The Exile Challenge

[Utumno]

Hi everybody,

Just to share with you a challenge idea I've been following that I've found quiet entertaining and, well, challenging: The Exile Challenge!


Description:
A easier, funnier, but still hard, version of The Challenge ( https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=901.0 ). You have committed sacrilege, and, after beating you up, the people decided against killing you; instead, you are condemned to 6 months of exile in the wilderness with nothing on your person, not even clothes. During your exile, you are taboo: you can't interact with any villager in the Unreal World.

In this Exile Challenge, unlike the original "Challenge", you can zoom out and also use the World map.   

Start:
- Roll random char
- Winter
- Random start location
- Scenario: hurt, helpless, afraid
- First movement: Discard all items, including clothes. You are naked and have literally nothing.

Objective:
- Survive the whole winter half of the year

Rules:
- No interaction of any kind with villagers (including wanderers in the world map). No trade, no quests, no talking, no fighting, nothing
- No entering any settlement, for any reason whatsoever
- Can trade with merchants
- Can fight robbers, njerpezit


So far, I'm having a surprisingly good time with this. The beginning was easier than in the original Challenge, of course, but with time the "taboo" of being an exile sets you up for an interesting midgame. You have no access to good gear for a long time, which limits your efficacy at hunting, making it more rewarding. Also, you are always exposed to the weather so caves and good planning ahead are essential (no ducking into a village when it is -1000!). When you finally have enough furs to trade, you still have to find merchants, and there are also the other less peaceful "trade" options, njerps. You are essentially alone in the wild, with no civilization to fall back to, except the merchants and, if you beat them, your enemies.

In my current run, I rolled some Proletarian Kiesse, completely average guy (60 in spear and bow, except 80 in Timbercraft, which is surprisingly useful!). Initial injury was well over 50, making him useless for active hunting or fishing. So the first 2 weeks were spent crafting a stone knife, a javelin, eating berries, curing wounds and trying not to die of cold. Always on the edge!

Finally, when my proletarian everyman was more or less cured, it was time to fish and try to catch something that could actually walk. Not that easy! With hunger increasing (the Kiesse aren't the greatest fishdudes) I finally located a herd of reindeer AND an elk, all of them right next to each other! So my proletarian spent two tense days chasing, poking and chasing again both elk and reindeer, and the usual not-dying-of-cold thing. Finally, it was the elk whom succumbed, after two lucky javelin shots.

Happiness! Basic clothing, bow and couple arrows, some meat. Setting up camp in a cave, I began to roam the mires, and a sudden drop in temperature almost killed me twice. At last I located another reindeer herd and, after a day of insistent harassment, bagged one. More clothes, meat. Cool! (not freezing).

That's the story so far. Now looking for more prey, and with proper insulation the Proletarian should be able to last longer in the field without having to build a fire. The plan: get more furs, make leather out of one to have leather rope (stone axe) and a skin (that saves a lot of time breaking ice for water). With enough furs, looking for merchants will be next (iron handaxes and knives are actually beautiful things, if you only have stone!). Hunt more, dry food, be careful with the cold, perhaps find a njerp to have some brief conversation...

It's gonna be a blast, being an Exile!

 
     

 

[Tinker]

Sounds like a different, interesting variation on the original challenger or the island challenge, but I died so many times on them that I have been trying a different challenge, partly like this one.

I play as an outcast, even changed my tribe name to the Outcast, no interaction with villages at all, I pick a start well away from any tribes cultural area. I keep my initial gear but need to survive a year to claim I beat the challenge.

[Utumno]

Sounds like a different, interesting variation on the original challenger or the island challenge, but I died so many times on them that I have been trying a different challenge, partly like this one.

I play as an outcast, even changed my tribe name to the Outcast, no interaction with villages at all, I pick a start well away from any tribes cultural area. I keep my initial gear but need to survive a year to claim I beat the challenge.

Yep, same here. The original challenge is very satisfying when achieved, but quite frustrating and even boring many times. Walking 3 hours thru a scrub mire in the zoomed-in map is no joke!

Also, I wasn't expecting that not interacting with villagers would lengthen the "interesting phase" of the game so much. Curious!

First time I'm playing with a Kiesse. They seem pretty good, in the sense that they aren't overpowered like the Kaumo or Owl, or underpowered like the Driik or Islanders. I think they are pretty balanced, if one wants to "get real", i.e., not being a elite sniper or an  urban emo Driik incapable of even lighting a match  .
 


 

[Bert Preast]

Heh, I have been doing something similar and just posted about it in the stories forum:

https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=6762.0

The ballad of Ow, the last Neanderthal!

The premise is that the player is the last Neanderthal, and I have had him move into the far north east corner of the map where there are hopefully almost no humans.  He must avoid all human contact as best he can, and also use only stone tools.  Winter start, with only fur boots, hat and undercrackers. 

I may install a mod in future though, so I can make a bone spear.  Neanderthals liked spears. 

[MilitanttiTalitintti]

This is so hard! Getting clothing would help.

[kuchnahi76]

spam removed by moderator.

[Rhaikh]

This challenge seems harder now that arrows require yarn, there is no way to get yarn in Winter if you aren't going to villages...

I think that leaves you with javelins for active hunting as the best chance to get on top of the starvation.  I am not even sure if it's worth it trying to use lever traps, since the main benefit there was the leather cord for archery.

Update:  Well, after your first big game kill you need the leather cord to make larger clothes, but you can get a few birds pretty quickly