I have thought of things which would bring comfort but I am going to have to treat this as a survival situation.

Edit: One idea I suggested to the game master, when Jeanette is transported to the future, she thinks she is in some other English-speaking country.


As I understand it, the biggest threats are thieves and religious extremists.


I have thought about what you said. Even with the house in the family, items will be rearranged and some no longer there. Take for example Dad's drawing table. It's now being used as a desk in my bedroom. When my player-character returns home, her bedroom is still a bedroom but the computer and TV are gone. Her clothes may be preserved in a cedar chest as relics from the past but there is no reason to preserve socks and undergarments. As for planned items, do you mean personal items or gear that would be useful in this setting?


My family will not be leaping for joy. To use a phrase from another forum, my player-character just "pulled a Danielle."


The trek takes place in a ruined urban environment.


I don't see how salt would be a precious commodity but my medical kit is.


I have a book on herbs which I'm sure will get a lot of use in this role play.

Jeanette Isabelle

Your character wouldn't know to bring a "comfort" item. Not quite sure how you are going to play this as a survival situation either. Seems like she will be in a familiar setting (her house). Seems like her party will help her get equipped for the journey (clothing, water, food)...

Thieves and relgious extremists? That's it? Hmmm... I would forsee gangs. We have them now, they would probably be more in force in that future where things have gone bad. In an ruined urban setting I would also imagine feral dogs. Ever run into a pack of wild dogs? Add in the distict possibility of rabies and you are in for a fun time.

So, when the unspecific event happened, your family just stayed put? House didn't get ransacked / ruined?

I could definitely see your parents putting clothes away into a cedar chest when you disappeared... Memories...

Salt... Your body needs it... Where are you going to get it when the supply chain is gone? Useful for preserving meat as well. What we typically consume also has iodine for your thyroid. Do a quick google about it.

Useful plant book... Very good... Blast would be proud.

When I was designing the custom survival kit, I was wanting to include things like a citronella candle and a pen. I later removed them.

Edit: Another comfort idea was to have Deputy Arik and Professor Hikaru, Jeanette's friends and pillars of the community, pull some strings to get the street lamp by her house repaired. That idea was also dropped.


As long as she remains in the safety of the settlement, she's fine. She can get a job in the medical field and settle down and make-do in this new environment. Or she can go on the trek with two of her friends in which she would need to put her survival skills to use.

Edit: Before they even hear anything about a trek, family and friends will help Jeanette get back on her feet: New clothes, new glasses. When she goes on the trek, she will be pulling her weight with her contributions: Medical care, water. . . .


I can't remember how he put it but the game master did say some thieves are organized, some aren't. So I guess we can call the organized thieves "gangs."I don't recall him mentioning any problem with animals.


The house is in the settlement. There is every reason to stay. I don't know how much ransacking there will be in an inhabited suburban neighborhood when everything breaks loose but in 2050 part of the settlement is completely surrounded by walls and the neighborhood is within those walls.


I should have been more clear about supply chains. Even before factories, supply chains of some sort still existed: ships, caravans. . . .

Jeanette Isabelle

It's a Game, not real life, made up rules at the whim of the dude running the show - hence females back in mother hubbards. Who in their right mind would revert to that stuff? Think on it, waste of cloth, which should be scarce, unless some rocket scientist is growing cotton, ginning it, spinning it, weaving it.

Stuff just magically appears or disappears at the whim of the game master. It's a game and that's how games work.

Y'all are getting way too bent around the axle for a game with made up rules. Which is what I think several people were trying to say nicely.

I gather you are able to direct me to a survival exercise that does not include science fiction?

Jeanette Isabelle

So, where is the real survival exercise?

As I am reading your last responses, your family and friends will get you back on your feet before you head off on a trek. So, you will gear up before leaving.

So, not much surviving since you have time to plan what to bring with you and your friends will supply you with what you don't already have.

A typical survival situation places in you in an unspecified location with only what you have on you and you need to return to civilization, if possible.

Or you may have a survival situation caused by a natural disaster, where you need to survive until some standard of living returns.

You are stating that you will be back to a relatively normalized civilization. May not have all the comforts of where we are now, but certainly not a stressed survival scenario.

In what aspect do you believe this story line/scenario is survival?

I don't mean to be critical, but I don't see the point beyond some fun role playing in the constraints of actual scenario (ie no magic or super powers). BTW, what is the deal with being a cat? Is this part of the game? You have mutant powers of some sort?

Perhaps, in the quest, you get lost from the group. Maybe then you have your survival scenario.

You are right. This is closer to a camping trip than a true survival exercise. In the several years I have been looking, this is the closest thing I can find.

Edit: I really had to think about this one. This is truly a unique series of events. Jeanette is taken from her home with nothing but what she had on her. This here is a true survival situation. She gets back home, it's not the same as she left it but she is given new clothes. Is she still in a survival situation? She is called to go to Dallas for the benefit of her city and all she brought with her are the items she had on her when she was taken (minus a few pain killers) and the clothes she was given.


All that is being supplied to my player-character are clothes and glasses and this is to blend in. She already has everything else.


In this setting there are mutants. Also, each player is allowed two player-characters. Chihiro, a mutant, is just for fun.

Jeanette Isabelle

Now that you have clarified this comment, I can now address it. Earlier I created a scenario in which my player-character has her knife sharpening system with her. I discussed this with the game master and he felt it would be best if it were left home. For the knife sharpening system, he granted me an allowance.

As mentioned earlier, I have a book on nutritional healing. I imagine that would be used during the forty years my player-character is gone. I plan to buy three books on wilderness survival. Because my player-character's family and friends are in the relative safety of a settlement, and not in the wilderness, those three books are likely to remain. Everything else would be personal items.

Jeanette Isabelle

I want to thank everybody who has who has contributed in a constructive way. In an unrelated thread some things were said that made me realize that what knowledge I gain from this exercise is not likely to be practical knowledge.

That said, it is still a mental exercise and anything which can keep a person's problem solving skills sharp is a good thing.

Jeanette Isabelle