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Doomsday Prepper package deal?


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This is probably more of a post apocalyptic campaign question, but I'm wondering what kind of skills package would be appropriate for a so-called doomsday prepper, someone obsessed with the idea that the collapse of civilization is just around the corner, and who devotes their spare time to "prepping" for doomsday.   Obviously, they're going to have Survival.  Probably at least familiarity with Systems Operation to represent the ability to use ham radio, etc.  What else?

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Weapon Familiarities of all sorts--long guns and pistols with plenty of ammo, crossbows and straight bows when the bullets finally run out, then spears and knives for when the arrows run out.  (Not to mention slingshots--as long as there are rocks within easy reach, you're never out of ammo.)  Of course, all those weapons will need to be maintained, so Weaponsmith is also a must.

 

As Hyper-Man mentioned, lots of Knowledge Skills.  Subsistence Agriculture come to mind, as does Butchery, for all the livestock and wild animals whose population will likely explode after The End occurs.  Mechanics would certainly be useful for keeping whatever vehicles are available running, not to mention the gas or diesel-powered generator.  Inventor is also useful, for building a windmill or water wheel to turn a generator, or converting the vehicles to run on alcohol or some other fuel.

 

Paramedics is certainly going to be useful, as medical professionals will be much harder to come by after The End.  Electronics is also useful, for keeping the ham radio and the hand-cranked computer operating.  Finally, I would consider acquiring some of the Social Interaction skills, especially Persuasion--because a big part of surviving after The End will be to convince everyone else that your Doomsday Survival Plan is better than everyone else's Doomsday Survival Plan.

 

Hope that helps.

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  • 3 months later...

Social complications of paranoia, distrust of government, gullible to conspiracy theories, and ethnic biases were very common in my experience and caused me to quit going to prepper forums.

 

Having tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition for each caliber of gun that is owned was common.

 

Having a stash of food sufficient for several years and the ability to produce more food was common.

 

Everyone has a bug out bag at home for each member of the family. Basically it’s a backpack containing some combination of such things as a fire kit, knife, flashlight, medical supplies, food and water for a day or two, water purification,  change of clothes, hygiene kit, map, compass, fishing kit, handgun, paracord, multitool, sewing kit, duct tape, sun block, insect repellent, cell phone charger, cash. Some people keep an additional bag in their car in case the emergency they’re preparing for happens while away from home.

 

As for the package, maybe something like:

 

 

WF: small arms

Gunsmith or WF with something like knife or bow

survival

KS: backpacking, navigation, camping or something similar with an outdoor theme 

Paramedic

choice of Farming, fishing, hunting, trapping, canning food or something else with a gathering food theme 

 

Most preppers try to have a bug out location in addition to their urban home, which would be a base. But I don’t recall ever seeing a base as part of a package deal.

 

 It’s also common to have a vehicle which can handle rough terrain because in a bug out situation, there’ll be traffic jams and you might be driving through yards and golf courses and through hedges and chain link fences trying to avoid slow downs and looters.

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I guess it depends if you're going for the caricature of a paranoid idiot prepper or someone who is genuinely trying to ready for a disaster event.  The one will have more psych comps and random dumb stuff (big cans of emergency food supplies, etc) and the other will have learned lots of skills like how to make your own paper and build a shelter.

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3 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

I guess it depends if you're going for the caricature of a paranoid idiot prepper or someone who is genuinely trying to ready for a disaster event.  The one will have more psych comps and random dumb stuff (big cans of emergency food supplies, etc) and the other will have learned lots of skills like how to make your own paper and build a shelter.

It also depends on how much personal experience you have with a subculture before you can accurately identify which behaviors  are caricatures of reality and which are reality.

 

If the OP would like a website to spend a few weeks researching typical behavior, I can give him a link.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The first question you have to answer is one of design sensibilities.

 

A broad interpretation of the Survival skill and the requisite weapon skills could be sufficient for many groups.

 

Ergo, Survival 16-.

 

That's the fast and dirty way to do it. However, you could also require background skills, but make them broader / more inclusive.


Ergo, PS: Prepper God 16-.

 

This would cover everything that Survival didn't.

 

Or, you could get really granular and have discrete background skills covering very specific things you want them to know or do. An example, High Society can cover Fashion, Grooming, Manners, Who is Who, Juicy Gossip, Social Feuds, Luxury Items, and Culinary Hot Spots. Or, you can make people buy those as background skills individually. I used to build characters with scads of background skills. I realized over time, however, that many of those skills existed for form rather than function. They were really intended to flesh out the character. They were fluff text that / character notes could have been included in descriptive prose. 

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