ago, Mroz4k said:

I shot it with a bow, it charged me, I dropped off and reset its pathfinding, it ran off into a distance... only to come back 15 in-game minutes later, without the care in a world that it had my arrow sticking out of its neck... and decided to maul me real good. For some reason, if it runs off far enough, the bleeding seems to stop.

That's good to know. I thought than once a bear gets shot, it will just keep running until it bleeds out, maybe except if you get directly in his way.

Thanks for reading!

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The unexpected early re-appearance of the bear aside, I concluded that there are a few aspects of the Deadman challenge I don't like, and decided to make a few tweaks:

  • Set wildlife spawns generally to Interloper levels, except keeping wolves at "Very High", and including "Reduce wildlife population over time" to "High". This should eliminate 6-day respawn cycles of bears
  • No feats (I've been using Cold Fusion and Efficient Machine, both very helpful but taking away a lot of the challenge from the challenge)
  • No stims allowed :)
  • Enabled survivor monologue (I guess that would count as optional anyway)

Code: 8sHI-/z8P-Dx+q-gQam-bAAA

I'll continue to call this setting "Deadman" as the spirit of Deadman has nod been altered by these modifications.

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Let deadmen roll.

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Deadman 12

Broken Railroad spawn at midnight... made it to Poacher's Camp and searched in the darkness for the flare but couldn't find anything but pitch-black screen. Quit and deleted the save.

Deadman 13 / Day 1

Will's crash site, just like Deadman 11, except now it is morning. Similar story on the way to Grey Mother's - outrunning the wolf, grabbing a few cattails and ending up at Grey Mother's in 79% condition. Matches, water from the toilet, some food and clothes in the house, but no combat pants. One hour of sleep to warm up and rest, then hopping from house to house. Prybar found in the bank - this will allow me to spend the night at Orca.

Starting in MT is good - you get food and clothes from the town there are warm houses and warm beds, so the absence of Cold Fusion feat is not so painful.

Eventually I reach Orca, fairly well supplied with food and with around 5 liters of water from toilets. Next day I'll continue to Trapper's.

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Funny how everyone read a day 44 deadman death as a bad news... Congrats, I wish I could make 44 days in a deadman, not to mention a Summit included :o

Deadman 12 might be the first of the deadman-style I might play later, I didn't like the stim-hunt aspect.

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1 hour ago, romerabr said:

You can call Deader Man

And change my profile name :)

10 minutes ago, BareSkin said:

Deadman 12 might be the first of the deadman-style I might play later, I didn't like the stim-hunt aspect.

Exactly. I still treat them as collectibles though!

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Deadman 13 / Day 2

I wake up early, before dawn, aurora lighting up the Orca store. I collect an useless memory stored in a computer and read equally useless pages of "Advanced Guns Guns Guns" to kill time. I peek out as soon as the sun comes up - felt minus 40C. So I make another sweep of the store, finding beef jerky and - gosh, a hacksaw. I was standing right above it yesterday. So that's one key item ticked off.

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Around noon, at felt -16C, I make my move to the Park Office and start my first fire, in the stove. Winds pick up, so I sleep and then wait for them to stop. A dead guy and a burbling tomato soup are my companions.

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After a while, winds die down and make way to light fog. I take the rope down at felt -3C, very comfortable. I get a heart attack from the "wolf board", a wooden board that looks a bit like a wolf on the snow and scares the hell out of me every time I pass through this climbing area. I make a stop in the cave, warm up (just the cave bonus is enough) and drop useless items because I'm overweight now. Rifle books, some clothing. Also four pieces of scrap metal, which I should have left at the Park Office - I will pick them up on my forge run. Then I snap a rabbit, collect a few sticks and climb up. Waterfall, cattails, cave, coal... and here I am again:

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I move to the barn right away to work on the deer carcass. I get everything of course - meat, hide, guts - and also harvest meat from the rabbit. I leave the gut from the rabbit for tomorrow, I'm exhausted and it's night already.

The wolf from direction of Unnamed Pond is attracted by the scent but apparently cannot break out of its assigned area, so I get a free pass to the cabin.

The cabin looks very spartan this time - even the usual containers are not there. The locker is empty. A chocolate bar is found in one of the shelves. The safe can wait for tomorrow. I go to bed.

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