Re: [HoE] Scroungin' feasibility

["Steve Crow" <crow_steve@hotmail.com>]

> >But Allen's initial statement that scroungin' for "materials" isn't 
>feasible
> >still has me puzzled.
>
>Think outside the tables.  Think outside the rules.  Think about the
>setting and the spirit of the setting.
>

Yes, I was.  I never claimed that scroungin' would be easy.  And I think the 
various rules and charts (if you're concerned about that kind of thing) 
reflect that.

But...

>Post apocalypse.
>

Actually, the basic mode of survival (particularly if you're a nomadic type, 
as player characters, road gangs, and most other adventuresome types tend to 
be) of post-apocalypse seems to _be_ scroungin' for what you need.

Scroungin' shouldn't be easy.  But to make it "unfeasible" (as opposed to 
just difficult) leaves you with...umm, what?  No food, no ammo, no Junker 
components, not a single luxury...  ;)

Either that, or wander into a community each week and either work/adventure 
for supplies (doable, but gets old if that's the only way to supply 
yourself), or hope there's a lot of communities that are willing to supply 
you (and for the latter, what do you pay for that with...?).  The latter 
also doesn't seem particularly post-apocalyptic either.

>It's been 13 years since any manufacturing has gone on.   Just how many
>leftover items are hanging around - especially something that can't be
>scrounged/reworked  - like Spook Juice.

Well, if I understand things right (which I'll admit is pretty likely given 
my recent track record on SJ :) ), SJ wasn't available before the bombs 
dropped (was it...?).  So it's not a leftover item in any case, but 
something that _can_ only be built by Junkers.

But...I guess I'm still not following, Allen - sorry.  Scroungin' remains 
the lifeblood of my campaign, and very much part of the whole 
post-apocalypse/13-years-later genre.  It ain't easy, and certainly folks 
ain't going to find fully functional cars and hovertanks and stuff.  And 
some of what they find is going to be "guarded" (going into a deadland/city 
to look, or scamming a battlefield for ammo and dealing with walkin' dead).

But I'd have to say, thinking outside of the rules and the tables, and 
taking the setting and spirit of the game into acocunt, that scroungin' is 
not only feasible, but vital.

---

Steve Crow

"Worm Can Opener Extraordinare"

Check out my website at:  http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/4991/

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