>>4413945
>Boot up your personal ARPAnet console and read some official, All-American news to start your day.

>Flip through the classifieds, and look for some odd jobs, or something else that you can do with your day, assuming that nothing is called in.

>The simultaneous arrival of the First Frost and the First Snow has put you in the mood for some hot cocoa; see if you have any on hand, while you consider your preparations for Winter.

>It is must be awfully early still, why don’t you go back to bed, while you still can?

>>4413949
>>Boot up your personal ARPAnet console and read some official, All-American news to start your day.

>>4413949
>Boot up your personal ARPAnet console and read some official, All-American news to start your day.

>>4413949
>Boot up your personal ARPAnet console and read some official, All-American news to start your day.

>>4414180
>>4414199
>>4414204
Alright, consider this closed, and I'll get to writing. Glad to have you all along!

>>4414240
I'm here as well

>>4413945
Oooh, what kind of Apocalypse is this? Zombies? Ice Age? Comet Strike a la Lucifer’s Hammer?

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YAWN

Boy, you are kind of tired … but, you have a busy day ahead of you; the only time that you can count on having to yourself is right now. Why not check the news? It might not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but you would rather know how things are going out there. Most people have to rely on broadcasts or the papers for the news, but you are lucky. A few years ago, when you were cleaning out a property for the young Mr. Parasol, you came across this unit; an old Model 3 ARPAnet designed for a satellite connection. When your working for Mr. Parasol, you have an understanding; if everything is cleaned out by the time you said you'd be done, and in decent enough condition for the contractors to start their renovation; whatever is in the property is yours, free and clear. Somewhere along the line you must have impressed him somehow; he uses you exclusively for jobs throughout the north woods, and you have done very well for yourself wheeling and dealing the castoffs; keeping the best for yourself, like an ARPAnet console that you’d otherwise have no way of affording; a refurbished model 3, in only slightly better condition than yours could go for as much as 15,000 dollars; and brand new, current generation models go for more than 35,000 dollars.

Getting the satellite company to provide service had been such a hassle, considering that they were at first convinced that you must have stolen the unit, but it was worth it. You boot the console up and provide your IP-ID to authenticate your connection and identify yourself. It takes several minutes, but eventually…

Welcome MR. MANTLE, to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-WIDE-WEB!

You type into the command prompt to bring up the news and reflect on how the newer models of personal consoles have something called a ‘mouse’. You are not exactly clear on how it works (or why it was named after a rodent) but apparently, you no longer need to enter command prompts for everything, which sounds incredibly convenient. These units just keep getting better and better …

The News on the March for 8/27/2020!

Ah! Here we are, and it has already been updated for today! You lean over to check how many minutes of service you have left budgeted for the month; those overage charges are preposterous! But after consulting the list, you realize that if you want to keep inside of your schedule, you will only have enough time to read one of the articles, so you are going to need to choose carefully from these headlines…

>Introducing the Ling-Temco-Vought SLAM; Declassifying the newest generation of Intercontinental Ballistic Cruise Missile

>Indian War heats up, as United Nations forces launch counterattack against Chi-Com’s ‘PLA’ and the remains of the Red Ganges Revolutionary Front

>Communication lost with our Tellus-Tessera Base on Venus; is this the work of the Red Menace?

>>4414373
>Communication lost with our Tellus-Tessera Base on Venus; is this the work of the Red Menace?

>>4414348
Nuclear Winter and Yellowstone Eruption; I gave serious thought to just doing a straight Ice Age apocalypse, but given the setting that I chose, (Northern Maine) we'd really have no hope whatsoever of making it by sheltering in place; though maybe as an alternate quest, an entire town from New England trying to make their way far enough south to not freeze or starve to death would be an interesting story...

>>4414373
>>Indian War heats up, as United Nations forces launch counterattack against Chi-Com’s ‘PLA’ and the remains of the Red Ganges Revolutionary Front

>>4414373
>>Introducing the Ling-Temco-Vought SLAM; Declassifying the newest generation of Intercontinental Ballistic Cruise Missile

>>4414373
>Indian War heats up, as United Nations forces launch counterattack against Chi-Com’s ‘PLA’ and the remains of the Red Ganges Revolutionary Front

Fuck the commies, all hail the Great King of Neo-Maine

>>4414381
>>4414392
>>4414431
>>4414477
Alright, there is the tie breaker. I'll get writing!

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Indian War heats up, as United Nations forces launch counterattack against Chi-Com’s ‘PLA’ and remains of the Red Ganges Revolutionary Front

Bombay-
With the resolve to push the Reds from the entirety of the subcontinent, a massive United Nations counterstrike launched early yesterday has already torn asunder the Chi-Com line through and through; faced with the prospect of an actual honest fight, the cowardly Chinks abandoned their positions in a pell-mell flight further north, abandoning their ‘unmechanized’ Hindoo allies to our superior forces. Estimates place the number of captives at well over 80,000; that number is expected to rise as time and the offensive continues. While there are some calls from certain suspect sections of Free Indian society to grant blanket amnesty to these captives in the interest of ‘peace’; the Free Indian government has released a statement that they will be satisfied with whatever the UN resolves to do with these prisoners; and that calls for them to issue demands of their saviors are ‘wholly inappropriate’ and do not reflect ‘what they as a nation stand for’.

As ‘Sedition in Service of Communism’ is recognized as a crime against humanity, it is of little doubt that what is left of the now thrice defeated Red Ganges Revolutionary Front will be righteously put to the bolt. President Wickham reportedly has started a betting pool with members of his cabinet as to whether or not V-I Day will come before or after Thanksgiving. The report did not indicate if Wickham bet on before or after, but it is in the humble opinion of this reporter that all good American citizens and patriots will pray that it is ‘before’. Reporting by …

Wow, the Indian front really flared up! If there is a resounding victory for the Free World in the subcontinent soon, then maybe people will finally understand that Communism can never rule over or defeat anything more than what Marx himself described as the Lumpenproletariat Still, you could have sworn there was currently a ceasefire, but if the report didn’t mention it, then you must be misremembering…

Oops! Your still on the clock! You quickly enter the command to terminate your ARPAnet Connection, so you do not go over on your minutes. Sitting there for a minute, you feel your stomach rumble. You could go for an early breakfast; there are several things that you have planned to get done today.

>Pull together an early breakfast and plan out everything you need to do today.

>Pull together an early breakfast while you consider your preparations for Winter.

>The news on the subcontinent is making you feel patriotic; as a rule, you almost never eat out, but there is a diner that should be opening up soon for breakfast; you could go there and do your American duty to support local businesses.

>>4414667
>>Pull together an early breakfast while you consider your preparations for Winter.
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

>>4414667
>>Pull together an early breakfast while you consider your preparations for Winter.

>>4414667
>Pull together an early breakfast while you consider your preparations for Winter.

>>4414667
>Pull together an early breakfast while you consider your preparations for Winter.

>>4414741
>>4414715
>>4414699
>>4414671
Alright, consider this closed. This will be the last post before I get some sleep.

What’s the general technology level here? The year is 2020 yet the solar system is colonized.

>>4414741
Retro-futurism? Like mechs and laser cannons but no computers or mobile phones?

>>4414860
Weird esthetic but I can get into it.

Well, you are feeling patriotic, over the good news from India, but you still are not feeling patriotic enough to actually go out and spend money for a meal, when you can make one on your own. Part of the appeal of the diner is the potential for meeting people from the town, but you have both a formal and an informal job to get you out of the house and meet people; so if you can socialize while making money, there is no immediately apparent reason for your to socialize while spending money. Hash browns, sausages and duck eggs sound really good right now; and maybe a mug of cocoa like you were thinking about earlier. Flicking on the lights as you enter into the kitchen, you notice a clock for the first time. It is already 4:42 am! You would need to be up in less than an hour anyway.

The cooking goes quickly and shortly after 5:00am, you are ready to start eating. Now, it is not every year that the First Frost happens on the same day as the First Snow, so it would make sense to consider preparations for Winter. Let’s see; you have an oil furnace in the basement that you augment with a traditional woodstove in the living room on the first floor and the bedroom on the second floor. You use the woodstoves to keep the house warm enough, so the oil heater doesn’t need to turn on, so that you can stretch the oil as long as possible; basically you keep enough wood on hand to heat the place entire with wood, using the oil as an emergency backup. To that end, you have seven cords of wood on hand, which calculates out to be 896 cubic feet; that should be enough to get you through. You don't know how much oil you have on hand currently, but whatever, you'll call it in soon to top it off.

Then the animals; you feed scraps to Dander and Hay to Boadicea. The geese and ducks have pellets and grain, and all of them will augment anything you feed them with grazing in a pasture; and in the case of your boar and cow, both will graze even if there is snow on the grass. You have a good supply going; definitely not enough to get through the entire winter, but you are not going to run out any time soon; so you don't need to worry about that, either.

>>4414888
One of the more important things to prepare for is the lack of opportunity in winter; most people who live around Mooseleg Lake do so seasonally, with most coming in after the start of schools summer vacation, and then leaving before it ends; and while there are those without school age children who arrive earlier and stay later, they have filtered out back home by now. You collect scrap and salvage, clean out properties and do other odd jobs; but with most of the population packed up and gone, that work becomes kind of scarce. Your other job (and what mom insists on calling your real job) is an animal control officer. But again, with less people around, there are less calls and complaints; and as you are a contractor, paid a flat fee for resolving calls, things can get kind of tight. You are fairly certain that you will have enough opportunity to make money to last through the winter, and even if things get tight, you do have some money stashed away. Figuratively and physically.

...

Well, things could certainly be better, but you were able to make it through the last two winters smoothly, and the one before that was your first year in the house here, and you were still figuring things out, so some hiccups are to be expected. You should be all set for this one, no problem! ...Right?

>Sure, sure, sure … (continue with the day normally)

>Well, actually … (roll 3 1d20; if the sum of the three rolls is higher than 36, than you have convinced yourself to really laager it up for Winter, and will fill the oil tank, buy additional feed, and look for some additional opportunities around the town. For this roll, considering that I am going to bed, I will allow voting and rolling simultaneously, but typically, I will only accept rolls after the vote is closed)

>>4414846
>>4414860
>>4414867
There is a formal name for the aesthetic, 'dieselpunk' but I'm not going to lie, I cringe a bit at anything labeled 'punk', so I avoid the name.

As far as general technology level, >>4414860 hits the nail on the head. The background to the Quest is that the Space Race never ended; but most of the technological developments born out of it are being kept under lock and key by the government, with very few making it out to the public.In the United States, companies that would otherwise be developing a technology (example IBM for consumer grade computers) have been contracted out to work exclusively for the government, developing military applications of that technology.

Also, the Soviet Union is still kicking, though they did lose some members of the Warsaw pact. Importantly enough, China and the Soviet Union are still allies.

Rolled 4, 10, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>4414889
>>Well, actually … (roll 3 1d20; if the sum of the three rolls is higher than 36, than you have convinced yourself to really laager it up for Winter, and will fill the oil tank, buy additional feed, and look for some additional opportunities around the town. For this roll, considering that I am going to bed, I will allow voting and rolling simultaneously, but typically, I will only accept rolls after the vote is closed)
Here is to hope

Rolled 12, 12, 10 = 34 (3d20)

>>4414889
I used the wrong dice xD

Rolled 8, 5, 17 = 30 (3d20)

>>4414889
>Well, actually …
were the dice one per anon or best of three?
if the former then we can use the first one of each to not roll again

Rolled 12, 13, 10 = 35 (3d20)

>>4414889
>Well, actually

Rolled 1, 9, 2 = 12 (3d20)

>>4415169
>>4414923
>>4414919
Well, I suppose I should have specified, but I intended for one anon to roll 1d20 each; and I don't do best of three. My fault, I'll make a point of making things much clearer in the future. So, of the valid rolls; we have 12,8 and 12, which sums to 32. Our character was not able to overcome their overly frugal nature and take preparations adequate for the long grueling Winter that is coming. However, because I wasn't clear here on the rolls, and you all were in striking distance of passing, I will allow you to vote for one of the three categories that our character will adequately prepare for today.

Do you make additional preparations in...

>Heat and Fuel: As it currently stands, your character does not have enough wood or oil to make it through the impeding Winter. If you select this option, they will acquire two more cords of wood, and completely refill their oil tank. They will also buy materials to re-insulate the house; though they won't have enough time to install them today, they will be on hand and an option for a future project.

>Animals Care and Feed: As it currently stands, your character does not have enough feed and medicine for his animals to make it through the impending Winter. If you select this option, they will acquire feed and medicine for their animals. They will also buy a heater lamp and incubator to improve the hatch rates of your geese and ducks.

>Opportunity: While having work during the apocalypse does not sound like a typical concern, this is more a question of your characters knowledge of salvage or scraping opportunities in his area. When the Winter hits, everyone is going to immediately try to fend for themselves; so after today, your character will not be able to find all of these opportunities. By choosing this option, your character will have a deal of options for salvaging and gleaning right from the start.

>>4415207
>Opportunity

This would basically mean knowing abandoned properties and such that have still something worth in them, right? Does it also include knowledge about our neighbors and surroundings, since by looking for work we are kinda getting to know them? I don´t think you will let us be the survivor that saves everyone, but knowing the lay of the land and who is who might actually help us do those harsh decisions from a more informed position.

I would be interested on this, since wasting time exploring seems like a fool´s errand. Alos in the things we already have on our house (axe, matches) and nearby surroundings (is there a forest with good firewood? how far are we from the nearest village?)

>>4415207
>Animals Care and Feed
I'm split between this and the third option, but since it will probably be really difficult to get access to medicine after shit hits the fan I'll vote for this. Anything that vets might leave behind will probably be scavenged as backup for humans pretty quickly and if all our animals die from something it will be bad.

>>4415207
>Heat and Fuel: As it currently stands, your character does not have enough wood or oil to make it through the impeding Winter. If you select this option, they will acquire two more cords of wood, and completely refill their oil tank. They will also buy materials to re-insulate the house; though they won't have enough time to install them today, they will be on hand and an option for a future project.

if we freeze to death everything else is worth shit

>>4415264
>This would basically mean knowing abandoned properties and such that have still something worth in them, right?
Correct.
> Does it also include knowledge about our neighbors and surroundings, since by looking for work we are kinda getting to know them?
Also correct.
As far as woods and woodsman tools are concerned, you are all set on that regard; just know that burning wood that hasn't been kiln dried or given appropriate time to season could eventually lead to dangerous creosote build ups. Getting your chimney swept during the apocalypse is probably going to be a tall order. I'm not going to make you roll for every time you use green wood (or even standing dead wood that hasn't dried properly); but it is something that might happen eventually, if you were to feed your stoves exclusively green (or at least undried) wood for a prolonged period of time.

As far as your distance to the nearest village, Debouch, Maine, you are an 10 minute drive to the village center, or alternatively almost an hour of walking away (in optimal conditions).

>>4415272
>>4415264
>>4415277
Well, you know you have done a good job as a QM making all of the options sound equally attractive when you have a three-way tie. I'm going to eat lunch, and if there isn't a tie breaker, I will roll for it myself.

>>4415310
Not really going to change my vote. We have enoughh firewood for now and could probably get more from the woods.
Besides, it seems it would already give us a rapport with nearby survivors and that means getting new cool skills (we could get a vet for our animals), getting more info about the situation and having more people to loot/keep guard of our house

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>4415324
Oh, I wasn't expect you to change, I just wanted to answer your questions.

>>4415264 roll of 1
>>4415272 roll of 2
>>4415277 roll of 3
So consider this vote closed, and I will roll for it.

>>4415406
Alright; you'll make a point of picking up adequate feed and seed for your animals. Insert your own sneed jokes here.

You don’t know exactly what it is, but you have a vague feeling of unease about the future; perhaps brought on by the abrupt arrival of the First Snow, whose appearance was made all the more startling given the absence of the First Frost. You still have plenty of time, but maybe, because you are thinking about it, you will squeeze in a trip to Prague Farmers Union to stock up for the animals.

Still sitting in your kitchen, you are able to hear your alarm go off upstairs; it is time to get up. You head upstairs quickly, to get properly dressed, and once you are ready, you head on out to the paddocks for the second time today. You put down the feed for the geese and top off their drinker and then unlatch their hutch. One gander is on the other side of the door as you open it up for the day, and looks at you inquisitively; but does not venture outside yet. Fine by you, they will head out when they are of a mind to head out. Similar scene plays out for your ducks when you put down the feed, fill their drinker and then dump and refill their wading tub. Boadicea is really easy to care for, all you need to do is let her out into her pasture, and make sure that her water tray has not frozen solid. She is a heifer; a young cow who has not yet given birth, and as such, is not lactating; though that is for the best, considering you don’t have all of the equipment on hand for milk production quite yet. She is due in less than a month.

Finally, you let out Dander, your boar. For an intact male, he is very tractable and has an excellent build, both in terms of bone structure and fat distribution. Considering that he was already old enough for any boar taint to have already set into his meat, that you had never castrated anything before, much less a quarter-ton animal, and that he’d make a decent enough sire, you decided to breed him, instead of turning the boar into a bar, and then later into pork chops. You will need to keep your eyes open for a sow though.

>>4415475
With the animals having received their morning feeding; it is now time for you to head out. Prague Farmer’s Union will not be open for a while, but you have three opportunities that you can pick from right now.

>Coach Riggins put an add out for someone to repair the schools pitching machine. You would assume that this would be a more involved job, considering that if it were easy, they would just get the janitor to fix it up. But now that you think about it, isn’t it kind of strange that a small consolidated school like ours has a pitching machine? (Head to the school; meet Coach Riggins and possibly others, successful completion provides favor with Coach Riggins (possibly others) and 250 dollars.)

>There was an add put out for someone to haul off what is described only as ‘an old sailboat’ off of a campground property for the owner. Sounds like a customer must have abandoned it there and they want it gone. Simple enough, though depending on the condition of the sailboat, you might have a hard time doing anything with it. (Head to Happy Hunting Grounds Lakeside Cabins, successful completion provides ‘an old sailboat’)

>You have an actual 'cleanout' job scheduled for today. If you start it early, you will finish it earlier, and have more time later in the day when more things around town are open. You do not have many specifics on the job, except the address and that you were recommended to this client by Mr. Parasol, which would imply that whoever this client is, they have enough money to be in the same circles as Parasol. (Head to the Old Morrison Farmhouse, successful completion provides favor with the unknown (wealthy?) owner, unknown (valuable?) salvage and 500 dollars)

>>4415479
I am an absolute mongoloid. 'ad' not "add'

>>4415479
>You have an actual 'cleanout' job scheduled for today. If you start it early, you will finish it earlier, and have more time later in the day when more things around town are open. You do not have many specifics on the job, except the address and that you were recommended to this client by Mr. Parasol, which would imply that whoever this client is, they have enough money to be in the same circles as Parasol. (Head to the Old Morrison Farmhouse, successful completion provides favor with the unknown (wealthy?) owner, unknown (valuable?) salvage and 500 dollars)
Sounds like a prepper, maybe even a corporate evac site

>>4415479
>You have an actual 'cleanout' job scheduled for today. If you start it early, you will finish it earlier, and have more time later in the day when more things around town are open. You do not have many specifics on the job, except the address and that you were recommended to this client by Mr. Parasol, which would imply that whoever this client is, they have enough money to be in the same circles as Parasol. (Head to the Old Morrison Farmhouse, successful completion provides favor with the unknown (wealthy?) owner, unknown (valuable?) salvage and 500 dollars)

>>4415526
>>4415498
Alright, it has been nearly an hour and with those two votes, I will consider this one closed. I am going to grab dinner, and then when I get back, I'll get to writing.

>>4415479
>There was an add put out for someone to haul off what is described only as ‘an old sailboat’ off of a campground property for the owner. Sounds like a customer must have abandoned it there and they want it gone. Simple enough, though depending on the condition of the sailboat, you might have a hard time doing anything with it. (Head to Happy Hunting Grounds Lakeside Cabins, successful completion provides ‘an old sailboat’)

All you know about this job is that it is at the old Morison farm. When you move here, three years ago now, you had looked at the place, but determined that it was well outside of your price point. It had been occupied by the Morrison family since they had purchased the property in the 1930’s; the eldest living child of the last Morrison to work the property had maintained it while looking for a buyer; considering that your client was named Hebert instead of Morrison, you can only assume that the property had finally been sold. You had been called there to clean out the place; considering the scale of the operation, this Hebert had (without prompting) offered to pay you on top of it all. Considering the potential salvage involved in cleaning out a farm; you would have been willing to pay him 500 dollars to get exclusive access to the estate.

It is still early though; and you were scheduled to start work at 8:00am. You aren’t sure if you should just show up and start picking through the place, but if you try to get in touch with him, it might take some time to hear back, he might saw ‘no, wait until you were scheduled’, or even worse, he might say, ‘no, forget it’. How do you want to handle this little potential hiccup here?

>He is not expecting a call, he might not even return the call, but you do not think you should simply show up, even though you had been formally invited. Call, and wait for further instructions, even if that means spending time waiting around your phone.

>He invited you to the property, he told you where the keys to the gate are, he said if he was late that it was fine to start without him. So, by extrapolation, it should be fine to start without him, because there really is not a practical difference between you being early and him being late, is there?

>You don’t want to wear out your welcome before you even put your foot through the door; likewise, you also don’t want to sit around and wait if he doesn’t get back to you. Why don’t you try taking a crack at that sailboat instead? By the time you are done with that, you will still be able to arrive early to the Morrison farm, just not, egregiously early.

I actually need to run out and take care of something; not a major problem but I figured a slightly redundant vote that would allow you to position our character to more effectively spend their time on the last 'normal' day would be better than a lapse of two hours or so between posts. Apologies.

>>4415637
>He invited you to the property, he told you where the keys to the gate are, he said if he was late that it was fine to start without him. So, by extrapolation, it should be fine to start without him, because there really is not a practical difference between you being early and him being late, is there?
I don’t mind this, gives a little bit of an insight in to the MC (who we know little about)

Alright, I am back, I have eaten, so we can move things along right now. We will immediately head to the property. Closed and writing!

>>4415819
neat premise for a quest op, considering most people always go for the more outlandish apocalypse scenarios. I'm interested in seeing where this quest goes.

Think about it; this guy has already invited you to the property, he has told you where the key is to the gate, and he has said that he might be late and that it would be perfectly fine to start without him. By extrapolating that logic, it should be fine to head to the property right now and start without him, as there is no practical difference between you being early and him being late, is there? You would have left that answer for the ethicists, but the House Un-American Activities Committee found that the profession was full of subversives and fifth columnists and officially censured all working ethicists; since then, they have been rarer than hen’s teeth, though even before the censure, they seemed to be a more prevalent in ‘cosmopolitan’ climes, which Maine is most decidedly not.

You grab a toolbox you have kitted out for salvage and ‘cleanout’ work like this, and shrug into your shoulder holster. While the second amendment is an American right, and Maine is a constitutional carry state on top of that, surprisingly few people carry (at least openly) around here; though you’d suppose that many are either tourists from away, or don’t want to spook tourists by doing so. Peh!

Regardless, your job as an animal control officer is also reason enough to carry, especially when you consider that the Sheriff’s Office, who you receive dispatches through, have deputized you to work for them in an emergency, in two separate occasions. First time was to search for a missing child and the second time was to search for an escaped prisoner from the Consolidated Somerset-Piscataquis Jail; both of those briefs stints as a ‘lawman’ had been really exciting, and as fleeting as it may have been, you felt a real sense of comradery and brotherhood during those hectic scrambles; perhaps for the first time in your relatively solitary life. While your relationship with the law may be complicated, and the situations that would call for you deputized again would be dangerous or tragic (or both) you had been hoping for a third time out, and made a point of carrying diligently so that you wouldn’t miss out.

You throw a buffalo plaid button-down on, and toolbox in hand, you head out into the dooryard, locking the door behind you, and craning your neck to see if the animals are doing alright. When those that you can see look like they are doing just fine, you move towards the garage. The sun still has not risen, but there is enough light to see in; and if something changes, there is a flashlight in the trucks. For a job like this, you will use your farm truck and bring along your boxed-in beaver trailer. You have a smaller truck which you use as a commuter vehicle, considering that it is in better condition and gets better mileage; but for a job like this, you need to bring out your ‘heavy’. This isn't just a 'cleanout' this is a farm 'cleanout'.

>>4415931
You hook it up, and head on out, reflecting as you pull out of your driveway that you have about a full tank of gas in this one. Driving as you always do, with the radio off, and both of the windows cracked, so you can listen to the engine and your surroundings, you pull off of your dirt driveway and onto the dirt road. The land all around hear was pasture once, and you can still see the carefully stacked rock walls, but the forest has since reclaimed these lands with scrub, poplar and pine. Here and there, you could see hardwoods beginning to come in, indicating that the land was starting to transition out of the first stages of a ‘new growth’ forest.

Apparently, this land was intended to be parceled out and developed, but whatever development there was stalled; maybe they realized that the only valuable land was around the lake, or maybe they wanted to build more units then the land was zoned for; but ultimately, nothing happened came of it. You had been able to buy the farmhouse and a small parcel, but there is no way that you could afford all of the land that used to be the Lasky Family Farm. Maybe, if you were lucky, you’d be able to buy a couple of parcels before the developer changed their minds and shat out some modular monstrosities on them, but getting all of them back to work as farm land would be a pipe dream. A pleasant pipe dream though…

Several minutes of uninterrupted driving pass. You have been on paved roads now for a bit, and you are passing the first speed limit sign, with an under-slung ‘radar enforced’ placard underneath. It is strange, considering how much you enjoyed being deputized by the Sheriff, how strained your relationship with the law is. You reflect on how…

>>4415935

(An important note; this is a character vote, as opposed to a narrative vote. That means that this vote will help flesh out the character’s background; and in doing so, shape the narrative votes that will be available to you in the future. For example, if players choose ‘violent’ inclinations for character votes, then more ‘violent’ choices will be available later in narrative votes throughout the quest, and less non-violent choices)

>(Rhetorical Inclination) You have always had philosophical issues with certain aspects of the law.

>(Salvage/Lacenous Inclination) You might be an undiagnosed kleptomaniac; or you might just be a junk-thief, either way, the law is not your friend, by any stretch of the imagination.

>(Larcenous Inclination) You were able to afford your home here because you were a self-taught safe-cracker. Things got messy, so you moved back home to Maine. It has been three years, and you still do not know if you made a clean break...

>(Observant/Violent Inclination) You killed a man in the heat of an argument, with the exact gun that you are carrying right now. It was a stupid mistake, he was getting physical, he pulled back, you thought there was something in his hand…

>(Scheming/Violent Inclination) You killed a man in cold blood, purely for personal gain. He wasn’t a saint, but he wasn’t doing anything wrong, or at least anything wrong to you. That’s how a college dropout was able to get afford a house like yours.

>>4415949
>>(Larcenous Inclination) You were able to afford your home here because you were a self-taught safe-cracker. Things got messy, so you moved back home to Maine. It has been three years, and you still do not know if you made a clean break...

might as well go for the modest route to begin with.

>>4415949
>(Salvage/Lacenous Inclination) You might be an undiagnosed kleptomaniac; or you might just be a junk-thief, either way, the law is not your friend, by any stretch of the imagination.
Mmm petty thievery

>>4415949
>(Rhetorical Inclination) You have always had philosophical issues with certain aspects of the law.

>>4416020
>>4416003
>>4415977
Hmm. Well, I'll wait for a tie breaker, but be warned, I might fall asleep.

>>4416045
yeah /qst/ is a slow board at the best of times but it really dies around this time of night so you may have to wait a while.

>>4416045
If it goes down to a tiebreaking roll I'll switch my vote to >>4415977
Better full thievery than no thievery.

>>4416051
Well, it is 12:14 am right now, where I am. If there isn't another vote in by 1:00am, I will consider your vote switched, and then start writing; that post will include the overnight vote.

>>4416020
>(Rhetorical Inclination) You have always had philosophical issues with certain aspects of the law.

>>4416045
Just saw your quest op. Looks cool so far and looking forward to more of it.

>>4416068
Ah! Good, and I'm still up. Alright, I will get to writing.

>>4415977
+1

Way I read it the other option would just make us some edgelord who didn't commit any crimes but writes ACAB on walls

>>4415949
>(Observant/Violent Inclination) You killed a man in the heat of an argument, with the exact gun that you are carrying right now. It was a stupid mistake, he was getting physical, he pulled back, you thought there was something in his hand…
If the vote’s still open, I think this puts us into a good frame of mind for the Apocalypse

Whoops! I'm sorry guys, I just realized that my post >>4416080 never specified that I closed the vote. My mistake, I'll make sure I make a point of doing that in the future. And as to your concerns in >>4416124; don't worry, our character will now be given more prompts to attempt to persuade others or logic their way through problems. Though admittedly, they might also run the risk of getting their head stuck in their ass sometimes, getting caught up in autistic quibbles, as you will see...

>(Rhetorical Inclination; you are more likely to see options to logic and persuade your way out of issues and conflicts)

It is not that you have made a habit of breaking the law; rather it is your issue is largely a philosophical one. As you drive to your job, you consider the phrase; ‘Law and Order’. You find it incredibly disingenuous; it should be ‘Law and Control’, at least in your estimation. The specific issue is one of semantics, but the deliberate misrepresentation doesn’t end there, and in a field where word choice has the power to save or ruin lives, like the law does, it seems to you to be a cardinal sin completely overlooked by otherwise diligent members of society.

In the aforementioned phrase, ‘Law’ describes the means and ‘Order’ describes the result; enforcing or following the rules that have been codified into the law produces a state of order, and from that order will arise peace and prosperity. Except that is an intentionally skewed view of what is happening. The state that the law brings about is one of ‘control’, not ‘order’. The difference between the two is that control is exclusive and mandatory. Order, on the other hand, is non-exclusive and elective.

Just try opting out of the law and see where that- Ack! You just nearly missed your turn. You will hold off on the internal monologues of the facts and logic for now and focus on the driving.

…

>>4416177
just as I feared we turned this guy into a Fedora-tipper

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>>4416177
Several minutes later, you pull off of the street and into the poorly maintained driveway through the dooryard of the Old Morrison farm. The sun is still not up yet, but what snow had fallen has already melted away. In the light of your truck’s headlamps, you can see a quite a bit of morning fog, a typical sight over damp hayfields. The actual farmhouse is set further back on the property, you can see the roof poking out over the tree line, all of the buildings seem to be built on top of a small promontory, overlooking the fields. You follow the drive until you reach the gate, already the main road has disappeared behind the scrub and brush growing on the promontory, where it is to steep to mow. Boy, this is a lot of fog! Must be coming in off of the lake. You consult a mental map of the area in the head, and find that you are, as you expected, practically within a stones throw of Mooseleg Lake. If the property line on the farm here goes far back enough, it might even have an easement to the lake itself. Ah, but this isn't for you. Only the trash.

The gate key was supposed to be on the left support of the gate itself; and there you find it, sitting in plain view. On a ring, with about two dozen other keys, several of which look like house keys. You blink, in more than a little bit of shock. Does the customer want you to clean out the farmhouse as well? You do not have anything written down, so you try to recall the entire conversation as best you can. You talked about the number of outbuildings, he mentioned that there was ‘junk’ everywhere, which could mean anything from unwanted but perfectly functioning and salable equipment to literal trash, mentioned that he was going to be in around 8:00 am, but that he frequently runs late (it is about 5:20am right now). Mentioned that his family might be by later in the day as well, but no, nothing about cleaning out the farmhouse as well, just the surrounding areas.

Does this mean he wants you do clean the house out too? No, he would have said that, been explicit about it. Huh. You look at the keys on the ring, there is one bigger one, that had been painted white, not from the factory, like someone took a can of paint out and dunked the thing in there; the slapdash paintjob has worn off, presumably through quite a bit of use. If you had to guess, this was the house key to the Old Morrison farm. There is something awfully tempting about the idea of just poking around inside…

>>4416185
>(Honest inclination) But there is no reason to do that. You have already twisted your invitation to arrive early to suit yourself, inappropriate perhaps, yet forgivable. But the presence of other keys on the key ring here is not an invitation to go snooping (or swiping) through the Morrison's farmhouse, that would be trespassing, no worming out of it. And after all your talk about the hypocrisy of the language surrounding law too. (Will remain in the dooryard regardless to the value of the junk available)

>(Pragmatic inclination) But you will wait to see if there is anything in the dooryard worth prioritizing first before you make any decisions about going into the house. If there is stuff outside worth your time, then there is no need to risk the job and your reputation by prowling through the house. If it is just heaps of garbage, then maybe it will make sense to take some risks here. (Will defer decision to go into the house and look around until you have determined the worth of the salvage scatter throughout the dooryard.

>(Larcenous Inclination) And this is just as much of an invitation to work the house as you had to arrive early, any way that you slice it. If you are going to get in serious trouble for showing up early, then you might as well double down, right? He isn’t going to be here for hours, you can be through the place in a matter of minutes. But if you wait, and he shows up and realizes his mistake, you might never see the inside of the place. The last Morrison was a bit eccentric, who knows what the hell he has sitting around. The ‘junk’ outside can wait, but if you want to get inside, you are on a deadline here. (Will head immediately into the house, without regard to the value of what is outside)

>>4416182
Heh, don't worry. Nothing that I've put up so far is completely useless. Trying to talk things out, or work things out instead of just trying to take charge or brute force your way through is a valid play style, especially if society is broken down to the point where there is nothing stopping angry parties from simply killing each other if they are so inclined.

Alright, I'm going to go to bed now. I know this is a bit of a 'slow burn', but I wanted to establish some important people and places around you, (as well as the mechanics) instead of simply dropping you in the middle of the action, as tempting as that might be. Things will pick up soon, I promise. Thanks to everyone who is along for the ride, and I will see you all tomorrow, which is already today!

>>4416187
>(Larcenous Inclination) And this is just as much of an invitation to work the house as you had to arrive early, any way that you slice it. If you are going to get in serious trouble for showing up early, then you might as well double down, right? He isn’t going to be here for hours, you can be through the place in a matter of minutes. But if you wait, and he shows up and realizes his mistake, you might never see the inside of the place. The last Morrison was a bit eccentric, who knows what the hell he has sitting around. The ‘junk’ outside can wait, but if you want to get inside, you are on a deadline here. (Will head immediately into the house, without regard to the value of what is outside)

>>4416187
>(Pragmatic inclination) But you will wait to see if there is anything in the dooryard worth prioritizing first before you make any decisions about going into the house. If there is stuff outside worth your time, then there is no need to risk the job and your reputation by prowling through the house. If it is just heaps of garbage, then maybe it will make sense to take some risks here. (Will defer decision to go into the house and look around until you have determined the worth of the salvage scatter throughout the dooryard.

>>4416187
>>(Honest inclination) But there is no reason to do that. You have already twisted your invitation to arrive early to suit yourself, inappropriate perhaps, yet forgivable. But the presence of other keys on the key ring here is not an invitation to go snooping (or swiping) through the Morrison's farmhouse, that would be trespassing, no worming out of it. And after all your talk about the hypocrisy of the language surrounding law too. (Will remain in the dooryard regardless to the value of the junk available)

Since this is kinda of an establishing character moment, I would rather we try play it honest, considering this is going to also establish our reputation with the community. Also, one of the main points of doing this was getting a favor from these guys, and breaking and entering defeats that. Also from a roleplaying perspective, our character does not know this is the last sane day he is going to enjoy. Makes sense to start from a high place and then start rolling down the slippery slope of morality as things get rougher and rougher

Since we have intellectual pursuits, we could ask him to gift us the books inside the farmhouse, if they are still in good condition.

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>>4416249
>>(Honest inclination) But there is no reason to do that. You have already twisted your invitation to arrive early to suit yourself, inappropriate perhaps, yet forgivable. But the presence of other keys on the key ring here is not an invitation to go snooping (or swiping) through the Morrison's farmhouse, that would be trespassing, no worming out of it. And after all your talk about the hypocrisy of the language surrounding law too. (Will remain in the dooryard regardless to the value of the junk available)

was gonna go pragmatic but fuck it you make a good argument lets see how this ride goes

>>4416187
>(Honest inclination) But there is no reason to do that. You have already twisted your invitation to arrive early to suit yourself, inappropriate perhaps, yet forgivable. But the presence of other keys on the key ring here is not an invitation to go snooping (or swiping) through the Morrison's farmhouse, that would be trespassing, no worming out of it. And after all your talk about the hypocrisy of the language surrounding law too. (Will remain in the dooryard regardless to the value of the junk available)
Moral relativism aside, I think we could be a good boy for once before things go to hell. Btw what pistol do we have? And is it the only weapon we have?

>>4416187
>(Pragmatic inclination) But you will wait to see if there is anything in the dooryard worth prioritizing first before you make any decisions about going into the house. If there is stuff outside worth your time, then there is no need to risk the job and your reputation by prowling through the house. If it is just heaps of garbage, then maybe it will make sense to take some risks here. (Will defer decision to go into the house and look around until you have determined the worth of the salvage scatter throughout the dooryard.

>>4416187
>(Honest inclination) But there is no reason to do that. You have already twisted your invitation to arrive early to suit yourself, inappropriate perhaps, yet forgivable. But the presence of other keys on the key ring here is not an invitation to go snooping (or swiping) through the Morrison's farmhouse, that would be trespassing, no worming out of it. And after all your talk about the hypocrisy of the language surrounding law too. (Will remain in the dooryard regardless to the value of the junk available)

>>4416228 1 for Larceny
>>4416237 1 for Pragmatic
>>4416249 1 for Honesty
>>4416263 2 for Honesty
>>4416430 3 for Honesty
>>4416496 2 for Pragmatic
>>4416498 4 for Honesty

Alright, I am up. I am going to do some quick chores around the house and then I will get to writing! Consider this vote closed for behaving 'honestly'.

Alright, I am ready to run. I will need the following rolls of the dice:

1d50 will determine the danger present in the dooryard.
1d6 will determine how many separate caches (each having separate potential to 'pay out' scrap) are present in the dooryard
1d20 will determine the presence of incidental scrap, not belonging to a cache
1d20 again will determine the general condition of dooryard.

Rolled 31 (1d50)

>>4416866

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4416866

>>4416867
At >10, there is no immediate danger present in the door yard itself, though there could still be something in one of the caches.

>>4416876
Wow! A great start; six caches present means six chances at some really great loot!

>>4416885
Qm, could our computer scan/print books?

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>4416866

>>4416891
Print, yes. Scan, no, that technology doesn't exist yet, either on the market or held by the government.

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>4416905
General condition roll

>>4416918 Dooryard is Safe (>10)
>>4416900 6 caches present in dooryard
>>4416876 a few useful odds and ends present
>>4416867 Dooryard is clean of trash, debris and fallout (obviously)

Alright! A really strong start here. I'll get to writing up the scene.

You sigh deeply. As tempting as it would be to look around here, your early arrival is already stretching the bounds of propriety. Hopefully, you will have enough to go through in the dooryard. You unlock the padlock and return the keys to where you found them. Jumping back in you truck, you continue your way to the top of this little promontory. Through the scrub, you can see the farmhouse more and more clearly, as well as what appears to be an outbuilding, perhaps a small pole barn; and when you round the last turn and pull in, you are able to see the condition of the dooryard properly. There are three outbuildings and a carport, as well as two clusters of what appears to be some sort of heavy equipment; you cannot tell for sure though, considering that the entirety of the dooryard is overgrown in scrub and prickly weeds.

As much of a pain as going through this area will be, the presence of what looks to be heavy equipment, and the completely absence of trash or otherwise dangerous debris is promising. Not to mention that the outbuildings seemed to still be shuttered, which means that there might still be stuff in them. This job is shaping up to be much more involved than you had thought; but you have a good feeling about it.

+2 to rolls as the Dooryard is completely clear of trash or debris
+1 to rolls as the Dooryard is safe

Could three anons please roll 1d20+3, for the first hour of work here? 1-5 is a failure. 6-15 is a success. 16-20 is a double success. 21+ is triple success. Progress starts at 0/?, and with subsequent successes, how much work remains to clear the way to the caches (and collect any incidental scrap present) will become clear. As there isn’t any danger present, failure will just meant that progress is undone.

This is the system (or at least an early version of it) that we will use when out in the world salvaging after everything goes belly-up.

Rolled 15 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4417005
Here goes

Rolled 3 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4417005

Rolled 20 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4417005

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>>4417017

>>4417017
>>4417010
>>4417007
Alright! We were able to avoid any unpleasantness, and we managed to get a triple success!

>Roll of 15, with +3 worth of bonuses yields net of 18. Double Success! (2/?)
The first thing that you will need to do is to clear your way through the brush and scrub here, so that you can access the entire door yard. This is why you keep a pair of heavy gardener's gloves and machete in your scrapper kit; this isn't the first time that you have had to do some impromptu landscaping to get a job started, and it probably will not be the last. You pull on the gloves, take off your buffalo plaid button down and start hacking your way through all of this. You make good time to start, and as an added bonus, your livestock will happily eat some of the weeds growing here. (+25 pounds of green feed)

>Roll of 3, with +3 worth of bonuses yields net of 6. Single Success (3/12?)
Well, you were hoping that you would physically and metaphorically get into the swing of things here, but as you got rid of the smaller stuff, you find yourself slowing down to deal with the bigger, thornier specimens that are choking the dooryard here. However, you have an idea of how much it will take to clear this place, and ever better, you found a small shrink-wrapped tray of name brand chainsaw oil; 48 ‘singles’; bottles containing 2.6 oz of chainsaw oil, enough to top off a tank for about two months of light work. Water has gotten under the shrink-wrap, but the seals on the bottles still look sound. For there to be this much oil sitting around, odds are that there must be chainsaws, big workhorse chainsaws kicking around somewhere on the property. (+Chainsaw oil, +Site Knowledge (Chainsaws))

Roll of 20, with +3 worth of bonuses yields net of 23. Triple Success! (6/12?)
With the prospect of finding some chainsaws putting wind in your sails, you hack through the remaining bigger prickly brush in this area, and once again make great time. The stuff that you are plowing through will also make decent treats for your livestock as well, though you don’t want to take a truck and trailer load back of weeds, so you might hold off after this. It is at this point where you make the best find yet, an opened pail of hydraulic fluid. This settles it; there were tractors here, recently, judging by the dates stamped on the bucket. And possibly, they are still here! But it is more than that, hydraulic fluid means that whatever tractors were (are?) here have mounted equipment; indicative of higher quality equipment! It takes several-several seconds to pry the lid off, but you check inside the bucket. As you expected by the weight of the pail, it is nearly empty, and what is left is kind of gritty. You would never use something like this on your equipment! (+25 pounds of green feed, +Site knowledge (Tractors with Hydraulics))

>>4417134

The first hour here has flown by, and it is already 6:20. Keep at it, and you will have the site cleared for further work in no time! Also, you'll need to make a decision bringing back any more green feed (green feed can spoil, and it can be a vector for vermin or disease if stored improperly, but it is also more nutritious and easier to come by than dry feed). Will you continue to collect green feed for your livestock?

>Yes
>No

Also, can three anons please roll another 1d20+1; should be able to finish clearing the dooryard up soon. Going to prepare an early dinner, so I can stick around for longer during the peak hours on /qst/

(Important note; a cow will eat roughly 30 pounds a day; a pig will eat about 4% of their body weight a day, and as Dander is 500 pounds, he will need to eat around 20 pounds to continue to gain weight. 10 ducks will eat about 7 pounds of food a day, and 10 geese will eat about 8 pounds of food.)

Rolled 1 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4417154
Since we go through close to 65 pounds of feed a day (unless we're using significantly less than this due to the cow and boar grazing, in which case I could be very, very wrong) I don't see there being a problem with it spoiling unless we manage to bring back a lot of feed. Unless the feed gets in the way of us fitting more valuable stuff in our truck then I think we should bring it back.
So
>Yes

Rolled 8 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4417154
>Yes

I mean, at the moment we only have a tiny bit of green feed. I doubt we could gather enough to last more than a few days and with the cold wave coming spoiling wont be a very pressing issue.

>>4417154
Shouldnt we add a +3 instead?

>>4417218
Yes, you should. Jesus.

>>4417154
>Yes

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Rolled 4 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4417292
The thing didn't roll

>>4417154
>Yes

>>4417204 So that is one failure, but in the absence of danger, that just means that progress is undone. As well as a vote to keep stacking on the green feed.
>>4417212 that is one success, and another vote to keep stacking on the green feed.
>>4417307 and more more single success, and a third vote to keep stacking the green feed.

Consider this closed. I'll get to writing it up shortly.

>Roll of 1, with +3 worth of bonuses yields net of 4. Failure! (5/12?)
Unfortunately, the start of the second hour began with you accidentally spilling the hydraulic fluid you previously opened. You got some on your boots (which was alright, you had pulled this pair out of a trashcan) and the rest went all over the remaining grass and scrub that you had mowed down with your machete. It is frustrating, but you stop what you are doing to make sure that you remove and separate all of the ‘oiled’ plants, down to their roots when you can, and then dig up dirt to dump over the spill. The rough bit of remediation takes a bit, but it would not do to risk burning down your new client’s property; the heat of the exhaust from your truck could conceivably be enough to start a grease fire out here in the dooryard.

>Roll of 8, with +3 worth of bonuses yields net of 11. Success. (6/12?)
Having recovered from this set back, you make a point of being more careful than you had been being. Unfortunately, this has the unintended side effect of slowing your progress down dramatically, at least compared to the first hour. You find several boxes of what some manner of fixtures once, but the elements had got into them; as they sit right now, they are just a mess of rust. You cannot even figure out what their intended use was, let alone of having any hope of using them for their intended use. (+5lb of scrap metal)

>Roll of 4, with +3 worth of bonuses yields net of 7. Success. (7/12?)
You have cleared away more than half of the brush here, and while you are not finding much sitting around out here, that could very well be for the best. The condition that anything left out here in the elements would probably be closer to fixtures. Still, you are making a great deal of headway through what are clearly livestock edible plants, and the with the scrub beaten back, you are able to move much easier through the area. (+50lb green feed, +1 bonus to rolls to reflect the improved access to the site that your cleaning has brought about)

It is now 7:20am; the client said that he would be at the property around 8:00am, but that he might be running late. Even though you only have a bunch of weeds and some odds and ends to show for it (for now) you are making really good progress here; the place is actually beginning to shape up nicely!

Can three anons please roll 1d20+4; to determine how the third hour progresses. Also, can one anon also please roll 1d6 to determine when and how the client shows up? I will only be taking the first one.

Rolled 9 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4417518

Rolled 15 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4417518

Rolled 6 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4417518

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4417518
Client roll.

>>4417544
>>4417532
>>4417527
>>4417522
Alright, give me a minute, and I will get to writing.

>Roll of 9, with +4 worth of bonuses yields net of 13. Success. (8/12?)
The sun finally rises for the day and it does so over an almost cleared dooryard. You have cleared a path out to carport of the farmhouse, and in the process cut some more loose green feed. You also find a tub, a claw foot enameled bathtub, no plumbing, just the physical basin by itself, sitting out in the elements. Considering everything that it must have been through, it seems to be in decent enough condition. As it is in the way, you haul it off to your truck, but you will probably have a hard time trying to figure out how to use it. (+25 pounds of green feed, +Claw Foot Bathtub (useable? condition)

> Roll of 15, with +4 worth of bonuses yields net of 19. Double Success! (10/11)
You continue to make headway, and clear pathways to the outbuildings. Though the plants here have not been accommodating, you are just about done. Getting to the two clusters of what appears to be equipment (possibly the tractors that had been evidenced by the hydraulics pail) is really all that remains.

>Roll of 6, with +4 worth of bonuses yields net of 10. Success and Completion! (11/11)
Judging by how long the sun has been up, it must be about 8:00am right now. Your client said that they might be here by 8:00am, so it looks like they got a late start, or otherwise got delayed. Admittedly, you are kind anxious. Odd jobs like this, especially ‘cleanout’ jobs have an unfortunate way of baiting and switching the odd jobber; as the law is almost exclusively on the client’s side. There have been times where you have been told that payment is X and whatever you can get for the stuff your hauling off, but then, as the job nears completion, and something that is obviously valuable crops up, the client decides to alter the terms of the agreement. “Well, no, you can’t have that…”. It is a frustrating reality that you have had to deal with; in this line of work, where deals are made with verbal agreements and handshakes, there are people out there who will fuck you over, not because they are hurting for money, but simply because they can fuck you over. Your frustration at the status quo in this line of work speeds you through the rest of the dooryard, and you clip the machete to your belt as you head over to your truck to take a break. (Dooryard has been cleared; all 6 caches can be accessed at will)

You take several minutes to catch your breath, sitting in the cab of your truck with the driver’s door open. The view of the fields is still obscured by the brush and scrub that still borders the dooryard on the promontory here, but from what you can see through the tangle, the early morning mist over the fields have dissipated. Just as you are about to get back to work, you notice the sound of an engine; it seems that your client is making his arrival.

>>4417808
After several-several-several seconds, a small black foreign compact makes its way around the bend and parks not even a car length away from your trailer. A couple gets out, a man and woman in their late thirties or early forties, perhaps. The man is smiling broadly, but the woman seems displeased, perhaps with the place. A tale as old as time…

You get out of the truck and head over to introduce yourself, but the man beats you to the punch. “You must be Mr. Mantle. My name is Reaves, Jim Reaves.” You shake his offered hand, and then he gestures at the woman beside him, who now that you are close enough for a good look has elegant features, and what seems to be flawless porcelain skin. “My better half, Rebecca.” The woman, who is looking more and more openly disgusted by the minute, spares a second to look at you, and in doing so, catches sight of your sidearm. Her reaction is hard to explain, it isn’t that she looks scared that an absolute stranger in the middle of nowhere is armed, which admittedly, is a reasonable fear, when one is unarmed. Doubly so when one is unarmed and a woman.

But instead, she looks like she is … offended? No, scandalized is a better word for it. She looks like she is scandalized by being somewhere where 'normal' people carry guns. Her question, a very icy “just why on earth do you need that … thing?” drives the point home. How do you want to answer what is effectively a veiled insult?

>Why bother dignifying this (admittedly beautiful) bitch with any sort of response? Mr. Reaves is the client, just bring him up to speed on the job; odds are she will find something else to bitch about.

>Just say one word: ‘Freedom’. Just that, then ignore her and bring Mr. Reaves up to speed on the job.

>Explain that you have it for personal protection, then start talking to Mr. Reaves before she can derail anything.

>(Rhetorical Inclination) The types who aren’t comfortable around armed citizens generally believe that only officers of the law should carry sidearms. So, if you were to explain that you were an animal control officer, and that you carry this firearm to assist you in your duties, she might accept that.

>>4417812
>(Rhetorical Inclination) The types who aren’t comfortable around armed citizens generally believe that only officers of the law should carry sidearms. So, if you were to explain that you were an animal control officer, and that you carry this firearm to assist you in your duties, she might accept that.
This seems like the quickest way to get her off of this line of questioning. Would like to just ignore her but I don't know how her husband would react to that.

>>4417812
>>(Rhetorical Inclination) The types who aren’t comfortable around armed citizens generally believe that only officers of the law should carry sidearms. So, if you were to explain that you were an animal control officer, and that you carry this firearm to assist you in your duties, she might accept that.

>>4417820
Ditto, maybe bring up that we’re a Part Time Deputy too, it couldn’t hurt unless they’re pinkos

>>4417825
>>4417821
>>4417820
Consider this vote closed, I'll get to writing.

>>4417874
Still?

>>4418168
OP is writing on a salvaged ARPAnet console so it takes time.

>>4418179
OP must be a hardcore masochist

>>4418245
>>4418179
>>4418168
OP fell asleep and damn near slept through his alarms. Sorry about that. I'll have the post up soon.

“Ma’am, I’m the town’s Animal Control officer. I carry, so if I need to, I can … uh, control the animals.” Well, that certainly sounded better in your head, but it seems to have worked. Or at the very least, Rebecca’s attention has returned to the dooryard, and how it apparently displeases her. But before any of you three are able to continue the conversation again, the back doors on the Reaves compact car open up, and a handful of children step out, a teen-aged daughter, and what looks to be a pair of preteen twins, one boy and one girl. Jim spares them a quick glance, but then returns to looking around the dooryard. Rebecca on the other hand, wipes all frustration from her face as she turns to them, and politely instructs them to please be careful around here, that the ‘front yard’ is still be cleaned up.

You suppress a chuckle. ‘Front yard’ indeed. She has probably never even heard the phrase ‘dooryard’ before. Honestly, you are beginning to think that this family is as ‘from away’ as it is possible for a White family to be. But as long as the work is good, you will do your best to refrain from any unkind thoughts. After another moment of silence between the six of you, Jim turns to you. “You’ve really got a strong start going here Mantle. My boss, Mr. Parasol really recommended the right man.” His boss? You did not realize that Parasol employed white-collar people like Mr. Reaves here; far as you knew Parasol just did property management and development, and this man strikes you as higher-grade than some clerk or administrator. You know that it might not be your place to ask, but you are accumulating all of these questions…

Please choose which of the following questions to ask Jim Reaves:
>What exactly do you do for Mr. Parasol?
>What do you intend to do with this property?
>When did you buy the Morrison Farm? Last you knew, it wasn’t even on the market.
>Where are you from?
>Do you want help in clearing the farmhouse as well?
>He isn't paying you to ask questions. Simply return to work.

Please choose which of the following questions to ask Rebecca Reaves:
>Are those your kids?
>Is everything alright? You seem upset.
>Do you have some sort of ‘issue’ with guns?
>As no questions of her, it definitely is not your place.

>>4418451
>>Do you want help in clearing the farmhouse as well?
More work for us, would be nice

>Do you want help in clearing the farmhouse as well?
May as well ask
>Ask no questions of her, it definitely is not your place.
don't poke the sleeping bear

>>4418473
>>4418483
Sorry if I wasn't clear, you can pick multiple questions, if you want.

>>4418451
>>Is everything alright? You seem upset.

>>4418451
>What exactly do you do for Mr. Parasol?
>What do you intend to do with this property?
>Do you want help in clearing the farmhouse as well?
May as well get some info.

>As no questions of her, it definitely is not your place.
Let's not risk getting her more upset than she is.

>>4418451
As more small talk, work during it if we can.

>so where are you from
>whats the plan with the place
>do you nee help in clearing the farmhouse?

>ask no questsions of her

>>4418492
I feel like my brain should've reaized that, my bad
>Where are you from?
>What exactly do you do for Mr. Parasol?
>Do you want help in clearing the farmhouse as well?
The other ones seem slightly too probing for small talk.

>>4418508
this

Alright, let me try to tally votes.

For Jim:
>Do you want help in clearing the farmhouse as well?
Five votes for asking about cleaning the farmhouse.
>What do you intend to do with this property?
Two votes for asking, two votes against. Holding off for now.
>What exactly do you do for Mr. Parasol?
Three votes for asking what he does.
>Where are you from?
Three votes for asking where he is from.

For Rebecca:
>Is everything alright? You seem upset.
One vote for with four votes against. Holding off for now.

Going to get a quick lunch, and then I will write up this scene!

Well, small talk is not your strong suit. In fact, any 'talk' is not your strong suit,but with the kind of money that these people presumably have, it will probably be worth the effort and the time to try being personable here. “You work for Parasol?” You almost added a 'too' in there, but someone like Reaves here probably would not consider ‘cleaning out’ properties as ‘work’. He nods along absently, and after a second or two replies; “As an architect, he keeps me on retainer.”

You wonder if he is responsible for the designs of the homes that Parasol put up in his developments; some of them looked decent, but most were either sterile or simply unattractive. Still, you cannot imagine that there is enough work from Parasol locally for an architect like him to keep busy, perhaps even in the entire state. For his entire family to be here with him, he must intend to keep this property for personal use; however, the fate of the farmhouse and the farm itself is still unclear. Perhaps when you get a better opportunity, you can ask what exactly what he intends to do with the old Morrison farm.

Well, if that line of questioning is closed off for now, you might as well continue with the small talk. “So where exactly are you coming from?” He simply replies, “the City’. Hmm. You have a feeling that he is not talking about Bangor or Portland, or even Boston for that matter. Probably a New Yorker than. He goes on to add, while still distracted by rubbernecking the dooryard, that he was originally from the Catskills. You have no idea what or where the Catskills are, but you can not figure out a way to ask about them that does not make you sound ignorant, so you drop it.

Having decided to not needle his wife with any questions after the 'blizzard' you got earlier, you get back to business and ask him if he would like you to clear out the interior of the house as well. At that, he looks surprised. “You do interior work as well?” What? Why wouldn’t you do interior work? Has there been some manner of miscommunication here, or is he still distracted by preening over his new farm?

>>4418718
>(Honest Inclination) Whatever the disconnect here is, it will be in everyone’s interest to have it resolved. Explain what you do, and that how to your understanding, the agreement was for the dooryard, including outbuildings but not the farmhouse, and ask if he wants you to take care of the farmhouse as well.

>Whatever the disconnect here is, it will be in everyone’s interest to have it resolved. Explain what you do, and that how to your understanding, the agreement was for the dooryard but not the farmhouse. Do not mention the outbuildings; you are counting them as part of the dooryard, which is typical for this kind of work, and mentioning them might mean that he tries to take them off the table. Ask him if he wants you to take care of the farmhouse as well.

>You can honestly and simply answer this question with a ‘yes’; there is no need to get into anything more than that; doing so might see this sweet deal here soured with additional constraints and restrictions.

>There seems to be a disconnect somewhere on his end, one that you are in a position to exploit. He clearly has money; why not ask for another 500 to do the house? Like your grandfather always said, you have to pay for your education, don’t ya?

>>4418720
>Honest inclination

Plus, after clearing things out: "Architect? Do you plan to make something out this fine piece of land?"

Let's get him talking about his job. We can probably help him out with whatever he wants to do with the farm or we could sell him some eggs (Present yourself for further work)

>>4418720
>(Honest Inclination) Whatever the disconnect here is, it will be in everyone’s interest to have it resolved. Explain what you do, and that how to your understanding, the agreement was for the dooryard, including outbuildings but not the farmhouse, and ask if he wants you to take care of the farmhouse as well.

>>4418720
>(Honest Inclination) Whatever the disconnect here is, it will be in everyone’s interest to have it resolved. Explain what you do, and that how to your understanding, the agreement was for the dooryard, including outbuildings but not the farmhouse, and ask if he wants you to take care of the farmhouse as well.

>>4418718
>>4418743
Support generally a good idea to make connections.

>>4418823
>>4418814
>>4418770
>>4418743
Alright, consider this closed. I am going to go pull together dinner, and then I will have the next post up.

You look at the man for a moment. Since he got out of the car, he has been acting kind of strange; is he under the influence of something? No, there do not seem to be any other signs. Maybe he is just some sort of airhead? Like a male bimbo? Well, no, that does not make sense either, Mr. Parasol would never have kept him around if he wasn’t worth carrying. Now that you think about it, is it normal for architects to be hired on retainer? You know that Parasol has his own way of doing things, but you are not sure what the sense of it is. Maybe he is simply absent-minded; or maybe he has other things on his mind. Whatever is going on, you should clear the air here, before doing anything else.

You take a minute to explain how you run ‘cleaning’ jobs; you clear the specified area of the property of any trash, debris or if present saleable goods or scrap-able objects. If it is nailed, screwed or bolted down it stays, but anything else goes. You do not mess with hazmat stuff, but you generally make a point of leaving the place cleaner than it was when you arrived. You give the man a refresher over the terms of the agreement; 500 dollars and whatever you want of whatever you pull off of the dooryard. Having established the existing terms, you reiterate your question. “Do you want me to clear out the farmhouse as well? The agreement wasn’t clear on this.”

He looks at you properly for the first time since he arrived, and blinks. “No, of course. Clean the place out, by all means.” As frustrating as it is when people start a ‘yes’ statement with ‘no’, you will consider the job to include the house now. He opens his wallet and causally peels out 5 100-dollar bills. As you accept them, you look past him and the money for a moment. Rebecca is standing by the car, watching the kids like a hawk, as they roam around the perimeter that you have cleared. Her open disdain for the farm, for you, for the Second Amendment, it is all gone. It seems to have replaced by what you would judge to be worry, though if it is for the kid’s sake or the situation as a whole, you are not sure. Well, it is time to get back to work; you will get the outbuildings cleared, and then-

>>4419039
He better not stiff you, your looking to get more out of this job than 500 bucks and a hundredweight or so of fucking weeds; and it is in the outbuildings like this where the real valuables are...

One anon each can roll one of these:
>6d50 for danger (>8 is safe) present in each cache
>6d20 for gross value of each cache
>6d20 for current condition of each cache

>>4419039
>>4419044
Wait, shit. I lost a portion of the post. Between the end of >>4419039 and the start of >>4419044; the following paragraph should have gone in.

It is at this point that Jim interrupts you. “Do you mind if I tag along? I’m kind of curious about the place myself.” This is the one thing that you hate about jobs like this; boundaries are flakey, and the law is almost always on the side of the client. If he was to come along, and he found anything worth something, then he might change his mind about the terms on the spot, and decide to keep it, even though by the terms that you established, it is yours. You could not challenge it in court; as far as the law was concerned all of this was still his property, to do with as he pleases. You are not thrilled about this, but considering that this is his property, you really are not in any position to say ‘no’. The nod you give him is unenthusiastic, but the smile he returns you is anything but.

Rolled 35, 8, 37, 35, 12, 36 = 163 (6d50)

>>4419044

File: Just for (you).png (179 KB, 503x334)

179 KB PNG

>>4419061

Rolled 5, 4, 2 = 11 (3d20)

Common get me somthin good

Rolled 11, 15, 15, 15, 9, 17 = 82 (6d20)

>>4419044

>>4419086

Wrong roll read it we each do 3 of em 1 from Each.

Rolled 2, 16, 2, 7, 18, 11 = 56 (6d20)

>>4419044

>>4419096
>>4419087
>>4419086
>>4419073
>>4419061
Alright, let me pull these together and get the post up!

The Carport

With your ‘shadow’ in toe, the two of you head on over to the Carport first. As you carefully pick your way through the area where you spilled the hydraulic fluid earlier, Jim asks a question. “On the phone, I remember you referring to this place as the ‘Old Morrison Farm’. Did you know the old owners?” You try to suppress a sigh; you can understand and appreciate curiosity, but you try to work here, not give a guided tour. “By name, and reputation. This was the last proper farm running in Debouche; they managed to stay afloat where all others had failed, but the next generation wasn’t willing to give up their lives to keep a farm breaking even, just for the fun of it.”

(35 is greater than 8. No danger is present)
After a cursory inspection, the carport appears safe enough. There is a light switch mounted to the outside of the farmhouse strangely enough, but when you flick it, the switch breaks off in your hand. Jim just chuckles at that. On one hand, you are glad that he is not upset, but on the other hand, you are really not enthused about the prospect of having a laugh track for your escapades here.

(2/20; the place is an absolute sty)
Well, it looks like you found the trash that was not in the dooryard. Jesus Christ, this is a mess. Newspapers, food wrappers, Styrofoam coffee cups, and bottles. A handful are drinks, but nearly all of them are either oil or some manner of chemicals. There are the cat-scratched remains of an upholstered chair, missing the seat cushion that has been filled with burnt out light-bulbs for some inexplicable reason. In the far wall of the carport there is what appears to be the remains of massive, homemade easel.

(11/20; there is some stuff worth your time)
But, there is some stuff that seems worthwhile, mixed in under all of this trash. Sitting front and center in this maelstrom of trash is a what looks to be a Cheber Grill, covered in a branded Cheber grill cover. This was probably left by the Morrison who sold the farm to Reaves, possibly by accident. There is some bird shit on the cover, but it should wash off. Takes you a minute to unwrap it, but it was ultimately worth it, as underneath is a really nice grill, in excellent condition. You tap the tank, and are surprised to hear and feel that it is full. Without turning the gas on, you test the electric self-lighter, and are rewarded with several meaty sounding snaps. Also present is a Niggs and Raffton Engine that looks to be in working order, the remains of a heavy, gas powered weedwhacker, and an old jack. There is also the remains of a woodpile; it looks like the Morrisons used leftover ‘slab’ wood to heat the house. Finally, there are some broken or heavily damaged hand tools as well as a tub of fasteners that was left out in the rain and rusted to hell.

>>4419342
Sorry for the delays, I needed some extra time to finish the home brew inventory system. A large part of this quest is going to be scavenging, so I needed to get the caravan system in place. Every item has two values, weight and volume. For ease of understanding, these values will be represented as relative percents of the capacity of the vehicle that they are loaded on. So instead of saying that the green feed is 150lbs and has x volume, we'd say that the feed is 7.5% of the weight capacity of the truck, and 25% of its volume. This should make it easier when we are trying to organize scavenging caravans, and we'll need to consider different vehicles with different capacities with different loads on them already.

You can load past 100% weight capacity, but you risk doing damage to the vehicle. You can load past 100% volume capacity, but you risk losing some of your cargo.

In the Carport, you have found:
>(+1 Cheber Grill with matching cover, working condition) 8.25% of weight capacity, 3% of volume capacity.
>(+1 Consumer LP tank, 0.75 filled) 1.5% of weight capacity, 0% of volume capacity
>(+1 Niggs and Raffton engine, working? condition) 2.5% of weight capacity, 1% of volume capacity
>(+1 Small Engine, possibly in working? condition) 1% of weight capacity, 2% of volume capacity
>(+0.125 Cord of ‘slab’ wood) 6.25% of weight capacity, 5% volume capacity
>(+1 Set of Garden Tools, repairable condition) 1.5% of weight capacity, 1% of volume capacity
>(+5lb of scrap metal) 0.25% of weight capacity, 0.12% volume capacity
>(+miscellaneous paper trash) 5% of weight capacity, 5% of volume capacity
>(+miscellaneous liquid trash - presumed dangerous) 2.5% weight capacity, 1.5% volume capacity

Currently, the farm truck has on it:
>150 lb of green feed (loosely bundled) 7.5% weight capacity, 25% volume capacity
>Chainsaw Oil 0.5% weight capacity, 0.25% volume capacity
>5 lb of scrap metal 0.25% of weight capacity, 0.12% volume capacity
>Claw Foot Bathtub in working? condition 15% of weight capacity, 5% volume capacity
The farm truck is at 23.25% weight capacity and 30.37% volume capacity.

The beaver trailer being pulled by the farm truck is empty.
The beaver trailer being pulled by the farm truck is at 0% weight capacity and 0% volume capacity.
The beaver trailer has the same weight capacity and volume capacity as the truck does.

Do you:
>Load everything
>Load everything that isn't trash
>Load everything but (specific items)

Additionally, you could try to get a roll off dumpster up here, to help deal with the trash, but to get one, you'll need to go through Big Nate, and he never makes things easy, especially for you.
>Attempt to streamline trash removal by calling in roll off dumpster; costs 50 dollars and dealing with your 'rival'
>You'll manage on your own.

>>4419427
So how would we manage trash removal?, we are expected to remove it yes? So is there a dump? Reasonably we would seperate and organize everything we want to keep outside the truck and only stack trash the. Dump it once we are done, or full then c9me back get our stuff and head home.

>>4419434
Yes, you are expected to remove everything short of Hazmat stuff; that should be an option too.

>>4419427
Revised options:
Load everything
Load everything that isn't trash
Load everything but (specific items)
Unload everything that isn't trash, deal with that first

>>4419443
Damn it, mean to greentext those. The revised and greentexted options:
>Load everything
>Load everything that isn't trash
>Load everything but (specific items)
>Unload everything that isn't trash, deal with that first

>>4419443
>Unload everthing that isnt trash deal with that first.

>>4419443
>Unload everything that isn't trash, deal with that first

>>4419503
>>4419448
Alright, normally I'd close this, but I am about to fall asleep, and if I try to get another post out, I'll probably just wind up like I did yesterday. Good night, and I will see you all soon.

As much as you hate loading and unloading, this is almost certainly going to require multiple trips. You resolve to focus down the trash first; and spend a good ten minutes getting everything that you have loaded on to your truck, off. You have some old flattened cardboard boxes on the truck, so you fold some open, and use them to store the trashed oils and chemicals. The paper, you just throw in a large contractor trash bag.

(8 is not greater than 8. Danger is present)
The next place you head is the smaller of the two outbuildings; and structurally, it is in the worse shape of any of the buildings; the walls are noticeably bowing out, the roof looks like it is going to collapse and you realize that at least some of the cast off wood surrounding the building is there because it fell off the building. However, this seems to be the only outbuilding that has its own lock. Promising, but that does not mean that it isn’t dangerous; the building is in such poor shape that it looks like this structure will not survive another winter, or even a moderate snowfall.

>You are undaunted, try to get into the building anyway. Roll 1d20 to see if the building collapses as you enter; rolls of 1 to 7 result in collapse, rolls of 8-20 are safe. If it collapses, everything inside, including yourself runs the risk of being damaged.
>Consider yourself daunted; you have a scar on your left shoulder from the last time you entered a derelict building like this. You will have to either reinforce the building before the first snowfall from the outside or abandon everything inside to its fate.
>Wait, you are in the presence of a practicing architect! You normally do not like involving clients in the work like this, but this is a situation where it would be justified. Renegotiate the terms of your agreement to get him to ‘consult’ with you as you reinforce and shore up this shed(?) for extraction. Be warned though, that between whatever he gets in renegotiation and the cost of the reinforcements, you might break even on whatever is inside here. Or you might bust out.

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>4419768

>You are undaunted, try to get into the building anyway. Roll 1d20 to see if the building collapses as you enter; rolls of 1 to 7 result in collapse, rolls of 8-20 are safe. If it collapses, everything inside, including yourself runs the risk of being damaged.
fortune favors the bold

>>4419795
Yeah let's do this

>>4419795
I believe QM wants us to roll after we select an option

>>4419795
>Wait, you are in the presence of a practicing architect! You normally do not like involving clients in the work like this, but this is a situation where it would be justified. Renegotiate the terms of your agreement to get him to ‘consult’ with you as you reinforce and shore up this shed(?) for extraction. Be warned though, that between whatever he gets in renegotiation and the cost of the reinforcements, you might break even on whatever is inside here. Or you might bust out.

Let´s play it safe. The guy is shadowing us and he will cherish on the opportunity to show a "country bumbkin" his big city knowledge. Keep it casual and he might even help us for free. Doesn´t seem he knows the value of anyof this shit.

>"Mr.Reaves, sir, this building looks like it might fall on my head the moment I set a foot in. You know any way to shore it up so the next breeze doesn´t make it tip over?"

>>4419823
Yeah, I'd rather not risk grievous injury this early on in the quest
even if metagame-wise this cache has the best loot rolls
i'll go with this

>>4419854 1 for entering immediately (roll doesn't count until the vote is closed, if you roll and vote simultaneously, then everyone would just vote for the option that has the best outcome regardless)
>>4419823 two for immediate entry
>>4419823 one for consultation with the architect
>>4419854 two for consultation with the architect

I'll leave this up for a tiebreaker while I go eat some lunch; if there isn't one when I get back, I'll roll.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>4419865
Alright then:
With a roll of 1 you walk on in, and will risk collapse
With a roll of 2 you consult with the architect on hand

>>4420000
Alright, probably for the best. Don't want to risk maiming the MC before the apocalypse even begins, do we? Writing!

>>4420003
That lock, and the possibility, no, the implication of wealth on the other side of that door is enough to make you want to just burst in. But at the last minute, you hold off, and wait for Reaves to pick his way over here. “Mr. Reaves; this building here, it doesn’t look structurally sound, does it?” He snorts as he replies. “No, it does not look particularly sound at all. Though I do not think you would need an architect to tell you that. “Nodding, you point to the lock. “This is the first lock I have come across, after the gate. Odds are that there is some worthwhile stuff inside. How would you, I don’t know, shore up the place?” He looks at the place for a long moment. “Me? Simply put, I would not. The liability here seems much more than whatever could be inside a farm shed. Safest way to deal with this would be to get an excavator with a clam-shell and have the place knocked down. Easiest way to deal with this would be to wait for it to collapse, but I don’t think the missus would like that, especially with the kids.” He trails off, looking the place over.

“But, if I was to do this, I’d hope that this heap still had intact joists, and then get a couple of those adjustable floor jacks to shore it up, while you built some 2X4’s into more permanent supports. After that, I’d look at all the ties, and reinforce, not replace, mind you, but reinforce anything that looks suspect. And even after all of that, all you’ve done is buy some more time; that roof isn’t going to deal with any significant snow weight.” He looks to you for a moment, and then, almost under his breath, says “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. He rolls his shoulder and speaks up again. “No doubt that there is something in there that is worth something, but I don’t want you dying over it. Until you have the place shored up properly, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you work in there. Do not worry about a deadline, just whenever you have the materials for this job, let me know. Until then, it isn’t happening.”

Fuck! This is why you hate having clients following you around. Even if he is looking out for you, sort of, his presence here has really complicated this job.
>(Honest) Accept these new conditions and move along for now.
>(Larcenous) Pretend to accept these new conditions and return later.
>(Rhetoric) Try to argue your case to him (will require rolling).

Also:
>Ask to at least see what is inside the room, maybe get a better idea if it is worth the effort.
>The inside might look even worse, and he could change terms again. Leave it be.

>>4420098
>(Honest) Accept these new conditions and move along for now.
Adding: "Yeah, I would rather leave it for last, if I even going to take a crack at it. Or just link it by some chain to my truck, tear it down and scrounge the ruins"

>Don´t bother looking
Honestly, I doubt there are going to be any comfortable holes that allow us an ample view of the contents of the shed. We can return to it later.

Do we have the tools for making the building safer or can we get them in a day´s time?

>>4420098
>Ask to at least see what is inside the room, maybe get a better idea if it is worth the effort.
>(Rhetoric) Try to argue your case to him (will require rolling).

we can do lik, half of what he said. only need a couple of minutes to clear out any potential valuables, then he can still call a bulldozer. We don't want to spend the night in the thing after all.
Question: do we have a helmet? It might be smart to wear a helmet for this.

>>4420120
I support the helmet idea. Some gloves would also be nice

All he's making us do is make the place safe to go through, may as well agree to it unless there's a pressing need to find useful shit in a short timeframe. Dunno why that would be the case though.
cough, apocalypse, cough
>Do we have the tools for making the building safer or can we get them in a day´s time?
also curious about this
>Honest
>Leave it be

>>4420154
Apocalypse? What are you talking about anon? Things are just fine, just a bit chilly.

>>4420098
>(Larcenous) Pretend to accept these new conditions and return later.
>The inside might look even worse, and he could change terms again. Leave it be.

>>4420116 Honest, don't look
>>4420120 Rhetoric, look
>>4420154 Honest, don't look
>>4420188 Larcenous, look

I'll leave this up for a few more minutes, we might be able to either break a tie (or make a new one).

>>4420203
>>4420116
I will change my vote from not looking to looking from a safe distance if it can be done (through a hole in the shed or whatever) Building is run down, we should probably have a big enough gap to stick a lantern through.

>>4420213
Asking his permission first

>>4420098
>(Honest) Accept these new conditions and move along for now.
>The inside might look even worse, and he could change terms again. Leave it be.

>>4420213
Alright, so that is a third for looking, so long as it can be done without opening the door.
>>4420237
And that is a third for 'honest' and a replacement second one for don't look

Alright, you'll try to safely peak into the shed. Can I have one roll of 1d20 to determine how successful you are at finding a hole and seeing anything? (1-5 is failure as is standard)

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>4420266

>>4420268
Just shy of getting the double success, which would have let you see everything. Writing!

You aren’t pleased, and you can feel you face tightening as you grimace, but Reaves is a professional in this field, moreover, even if this building is a complete loss, you still have enough opportunities to make serious money here. But you just have to know what you have on your hands here. You look for some sort of hole that you could peer through. After picking your way carefully around back of the building, you notice an anchor for an electric line jutting from the eaves of the roof. While there is no line currently, it seems that this building was electrified at one point. Promising!

And here is a hole to in the interior, at about knee height. You have a small inspection light with you, and you take it out as you bend over to get to eye level with the hole. You can see some tools, hanging on a far wall. It looks to be an entire set; though you are not sure if they are woodworking or metalworking. Obscuring most of your view of the room, however, is a large wooden crate, that looks to be in much better condition than the dirty and dilapidated shed. You can just make out the remains of a trans-Atlantic air freight sticker, and above it stamped into the wood of the crate is a symbol? No, a logo. A logo that you have never seen before. It looks like chevron inscribed in a circle, but it is not centered point up, rather it is pointed to the right, as you look at it. Its legs are not the same thickness or length, and at the point of the misshapen chevron, it looks like there might have been some sort of … you’re not sure what exactly, but the more you think about it, the more certain you are that it isn’t a chevron. And the more you want to get in there to find out what on earth the notoriously cheap Morrison had paid to be shipped across the Atlantic.

You straighten up and return to Reaves. There is another building to look at, hopefully this one will be in better shape.

>>4420364
If anyone can figure out the logo from the clues before the shed is opened up, there will be an additional item waiting for them in the shed as a reward.

>>4420364
Atlantic Airways?

ESL here, could anyone describe a chevron? Google images only show me the company logo. Is it supposed to be like a sort of arrow?

File: military-rank-chevron-com(...).jpg (33 KB, 820x512)

33 KB JPG

>>4420390
This is a chevron
Commonly used in militaries to denote rank.

>>4420390
No, the crate itself would be older than Atlantic Airways as a company. Very good guess though, the logo looks reasonably similar to what this one is.

Sometimes I forget that I have non-American or ESL players. If you are uncertain about anything be it a word, or a reference, then by all means, please ask for clarification like anon here did.

>>4420413
Um, so the hints:
>pre-1987 company
>encircled chevron pointed to the right
>capable of trasatlantic flight

>>4420364
Lufthansa?

>>4420413
Austrian airlines has a chevron, but it is not encircled

>>4420429
Unfortunately, Lufthansa´s logo points to the left

>>4420438
TAROM and Turkish Airlines also do the same

>>4420413
Nort Central Airlines logo fits, but they don´t seem to have transatlantic flights

>>4420464
As well as Condor. Canadian Airlines almost fits, but it isn´t encircled

>>4420413
Air Algerie?

>>4420413
Republic airlines is my last guess if other anons don´t have anything else

I don't think the logo has to be for an airline, it could be from the company that originally shipped it. So I think what we're working with is:
>almost certainly pre-90s because of setting and that being when ARPANET shut down irl
>chevron in a circle pointed to the right
>chevron's legs aren't the same thickness/length
>something is located at the point of the chevron
>company isn't located in the Americas
Maybe it's some sort of foreign car logo? Nothing immediately comes to mind because I'm not into that kind of thing.

Two final hints: It is historical; the company no longer exists, but the memory of their products being used remains seared in the minds of many. And that was also the second hint, think product, not services.

It's a longshot, but Oldsmobile maybe?

>>4420507
No longer exists independently, under that name or logo, I should add. In this world or in the Quest. Just wanted to clarify that.

The Trailer:

>(37 is greater than 8. Danger is not present)
You and Reaves silently make your way to the next building, a dilapidated single wide trailer, parked then allowed to rust and rot about 25 feet from the farmhouse. The stairs to the trailer have been enclosed with a plywood ‘entryway’. You open the first door, loosely hanging from the structure, climb the stairs, and then open the door to the trailer itself. The plywood is waterlogged and delaminating. If you had a mind to, you could probably break portions of it off in your hand. You try the door to the trailer only to find it off its hinges completely. You set it aside and enter into a quagmire of trash.

>(2/20; the place is an absolute sty)
With only a few steps in, you are practically swimming in trash. Old newspapers, fliers and letters are everywhere; the only saving grace to this is that there does not seem to be any food remains mixed in; though that doesn’t seem to have stopped rodents; mouse and rat shit is seemingly on every partially cleared surface. Most of the volume of the ‘trash’ however is bizarre arts-and-crafts stuff, the kind that middle-aged wives and thirty-something queers make under the influence of boxed wine or whatever and then try to unload, typically unsuccessfully, at flea markets. Irritatingly enough, none of it appears to be made of materials that you can reclaim. You can’t even begin to estimate how much is in here.

>(15/20; there are some useful things buried in the sty)
But just as you are giving serious thought to trying to haul off the entire trailer, your scavenger’s eye picks up on a china cabinet. There were porcelain plates propped up many flat surfaces, the kind that grandmothers use for decoration; but what was in the top half of the china cabinet all matched, and in the light of your inspection lamp, it looks to be fairly high quality and understated. Octagonal plates, all the white of bleach bone, with a raised motif in the center of the plates and bowls. While you might actually use these, this is not what you are interested in. Just as where there is smoke there is commonly fire, where there is good china, there is the much more lucrative good silver. It takes a minute to clear your way to the bottom half of the cabinet, but when you crack that thing open, you are amply rewarded. The gravy bowl is pewter, but everything else is sterling.

Who the fuck keeps sterling silver in a trailer? The Morrisons did, apparently. They were really quite eccentric, but they managed to keep the farm afloat and left on their own terms, which is a lot more than any of the other farmers in the area could say. There is more to the trailer, but you know that you are not going to get anywhere until you clear out all of this shit.

>>4420518
Can three anons please roll 1d15 and 1d10? The sum of the three 1d15’s will be the weight capacity that will be needed to move the arts and crafts, and the sum of the three 1d10’s will be the volume capacity that will be needed.
>3 1d10's
>3 1d15's

Also, you could ask Reaves if he has any ideas (a 2 in a roll of 1d3), but if he knows what it is (a 3 in a roll of 1d3), then the challenge is over, and you don't get the bonus. He could simply not know (a 1 in a roll of 1d3). Also, it has been thundering on and off for the past hour, so if I go silent, just know I haven't abandoned you guys.

Ask Reaves if he knows the logo (chance to provide final clue, chance to terminate the challenge early)
>Yes
>No

Rolled 10 + 1 (1d10 + 1)

>>4420528
>Nah

Just asking, is it something that you have to American to get it, or is it a fairly universal product?

Rolled 10 (1d15)

>>4420532
Ignore the plus one, it was a typo

>>4420532
Universal is a fairly strong word, but I'd say that even people with a passing familiarity with European history in the last century will probably know the name; but the logo, no. That is why it is worth a bonus if anyone can get it.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>4420528

Rolled 12 (1d15)

>>4420528

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>4420528

Rolled 12 (1d15)

>>4420528

Great quest OP, really enjoying it. Also, by any chance are you the same anon who did 'bone quest'? Cause that one was great

>>4420528
Nah, let's figure it out ourselves

Alright! So, the trash in the trailer takes up 34% of the weight capacity of the truck, and 18% of the volume capacity. It takes more than two hours before all of the worthless arts and crafts and trash paper have been removed, and everything has been swept out. Despite your first impressions, the trailer itself does not look anywhere near as bad as you thought it did. All of the appliances look as if they would be in working order if they were connected to electricity; and the mold that you had found was extremely localized. You would need to check with Reaves, who had eventually gone back into Debouch with the rest of his family for a late breakfast, but you could maybe have this trailer; you'd need to ensure that the frame is structurally sound, find wheels for it so you could haul it to your place, and then deal with the mold before it got worse, but you could conceivably hold on to this thing. Though considering its current state, you probably would not be able to sell it.

You also found the art-and-crafts addict's workbench, smoothed under loose paper and chintzy handicraft. While it might be filled with worthless odd and ends, the workbench itself is much nicer that the set up that you have at your homestead currently (+Improved Workbench; 5% weight capacity, 5% volume capacity). In the bedroom, you found an adjustable dressmaker's model (+Dressmaker’s Model; 1% weight capacity, 0.5% volume capacity) and a sewing machine without any visible branding besides ‘Dressmaker’ on it, as well as a plastic tub full of parts for sewing machines (+’Dressmaker’ Sewing Machine; 2% weight capacity and 1% volume capacity) (+Assortment of Sewing Machine Parts; 4% weight capacity and 2% volume capacity). Propped up against one of the legs of the bed, you found a splitting maul; the head was lighter than typical, at 6 pounds. The original (presumably hickory) wooden shaft had been replaced with a much skinnier metal pipe, welded really quite professionally to the head. There was a rubber grip at the bottom where you would hold it, looks to have been repurposed from something else, but feels comfortable enough in your hand. There is also a 3-pound engineer’s hammer; also, with the wooden handle replaced and an improvised rubber grip. Both have cords on them, so that if they were to be dropped, they would not be lost. Given that these are the only two tools in the entire trailer, and their proximity to the bed, you can safely say these were kept here as weapons. (+Hammer Set 0.5% weight capacity, 0.125% volume capacity)

>>4421131
Yes, it is me. I would like to return to that one once I figure out how to actually create mechanics for it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

>>4421169
And on the topic of weapons, underneath the bed there were no less than 300 loose rounds of 45-70 Government; you had to get down on your hands and knees to grab them all. No rifle though; at least not in here. 45-70 is an older round, old enough that the round that it replaced in service, the .50-70-450, was used in musket-to-trapdoor conversions. Still, from what you read, it has decent enough ballistics, and while they are largely considered historical curiosities or cowboy toys, there are still rifles out there. Hopefully, you stumble across one. (+314 rounds of 45-70 Government 0.5% weight capacity and 0.125% volume capacity)

Well, you've made really good headway so far. The truck still has room (41.5% of the weight capacity and 23.5% of the volume capacity) and the trailer is still empty. Things are going pretty well so far. You don't have a watch; nor does your truck have a dashboard clock, but you would judge that it is a little after 11am right now. You have been working pretty hard for quite some time, much longer than the Reaves know, as you never mentioned how early you arrived, though they probably figured that you had been here before 8am. Or not; Jim Reaves seems to be a bit flighty, and Rebecca seems to be fretting over the state of the place; perhaps they haven't even thought about it.

Do you want to take a break; load up everything you have and head into town? The municipal dump should be open, and if you make it around lunch time, you should be able to avoid your 'rival' Big Nate. Not to mention Prague Farmer's Union, you want to 'laager' it up with animal feed. You could drop off the stuff you want at your place, get something to eat too...

>The plan was to finish working here early; if you take a break, are you still going to be able to do that? Besides, think of how impressed the Reaves will be when they come back to find you still working (Keep working until you have cleared everything except the house and the forbidden shack, chance for +Favor with Reaves Family)

>You don't want time to get away from you. Sure, you only have three other areas to clear out in the dooryard here, but you are also going to take care of the house too; eventually you are going to need to take a break, or at least dump a load of trash off. The dump closes at 5pm, the Union at 6pm; if time gets away from you, you might have to put things off, and you have a bad feeling about that... (Leave a note explaining where you have gone and head into town after loading everything up)

>>4421197
>The plan was to finish working here early; if you take a break, are you still going to be able to do that? Besides, think of how impressed the Reaves will be when they come back to find you still working (Keep working until you have cleared everything except the house and the forbidden shack, chance for +Favor with Reaves Family)

>>4421197
>>The plan was to finish working here early; if you take a break, are you still going to be able to do that? Besides, think of how impressed the Reaves will be when they come back to find you still working (Keep working until you have cleared everything except the house and the forbidden shack, chance for +Favor with Reaves Family)

We could perhaps allow ourselves a small luxury with the money we just got and call a delivery man for some pizza.

I will be honest, we could load up everything in our truck and we would barely even manage to fill it up considering the trailer. I would also rather like to get everything we didn´t got from the first pile. Since we have got space to spare, it would almost be a shame to leave it behind. I don´t want to end up playing a Diogenes afflicted man, but damm if we cannot sell most of this stuff pretty easily.

>(+1 Cheber Grill with matching cover, working condition) 8.25% of weight capacity, 3% of volume capacity.
>(+1 Consumer LP tank, 0.75 filled) 1.5% of weight capacity, 0% of volume capacity
>(+1 Niggs and Raffton engine, working? condition) 2.5% of weight capacity, 1% of volume capacity
>(+1 Small Engine, possibly in working? condition) 1% of weight capacity, 2% of volume capacity
>(+0.125 Cord of ‘slab’ wood) 6.25% of weight capacity, 5% volume capacity
>(+1 Set of Garden Tools, repairable condition) 1.5% of weight capacity, 1% of volume capacity
>(+5lb of scrap metal) 0.25% of weight capacity, 0.12% volume capacity

>>4421209
>>4421203
Alright, you will keep working on the property.

Pizza does sound nice, but two issues; first, cellphones don't exist; you have a radio, but you can only use it to reach Public Service Dispatch. Second, this is a small town in northern Maine; if any of the restaurants delivered at all, which is not a given, it would be during the peak tourist season, which ended more than a month ago now.

I need to go water my plants and do a few things around the house, but I will be running earlier today.

>>4421197
>>The plan was to finish working here early; if you take a break, are you still going to be able to do that? Besides, think of how impressed the Reaves will be when they come back to find you still working (Keep working until you have cleared everything except the house and the forbidden shack, chance for +Favor with Reaves Family)

Well, I meant to start early. I'll get to writing right now.

>(35 is greater than 8, there is no danger present)
Your stomach rumbles, and you have a sudden longing for pizza. But you are going to solider through this, at least until only the house and the ‘forbidden’ shack remain. You head to the last unchecked free-standing structure, with is either a very small barn or a very large shed. Getting closer does not resolve that particularly question, but as you draw closer to it, you can conclude that whatever exactly this building is, it appears to be structurally sound.

>(15/20; there are some worth while things kicking around here)
Well, regardless of whether this building would be considered a barn or a shed, it seems to have been used as a garage at some point, judging by the pits that have been built into the floor; as to allow a man underneath a piece of equipment with enough room to work. They are technically a code violation, though enforcement out here has always been, shall you say, an ‘aspirational’ endeavor. Unfortunately, there are not any tractors in the garage at the moment, but in the corner is what appears to be a generator attached to a homemade woodstove. Well, whatever it is, what it is not is ‘bolted, nailed or screwed down’, so it is yours now. (+ Strange Machine 6% weight capacity, 4% volume capacity). You also find a massive pile of Canadian tire chains, all sized to fit tractor tires (+ unknown quantity of tire chains 10% weight capacity, 2% volume capacity), a single tractor jack that you unfortunately will not be able to use on the forbidden shed (+ one heavy vehicle jack 2% weight capacity, 1% volume capacity) and a collection of animals traps with 4 large mousetraps, probably intended for rats, 7 conibear traps, intended for nuisance animals and furbearers, like the coyote and the beaver respectively, and one bear trap, with two crude tools made from sheet metal for safely setting the conibear and the bear traps hanging nearby (+ collection of animal traps, 4.5% weight capacity, 1.5% volume capacity). What there was not was any tractors. At this point, you are beginning to worry that the tractors are gone, but there are still places that you have not looked.

>(7/20: there is some potential trash present here as well)
But before you do that, you will need to get rid of all of the trash here. There is a mound of discarded hydraulics fluid pails that despite the fact that it looks like they were simply thrown into the corner here, they are nearly all intact, and empty, as far as you can tell. (+empty pails, not food safe, 0.75% weight capacity, 10% volume capacity), and then there are several-several 55-gallon steel barrels lining against the wall. None of them are labeled. To see if they are filled or empty, you experimentally lift two at random. The first one is about half filled to your estimation, but the second one is much heavier; and when you set it down, you can feel something solid inside press against the wall of the barrel. Umm…

>>4422014
>Listen, you are an Animal Control Officer, you are practically a detective. This is just begging for investigation; if this actually was a body of some sort, then you discovering it means exposure for your business, not to mention who knows what kind of doors that it would open up with Public Safety. Take a peek, and if it is what you think it is, then call it in and bask in glory and attention.

>Listen, all you are is an Animal Control Officer. As much as you might like moonlighting as a lawman, you really are not suited for this type of stuff. Not to mention, aren’t you some sort of mandated reporter? You have a radio, call this in for God’s sake. This is not the sort of thing to mess around with. Do not overthink this; just call it in, explain what you can, including your morbid hunch, and ask for instructions.

>Listen, you already have a reputation as a strange loner. If you are the one who reports this, and it turns out to be a body, a real, dead human body, what if people start to suspect you? The Morrisons had a reputation for eccentricity, paranoia, frugality and temper, but also were regarded as fairly intelligent; from what you know of them by reputation, you could see several of them killing someone, and no doubt others in the town could see that as well. But no one would believe no one would believe that they were dumb and naive enough to indefinitely keep a body just sitting around their dooryard, especially when they had an entire farm, no an entire forest to bury it in, or the largest freshwater lake in New England to dump it in walking distance. That kind of suspicion; you could do without. Take a peek, but do not tell anyone, regardless of what it is. Don't rock the fucking boat. If it is what you think it is, then by all means, maybe you could do some investigating on your own, but do not involve the police here.

>>4422017
>Listen, you are an Animal Control Officer, you are practically a detective. This is just begging for investigation; if this actually was a body of some sort, then you discovering it means exposure for your business, not to mention who knows what kind of doors that it would open up with Public Safety. Take a peek, and if it is what you think it is, then call it in and bask in glory and attention.

check what it is first, if it's a body call it in. This should be every rational man's choice really.

>>4422017
>>Listen, you are an Animal Control Officer, you are practically a detective. This is just begging for investigation; if this actually was a body of some sort, then you discovering it means exposure for your business, not to mention who knows what kind of doors that it would open up with Public Safety. Take a peek, and if it is what you think it is, then call it in and bask in glory and attention.

Come on, I bet they are not that weird and that´s just food or something

>>4422014
>Listen, you are an Animal Control Officer, you are practically a detective. This is just begging for investigation; if this actually was a body of some sort, then you discovering it means exposure for your business, not to mention who knows what kind of doors that it would open up with Public Safety. Take a peek, and if it is what you think it is, then call it in and bask in glory and attention.
This is a really odd assumption to jump to. Either the main character has some problems to talk out or the yakuza are much more active in Maine than I expected.

>>4422017
>>Listen, you are an Animal Control Officer, you are practically a detective. This is just begging for investigation; if this actually was a body of some sort, then you discovering it means exposure for your business, not to mention who knows what kind of doors that it would open up with Public Safety. Take a peek, and if it is what you think it is, then call it in and bask in glory and attention.

I don't know what our first or last names are, but our middle name is definitely 'danger'.

>>4422050
>>4422057
>>4422103
>>4422206
Alright; I will get to writing this up.

As per this choice being the typical and reasonable reaction, you are all correct; however our character isn't typical or always reasonable. Our character isn't a Morrison, but he is cut from similar cloth. He is correct in the assumption that the rest of the town views him as an eccentric; and by his own nature he is paranoid (though I haven't really had much of an opportunity to show that besides the immediate assumption that whatever is inside this barrel is a body, and that reporting it would result in any serious suspicion falling on him) and frugal. And just as the town acknowledged that despite the 'quirks' of the Morrison's they were intelligent and capable to keep their family farm going, those that know our character in the town acknowledge that our character must be at least passingly intelligent to sustain himself off of income from pedaling scrap and hauling trash.

Listen, you are an Animal Control Officer; you are practically a detective. This barrel is just begging to be investigated; and if it is what you think it is, you will call it in immediately. But first, you will need to get the lid off. After closer inspection, under the veneer of grime, it looks like the lid was ground off, and then welded back on. The bead on the weld is excellent, of a professional quality that matches the craftsmanship of the hammers. A thought strikes you; typically, the way into a drum like this would be to grind the lip of the lid down; as this one had already been ground and welded back together, whaling on it with your new toys would probably be enough to open her up. You jog over to the pile that you started near the trailer and pluck out your splitting maul and jog back; on the way reflecting if the alternative name ‘sledge axe’ would be better to describe this rebuilt tool.

The welding was really quite well done, and the barrel was in excellent condition otherwise, excluding having the top removed and then welded back on, but in the end, it can only be a strong as the gauge and strength of the steel allows it to be; on in this case the strength of the weld. You flip the sledge axe, so that the blade is pointing up, and the heavy ‘hammereqsue’ back of the axe head is the striking surface. With a quick overhand strike, you stove in the barrel lid with a single hit … and are immediately hit in return with a horrendous stench, the smell of decomposition.

To be more precise, the smell is actually of maceration, where flesh is consumed by anaerobic bacteria commonly present in water. As someone who deals with animals in one job and trash in another, you are used to unpleasant smells; but the abruptness of it is what hits you, for the first time in years, you actually start dry heaving. When you regain composure and look into the barrel after fishing out the remains of the lid gingerly, sticking out of what is informally called the ‘death soup’ by taxidermists who use this technique to prepare skeletons, you immediate notice that sticking up from the morass are two leg bones. However, you are completely certain that it is not human, and almost completely certain that this was an ungulate or hooved animal. You knew something was odd when you felt something solid in a sealed drum, but this was not what you were expecting. In a way, you feel more shaken by this subversion of your expectation than would by the presence of a human body confirming those expectations. How do you deal with this?

>>4422502
>[Paranoid I] Whatever this is, this is not a problem for you. This was probably some sort of forgotten taxidermy attempt; just move on, no need to tell anyone, no need to think about this anymore. Do not make waves. No, scratch that, do not make bad waves.

>[Paranoid II] Whatever this is, you do not like it. The welding is what gets to you; while there is probably some practical explanation for it, you do not think you can just walk away from something like this. You will keep quiet about this, but when you get into the farmhouse, you will be looking for things that are strange instead of things that are valuable.

>[Paranoid III] Whatever this is, you really do not like it. You think you know bones, but do you really? What if this somehow gets out? Are you willing to stake your reputation, your freedom on your identification? Does something like this fall under the mandated reporter statutes? You absolutely need to call this in immediately, though it will presumably derail your schedule for the day, and probably give Rebecca Reaves conniptions (loss of favor with Rebecca Reaves, arrival of officers will derail schedule)

>[Pragmatic] Sometimes, you get way to deep in your head. It is an unfortunate result of living alone, without any human interaction outside of clients at your jobs or cashiers at stores. You need to trust yourself, that you can identify bones as ‘non-human’ and you need to trust Occam’s Razor that this is just a taxidermy experiment. There is nothing else that need to be done here, but on the flipside, there is nothing that needs to be hidden here either. Just take care of this barrel as if it was any other piece of trash. If it comes up, answer honestly. If it does not, there is no need to make a deal out of it. (Will require roll of 13 or greater on 1d20. If you roll a 19 or 20, our character will become more pragmatic, and less likely to fall into paranoia. Failing the roll with a greater margin will result in a more negative outcome; 1-4 will be [Paranoid III], 5-8 will be [Paranoid II] and 9-12 will be [Paranoid I])

Please refrain from voting (if it isn't immediately apparent, the real vote here is do you risk getting a worse result by trying for [Pragmatic] or do you take effectively the same result (without the chance of a worse result or improving the character) by choosing [Paranoid I])

>>4422504
I'm sorry, I mean please refrain from rolling until voting is closed, I don't know how the hell that became please refrain from voting.

>>4422504
>pragmatic
I dont this its too sus

>>4422594
Lol it happens

>>4422504
Let's try for pragmatic, 20% of the time we get fucked over by life and turn into Dale Gribble but oh well, it happens.

>>4422504
> Pragmatic

Eh

>paranoid1

>>4422663
>>4422635
>>4422628
>>4422605
Three for [Pragmatic] and one for [Paranoid I]; alright, someone needs to roll for it. 1d20 please.

I'm sorry that this part is dragging a bit; I wasn't expecting all six possible caches at the Morrison Farm job. Sooner or later, we will get to see more of Debouch, Maine as well as the other communities around Mooseleg Lake.

>>4422504
>[Pragmatic]

Tempted to take the easy route, but if the odds are only 20% for our news coming from Infowars, let's roll those dice.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>4422716

>>4422747
Well, you are just shy of making our character lest paranoid, but he did manage to get his head on straight.

Sorry for the lapse, I had more work to do today than I thought. I will get an earlier dinner, and then get writing up.

You take several deep breaths; this is strange, but that doesn’t mean that anything sinister is going on. And, from a purely pragmatic standpoint, even if there was something ‘fucky’ going on here, odds are that the Morrison responsible has passed on. You don’t need to make a big deal about this, in fact, you don’t need to make any sort of deal; you’ll take these to the municipal dump, and assuming that you show up when Big Nate is on one of his marathon lunch breaks, you should be able to dumpster this without any issue.

These barrels are heavy enough that they warrant the use of the hand truck; however, considering how much of both of your jobs are physical, you take pains to look after yourself; and this self-care extends to your joints. You have the hand truck strapped down to the ass-end of the cab; you have to clamber up onto the bed to get it off. You position the ramp that you got off of a parts donor (You)haul truck, (which to this day, you consider one of your greatest finds, considering how much it has helped you), and proceed to wheel the drums onto the truck.

(12 and 36 are both higher than 8; these caches are safe)
There are two remaining spots of interest in the dooryard; excluding the ‘forbidden shed’ and the farmhouse itself; and thankfully enough, they are right next to each other, obscured somewhat still by the tall scrub around the portion that you have cleared. This structure pushes the definition of an ‘outbuilding’ to the point where you do not even consider it one, it is a roof on a series of posts driven into the ground and nothing else.

File: Wagons.jpg (495 KB, 2048x1536)

495 KB JPG

>>4423730
(9/20; the first cache does not have much of value. 17/20; the second cache holds an item of notable value or utility as well as some other odds and ends).
The first thing that you see over here are five (five!) full sized hay wagons. There is one ‘modern’ one, made entirely out of metal, with a farm-built hay cage welded together on top of it; again, with the practically professional bead that you have seen several times throughout the dooryard. Unfortunately, this particular wagon is on blocks, missing its wheels. The other, ‘wooden bed’ wagons all have their wheels, but it does not look like they are the right size for the ‘modern’ wagon. Of the four ‘wooden bed’ wagons, one looks to have been recently rebuilt; there are grease nipples that have been hand drilled near the axle collars, and several of them are still grimy from a recent application, and the wood is all new, freshly painted with a smart looking coat of white paint. There is another that looks just like it, except that the paint is worn down a bit here and there. The third wagon is in similar condition to the worn-down wagon, except that this one has a ‘farm-built’ hay cage on top of it like the modern wagon, except that this one is built out of wood instead of metal. The fourth wagon is just the metal under carriage; judging by the burn marks, there was a hay fire, and wooden bed on top was lost, though miraculously, the wheels still look good. (+3 Hay Wagons, operational) (+1 Hay Wagon frame, operational) (+1 Hay Wagon+, non-operational).

There is also the frame for a ‘gutter cleaner’, used to clean out manure gutters in larger dairy or beef farming operations, but there is not a motor or a belt for it. (+1 gutter cleaner frame, non-operational, 25% weight capacity, 125% volume capacity (longer than truck bed, will require its own trip to haul)). But in the far corner, obscured by more trash, and partially covered in the remains of a tarpaulin, the first that you have seen on the property, there is what appears to be …

Please pick one of the following three rewards. All of them are in working condition currently, but finding enough diesel and hydraulic fluid to run the CEV will be difficult, and finding uranium to 'refuel' the mech will be nearly impossible once the core runs 'dry'.

> A much larger twin to the strange machine in the very small barn; attached to an industrial sized generator, both mounted to a massive trailer. Written in large block text on the side is a word that is unfamiliar to you; ‘Gasifier’. Whatever it is, it looks to be in working order.

> What at first glance appears to be some sort of … tank? But it has a plow and an A-frame crane on it, that look original. The bucket on the back was clearly grafted on later though. You have more than passing interest in military equipment, though your knowledge of vehicles is admittedly lacking. You believe it to be some sort of Combat Engineering Vehicle, which appears to be in working order.

>Something you recognize from one old GI JIM cartoons; this is an early 50’s M335 ‘Djinn’ Mechanized Warframe; one of Americas first generation of ‘mechs’. Judging by the faint glow and hum coming from the undercarriage. the core is operational and on standby, but how much longer it needs before being replenished, that is anyone’s guess, and you cannot imagine how much fissionable fuel costs. Its armor and weapons have been removed, but other than that, it looks as if you could jump right in…

>>4423745
Oh, and the guns are still mounted on the CEV

>>4423745
>What at first glance appears to be some sort of … tank? But it has a plow and an A-frame crane on it, that look original. The bucket on the back was clearly grafted on later though. You have more than passing interest in military equipment, though your knowledge of vehicles is admittedly lacking. You believe it to be some sort of Combat Engineering Vehicle, which appears to be in working order.
Give me that crane.

>>4423745
> What at first glance appears to be some sort of … tank? But it has a plow and an A-frame crane on it, that look original. The bucket on the back was clearly grafted on later though. You have more than passing interest in military equipment, though your knowledge of vehicles is admittedly lacking. You believe it to be some sort of Combat Engineering Vehicle, which appears to be in working order.

>>4423998
>>4423758
By my estimation, there are at least four regular players for this quest, on top of the drop-ins. I'll let this sit for a little bit longer, just to give them a chance to come in and vote; but I fully intend to conclude this vote before I end tonight's run.

>>4424050
The tank

>>4424118
>>4423998
>>4423758
Alright, closing it for the CEV.

File: This is what your CEV sta(...).jpg (120 KB, 1023x867)

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You stare at the armored vehicle, dumbfounded, in a state bordering on shock. It just seems so incredibly out of place; to your knowledge, the Morrisons were not a military family. So why ….

Your train of thought completely trails off, and you just stand there, quietly looking at the thing, as if you were waiting for it to vanish, like it was some sort of mirage or sleight of hand trick. It takes several-several-several seconds for you to snap out of it, and finally you timidly approach it. It seems silly, but you are almost worried that its still carrying munitions. Then again, you can see the unmistakable shape of mounted guns underneath the tarpaulin. Uncaring of getting grease on your already dirty work clothes, you clamber up over the treads and stand on top of main body, your left foot on what must be the driver’s hatch. The main gun of this is much short and much wider than a typical tank cannon, in fact, it looks much more like a mortar than a cannon.

You look over the main turret at the obvious farm made addition of the bucket loader. It looks like the seating brackets for the A-frame crane were shifted quite a bit further up than they were originally on the turret to accommodate the bucket loader and its controls seat. Honestly, the bucket looks kind of silly just grafted onto the thing, the rest of vehicle is in combat drab, but the arm for the bucket is bright yellow, and you can still see the brand name; Base, for whatever piece of donor equipment it was pulled off of. There are some tools strapped to the side; a shovel, a wood axe, a Kaiser axe, a mattock, two crowbars and what might be the biggest cant dog you have ever seen, outside of a museum at least. There are also lots and lots of chains, and as you walk around to the other side, to sit in the bucket arm’s control seat, you notice that under what must be the original, heavier hitch, that someone welded on a trailer hitch on a swinging member, so that this thing could still tow, even with the bucket arm grafted on.

Well, it is fairly obvious that this thing was used around the farm. Maybe some Morrison found this thing listed in some obscure surplus classified, realized that it was cheaper than buying an equivalently powerful backhoe, and purchased this thing to modify. But none of that explains the guns; even if this had been bought surplus, the seller would have had to deactivate the guns, if not remove them entirely. You get out of the seat, walk back around the to the front of the vehicle and remove the tarps; and laugh out loud as you solve that mystery.

>>4424295
These guns had been deactivated, and not in the museum piece welded barrel method either. The receivers on the guns had been brutalized; internals deliberately smashed, and the frame torch cut; but it seems that the decommissioners did not reckon on the determination and welding ability of one of the Morrison clan. The receivers to the two guns, the larger of the two you recognize as a Browning, had been rebuilt and reinforced. You will not know for certain until you load the thing, but if you had to guess, you would say that they are in working order.

Well, you had been hoping for equipment, but this is about as far from what you were expecting as possible. With all of the dooryard clear now, it seems that this farm’s tractors, and nearly all of its equipment had been sold, excluding this thing; but the more you reflect on this, the more sense that makes. Tractors and farm equipment, even older and rebuilt specimens, which is presumably what the Morrison’s had, are fast movers. This combat engineering vehicle, on the other hand probably could not be sold anywhere near as easily, and realizing that, they probably did not even try. Mounting the bucket arm had ruined the historical value, and if the guns were rebuilt as they were before decommission, as automatics, they would be illegal to possess (assuming the Morrison wasn’t licensed); by extension, as they were integrated into this vehicle, the whole thing is technically illegal to own. Selling this would have been an absolute headache; so they must have just decided to abandon it.

You are tempted to try to get into the thing, but you realize that there is still trash and debris kicking around that you should remove first; specifically there are a number of black bags sitting under the roof, as well as a small pile of empty marine grease tubes; presumably used here for its relatively weatherproof attributes. (+Bagged Trash, 8% weight capacity and 20% volume capacity) (+Greasy Trash (flammable), 1.5% weight capacity, 1.5% volume capacity)

You know enough not to trust bags that have been sitting out in the elements to not break and dump their contents everywhere, so you grab some bags from your truck and then bag them again, throwing the tubes on top before tying them up. And just like that, you have finished clearing all of the trash from the dooryard, excluding the ‘forbidden shed’ of course. Huh, you were expecting to have to deal with a lot more trash!

Currently:
Truck: 62.25% weight capacity 59% volume capacity

Trailer: 0% weight capacity 0% volume capacity

>>4424298
Well, what exactly do you do next?

>Haul the trash to the dump immediately. If you hurry, you should be able to avoid Big Nate and his power tripping.

>Load up the trailer with a full load of salvage, go to your homestead first, detach the trailer, and then head to the dump.

>Load up the trailer and the remaining capacity of the truck with salvage, go to your homestead first, unload and detach, and then head to the dump.

>Detach your empty trailer, hook up to one of the hay wagons then head to the homestead. After that, head to the dump.

>Head into town immediately, you have 500 dollars in hand and a strange urge to buy animal feed for the winter.

>Head into town immediately, there are two other jobs (sailboat and pitching machine) available to you, pick them up while you can.

>Head into town immediately and look for the Reaves to update them on your progress; and to get permission to start working through the house; they presumably have not realized that you have access to a key.

>Alternatively, you have already received permission, jog over to the gate, grab the key ring, and start on the house immediately.

>Now that the trash has been all picked up, you want to try to get into that tank-thing.

>Now that the trash has been all picked up, you want to try to get into that tank-thing.

>>4424299
>[Paranoid] If you leave the CEV here, Mr Reaves is surely going to alter the contract in order to keep it for himself. Connect it to your car by any means possible and haul it alomng as most salvage as you can and the trash to your homestead. We can deliver the trash on the way back.

>>4424299
>Now that the trash has been all picked up, you want to try to get into that tank-thing.

>>4424299
>Haul the trash to the dump immediately. If you hurry, you should be able to avoid Big Nate and his power tripping.

Need to get rid of this skeleton thing

>>4424299
>>4424389
Oh shit, i forgot about that, i change my vote then.
>Haul the trash to the dump immediately. If you hurry, you should be able to avoid Big Nate and his power tripping.
The tank is not going anywhere

>>4424434
>>4424426
>>4424389
>>4424381
>>4424364
Let's see. Five votes have been cast, with one being overwritten by another. So, two votes for heading into the dump immediately, one vote for trying to get into the CEV and write in to attempt to haul the CEV away.

I'm going to hop into the shower, and then I will close the vote, and get writing.

>>4424537
Alright, consider this one closed.

File: Debouche, Maine.jpg (154 KB, 1280x720)

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There is so much that you could do right now; but the most important thing is to dump this trash, especially considering the smell coming off of that strange maceration experiment. You unhitch the trailer, as it is empty, and you intend to be back to the Morrison farm today anyway. With everything resolved here, you head on out, passing through the gate; it seems that the Reaves left the damn thing open. Not that surprising, if you realize that they consider everything left on the farm ‘trash’. That said, you do not, so once you are through, you stop the truck to check to see that the key is still in place; and when it is, you close the gate, and lock it behind you. You consider taking the key with you, but you decide against it; you feel it would be a bit too forward on your part.

With the property clear of all trash that you can access, and the gate ‘buttoned up’ you continue on your way to the municipal dump, passing through the town center. Driving through, you can see that some of the restaurants and businesses that cater near-exclusively to tourists have already been shuttered and winterized for the off season; though there is a reliable core of year round business for full time residents, such as yourself. You take a fairly circumspect route through the town, as to avoid the three traffic lights (and their pesky cameras) and make your way out of the town center, passing the tiny First Light CA Breen Hospital, then the Debouche Seaplane base, and finally the two-strip Debouche Municipal Airport as pass back out of the ‘urban’ center.

Taking Barney Road, you pass Huckleberry Pond, then turn off onto Scammon Road. The drive takes several minutes, and you pass Lower Hanks Pond and then Upper Hanks Pond. At the junction with Antler Pond Road, you keep on Scammon, and drive all the way to its terminus at the Consolidated Mooseleg Municipal Dump, which awkwardly enough is adjacent to a series of conservation areas, one of which is, is Baxter State park, where Mount Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak is located. Pulling up, you are relieved to not see Big Nate’s black battered Ford sitting in the small parking lot adjacent to the office. Looks like just Emmanuel is holding down the fort here. Fine by you.

File: Ring Ring Ring.jpg (28 KB, 450x450)

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>>4424712
You head over to the office and ring the bell. Emmanuel, a lean man with a salt and pepper goatee comes out to the yard, and after polite pleasantries, you head on over to your truck, so he can figure out how much to charge in tipping fees. While typically done by weight, considering that most of the waste you are hauling is considered ‘hazardous’, the rate for those materials is higher than the rates for mainstream waste, so things will need to be weighed separately. When you roll the maceration barrel of the truck and onto the scale in front of him, he raises an eyebrow while simultaneously crinkling his nose, but you were practicing what to say on your way over.

“Yeah; I found the thing on a property I’m cleaning out. Think it was some sort of taxidermy experiment that just got forgotten. Those are ungulate bones, almost certainly a deer. Listen, if you want to call someone about it, that is fine by me. They might go and send me out to investigate it, and I get paid per resolution.” That elicits a snort from the man, and he waves it off with a passing comment; “Not the strangest thing I’ve seen here, but it is certainly up there.” As you are left wondering as to what the strangest thing would be, he hands you a bill; one hundred and fifty eight dollars! Holy shit; is it any wonder why illegal dumping is the issue that it is? Glancing over the carbon copy of the bill he gave you, you can see that the rates have risen, across the board. Going forward, you resolve to have the client pay the tipping fees for their trash and recalculate pricing accordingly. As he walks off, you think to ask him for the time; he consults his watch, and without stopping or even looking back, shouts ’12:54’.

Well, your business here is concluded, and as an added bonus, you have managed to dodge Big Nate. Now what would you like to do next?

>Return to the Morrison farm, and start to haul off your salvage to your homestead.
>Return to the Morrison farm, and start hauling off the functional hay wagons to your homestead.
>Return to the Morrison farm, and start cleaning out the house.
>Return to the Morrison farm, and attempt to get into that tank-thing.
>Return to Debouche and look for the Reaves to ask permission to start on the farmhouse.
>Return to Debouche and head over to Prague Farmer’s Union to buy feed.
>Return to Debouche and look into the other two jobs that were available today.
>Return to Debouche and head over to Wilhelm’s Building Supply to get materials for the forbidden shed reinforcement.
>Return to Debouche and head over to the Memorial Library to look for a reference material on military vehicles, see if you can learn anything about that tank-thing.

>>4424714
Could we drag the CEV to our homestead with our truck?

>>4424714
>>Return to the Morrison farm, and start to haul off your salvage to your homestead.

>>4424721
I would definitely like to try this. Of all the salvage, it seems most important that we get the CEV home pronto.

If it can't be hauled, I guess try to get inside and drive it??

>>4424714
>Return to the Morrison farm, and start cleaning out the house.

maybe some guns in there, or liquor or other valuable small stuff. best get it before the owner checks in and decides to change his mind

>>4424714
>Return to the Morrison farm, and attempt to get into that tank-thing.
hype, tank time
we need to get everything back either way, but I'd prefer we get the CEV back first

>>4424714
>Return to the Morrison farm, and start cleaning out the house.
let's clean up first

>>4424747
on second thought, changing to this
>>4424721

owner seems to be big on rules and regulations and might give us shit if he sees us with an actual armed tank. Throw a tarp over the thing and haul it away!

Alright, so lets see; there is a clear majority for getting the tank-thing back to the homestead. As far as towing is concerned, at 47.4 tons, this is much heavier than your farm truck could reasonably be expected to tow. It will need to be driven. I'm going to grab dinner, and then I will get a post up.

File: The Maluses come to town.jpg (14 KB, 350x350)

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Rolled 1, 1, 1 = 3 (3d2)

Sorry for the delay, I wanted to get the advanced mechanics all fine-tuned.

You have an odd feeling that the Reaves might raise some manner of objections to you simply driving the tank off of their property. In your estimation, with something like this one the line, it is better to ask forgiveness than permission. The back roads that you took to get from the homestead to the Morrison farm are nearly always deserted. Basically, it is just a question of if the thing is fueled, and if you can figure out how to start and drive it. Whatever the outcome, this is going to be a hell of a story…

You return to the Morrison farm and unlock the gate on your way back to the dooryard. As you do, two thoughts come to you; it is possible that the tank has a key, either to start it or to get inside, and that it if it wasn’t on this ring, you might be in serious trouble; the second was that if you are able to get inside, it is unclear if the ‘tank-thing’ is going to be able to fit through this gate. Well, you will have to deal with that if it comes to it; but there isn’t any sense in worrying over it before you actually know if it is going to be a problem.

While I do some rolls, I’ll need you to pick a physical impairment for the character to work around or overcome for this test. 2 is 'yes'.

>Slight Gimp: Our character has one leg that is slightly longer than the other, and the muscles in his legs and lower back are slightly off as a result. Running is possible, but painful without stretching beforehand; and the character is just slightly always off balance. Physical tests (out of 1d100) that involve running will be more difficult (-10 for short duration sprinting, -15 for anything long distance) and physical tests that involve balance will be slightly more difficult (-5 across the board).

>Four-eyed: Our character has glasses, that they wear at all waking moments, excluding bathing. There are no immediate drawbacks, but as glasses are delicate, there is a 50% chance that any critical or near-critical failure of a physical test (7 or less of 1d100) will destroy them beyond repair. If the glasses are destroyed, then the character would receive harsh penalties to any tests that involve eye sight; -6 on 1d20 Inspection Tests and -15 on 1d100 Ranged Combat tests, with an additional -1 added for every 10 yards that the target is away from the character. Finding replacement glasses is possible, but unless they are in the characters prescription (unlikely), getting new glasses will only reduce the maluses, not eliminate them.

>Sickly; Our character has a compromised constitution and receives a static -20 to 1d500 Health Tests, and -15 penalty for being under fed (< 800 calorie diet), the stacking -1 penalties for spending time outside for every degree under 40 degrees Fahrenheit are doubled, to -30 and -2 for each degree instead. The effect of environmental health hazards, such as ‘dusty living conditions’ are tripled, from -10 to -30.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>4425186
Well, that roll is really unfortunate. It means that the tank-thing is locked up, the key to the lock is not on the ring on the gate, and it is not fueled currently.

Hopefully, the next three are better.

Rolled 531 (1d1250)

>>4425189
But once you get in to the tank-thing, that will damn near make up for it. Lets see if you can get a lucky streak going.

Rolled 185 (1d400)

>>4425192
Could have been better, let's try this one...

>>4425194
Okay, so that means that sitting in side the tank currently, there are 19 rounds for the 165mm main gun, 531 rounds for the coaxial machine gun and the 185 rounds for the browning mounted on the commanders copula. Serviceable.

Anyway, here is how Health Tests will work, so you'd understand what taking the 'sickly' impairment: every three days, the player, all named characters living on the homestead, and the livestock present on the homestead will roll a 1d500 to make a Health Test. Being under fed, or exposed to freezing cold will produce maluses; net rolls equal to or under 60 mean that the character (or animal) has become ‘sick’, a 1d20 will be rolled to determine the nature of the illness, the lower, the better, and the less likely that whatever they have is contagious or dangerously lethal. Once ‘sick’, the character or animal will need to make a saving roll instead of a Health test at the conclusion of the three day period; the exact value of this is dependent on the severity of the illness; but importantly, it is effected by the same bonuses and maluses that the Health roll is.

Passing the saving roll by an appropriately large margin will mean that the character’s health improves (potentially recovers completely), while barely passing means that the character’s condition does not worsen for the immediate future. Failure to pass the saving roll means the condition worsens, with failing to pass by a larger margin yielding worse results; repeated failures will result in death. Extremely serious illnesses, or illnesses that have progressed to such a point may have saving rolls that will be effectively impossible to make, meaning that characters may have to make hard decisions about continuing providing treatment, food and shelter to the unfortunate afflicted character.

I'm still working on balancing potential strengths or abilities for the character for you guys to choose from, so that will have to come later, but right now, I figured it would be a good idea to get the impairment vote out of the way; as by the end of this day, in game, things are going to start going crazy...

>>4425214
And just so it doesn't get buried, I will post the three choices for the impairment again.

>Slight Gimp: Our character has one leg that is slightly longer than the other, and the muscles in his legs and lower back are slightly off as a result. Running is possible, but painful without stretching beforehand; and the character is just slightly always off balance. Physical tests (out of 1d100) that involve running will be more difficult (-10 for short duration sprinting, -15 for anything long distance) and physical tests that involve balance will be slightly more difficult (-5 across the board).

>Four-eyed: Our character has glasses, that they wear at all waking moments, excluding bathing. There are no immediate drawbacks, but as glasses are delicate, there is a 50% chance that any critical or near-critical failure of a physical test (7 or less of 1d100) will destroy them beyond repair. If the glasses are destroyed, then the character would receive harsh penalties to any tests that involve eye sight; -6 on 1d20 Inspection Tests and -15 on 1d100 Ranged Combat tests, with an additional -1 added for every 10 yards that the target is away from the character. Finding replacement glasses is possible, but unless they are in the characters prescription (unlikely), getting new glasses will only reduce the maluses, not eliminate them.

>Sickly; Our character has a compromised constitution and receives a static -20 to 1d500 Health Tests, and the -15 penalty for being under fed (< 800 calorie diet), the stacking -1 penalties for spending time outside for every degree under 40 degrees Fahrenheit is doubled, to -30 and -2 for each degree instead. The effect of environmental health hazards, such as ‘dusty living conditions’ are tripled, from -10 to -30.

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>>4425217
>Slight Gimp: Our character has one leg that is slightly longer than the other, and the muscles in his legs and lower back are slightly off as a result. Running is possible, but painful without stretching beforehand; and the character is just slightly always off balance. Physical tests (out of 1d100) that involve running will be more difficult (-10 for short duration sprinting, -15 for anything long distance) and physical tests that involve balance will be slightly more difficult (-5 across the board).
Running will probably be our most valuable athletic skill so it is a shame, but I'd prefer it over Sickly and pic related.

Rolled 478, 103, 336, 276, 53 = 1246 (5d500)

While we wait for other votes; to better explain the Health Test, I thought that maybe I had run a hypothetical example for the Reaves family, to show how the system would work.

In this scenario, the Reaves family are living in the Morrison Farm, and are having a hard time of it. They are not properly cleaning their snowmelt (-20 across the board for exposure to fallout), they are unaware of the lead paint and asbestos present in the house (-10 lead paint exposure, -5 asbestos exposure) and finally, they are not feeding or using their wood stove properly, and are dumping unnecessary smoke into their living quarters (-5 poor air quality). Additionally, there are some individual maluses to consider as well:

Jim: has spent time outside in 17-degree weather, meaning that he takes an additional -23 to the Health Test.
Rebecca: has been eating below 800 calories, to ensure that more food is available for her children, meaning that she takes -15.
Dorena: (the eldest child) is also giving some of her food to her younger siblings, but she is ‘sickly’, so that means that the lead paint does -30, asbestos and air quality does -15 for both, and then the poor diet does -30.
Osmund and Wilhelmina, the twins, have no additional maluses.

So that means that:
Jim has -68, Rebecca has -60, Dorena -110, Osmund and Wilhelmina -45 each.

>>4425338
So that will means Rebecca and Wilhelmina are sick. Then two rolls of 1d20 would be used to determine what they had caught; and the process would go from there.

Anyway, there is one vote for Slight Gimp. I'll leave this up for a little bit longer, and spend this time balancing out the combat system. One final thing, considering that the tank on the tank-thing is empty, will will need to buy some diesel fuel in town. You have enough money on hand to buy 0.342 of a full tank; but unless you manage to overcome your frugal nature, you will only buy 30 gallons or 0.078 of a full tank, just enough to get the tank thing home. To see if you manage this, please roll 3 1d20; getting 40 or higher means that you spend all money on hand (what remains from the 500 dollars that Reaves gave you) on diesel. If you manage to get 50 or higher, you'll spend even more, buying a full tank, 385 gallons of diesel for 1001 dollars.

Three rolls of 1d20 please, and don't forget that the vote for the character's affliction is still open (with only one vote cast for Slight Gimp)