SO, let's talk stuff. What do you want to be equipped with? What questions do you have? Any particular niche or unique survival strategies that your character wants to utilize?

For equipment I have a preliminary list, but after your note in the OOC I'm going to review it for weight.

Alexander has been hiking and traveling for a while. Mostly he has been traveling for a few days then resting in secure locations for a day or so. He's been avoiding the undead, preferring to only go into low risk situations.

Sound viable to you?

Not sure at the weight but this seems ok to me. I will let the GM decide, but I could find some real world versions.

Equipment
Lockpicks/electronics kit
Hidden switchblade
Slung duffle bag
Extra food.
Canteen
Lighter
Waterproof sleeping bag
Nylon climbing cord
Folding grapple hook
Revolver
Ammo with speed loaders.
Zip ties

most people, I think, would avoid the undead. mere contact can lead to deadly infections. no more doc in the box, getting splattered by zombie drippings could be a death sentence.

it funny, i always see people talk about having a waterproof sleeping bag in survival rpgs, i just let its slide. but in real life you can't waterproof a sleeping bag. it has to breath or it will end up soaked with condensation. you can get covers to keep them dry, but you still get the condensation problem. it doesn't really matter right here. just thought it was funny how everyone always wants that.

how will you dress? just curious because of the situation, anyone going full coverage?

In reply to Rodrigo Rod Duma (msg # 3):

an electronics kit will not do much for you. the electric power grid has been down for around five months. very few places have electricity, fewer still have the excess power to run electronic security measures all the time.

extra food? did you mean food in general. lol, sorry, it was just funny. i had this vision of Rod with his pockets full of candy bars and he kept 'extra' food in a gym bag.

just so you know, food now is typically scavenged canned goods, gathered fruits, nuts, berries, natural veggies, and hunted meat that has been dried in some manner.  this event started in February, so no new crops or new herds this year. I would suggest everyone have scavenged some sort of long term food for several days, like MREs, camper's meals, survival rations, etc. at one meal a day (roughly 1500 calories) three days worth of emergency food would come in around three to four pounds.

got a revolver in mind? i love the smith and wesson wheel guns. a four inch barreled model 19 in .357 magnum is one of my all time favorites. but, .38 special or .22 long rifle are about the two most numerous rounds in the US.

it seems cool, though, if this is the gear you want to start with.

In reply to GM (msg # 5):

Rod was a cat burglar who could bypass security systems. He still have the tools, even if they are next to useless right now.

As for food, Rod would have whatever he could gather and fit into his bag. Chances are canned food and jerky would be the most likely. He would not be picky.

Rod did not have a gun to start off, so chances are he would gather a 38 off a dead cop. Plus any ammo he could have gotten from a gun shop plus any speed loaders he could gather.

Let's see... Ivy has her bow and quivers of arrows, that's ten pounds right there. There's also a tactical knife, which is another pound. I'm gonna substitute her backpack for a luggage bag with wheels. The bag itself is around six pounds, and is full of bottled water and protein bars that she salvaged, and those rations are probably twenty-five pounds total. Lastly, a duffel bag that weighs half a pound by itself that has a sleeping bag inside of it, which is two pounds, as well as seven pounds of clothes. Total weight: 51.2. As far as clothes go, she normally wears plain t-shirts, jeans, and sandals. For her, Ringgold would be too warm for anything heavier than that sort of attire.

Sounds good, I have no doubt that the game your playstyles will be more fine tuned as we go. I look forward to this.

Remember that the undead, call them what you want, are essentially Romero's originally envisioned zombies from night of the living dead.
Destroy the brain
Slow moving, but tireless
Capable of minor cognition; can open doors, use tools, work in groups, avoid fires
Eat, often devouring, the living
Rise within 72 hours, none over three days dead will rise
Poor senses

In the movie the zombies flip over a car working together, use door knobs, avoid attacks (sort of), use a weapon to kill someone, etc. So, they aren't totally mindless.

I would avoid the undead too, but a lot of people visualize themselves as zombie hunters I think. Alexander would take the avoid at all costs approach. He could see a pick-up truck full of food and guns with five undead around it and decide that is too much of a risk. Not cowardice so much as risk avoidant.

I'm going almost full coverage. Long sleeve shirt with undershirt, jeans, boots, and long socks.

Alright this list is pretty expansive as Alexander was camping at the outbreak.
Every item I rolled percentiles with the below table. That way it represents the world ending and the randomness of the land.

Not including clothes he's wearing, load out comes to 61 pds. Which isn't great, but I think it's doable. Especially since his athletics is at 8.

01-10: Item has been lost and hasn't/can't be replaced.
11-40: Improvised alternative.
41-70: Of poor quality
71-90: Good Quality
91-00: Excellent Quality.

On Him

• Boots, Poor: Worn boots that he had from before the outbreak started
• Socks, Gone: None
• Underwear, Poor: Needs to be replaced.
• Undershirt, Poor: Stained and worn, needs to be replaced.
• Pants, Poor: Worn and repaired many times.
• Shirt, Poor: Worn, torn, and stained.
• Watch, Good: New watch he wound in someone's trunk.
• Backpack, Poor: Repaired many many times and barely holding together.

Water

• Drinking Water, Excellent: A 120oz clean drinking water.
• Water Bottle, Good: Five Plastic soda bottle (24oz), containing the above water.
• Metal Canteen, Good: A stainless steel water bottle (24oz) that is empty.
• Water Filter/Purification, Improvised: A water filtration system made of charcoal and sand in a bottle.

Food

• Prepackaed, Good: Four energy bars from before the outbreak.
• Canned/Dried Food, Poor: Five dented cans of food without labels.
• Three days worth of emergency food
• Eating Utensils/Plate, Poor: A battered camp mess kit.
• Can Opener, Improvised: Metal Chisel to cut into cans.
• Metal Cooking Pot, Good: A solid if heavy metal cook pot.

Clothing

• Lightweight Long Sleeve Shirt, Improvised: A shirt made from scraps of other shirts sewn together.
• Underwear, Good: Good clean pair of underwear.
• Wool Hiking Socks, Good: Worn but solid wool socks.
• Medium Weight Fleece, Poor: Worn and patched fleece that has doesn't have much life left.
• Hat w/ Flex Brim, Good: A baseball cap that has been seldom used.
• Working Gloves, Improvised: Poorly made gloves made from fabric.
• Rain Poncho, Poor: A rain poncho with many duct tape patches or melted portions where it was repaired.

Shelter

• Tarp, Poor: A tarp with several holes and patched parts.
• Tent, Good: A tent found in a garage in Louisiana, still in good shape.
• Sleeping Bag, Poor: A sleeping bag worn and with several repairs all over.
• Wool Blanket, Improvised: A set of sheets from various houses, to be layered on cold nights.

Fire Source

• Ignition Source, Improvised: Pieces of flint in a metal tin and a steel file.

Hygiene

• Soap. Poor: Fragments of soap from various bars.
• Toothbrush & Toothpaste, Poor: A worn toothbrush and a half empty tube of tooth paste.
• Razors, Poor: Several worn single use razors.

Tools

• Survival Knife, Improvised: A bent and sharpened length of metal with a wrapped handle.
• Hand Axe, Poor: A dull hatchet looking like it needs a new handle.
• Machete, Improvised: A length of metal sharpened to a cutting edge with a wrapped handle.
• Maul, Good: A five pd splitting maul with a fiberglass handle, for zombies.

Misc

• 550 Parachute Cord, Improvised: Various lengths of shoelace, cord, and anything he could find in a bag (50′).
• Cotton Bandana, Improvised: A 2x2 square of cloth.
• Sunglasses, Poor: A much repaired set of sunglasses.
• N95 Face Mask, Poor: A low quality and battered breathing mask.
• Sewing Kit, Improvised: A baggie full of needles, pins, and thread.
• Fishing Kit, Improvised: DIY hooks, weights, line, and everything needed for fishing.
• Binoculars, Poor: A low quality set of binoculars.

I don't have a problem with expansive equipment and planning. Some people enjoy it, others not. We'll be flexible for a while and see how it works out for us.