History VideoGame / Cataclysm

* ZergRush: The main threat in mid-to-late game is not a zombie, but rather zombie''s''. Fighting one zombie can become easy enough eventually, but you'll still get minor painful injuries. Multiple zombies mean that while you're fighting one zombie, the others are still hurting you, and the penalties from pain accumulate quickly. On top of that, you won't have the time to recover stamina between killing each zombie. [[https://cataclysmdda.org/design-doc/#game-stages-and-timeline According to the design notes]], at no point should a player become powerful enough to defeat a horde of zombies on foot.

* ShootOutTheLock: An unusual variant appears due to game limitations - rather than destroying the lock, you're actually destroying the entire door. [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Shotguns]] are good for this due to their high damage, while [[{BFG}} .50 BMG rifles]] are one of the few ways to get past metal doors.

** You can learn a huge number of martial art styles, but the default combat style, Brawling, is probably the one you'll stick with for most of the game. It can be used with any weapon, melee or otherwise, and unlocks the hugely useful Feint and Grab Break abilities with decent Melee/Unarmed levels. Most importantly, you automatically learn it, so you don't have to rely on either starting with a style or raiding dojos for books.
** Weapons aside, some of the most sought-after articles early in the game are clothes with ample storage. Cargo pants can safe your life, and a backpack is worth killing for.

** ''Bright Nights'', in particular, has survivor clothes, which are standard articles of clothing with bits of kevlar sewn in, along with a few pouches. All of this made by a professional tailor, so it effectively serves as a replacement for pre-Cataclysm clothes.

* DuctTapeForEverything: Other than replacing nails, adhesives or soldering in many, many recipes, you can use duct tape to reinforce windows and fix ''any'' part of your cars: engine, fuel tanks, turrets, frames. Truly the most versatile item in the game.

* SavageWolves: Wolves are fast, hit hard, and come in packs. They're one of the worst non-zombie enemies, at least in the beginning. [[spoiler: It gets worse when you encounter their zombified friends.]]

** ''Everything'', no matter how inconsequential, can be used for something. Take the deputy badge, for example. [[spoiler: If you're wearing one and there's an eyebot in the area, it will recognise you as a police officer and will not summon a police/riot control robot.]]

** '''Smart Zombies'''-- Zombie scientists and zombie grenadiers retain enough intelligence to use manhacks and explosives. Zombie bio-operators still know how to use CQC.

* MundaneLuxury: Many of the common bulk items, such as food, drugs, and female hygiene products, have their prices inflated in comparison to more useful gear, such as a weapon. As written in the [[AllThereInTheManual notes in the code]], this is intentional, as the average survivor is ''not'' a scavenger, and thus values such items (especially those that can't be replaced) much more than they value weapons and survival gear.

* {{Panacea}}: Panaceus functions as this.

* DropTheHammer: A multitude of hammers is available for fighting with
** The standard one-handed hammers aren't all that good for fighting with, but they can serve in a pinch
** Sledge hammers are normally meant for destroying objects, and thus make for awkward and slow melee weapons, but the results will be devastating if you hit.
** The war hammer, being a proper weapon, is very powerful and can be swung surprisingly fast.
** The lucerne hammer is one of the most powerful polearms available, often killing zombies in one blow, and is capable of performing reach attacks. It's high bashing damage also makes it suitable for [[UtilityWeapon breaking down walls]].

* SquareCubeLaw: The [[BigCreepyCrawlies enormous, mutated flying insects]] infesting the cataclysm, as noted in the creature description for the cow-sized 'frigate fly', are bizarrely capable of staying airborne despite their proportionally massive weight. Sure enough, their yields from butchery include a number large gas sacs that definitely weren't part of the pre-mutation anatomy.

* VagueHitPoints: Unless you have the Self-Aware trait (which allows seeing your exact HP), your [[SubsystemDamage health on each body part]] is displayed via five segments of health, which are normally composed of vertical bars. As they get depleted, they turn into slashes, then into colored dots, and then into grey dots, indicating that the segment is fully depleted.

* TheRemnant: With static {{Non Player Character}}s turned on, you can find representatives of what's left of the US government, which is stated to be based out of the US Navy's 2nd Fleet, which has been expanded to include a large number of civilian vessels and a few ships from other NATO nations.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Normally, digging up graves and eating human flesh without appropriate traits (such as Psychopath) will lead to messages noting how disgusted you are with it. If you have the [[EmotionSuppression Numb mutation]], which reduces the morale impacts of anything that affects your mood, the text will be significantly toned down, with human flesh being noted as simply being unpalatable, while digging graves will just have you hope that you'll find something worthy.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Happens to your character if you kill a survivor in cold blood, kill a zombie child, or eat human flesh, unless you're a psychopath.

* NightmareFetishist: To Serve Man, which pertains to cooking human flesh, gives most characters a huge penalty to morale, due to how gross the subject is. Psychopaths and cannibals, however, get a massive morale boost for it.

* TheSociopath: The Psychopath trait, which is considered beneficial due to removing guilt for killing innocent [=NPCs=] and certain monsters, and allowing you to eat [[ImAHumanitarian human flesh]] without morale loss.

* UndeadChild: Zombie children, of course. Killing them results in a morale penalty, unless you have the Psychopath trait. Additionally, the penalty per kill [[ItGetsEasier gradually lowers]] the more of them the player kills. Certain mutated variants of zombie children do not grant this morale penalty, because they've been so mutated they no longer resemble a child at all.

* ReforgedIntoAMinion: A semi-consensual variant can occur with the player as the victim, [[as consuming marloss food gives them a desire to consume the other two foods. Once this is done, the player will become a local guide of the Mycus, with their mind being incorporated into the HiveMind, while their body starts mutating to fit the needs of the Mycus.]]

* BewareTheLiving: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], as the monsters are absolutely the real threat, and there's a decent amount of neutral/friendly survivors around. That said, hostile NPCs are still some of the most dangerous enemies around, as they move quickly, can do a lot of damage, and have a lot of health (albeit distributed between body parts). Gun-wielding NPCs, in particular, are extremely accurate and fast-firing in comparison to [[TechnicallyLivingZombie ferals]], all while carrying a lot of ammo.