Post-apocalyptic wasteland: Now what?

[abhorsen950]

Well its happened, a nuclear war, your countries a wasteland. What would you do?

I'm just interested to hear what you guys would do, since a lot of people here are gaming this genre, maybe you've thought about what you'd do when you are bored, I do this often.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Steve

[Dolmot]

Well its happened, a nuclear war, your countries a wasteland. What would you do?

Probably start pre-apocalyptic gaming...

[answer_is_42]

Wander around in a dazed and confused state, poke some corpses with a stick, attempt, perhaps, to open a can of baked beans, and then die of exposure.

Considering the number of nuclear weapons in the world, and the fact that we really have no idea of how powerful they are (very, I expect), do you really think that there will be either anyone left, or anything left to live off?

[Sterling Moose]

I'm pretty sure I'd disappear in a brief but intense flash of flame.

[Wolf 359]

'Wolveriiiiiiiiiiines....!!!!!'
I suppose I'd get ready to go all Road Warrior...

[Chairface]

When my wife and I saw this at the library we HAD to get it to see if it was for real or not.



While it is a little tongue and cheek, (the "author" is a UFC fighter) it is meant to be a serious guide to the apocalypse.

[Wolf 359]

When my wife and I saw this at the library we HAD to get it to see if it was for real or not.



While it is a little tongue and cheek, (the "author" is a UFC fighter) it is meant to be a serious guide to the apocalypse.

What is it? I'm not seeing a link.

[YPU]

When my wife and I saw this at the library we HAD to get it to see if it was for real or not.



While it is a little tongue and cheek, (the "author" is a UFC fighter) it is meant to be a serious guide to the apocalypse.

Image not showing up, common problem these days on LAF. Let me try.

[Furt]

Rally my neighboring survivors and with my skills gained through roleplaying and wargaming, begin my own apocalyptic tribe, conquering other local tribes and eventually installing myself as high chieftain and the "Ayattolla of Rock 'n Rolla". 

But first I'd have to find some water, considering I have NO survival skills whatsoever... 

[Doomhippie]

Try to move away from home to some area that isn't a polluted wasteland.
Apart from that it would depend on the level of death and destruction around us. If there was some kind of social organization left, I'd give it a try - it's usually better than trying to survive on your own.
Maybe I'll become a superhero from exposure...

[Slayer]

Well I'd just continue like normal I'd expect, as in live in NZ nobody cares about us 

[ErikB]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We'd be obliterated so quickly that we wouldn't even know what hit us.

[LeadAsbestos]

Considering my area is a prime target, providing electricity to half of NY state, it may be over quickly.

If not, the high levels of chemical pollution and radiation in the area should provide me with the necessary mutations and resistances to set myself up as the Over-Dog.

 

[Luddite]

I guess it'll help me lose some wieght!

1.  Secure a weapon. 
Not easy in the UK, so at best i guess it'll be some sort of knife or axe, i'l work my way up to a bow or shotgun.

2. Secure resources. 
Water, food and shelter.  This will be made easier having achieved 1.  Previous morals are out of the window here so violence will have to be used to ensure success.  Probably not down to cannibalism at this stage.  Key targets will be shopping malls, abandoned government/military underground bunkers, etc.

3.  Secure a gang of followers.
I'm keen to try and retain something of the 'old life' so a band of raiders or road warriors won't be for me.  instead a gang of 'rebuilders' looking to make a decent life in the wastes.

4.  Secure knowledge.
Get people who know how to do things to join.  Mechanics, farmers, doctors, teachers...all useful.

5.  Rebuild society.
I'll be Uncle Entity.  Of course this will have to involve repopulating the species so it should be a bit of fun there - ignoring the rad-rotted flesh, and general genetic damage.

 

[Wolf 359]

Have any of you ever watched The Colony, on the Discovery Channel? Did anyone broadcast this show in Europe? I thought they did a fair job of representing a 'sanitized' version of how it could possibly go down.  They gathered the people referenced in number 4, to make number 3, and threw them together as in number 2, without the cannibalism.
 
Here (an hour east of Dallas), in all seriousness, my immediate family and some close friends have a contingency plan for several different scenarios (I'm former military). The general concensus with people I game with - and some co-workers - is that we'd be more likely to get a dirty bomb here than anything else. In any case, post-apocalyptic priorities are water, shelter, food (weaponry is covered), and finding like-minded survivors for strength in numbers, and common goals. Here, it would be a resurgence of the Old West, with technological advances.

2. Secure resources. 
Water, food and shelter.  This will be made easier having achieved 1.  Previous morals are out of the window here so violence will have to be used to ensure success.  Probably not down to cannibalism at this stage.  Key targets will be shopping malls, abandoned government/military underground bunkers, etc.

3.  Secure a gang of followers.
I'm keen to try and retain something of the 'old life' so a band of raiders or road warriors won't be for me.  instead a gang of 'rebuilders' looking to make a decent life in the wastes.

4.  Secure knowledge.
Get people who know how to do things to join.  Mechanics, farmers, doctors, teachers...all useful.

5.  Rebuild society.
I'll be Uncle Entity.  Of course this will have to involve repopulating the species so it should be a bit of fun there - ignoring the rad-rotted flesh, and general genetic damage.