The Deathlands. My (new, tier 0) smuggler crew is planning on getting contacts with some Deathlands scavengers in order to gain access to various weird stuff they could sell — and yesterday they asked “well, could we become those scavengers?”
I said that it’s risky but probably quite doable, providing that they do quite a bit of prepwork first (find out more, talk with scavengers, figure out a way of semi-safe travel between Doskvol and the surroundings, figure out protection, etc etc). I said that just going out with no prep would be extremely dangerous — I’m not going to flat-out say “no”, but just warning them. So it sounds like a long-term project & goal, and the players are fine with that.
The Hound has the Survivor special ability and the Whisper has Iron Will, so they already have some relevant skills.
So, I need to start prepping all sorts of stuff related to the Deathlands. Creatures, routes, scavenger crews, loot etc. Sounds like fun. :).
What have you done with the Deathlands? Do any of you have crews who are doing something like this? What could be out there? How do crews protect against the dangers? Ideas, anecdotes, whatever… all welcome.
Deathlands Scavenger teams are often made up of Ironhook prisoners looking to get some time lopped off their sentences.
Cool. You did the right thing because “no” is never a good answer, “Yes, but with a big price tag” is a better one. 🙂
A word about preperation: Note, that this is not only a GM topic but one for the players as well. Consider sharing the load by asking questions: “So, you need a route through the lightning barrier into the bad lands. You did you do that? Is this more a technical thing like having the right equipment (arcane? sparkcraft?)? Or is this more the conneciton angle (knowing a Sparkwright’s dirty secrets or having a friend in high places)?” “Which stories about dead land monsters did your grandma told you when you was a child? Do you believe that they are true? Do you know someone who claims to went to the bad lands and back again? Do you believe her story is true?” This way you decrease your load and create an cool story with lots of commitment from the players.