| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1469548889080944700 |
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| 4 | [[quoteright:277:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cata_2.png]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ''Cataclysm'' is an open-world post-apocalyptic {{roguelike}} in the ZombieApocalypse genre, although its enemy list also features [[BigCreepyCrawlies killer insects]], [[Literature/TheDayOfTheTriffids triffids]], {{Giant Spider}}s, [[Film/{{Tremors}} graboids]], killer animals, turrets, entities from the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, and [[SciFiKitchenSink probably lots of other things, just to be sure]]. You're an average person left alone in this hostile world, and your survival depends on your wits and what resources you can scavenge. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | While bearing a few similarities to ''VideoGame/RogueSurvivor'', ''Cataclysm'' stands out by leaning much more towards the [[SimulationGames simulation end of gaming]] than most roguelikes (indeed, most role-playing games, period). Your character's inventory is limited not only by weight, but by the storage volume their clothes provide. Instead of the usual ClassAndLevelSystem, you learn different skills independently of each other, and they only improve through study and use. The sheer ''volume'' of different weapons, food, drinks, tools, clothing, armor, drugs, bionic implants, traps, and just plain ''clutter'' in this game is one of its proudest features. Monsters hunt by sound as well as sight, and a single non-silenced gunshot in an infested area can bring a zombie horde right to your location. Perhaps most importantly, the wound system in ''Cataclysm'' is very harsh. There are no exploding [[HitPoints HP]] or easy healing in this game - characters can feel pain and be seriously impaired by wounds, and if you have no medicine or first aid skill, you'll probably be making a new character very soon. You can also [[DrugsAreBad abuse, get hooked on, and suffer the side effects]] of a wide variety of ''non''-medical drugs. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Another unique feature is that the game's world map is randomly-generated as usual, but also permanent. New regions are generated as your current character explores farther from their starting point, but it's possible to re-discover regions where your previous characters explored and died. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | The game as it exists today is known as ''[[https://cataclysmdda.org/ Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead]]'', a fork of Whales' now-defunct original. Unless otherwise noted, all tropes listed here refer to this version. Although Whales had designs to create a sequel, those plans have been put on indefinite hold (but his [[http://whalesdev.tumblr.com/ blog]] still exists, should that ever change). |
| 13 | |
| 14 | A fork of ''Dark Days Ahead'', known as ''[[https://github.com/cataclysmbnteam/Cataclysm-BN/ Bright Nights]]'', is the second-most popular fork, which reverts some of newer changes introduced in Dark Days Ahead, and puts less emphasis on realism in favor of an experience more reminiscent of the older versions of ''Dark Days Ahead'', with a more sci-fi setting. The fork's official Discord server can be found [[https://discord.gg/FfSWFPv7xt here]]. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | !!Examples: |
| 17 | * TwentyFourHourArmor: While it will weigh you down, you can still wear a full set of plate armor all day and still sleep like a baby with it on and with no problems at all. This is more of a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality, as taking off your likely several layers of armor to get a more comfortable sleep would likely get annoying real quick. |
| 18 | * AbandonedHospital: Naturally, any hospital you find will be devoid of any friendly characters. |
| 19 | * AbandonedHospitalAwakening: Available as a starting scenario. Considering it's not entirely abandoned, you'd better be fast on your feet or else it's going to be a really short game. |
| 20 | * AbandonedLaboratory: Along with mines, abandoned laboratories dot the land and serve as the game's dungeons. [[spoiler: Except that they're not always abandoned.]] |
| 21 | * AbnormalAmmo: Incendiary and full metal jacket in some calibers. With enough skill, you can craft more exotic rounds, like HE shotgun slugs and acid 40mm grenades. |
| 22 | * AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Sewers are generally 4 spaces wide, enough for 4 people to walk side-by-side. |
| 23 | * AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Vacuum-sealed and frozen food will never expire until opened or thawed - unlike in real life, where they do still expire even if at a very slowed down rate. |
| 24 | * ActionBomb: The zombies have multiple variants available: |
| 25 | ** The bloated zombie attacks by walking up to the enemy, then exploding into a cloud of poison gas. The same will occur if they're killed. |
| 26 | ** Killing a zombie smoker will make it dissolve into smoke, which will cause you to cough and sap your stamina if inhaled. |
| 27 | ** Boomers will explode into vomit, which will blind anybody without eye protection, and leave them glowing for a while in any case. |
| 28 | ** Gasoline zombies are particularly nasty, as they will erupt into fire upon dying, ensuring a swift death for anybody caught too close. |
| 29 | * ActionSurvivor: The player character, by default. Especially if you never acquire the rather steep medical/mechanical/electronic skills needed to install your own bionics. |
| 30 | * AddledAddict: Being addicted to a drug will cause withdrawals, which will tank your mood and likely cause several nasty effects (possibly leaving you bedbound for a while). Most drugs are also unhealthy, so keeping up a drug habit will cause you to suffer from bad stamina and frequent illness. |
| 31 | * AfterTheEnd: The game takes place exactly 5 days after the end. Nice to see an apocalypse that keeps its appointments. |
| 32 | * TheAllSeeingAI: Averted. Most monsters, including zombies, can track you by smell or by sound, even in the dark. The game simulates your scent so that it spreads more if you stay on a place for too long, so zombies won't detect you immediately in the dark. They might find you by sound, but you can mislead them by [[ThrowingTheDistraction throwing items away.]] |
| 33 | * AllThereInTheManual: While a lot of the background lore behind the Cataclysm is hinted at through in-game means, the wiki and forum are the go-to sources for a breakdown of the events leading up to the start of the game. |
| 34 | * {{Animorphism}}: Most of the mutation categories are those of animals, altering you into an anthropomorphic version of it. |
| 35 | * AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: There's a huge construction interface for remodeling any building you like into a somewhat secure fort, or even build your own from scratch. You can also build an array of pits, traps and furniture to decorate or entrench your home. |
| 36 | * AntiGrinding: Crafting skills cannot be trained by easier recipes. Once you reach level 2 or 3, recipes start to require limited and rare items, preventing you from just crafting an item and disassembling it for its components. And books have a limit to what level they can train your skills to. |
| 37 | * AppropriateAnimalAttire: Most of the issues related to the trope can be [[JustifiedTrope justifed]] by mutations interfering with one's clothing. Having extra arachnid limbs, for instance, doesn't play nice with torso clothes, thus forcing you to either suffer penalties or go topless. |
| 38 | * ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: While firearms exist and are ''way'' more common than swords and such, the use of primitive weapons is significanlty encouraged, as it's quieter, either doesn't consume ammo or makes it reusable and/or easy to make (thus leaving you more room to carry loot and useful gear), and is effective against monsters who are ImmuneToBullets. A highly trained and strong swordsman can actually do more damage than a rifle or shotgun shot, especially if they use a high-quality weapon. |
| 39 | ** The Magiclysm mod makes archaic weapons much more available and powerful, as they can drop from the mod's monsters, and are often enchanted to increase their damage and accuracy. |
| 40 | * ArmorAndMagicDontMix: A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] trope in mods that introduce magic, as spells that use gestures will be harder to cast if your hands are encumbered. However, this encumbrance may not necessartily come from armor (kevlar gloves are fine, but unarmored mittens will make it near-impossible to cast), or even from gloves (as carried containers cause a lot of hand encumbrance). |
| 41 | * ArtificialAnimalPeople: As part of the backstory, American scientists were researching [[LegoGenetics genetic modification]] in order to create {{Super Soldier}}s in case a cold war with China turned hot. Some scientists developed {{Super Serum}}s that grant animal traits, although the Cataclysm prevented widespread usage of them. If you find or recreate the right kind of mutagens, you can become an example of this trope, although [[SuperpowerRussianRoulette it's very risky]]. |
| 42 | * ArtificialStupidity: Justified and intentional, as most of the enemies are zombies. You can funnel zombies into a window sill and they'll just climb on top of each other trying to get to you, only to take a crowbar to the face for their troubles. They are also unable to grasp that stepping in and out of a broken glass window hurts them and causes them to bleed out. Throw down a molotov, and zombies will try to shamble through it, only to die after a few steps in. |
| 43 | ** [=NPC=]s and non-zombie creatures increasingly avert this trope, however, as the team continues to refine the AI. |
| 44 | * ApocalypseHow: Societal Collapse, Universal Scale - the entirety of Earth has been affected so badly that humanity teeters on the brink of extinction, and strange sightings in the sky make it clear that the rest of the universe is also affected. It's also heavily suggested that it will eventually escalate to a Species Extinction as the fabric of reality unravels more and more, and the zombies keep evolving. |
| 45 | * ApocalypticLog: What you find in some of the unique locations, which provides some of the sparse hard canon lore. |
| 46 | * TheAssimilator: The [[HiveMind Mycus]], which infects the landscape, along with converting zombies and some of wildlife into fungal versions. [[spoiler:You can also join it.]] |
| 47 | * AndThenJohnWasAZombie: |
| 48 | ** Most living creatures that die will eventually rise as a zombie, unless the corpse is pulped. If your character dies and you make another, it's even possible to fight the zombified version of your previous character. |
| 49 | ** A few of the monsters include heavily mutated humans, their minds so warped that they attack you on sight. Overindulge in mutagen serums yourself, especially those related to predatory animals, and you may find out that [[WasOnceAMan you don't differ much from these monsters]], except for being somewhat more peaceful (but still okay with murdering and [[ToServeMan devouring]] humans). |
| 50 | ** [[spoiler:It's possible to join the Mycus, if you go through the convoluted process to do so, thus making you go from fighting it to spreading it.]] |
| 51 | * AnnoyingArrows: Bows and crossbows do little damage on shots, often struggling with even small amounts of armor. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] if you land a critical hit, however, as the damage will then be increased tenfold, usually causing the target to die on the spot. |
| 52 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 53 | ** ''Safemode'', which will refuse any input except one specific key wherever a hostile monster is found. ''Auto-Safemode'' reenables it after a set number of turns without enemies on sight. This has saved the lives of a LOT of characters which otherwise would experience "[[http://nethack.wikia.com/wiki/Death_by_boredom death by boredom]]". Both can be adjusted. |
| 54 | ** The game will prompt when the player is about to step on a dangerous square, such as a fire or a (known) trap. |
| 55 | ** If you find Rubik too hard to understand (since he's speaking in a different language, albeit related to English), you can use the Translate Complex Dialogue mod, which gives you a translation alongside the original dialogue. |
| 56 | * AttackAttackAttack: Among the civilian "Monsters" present at the start of the game, there are the Futile Fighter (a person with a stick) and the Overconfident Officer (a cop dual-wielding a baton and a pistol). Both will mindlessly charge enemies, even if at low health and out of ammo, and calling them out on this will have them refuse to back down. |
| 57 | * AtomicSuperpower: Radiation and mutagenic substances can give you mutations. [[SuperpowerRussianRoulette If you're really lucky, they might even be good]]. |
| 58 | * ArmorIsUseless: Maybe not ''useless'', per se, but you'll have to decide whether the protection and storage space is worth the torso encumbrance. |
| 59 | ** Averted with crafted armor; while expensive, a survivor suit will let you shrug off most attacks ''and'' lets you carry more than most regular items of clothing. |
| 60 | * AutoDoc: Typically used to install bionics, although they can also help with crippled limbs. While ''Dark Days Ahead'' has them be Exodii tech, ''Bright Nights'' has them as native human tech that is often encountered in hospitals and any place that installs bionics. |
| 61 | * AwesomeButImpractical: |
| 62 | ** Shotguns in general, more particularly with Wandering Hordes on. They are incredibly loud and a single unsuppressed shot will draw the attention of all neighboring zombies. They also have their dedicated skill and as such they are hardly useful outside emergencies due to lack of training. Most of them also suffer from being a ShortRangeShotgun. Ironically, the most useful of them all might be the SawedOffShotgun, thanks to its decreased weight and volume and its status as an emergency weapon.\ |
| 63 | \ |
| 64 | With hordes turned off, shotguns are more useful as you don't have to worry about zombie hordes following the noise. Instead, you have to know if there are any dangerous zombies in the area that could be drawn by your fire. |
| 65 | ** The [[MagneticWeapons coilgun]] is essentially the nailgun on 'roids. It has five times the range of the nailgun, fires easily-accessible nails, and it's near silent. However, it requires electronics 5 to craft, utilizes four proficiencies that penalize time and failure chances if not learned, and requires a powered UPS to fire. Unless you luck out and find one earlier, you are studying electronics to level 5 to craft yours. Each shot drains battery from the UPS, and drains a 1000 battery charge after 500 shots, requiring anywhere from 16 to 20 shots to kill a regular zombie. Moreover, a silenced .22 handgun fills the same purpose and it's about as easy to find and keep loaded, in addition to dealing more damage per shot. |
| 66 | ** PoweredArmor protects you from almost anything, but is cumbersome unless you find a UPS and the batteries/fuel cells to power it. It also blocks the use of backpacks, sheaths, or any other items that can be strapped to you, and it has very little storage space unless you find a rare lifting frame. You also need to have both the helmet and the armor with you if you intend to use it. All this means that in most cases you're better off with lighter gear. |
| 67 | ** Vehicle turrets. You will need to feed them ammunition personally , all but the nail gun require ammo to be specially prepared to be fired from them, and anything they can kill easily is killed just as easily by just ramming your car into them. |
| 68 | ** In the latest builds, the proficiencies system has turned mutations into this. To craft enough mutagen and mutagenic primer to meaningfully mutate, you need to acquire a ''lot'' of chemistry-related proficiencies, which means a lot of grinding. By contrast, bionics just require you to find the right NPC, or configure an autodoc yourself. |
| 69 | ** Any weapon that can't shoot in the semiautomatic mode, as it often wastes ammo, and a low skill level will result in most of your shots missing. This also makes the AR-15 lightning link and TEC-9 auto sear into extremely niche GunAccessories, as they prevent you from shooting in semi-auto. |
| 70 | * AwesomenessByAnalysis: In the latest builds, dissecting monsters can allow you to learn their biology, which translates into increased combat effectiveness. |
| 71 | * AwesomePersonnelCarrier: Among the toughest vehicles in the game, though their limited field of view makes them AwesomeButImpractical. This is fairly easy to fix, however, for any character with a few levels in Mechanics and a welding machine, making them an excellent base for the rolling fortress of your dreams. |
| 72 | * BadassBiker: One of the professions the player can start as. In addition, the [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels Hell's Raiders]] are an NPC faction of biker bandits. |
| 73 | * BadassBookworm: Since reading books is the most efficient way to learn new skills, and a viable early game strategy is "Find a library and read the skill books until I've exhausted them", many successful characters end up evoking this trope at least a little. With the version 0.A release, this applies more than ever, where many skill books have over a dozen valuable crafting recipes, many of which will give you much easier access to rare and very difficult to find items. |
| 74 | * BadassInANiceSuit: The Gangster, Assassin/Hitman, and the Mafia Boss all wear suits (the boss having a tux in particular), carry weapons, and have good combat skills. |
| 75 | * BadassLongcoat: All sorts of these are available, with trenchcoats and dusters being particularly favored due to their large storage capacity, as well as being upgradeable into [[ImprovisedArmour survivor variants]], which provide decent protection. |
| 76 | * BadassNormal: Most of the unmutated survivors will qualify as this, capable of fighting off hundreds of mutated creatures and alien monstrosities on their own. |
| 77 | * BaitAndSwitch: Found an awesome weapon, like a katana or broadsword, in a random house somewhere? Better double-check the damage stats before you charge into a mob of zombies, as it has a decent chance of being a useless prop. |
| 78 | * BanditMook: Zombie Technicians [[MagnetismManipulation have built-in magnets]] that they can use to pull weapons right out of your hands, but only if it contains metal. Even if a weapon is mostly made out of wood, a single bit of metal is enough for them to disarm you. |
| 79 | * BaseOnWheels - The end reward of many hours of scavenging and a leveling a character up in the fabrication, mechanics, and electrical skills is the ability to construct one of these from scrap metal and duct tape. The latest experimentals and bundled "official" mods have taken this even farther by adding a slew of additional mounted weapons, reinforcement options, and utility parts, making it possible to assemble massive {{Mobile Factor|y}}ies studded with turrets and armored solar panels. Maniacal cackling as your gasoline-chugging building-sized mass of steel spews forth BulletHell upon legions of undead before crushing them and anything else in it its path beneath roller drums and caterpillar tracks before delivering the slurry of loot and pulped remains into waiting cargo containers optional. |
| 80 | * BareFistedMonk: There are many martial arts styles, each with its own pros and cons. They synergize well with "natural weapons", such as claws from mutations or retractable blades. |
| 81 | * BarefootCartoonAnimal: Having Toe Talons, digitigrade legs, or rabbit feet will force you to go barefoot, as you're not able to make special footwear for them. Having padded feet (which is a prerequisite to the latter two mutations) will also encourage you to go barefoot, as it gives you a bonus to movement speed. |
| 82 | * BarrierBustingBlow: Zombies are prone to doing this, as they receive bonuses when bashing down objects in groups, while brutes and hulks are strong enough to break down thin walls on their own. |
| 83 | * BatterUp: Baseball bats are a common weapon, and are actually treated as maces by the game. You can also upgrade the bat with nails or barbed wire for more damage, or swap to an aluminium bat, which is faster to swing |
| 84 | * BayonetYa: Combat knives and a few dedicated bayonets can be attached to longarms, allowing you to perform melee reach attacks with the gun. However, the weight of the gun makes it slow to use in melee, making it inferior to using the bayonet standalone. |
| 85 | * BearsAreBadNews: And [[RaisingTheSteaks zombie bears]] are even worse news. You can become a bear yourself with the Ursine Mutation branch. |
| 86 | * BerserkBoardBarricade: Doors and windows can be boarded up, though they won't last long without being further reinforced (which requires a wood saw for doors). |
| 87 | * 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. |
| 88 | * {{BFG}}: The .50 BMG guns all do obscene amounts of damage per shot, to the point that you can [[ShootOutTheLock use them as breaching tools]]. The rifles, in particular, are the strongest non-launcher weapons that you can fire off your shoulder. |
| 89 | * BigBadassRig: With a little luck and some mechanics skill, the only better mobile base is an RV. More often than not they're just wrecks cluttering up bridges. |
| 90 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Giant insects and arachnids are some of the many enemies you will encounter in this game. |
| 91 | * BindleStick: It's possible to craft as an early-game storage option, and the Hobo starts out with one. |
| 92 | * BioAugmentation: Mutagens, which were an active project before the Cataclysm, allow for this, usually via mutating the recipient into an anthropomorphic animal. However, the process is highly unreliable (as it's both random and can cause negative mutations), causes genetic instability, [[PsychoSerum may alter one's personality]], and depends on the [[EldritchAbomination Blob]] to function. It's for these reasons that the Exodii [[FantasticRacism hate mutants]], relying solely on cybernetics for augmentation. |
| 93 | * {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Individual buildings tend to be sanely designed, but the roads between towns often take completely nonsensical routes. |
| 94 | * BlackEyesOfEvil: The zombies are stated as having jet-black eyes with a look of UnstoppableRage. |
| 95 | * BlackoutBasement: And batteries are in high demand during the apocalypse. |
| 96 | * BladeBelowTheShoulder: The "Monomolecular Blade" bionic upgrade. |
| 97 | * BlobMonster: Dungeon feature. [[spoiler:Logs left behind by scientists imply they are some sort of alien GreyGoo, and are what causes zombies to rise from the dead and mutate.]] You can become one yourself by crossing the Slime mutation threshold. |
| 98 | * BloodKnight: The Killer Drive trait will make you one to an unhealthy extent, as while killing makes you happy, you'll lose morale if you spend too much time without killing anything. You also won't suffer any guilt for killing innocent humans or zombie children. |
| 99 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: According to the design docs, the mi-go actually ''aren't hostile'' to humanity. Unfortunately, to the mi-go, capturing and vivisecting humans is roughly equivalent to a friendly handshake. |
| 100 | * BodyHorror: |
| 101 | ** As in most Roguelikes, mutations exist. Some are good, some are bad, some are double edged swords. You can also modify yourself with bionics, many of which are visible. After several augments and mutations, your character will barely look human. Some tilesets will even display bionics and mutations of your character, giving you a visual representation of how inhuman they appear. |
| 102 | ** Several of the enemy types are quite grisly in their descriptions, especially once-human enemies such as the [[{{AndIMustScream}} Broken Cyborg]]. |
| 103 | * BodyOfBodies: |
| 104 | ** Jabberwocks are titanic monsters that are described as an amalgamation of corpses. They move faster than you, can attract more enemies with their roars, and can knock you down. Fortunately, they're hostile to any other monsters, including other jabberwocks. Unfortunately for you, you'll usually encounter them in sparsely populated environments. Lucky you. |
| 105 | ** The Melded Task Force is a team of security guards that somehow got fused together into a massive, Kevlar-covered blob, with [[HumanoidAbomination something else]] at the center. |
| 106 | * BoogieKnights: Draco Dune can be danced with at the Refugee Center, and while novice dodgers will not be able to dance while wearing armor, those who are skilled at the skill can do well while wearing full-body armor. |
| 107 | * BoringButPractical: Part of learning to survive is figuring out productive uses for all the clutter objects you find. |
| 108 | ** The fire axe isn't as glamorous as a broadsword or katana, but it has decent swinging power behind it and can knock back and stun enemies. It's also easier to find than the more exotic blades, as fire stations, feral axemen, and firefighter zombies occasionally have at least one on hand. You can also attach a halligan bar to it, if you don't mind the slow swing speed (which can be mitigated by dropping the bar before combat), or use it on it's own to pry windows and doors. |
| 109 | ** Similarly, combat knives lack the punch of the fire axe or katana, but swing quickly and accurately, and can be mounted as a [[BayonetYa bayonet]] onto most longarms. More importantly, though, they are easier to find than the former two: manhacks, military ferals, and soldier zombies drop them, and occasionally a military surplus store or gun basement will have one. |
| 110 | ** The quarterstaff is not very exciting as a weapon, but it is easily-made (a pair of two-by-fours and 2 leather patches), swings relatively quickly, and works with multiple martial arts styles. |
| 111 | ** The cudgel, the quarterstaff's simpler and weaker cousin, requires very little in the way of materials, and it's accurate, quick, and can be used with almost any melee weapon martial arts style. While it now takes modest skill to craft rather than none at all, the wooden club and large wooden club fill its former niche of something you can make in 7 minutes with a cutting tool and no skills or proficiencies to speak of. |
| 112 | ** Spears let you attack zombies from one (or two, with some types) space away, which drastically reduces the amount of hits they can get in on you. The most easily-crafted types break very easily, but if you're lucky enough to find some rebar, you can craft a decent and sturdy spear out of it using nothing but a rock. |
| 113 | ** For guns, anything chambered in 9x19mm, 12 Gauge, and 5.56 qualifies. As their caliber is widely used by both civilians and the US military, their ammo (and possibly magazines) can be looted from any location that has guns, as well as being randomly dropped by zombies, especially military and police ones. As such, you can easily keep a stockpile of ammo, and even get away with regularly using it up. |
| 114 | ** Fragmentation grenades are a common drop from zombie soldiers and their variants, and can be found in large numbers in military armories. While it takes a bit of practice to use them without getting a face full of shrapnel, they require very little in-game skill to use, and are ''extremely'' strong once you get used to them. One grenade can wipe out an entire mob of basic zombies, and even late-game boss monsters go down to GrenadeSpam. |
| 115 | ** 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 unarmed or with any weapon, 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. |
| 116 | ** Weapons aside, some of the most sought-after articles early in the game are clothes with ample storage. Cargo pants can save your life, and a backpack is worth killing for. |
| 117 | ** Handguns chambered in common calibers, as it's common to find them and their ammo, and their low volume and weight makes them trivial to carry. |
| 118 | * BottomlessBladder: Toilets exist in the game, but you never need to use one. Instead, they provide a source of water. |
| 119 | * BoulderBludgeon: Rocks and bricks can be used as melee weapons if you're desperate, and they can serve as decent throwing weapons if you don't have dedicated ones available. Many low-tier ferals will also carry rocks, which they will throw at you with unerring accuracy. |
| 120 | * BoxingBattler: Boxing can be taken as a style, primarily oriented towards fighting a single opponent while staying mobile. It doesn't handle groups well, but it's punches are extremely powerful. |
| 121 | * BucketHelmet: Cooking pots can be turned into helmets with a bit of duct tape. They don't cover much, nor do they give good protection in comparison to proper helmets, but [[MundaneUtility you can still use the pot for cooking]]. |
| 122 | * CaneFu: Canes are usable as decent batons, [[UtilityWeapon while also serving as crutches if you have a crippled leg]]. |
| 123 | * CarFu: Anything larger than a motorcycle is good for running over enemies (and usually insta-killing them). Cars are just the beginning. Wait until you get a semi-truck. [[spoiler: Without a suitably large vehicle, however, a zombie hulk can stop your ride dead in its tracks at low speeds. And then proceed to smash it, shortly followed by smashing ''you''.]] |
| 124 | * CatGirl: The [[OccidentalOtaku Otaku]] starts with a Cat Girl (or Cat Boy) costume. You can become an actual Cat Girl if you get lucky with mutagens. |
| 125 | * CatsAreMean: Cougars, which are a hair better than wolves stat-wise, but luckily hunt alone. [[spoiler: Some of them have also joined the ranks of the undead.]] |
| 126 | * ChainsawGood: A startling variety of power tools with moving blades is available, from saws (circular, chain, masonry, pole) to hedge trimmers and electric meat carvers. All of them demand gasoline/electricity to run and have the unique "Messy" trait (which results in LudicrousGibs when killing enemies), and most deal devastating damage in exchange for slow swinging and a huge to-hit penalty. Chainsaws can also be redesigned for combat, making them faster and way easier to hit with. |
| 127 | * ChallengeRun: There are various starting scenarios that make early game harder in exchange for more skill points. The best would be "Challenge: Really Bad Day", which only lets you choose from two professions: Tweaker (suffers from meth addiction) or Shower Victim (has only a wet towel and a bar of soap, and as the towel lacks storage space, they can't even ''hold'' that bar of soap until they find something better). Additionally, the starting building is on fire, surrounded by zombies, your character has the flu (penalty to all stats) and depression (cannot craft, also penalizes stats), and [[ZombieInfectee an infected bite wound]]. That last one is the nastiest, as it regularly causes nausea, so you cannot eat or drink most comestibles, and will kill you shortly if [[LuckBasedMission you cannot find some rare antibiotics]]. The best hope is to start in a house, immediately rush to the bathroom before it burns down, check if there are any antibiotics, and restart if there aren't. |
| 128 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: |
| 129 | ** Skills have more weight than raw stats for determining success, so ''any'' character can get good enough at a particular skill with enough grinding, with only Skill Rust there to stop you (and then there's the Memory Banks bionic). Throwing is probably the worst offender; at high enough levels, it's easy to one-shot turrets well beyond their firing range [[RockBeatsLaser with a wooden spear]]. |
| 130 | ** Because the damage inflicted by melee weapons increases far more from skills and stats than the damage of ranged weapons, it's possible to get to the point that a single melee attack does more damage than a battle rifle or a shotgun. |
| 131 | * ChunkySalsaRule: Significant overkill can pulp bodies instantly. This is good when killing zombies (as they won't be able to resurrect afterwards), but bad when hunting animals (as you'll get less meat from butchering them). |
| 132 | * ClickbaitGag: Playing with the [[SillinessSwitch Crazy Cataclysm official mod]] will occasionally spawn Shocker Zombies that spout "''Shocking!''" headlines, mostly related to the game's development on [=GitHub=] and more controversial changes approved there such as lead developer Kevin Granade's supposed preference for realism over fun or the {{nerf}}ing of knife spears. |
| 133 | * CloseRangeCombatant: The Brawler trait forces you to be this, as you can't use any ranged weapons at all (except thrown ones). |
| 134 | * CobwebJungle: Some parts of the forests are those, and are home to {{Giant Spider}}s. |
| 135 | * ConstructionIsAwesome: A big part of the game's appeal is scavenging for tools and parts to build zombie-proof fortresses and Deathmobiles. |
| 136 | * ConvectionSchmonvection: Now averted. Stepping near lava pits will cause your temperature to rise, depending on how close you are. Getting too close will cause your skin to blister. |
| 137 | * CookingMechanics: The player can prepare several dishes and can learn more dishes with cooking books on French cuisine, Italian cuisine, Japanese cuisine and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick human flesh dishes]]. |
| 138 | * CoolBike: While rolling bases on wheels are a popular choice of vehicle, souped-up motorcycles are also common, being easier to navigate in cities. In addition, experimental builds add a version that can spawn with a beefier engine than the norm. |
| 139 | * CoolCar: Raising your mechanics skill takes you beyond plain repairing your ride and allows you to turn it into [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier a huge steel behemoth on wheels]] [[MultiTrackDrifting capable of speeds in excess of 150 mph]], covered from top to bottom in [[SpikesOfDoom spikes and blades]], having several pairs of [[MoreDakka automated turrets]] and with [[BiggerOnTheInside more storage space]] you could ever use. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Oh, and]] you can put a bed and a caravan-style kitchen inside. |
| 140 | * CoolClearWater: Averted. Boil it or enjoy puking. That goes double for toilet water. |
| 141 | * CoolTank: Added via a mod in the experimental versions, complete with main guns comparable to [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill the tank drone's main gun]]. |
| 142 | * CosyCatastrophe: Almost everyone on Earth is dead or a zombie, but it's not ''too'' hard to find a safe spot the zombies can't reach, hide there, and spend your days reading books and eating junk food. And once you're ready to come out, you can use the knowledge from the books you read to grab a nice vehicle, fix it, and drive around the mostly-safe roads looking for stuff. With enough time and consistency you can also completely wipe out a town of any zombies or hostile creatures - and since unless you have the Wandering Horde option enabled (which is disabled by default), zombies don't respawn at all, leading to a perfectly safe town with loot you can live off of for in-game weeks or months on end without needing to risk your life, unless you're seeking some of the more exotic treasures or rarer recipes. |
| 143 | * CrapsackWorld: Aside from the ZombieApocalypse scenario, all the illegal drugs you can find laying around in the abandoned houses paint an unflattering picture of ''pre''-apocalyptic life in this world. |
| 144 | * CreepyDoll: Talking dolls have a small chance of being creepy, which changes the messages when you activate them. |
| 145 | * CriticalExistenceFailure: Zigzagged; while you do have health points, there's a set amount of them for each body part (and losing all of your head or chest HP equals death), but the pain mechanic reduces movement speed as the character receives damage, eventually stunlocking you at high enough levels. |
| 146 | * CriticalStatusBuff: The High Adrenaline trait (along with related mutations) will grant a buff to a survivor at low health, significantly improving stats (except Intelligence, which actually worsens), giving constant stamina regeneration and removal of the debuff for exhausting oneself, and a significant bonus to one's speed. All comes at the cost of eventually suffering a large debuff from the comedown. |
| 147 | * CrowbarCombatant: Players who find (or make) their own crowbar. And for good reason, as crowbars are not only good for bashing zombies, but they can also pry open locked doors, windows and manholes, making less noise than bashing them open. |
| 148 | * CursedWithAwesome: [[spoiler:The Blob]]. Once you die, it will take over your body and turn you into yet another mindless zombie, and there's a 25% chance of [[FormerlySapientSpecies it making you go feral]] (and a 50% chance of it making you mildly crazy, so there's just a 25% chance of remaining normal). In the meantime, it wishes to keep its host body as strong as possible, so it grants a mild HealingFactor ([[spoiler:hence why wounds heal faster than in real life, since the player is infected]]) and ''[[SuperpowerRussianRoulette might]]'' add beneficial modifications to the body as a response to [[SuperSerum certain substances]] or radiation. |
| 149 | * CyberneticsEatYourSoul: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by the Exodii, who augment themselves to an extreme point (up to becoming a FullConversionCyborg), but are also the most pro-human extradimensional faction, with their augmentations giving them a measure of protection from the [[EldritchAbomination Blob]] and it's mental effects, and behave like ordinary people. In contrast, those who rely on BioAugmentation via mutations will often suffer from alterations to their mind, with the most heavily mutated being barely human in mind. |
| 150 | * DamageOverTime: Getting set on fire will do damage to the victim until they're put out. Bleeding on monsters is also modelled as a [=DoT=] effect, due to them using simplified damage mechanics. |
| 151 | * DamnYouMuscleMemory: In-game example, the Vehicle Additions Pack changes the standard mounted weapons to be manual-only, using the ability to manually fire turrets introduced in the experimental builds. This regularly trips players up. |
| 152 | * DanceBattler: The Dancer profession starts off with a decent dancing skill, and some of the books for the Dodging skill are actually about dancing. For a proper martial art, meanwhile, there is the [[UsefulNotes/{{Capoeira}} Capoeira]] style, which significantly buffs dodging and depends on moving around to use it properly. You can also [[InvertedTrope invert]] this while dancing with Draco Dune at the Refugee Center, by using your battle-hardened dodging skills to dance well. |
| 153 | * DeadlyLunge: A few zombies (and animals) can pull this on the player, though a harmless "leap" ability to close the distance is far more common. In particular, there are zombie predators, an upgrade to the [[VideoGame/Left4Dead zombie hunter]] with a very nasty version that can knock the target over and inflict blood loss. |
| 154 | * DeadWeight: Fat zombies are common, being slower and clumsier than normal zombies, but also [[{{Kevlard}} tougher]] and [[StoutStrength stronger]]. |
| 155 | * DeathTrap: You'll find these laying around here and there, and picking up a few levels in traps skill (plus the right components) will allow you to set some of your own. Characters with perception below 10 are going to have a short and miserable life, however. |
| 156 | * DeusAxMachina: While you generally find fire axes where expected (at fire stations or from firefighter zombies), the amount of feral axemen with ''fire'' axes is high enough that you'd wonder where they're getting their weapons from. |
| 157 | * DevelopersForesight: |
| 158 | ** When trying to interact with furniture and there is an object in the way, the game will say "There is an <item> in the way!". If you attempt to close a door while standing in the frame, you get "There is a buffoon in the way!". |
| 159 | ** If you attempt to deploy a furniture item like a brazier on the spot you're standing in, you get the message "You attempt to become one with the furniture. It doesn't work." |
| 160 | ** If you attempt to do the same with a trap, the message you receive is "Yeah. Place the [trap name] at your feet. [[SarcasmMode Real damn smart move.]]" |
| 161 | ** Similarly, if you attempt to pry the square you are standing in with a crowbar, it results in the message "You attempt to pry open your wallet, but alas. You are too miserly." |
| 162 | ** ''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.]] |
| 163 | * DevouredByTheHorde: A common way for a survivor to die is to get grabbed and piled on by zombies. ''Dark Days Ahead'', in particular, has crowd crush mechanics, wherein getting grabbed by multiple zombies makes you suffer from suffocation. |
| 164 | * DieChairDie: Nearly every object can be destroyed with sufficient strength and/or weapons, and zombies will often attack obstacles in their way. |
| 165 | * DisabilitySuperpower: Certain "bad" mutations are not necessarily bad. Some of them can actually mutate further into useful ones. For example, you might become carnivore and able to eat only flesh; further mutation might allow you to eat tainted flesh (for example, ''zombie'' flesh). |
| 166 | * DisasterScavengers: Scavenging is extremely encouraged, as crafting items can take an unreasonably long time (and a lot of skills and tools), and some useful items can only be procured by scavenging them. |
| 167 | * DisposablePilot: Possibly [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in the Helicopter Crash scenario if you start as a pilot - you barely survive the crash, but none of your passengers do. |
| 168 | * DoesNotDrive: The Wayfarer trait makes it impossible for you to operate a vehicle at all, even wheelchairs and bicycles. Alternatively, you can start without any driving skill or related proficiency, in which case it's possible to learn driving through experience. |
| 169 | * DoesntLikeGuns: The Brawler trait prevents you from using any ranged weapons, with the inability to use guns being the most major impact of it. |
| 170 | * DrunkenMaster: One of the advantages boosts your melee skills whenever you're intoxicated. |
| 171 | * DungeonCrawling: Labs, strange temples, and mines offer this, if you're in the mood for a more traditional roguelike experience. |
| 172 | * {{Dracolich}}: A boss in one of the experimental version's official mods. Which makes it the only one of the mod's bosses capable of getting back up after you kill it. |
| 173 | * DrugsAreBad: Averted with pot-- smoking a joint is good for morale, with only mild drawbacks. Fully enforced with all other recreational drugs, though. If you manage to get hooked on booze or cocaine, the withdrawal penalties ''will'' spank you hard. On the other hand, if you have a safe place and enough food, it's safer to use the hardest drugs for their boosts as the easiest and most reliable way to get rid of the withdrawal syndrome is to [[BoringButPractical ride it out]]. |
| 174 | * DrugsAreGood: As ''Bright Nights'' deliberately goes with a less-realistic depiction of drugs, stimulants are an extremely good way to buff your attributes and speed, with some granting improved [[SprintMeter stamina]] regeneration. With the Synaptic Regeneration System CBM, it's entirely possible to go without sleep by subsisting on meth. |
| 175 | * DuctTapeForEverything: Other than replacing nails, adhesives or soldering in many, many recipes, you can use duct tape to reinforce windows, reload the miscallenous repair kit, and fix ''any'' part of your cars: engine, fuel tanks, turrets, frames. Truly the most versatile item in the game. |
| 176 | * EarlyGameHell: Depending on your starting scenario, profession, chosen disadvantages, and enemy spawns, the first few days of the Cataclysm can be the deadliest part of the game. Exaggerated by the "Really Bad Day" scenario, which grants you a whopping 10 points for character creation but spawns you in a burning building surrounded by enemies while depressed, drunk, sick with the flu, and nursing an infected wound. |
| 177 | * EarthDrift: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Dark Days Ahead'', with it going from a near-future setting with widespread use of bionics and robots (including military ones), as well as experimental use of energy weapons, to a more grounded AlternateHistory set in the present day, with the sci-fi tech being severely downplayed, and bionics in particular being an extradimensional technology that is severely restricted in acquisition. The ''Bright Nights'' fork, in fact, was formed partly out of response to this, and keeps the previous setting. |
| 178 | * EatsBabies: You can find Mutated Fetuses. And you can also eat them if you want to. This is gross enough to give you a massive morale penalty, in addition to the penalty for eating human flesh (unless you have the cannibal trait), and will also [[BodyHorror cause you to mutate]]. |
| 179 | * EldritchAbomination: WordOfGod reveals that XE-037 (The Blob) is one of these; a dispersed extradimensional intelligence that consumes entire universes over the course of millions of years. |
| 180 | * EliteMook: The Zombie Necromancer and Zombie Master. The Zombie Necromancer stays back and revives any unbutchered zombie corpse in the area. The Zombie Master "promotes" any normal zombie into a much nastier type. |
| 181 | * EliteZombie: Many types, including a few that don't quite fall into any category. |
| 182 | ** '''Brutes'''-- The aptly-named zombie brute and the dreaded zombie hulk. These both have tons of variants, like the shocker brute and the Kevlar hulk. |
| 183 | ** '''Armored Zombies'''-- Zombie cops, SWAT zombies, and zombie soldiers (and their variants), which wear synthetic armors. There's also scarred zombies and skeletal zombies, which have grown their own organic armor, and Kevlar zombies, which have grown Kevlar hides. Finally, there's the armored zombie, which is a zombie in a combat exoskeleton, and is invulnerable to all but the strongest armor-piercing shots. |
| 184 | ** '''Hazmat Zombies'''-- The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin hazmat zombie]]. It doesn't explode, but drops items like Geiger counters and iodine pills. |
| 185 | ** '''Ferals[=/=]Hunters[=/=]Stalkers'''-- The zombie runner, zombie hunter and zombie predator. |
| 186 | ** '''Undead Animals'''-- Bears, moose, cougars, wolves, deer, dogs and pigs all have zombie counterparts. |
| 187 | ** '''Screamers'''-- Shrieker zombies scream, drawing the attention of any nearby zombies. Survivor zombies can also do this, and an upgraded version can scream loud enough to cause disorientation. |
| 188 | ** '''Vomit Zombies'''-- The Boomer and Spitter zombies, and their upgraded huge boomer and corrosive zombie forms. |
| 189 | ** '''Boomers'''-- The bloated zombie explodes into a cloud of toxic gas if it gets too close or when it dies. Zombie burners were soldiers with flamethrowers in life, and when re-killed there's a chance that their napalm tanks explode. There's also variants that produce clouds of tear gas or relaxation gas, and the rare gasoline zombie, which goes off like a Molotov. |
| 190 | ** '''Smart Zombies'''-- Zombie bio-operators still know how to use CQC. [[TechnicallyLivingZombie Ferals]] can open doors and use weapons (even guns). In ''Bright Nights'', zombie scientists and zombie grenadiers retain enough intelligence to use manhacks and explosives. |
| 191 | ** '''Child Zombies'''-- A reasonably common early-game opponent. Killing them gives you a morale debuff. Several variants of this zombie, that cross into other zombie types, exist: '''Ferals''' (sproglodyte), '''Boomers''' (snotgobbler), and '''Screamers''' (shriekling, howling waif). |
| 192 | ** '''Test Subject[=/=]"Enhanced" Zombies'''-- The shocker zombie and shocker brute are wreathed in electricity and can shoot it quite some distance. The zombie bio-operator (and the even tougher elite variety) are stronger versions that, while not able to attack at range, can perform rudimentary martial arts techniques if you let them get too close. |
| 193 | ** '''Other'''-- The zombie hollow is a boneless-looking zombie that's hinted to be the blob wearing the skin as a suit. The slavering biter's teeth have distorted its mouth, and allows it to perform a nasty bite. The smoker zombie constantly spews a cloud of thick smoke around itself (though it lacks its VideoGame/Left4Dead counterpart's snaring tongue). Grabber and grappler zombies can catch you and hold you down or drag you off, and the shady zombie is invisible in darkness. Finally, the zombie necromancer and master have anomalous abilities no other zombie has. |
| 194 | ** All zombies have properties from the '''Regenerators''' and '''Mutating Zombies''' categories. If you defeat a zombie but don't destroy the body, it will eventually heal and get back up. Most zombies have "evolved" variants, and as time passes the game will start spawning evolved zombies instead of basic types to represent zombies mutating over time. |
| 195 | * EmergencyWeapon: |
| 196 | ** Your fists function as this if you don't mutate claws, as they do little damage, but are fast and can be your last resort if you get disarmed and have no time to pull out a weapon. Gun-wielding surviors can get more use out of them, as PistolWhipping may sometimes be inferior to unarmed combat. |
| 197 | ** Many gun-wielding professions tend to start with some kind of a club or knife on their person, giving them an option for when using a firearm is wasteful or too noisy. |
| 198 | ** Disarmed ferals will still fight unarmed. As they only do 1-6 points of damage with a hit, however, it's mostly a nuisance. |
| 199 | * EmotionSuppression: The Numb mutation, which reduces the impact of anything on your morale by 75%. In fact, it actually does so by cannibalizing the parts of the brain that are responsible for personality, although it's still possible to remove the mutation. |
| 200 | * EmpoweredBadassNormal: With mutations and bionics taking a fair bit of effort to acquire, most survivors will already be great fighters by the time they get them. |
| 201 | * ExoticWeaponSupremacy: Several of the more unusual weapons can be quite effective. However, most of them are AwesomeButImpractical if you lack a martial arts style that works with them, and the weapon skills to use them effectively. |
| 202 | * EventTitle: The EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is referred to as the Cataclysm. |
| 203 | * EveryCarIsAPinto: The few that work, anyway: you might want to check the damage on that gasoline tank before ramming into something. [[AllThereInTheManual The lore]] says this is because nitroglycerin has been added to gasoline to lessen pollution. |
| 204 | * EverythingBreaks: |
| 205 | ** Both you and the monsters can break through or burn down the buildings in this game with the proper armament. |
| 206 | ** Your clothes get damaged as zombies wail on you. Your shoes and pretty much everything else can only be destroyed by acid. Most glass items will break if you hit a zombie with them. You can find items on zombies that are invariably in tatters. |
| 207 | ** Acid rain is very bad for your stuff. Don't leave it in the open. Eventually acid rain was disabled, and acid damaging items was removed later on as well. |
| 208 | * EverythingTryingToKillYou: As usual for a roguelike, ''Cataclysm'' plays this trope to the hilt. |
| 209 | * {{Expy}}: Several monsters are ripped from other media, the more uncommon zombies reference ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', and the way [[spoiler:zombie animals]] are presented recalls the T-Virus. |
| 210 | * ExperiencedProtagonist: Several of the professions start with skills in the 6-8 range, possibly multiple ones, such as Navy SEAL ones or the Black Belt. Some backgrounds can also be taken at the "Master" level, giving you equally high skill levels. |
| 211 | * ExtremeOmnivore: Once your food runs out, you have to switch to butchering and preparing your own meat from corpses. Zombie meat is pretty much a last ditch move until you learn how to cure it, but rat, ant, and slug meat are all fair game. Currently, the game doesn't consider ''where'' the meat came from, as long as it's not from a zombie, nether creature such as a Mi-Go or from mutants (such as gigantified animals) so your character can eat cooked ''slug meat'' and enjoy it. Even ''human meat'' is viable as a source of food [[spoiler:(except for babies)]], so long as you don't mind feeling horrible for the rest of the day. |
| 212 | * EyeScream: |
| 213 | ** Be careful around that AutoDoc or else you might get a syringe of stem cell treatment straight to the eye. |
| 214 | ** Enemies will also sometimes attack your eyes, which has a chance of blinding you temporarily. |
| 215 | * FakeUltimateMook: While exploring basements, you might come across [[spoiler:an Ancient Red Dragon that activates Safe Mode when seen and has its name written in dark red (a trait reserved for the most dangerous of monsters)]]. It's actually a fake made out of paper that never moves or attack and dies in one hit. |
| 216 | * FantasticRacism: Mutants are rather disliked, with most of them being considered ugly and thus decreasing your persuasive abilities, and the arsonist at the Refugee Center facing bigotry just because she has [[LittleBitBeastly cat ears]]. The Exodii, in particular, ''despise'' mutants to the point of fanaticism. It's somewhat more justified than most examples of the trope, however, as mutants look similar to some of the monsters that can be found in the wild (all of them being hostile to survivors), and mutations involve the manipulation of the Blob inside one's body, and can alter one's personality to the point of TranshumanTreachery. |
| 217 | * FearlessUndead: As is typical for the genre, the zombies will just mindlessly charge at you with no regard for danger. This even applies to [[TechnicallyLivingZombie ferals]], who will evade dangers, but have their minds so warped by bloodlust that they'll never retreat. |
| 218 | * FeelNoPain: The Deadened mutation of the Medical tree makes you completely immune to pain, even allowing you to receive surgery [[SkipTheAnesthetic without anesthesia]]. |
| 219 | * FeralVillain: The fittingly named Feral Humans and their variants (such as Deranged Axemen) are AlwaysChaoticEvil humans that act a bit smarter than the average zombie and generally using some form of weapon like pipes, spears, axes, machetes, etc - Zombies also explicitly ignore them and treat them as their own, and it's not uncommon to find Ferals amongst Zombie hordes. |
| 220 | * FictionalDisability: Multiple ones exist, all triggered by the Cataclysm: |
| 221 | ** Kaluptic Psychosis (the name being a bastardization of Kalupto, one half of the greek word for apocalypse) represents the hollywood depiction of schizophrenia, and can be treated with antipsychotic medication. Among static [=NPCs=], Dino Dave (who wears a dinosaur suit and is obsessed with carboard boxes) suffers from this condition |
| 222 | ** The Irreparable trait will cause you to lose your natural ability to heal, even with the best mundane healthcare in the world. The only way to heal, as such, is to use fantastical means to heal - bionics, mutations, superscience drugs, or magic (if using an appropriate mod) |
| 223 | ** Genetic Downward Spiral means that your DNA is damaged beyond repair, causing you to gain mutations with time, always receive bad mutations regardless of cause, and suffer more and more genetic instability with time. The only way to treat it is to consume purifier to get rid of mutations, but this won't cure the underlying cause. |
| 224 | * FragileSpeedster: The Avian mutation branch. You can hardly take a hit, but you can outrun anything and nothing can escape your detection. |
| 225 | * FromBadToWorse: Having 99% of the population zombified or dead by the time the game starts isn't good, but what you find happening to the world as you advance through the game doesn't paint a pretty picture of the biosphere's fate. |
| 226 | * FurnitureBlockade: Your starting location will often have furniture moved by you (before the game starts) to block off windows and doors. Some other locations, such as boarded-up houses, will also be barricaded with furniture. You can also do this in gameplay by moving furniture around. |
| 227 | * GameMod: In addition to community mods, the game has a format for enabling mods when generating a world, and comes with several popular mods already ready to use, especially in the experimental builds. These range from new monsters ([[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys Animatronic Monsters]], [=DinoMod=]) to vehicle additions ([[CoolBoat Boats]], [[CoolCar Vehicle Additions Pack]]) and item additions ([[PublicDomainArtifact Mythological Replicas]], [[MacGyvering More Survival Tools]]), in addition to various mods that remove certain content or change other things. |
| 228 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Normally, digging up graves and eating human flesh without appropriate traits (such as Psychopath/Uncaring) 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. |
| 229 | * GasolineLastsForever: Played straight. Gasoline, diesel, and homemade biodiesel don't have a shelf-life. |
| 230 | * GenreShift: Starts as your standard ZombieApocalypse, but takes a gradual turn into LovecraftLite when you start encountering more advanced monsters like Mi-Gos and Shoggoths. |
| 231 | * GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul: |
| 232 | ** [[spoiler:As you slowly turn to glass at the Vitrified Farm, your mind is being altered so that you're happy about this. This [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration even raises your Morale]], with each stage making this more and more pronounced.]] |
| 233 | ** [[spoiler:Reaching the Mycus threshold will give you an extremely high Morale bonus, as you feel happy about giving up your individuality to the HiveMind.]] |
| 234 | * GiantSpider: One of the many categories of enemies. Along with centipedes, wasps, bees, slugs, ants, and mosquitoes. |
| 235 | * GlassCannon: Compared to the zombies, feral humans can do significantly more damage than comparable tiers of zombies, especially if they're wielding guns or axes. Fortunately for the player, they're vulnerable to stunning attacks, can be disarmed (leaving them effectively harmless), don't have impressive armor, and only have 84 hit points, making them easy to shut down and kill if you're halfway decent in combat. |
| 236 | * GoMadFromTheApocalypse: The Cataclysm being extremely devastating, insane people are plentiful: |
| 237 | ** In the [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]], the Blob infection has caused many people to go insane, as they stopped caring about self-preservation and/or became extremely aggressive. Luckier victims, however, manage to recover from that, though they still remember what they did. |
| 238 | ** The civilians seen in the first days of the game's start are either [[DeerInTheHeadlights frozen in shock]], running around in panic, or [[AttackAttackAttack obsessed with fighting the monsters]]. |
| 239 | ** Feral humans have lost some of their intelligence, and permanently have their mind stuck on mindless aggression against non-zombies. The zombies ignore them in turn. |
| 240 | ** The player can also get in on the action, as they can start with the Kaluptic Psychosis, Cannibal, and/or Psychopath/Uncaring traits. Over the course of the game, mutations can also cause them to suffer from severe mental instability or [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie degrade into an animalistic predator]]. |
| 241 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Brawling is usually weaker than proper styles, due to being slow to learn and having lackluster techniques, but it benefits from lacking any weakness, being simple to use (as there's no special strategy for it), and being usable with [[ImprobableWeaponUser literally anything]]. |
| 242 | * GolfClubbing: Golf clubs can be wielded as weapons, although they make for rather weak weapons due to their mediocre damage and propensity for breaking. |
| 243 | * GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: [=XEDRA=], the Xenophysical Energy Defense Research Agency, formed one-and-a-half years prior to the Cataclysm to research transdimensional phenomena including portals and [[spoiler:the Blob]]. Researchers working for the agency were publicly passed off as DARPA scientists or similar. |
| 244 | * GratuitousForeignLanguage: The description for the Flammenschwert[[note]]a two-handed sword with a gasoline douser[[/note]] is entirely in German. |
| 245 | * GreatBow: Greatbows are 198cm long and are useless without extremely high strength, even if you have bow proficiencies to make them easier to draw. |
| 246 | * GunAccessories: A good amount of them, and currently you may have any amount of modifications on your gun, for your inner tacticool commando. |
| 247 | * GunStruggle: If an NPC has a weapon and you really need it taken away, you can deliberately try to snatch it. Unlike disarming style techniques, however, it does no damage, and has a decent chance of failure, making it a risky maneuver. |
| 248 | * HandCannon: Any handgun chambered in at least .44 qualifies, but the crowning examples are the [[RevolversAreJustBetter S&W 500 and Magnum Research BFR]], with the latter even being usable as a SniperPistol. |
| 249 | * {{Handguns}}: Handguns are a mainstay firearm for the player compared to longarms, as they're much easier to get and keep loaded (as zombies are more likely to drop handguns and ammo for them), are much lighter and smaller, can fit into holsters (which are less encumbering and faster to draw from than slings), and benefit from a fast aim speed due to their lighter weight. On the other hand, they do have the realistic disadvantages of low damage, accuracy, capacity, and range, and fully-automatic variants are much harder to get than full-auto SMGs and rifles. |
| 250 | * HandicappedBadass: While crippled limbs will penalize you in combat, it's not impossible to fight in such a state: |
| 251 | ** A single broken arm won't prevent from using weapons that can be wielded one-handed, especially if you have a high strength. Having both arms broken, meanwhile, still allows you to use unarmed attacks and mutated body parts, alongside bionics. |
| 252 | ** A single broken leg can be compensated for with crutches, and having both legs broken can still allow you to use vehicles (especially wheelchairs). Melee combat isn't really viable like that, but ranged weapons work perfectly fine. |
| 253 | * HardcodedHostility: [=NPC=]s associated with the Hell's Raiders faction will shoot the player on sight, regardless of what other factions they've allied with. |
| 254 | * HealThyself: Bandages and disinfectants slowly fix damage to your body parts, stop bleeding, and prevent infections from setting in. Medications for managing pain are also available, ranging from the common aspirin to the highly-addictive oxycodone and morphine. |
| 255 | * HealingFactor: Several flavors at different rates are available, but the Rapid Metabolism mutation is the purest example. Broken limbs heal overnight, anything less with a short nap... at the cost of having to eat every few hours. |
| 256 | * HeavilyArmoredMook: SWAT and soldier zombies still wear the armor they had in life, making them very resistant to bullets, and somewhat resistant to melee attacks. Kevlar zombies take it to the extreme, [[BodyHorror as the kevlar is part of their body]], and it grows thicker and thicker each time they evolve, with kevlar hulks being particularly hard to damage. |
| 257 | * HellIsThatNoise: |
| 258 | ** "Heard a noise! Stop crafting/reading/eating? Y/N" |
| 259 | ** [[spoiler:"The eye you're carrying lets out a tortured scream! You hear screeches from the rock above and around you!"]] |
| 260 | ** "From the west you hear a child wailing!" [[spoiler:This is one of the random noises a Mi-go can make.]] |
| 261 | ** [[Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness "Tekeli-li!"]] |
| 262 | ** "You hear a terrifying roar that nearly deafens you!" [[spoiler:A jabberwock, which can flat-out ruin your day. Or in Arcana and Magic Items mod, a dracolich.]] |
| 263 | * HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] and [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as mouth encumbrance makes it harder to recover stamina, while eye encumbrance hinders ranged combat. In ''Dark Days Ahead'', head encumbrance will also make it harder for you to dodge and will make falls deadlier. That said, wearing some protection for your upper head is still recommended, as head damage can be extremely lethal. |
| 264 | * HideYourChildren: Averted. Zombie children are common, and the player takes a hit to morale for killing them. |
| 265 | * HighOnHomicide: With the Killer Drive trait, you'll gain morale with each kill, and the description states that you crave the thrill you experience from killing. It's even possible to suffer a homicide withdrawal, with your morale decreasing. |
| 266 | * HollywoodHealing: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], as while your character can easily recover from a near-death experience in a week of decent rest and healing, and no injury is permanent, they'll still need several weeks of rest with splinting in order to recover from a crippled limb, and any injury to it will reser your progress. There is also a [[JustifiedTrope justification]], as it's noted that the Blob caused everyone to heal faster than usual. Taking the Imperceptible Healer trait, however, will mostly avert the trope, as you need 10x the normal time to restore hit points, possibly resulting in you spending a month or two to heal from a severe beatdown. |
| 267 | * HollywoodSilencer: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], as while smaller handgun rounds become practically inaudible with a larger silencer attached, shots from stronger pistols will still make enough noise to attract monsters from across a street or two. Rifles and shotguns, meanwhile, don't become significantly quieter, although the suppressor ''does'' help you avoid hearing damage. |
| 268 | * {{Homage}}: The main zombie types reference the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' series. |
| 269 | * HomelessHero: The Hobo started out as one ''before'' the Cataclysm hit. Afterwards, almost everyone else starts out as one, forced to sleep in abandoned buildings or cars that aren't suited for sleep, although it's not too hard to make a BaseOnWheels or modify a building into a proper base. |
| 270 | * HostileWeather: Full acid rain can melt down a battle-hardened survivor in a handful of turns. Thankfully the much less lethal acid drizzle happens beforehand, which serves as a warning. Acid rain has been mercifully disabled in versions 0.C and beyond, however. |
| 271 | * HumanFurnitureIsAPainInTheTail: A general issue of many mutations is issues when it comes to wearing human clothes, often forcing one to make custom clothes. Driving is also problematic for characters of abnormal size, which forces them to install special accomodations. |
| 272 | * HybridMonster: You can become a hybrid monster yourself with the Chimera mutation. |
| 273 | * HyperactiveMetabolism: With a mutation of the same name, excess nutrition is converted into direct healing. Of course, this mutation also comes with the heavy price tag of requiring a lot more food even under ''normal'' circumstances. |
| 274 | * IAmLegion: We are the [[MushroomMan Mycus]]. [[spoiler:And we can be joined.]] |
| 275 | * IKnowMaddenKombat: Athletic professions for ball-based sports (Baseball, Football, Dodgeball, Basketball) have good combat skills, and the Baseball Player in particular comes with a [[BatterUp baseball bat]] that serves them as a club. Sports backgrounds are also primarily oriented towards improving your combat skills. |
| 276 | * IncendiaryExponent: The player can modify several weapons into their fiery counterparts, such as the [[{{BFS}} Flammenschwert]] and [[{{KatanasAreJustBetter}} Rising Sun]]. |
| 277 | * InfernalRetaliation: Some tough enemies if they stand in fire for long enough. For example, {{bears|AreBadNews}}. |
| 278 | -->''[[ShoutOut Remember]], only YOU can prevent [[DeathByIrony forest fires]]!'' |
| 279 | * InfinityMinusOneSword: In the case of armors: When it comes to a balance between weight, encumberance and defense, there are few armors better than the Cataphract set: very light and unencumbering despite being a heavy armor, covers a good chunk of the body, is extremely difficult to damage and has a defense rating high enough to shrug off most regular attacks with ease - the one problem is that it doesn't have a lot of ballistic defense compared to kevlar armor. |
| 280 | * InTheHood: Several types of clothes come with hoods, which will keep one's head warm if nothing else is worn on it. The use of a hood to hide one's identity is also [[ImpliedTrope implied]] with several criminal professions starting off wearing a hoodie. |
| 281 | * InventoryManagementPuzzle: Not only does your character have a weight limit of loot to work with, but they are also limited by the size (volume and length in-game) of their loot. Each piece of clothing available may have a set amount of pockets, which fit items only of appropriate weight, volume, and length. Going above your weight limit will slow you down; filling up your volume, meanwhile, increases the encumbrance of clothes and containers that you wear, which will usually slow you down ''in addition'' to other effects. |
| 282 | * InvulnerableKnuckles: [[AvertedTrope averted]], as smashing objects uses your most armored body part, and if you ''still'' lack sufficient protection there, you'll suffer injury with each blow. |
| 283 | * ImAHumanitarian: |
| 284 | ** Your mistakes are not the only source of human corpses in this game, and if you get desperate enough... |
| 285 | ** There is a trait called "Strict Humanitarian", although it actually refers to the fact that you ''don't'' eat humans... you only eat ''mutants, aliens, and demihumans'', thank you very much. |
| 286 | * ImmuneToBullets: |
| 287 | ** Anything with a thick enough skin, at least to .22 and 9mm bullets. Some monsters are hard to shoot and automatically dodge 3 out of every 4 shots. |
| 288 | ** Harshly averted for the player. Pray you don't encounter robots or other survivors with guns. If you do, and you don't have Kevlar armor or higher, you're going to have a very bad day. |
| 289 | * ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: |
| 290 | ** Gun-wielding ferals are hideously innacurate with guns, to the point that a completely untrained survivor can easily outshoot them with the same guns. This is all done for balance reasons, to prevent players from easily dying to gunfire. |
| 291 | ** Unskilled survivors will tend to miss with ranged weapons, unless they take a long time to aim. |
| 292 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: Unless able to get proper medieval weapons, you'll likely spend a decent amount of time fighting with improvised weaponry. Several styles also include improvised weapons, and [[GoodOldFisticuffs Brawling]] is usable with literally anything you wield. |
| 293 | * ImpromptuCampfireCookout: As many cooking recipes use a nearby fire, it's possible to invoke it at any time, whether you're using the corpse of a zombie you burnt to death, a housefire, or an ''open lava fissure''. |
| 294 | * ImprovisedArmour: A wide variety of armors is craftable, from simply attaching a few chunks of steel to a leather jacket or [[BucketHelmet making a pot wearable]], to professionally creating a suit of plate out of scavenged metal |
| 295 | ** Survivor clothes particularly stand out, 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. |
| 296 | * ImprovisedWeapon: Since using guns without a silencer can often be suicidal, it pays to learn which objects make good melee weapons. (Hint: smash one or two of the benches in the starting shelter, then go outside and grab a rock so you can make a nail board.) |
| 297 | * ItemCrafting: The game's item crafting system is very robust, and gaining the proper skills to make things is highly recommended if you want to extend your character's lifespan. |
| 298 | * TheJaywalkingDead: One of the more effective ways to kill hordes of common zombies is to ram them with an armored vehicle. Caution should be taken, however, as doing so will damage the vehicle. |
| 299 | * KatanasAreJustBetter: The katana is one of the best melee weapons available. If you manage to find it, even at low "cutting weapons" skill you will block most of the attacks and one-hit-kill most enemies. The Nodachi takes this a step further by virtue of being the {{BFS}} of katanas, and even outclasses the diamond katana despite being easier to obtain and/or create. |
| 300 | * KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Downing a foe is an extremely effective and common technique due to rendering the target unable to fight back while you beat on them. A few techniques also demand a downed target to work, such as brutal Bonebreaker of Krav Maga, which does a lot of damage and breaks a humanoid enemy's arm. |
| 301 | * KillItWithFire: |
| 302 | ** Lighting a fire and luring zombies into it is an easy way to deal with small hordes. Just be sure to either do it outdoors and away from flammable items, or in a building you've already looted and that's far enough from someplace safe (but not ''too'' far, or the fire will leave the "reality bubble" and stop burning until you come back). |
| 303 | ** The best way to deal with the fungal corruption that threatens to swallow entire towns if not dealt with? A simple lit match, and you can watch it all burn away. |
| 304 | * LateToTheTragedy: The player, evidently. ''How'' exactly you ended up as one of the last people alive in the region is left to your imagination. Later on you might find dead squads of soldiers and scientists, as well as military and scientific infrastructures which are invariably overrun by the undead. |
| 305 | * LEGOGenetics: Mutating is as "simple" as leveling your cooking skill high enough, finding the proper instruction manual, combining bleach, ammonia, and zombie flesh, and drinking the resulting concoction. This can give you some animal-specific traits, implying that all humans already have DNA from all species in them. |
| 306 | * LeParkour: Eligible trait at character creation, cuts down the speed penalty for moving through tables, windows, etc. |
| 307 | * LethalJokeCharacter: |
| 308 | ** Several of the more underwhelming professions are surprisingly useful. For instance, the tailor is BoringButPractical simply because it gives a head start on the tailoring skill, which is used for repairing and reinforcing your clothes and armor. In the experimental builds, the broken cyborg is notable for starting with every single faulty bionic, but also gains full-body alloy plating and fingertip razors. And in general, if you're using pool-based character creation, the bonus points given by weaker professions can be spent on traits that provide long-term benefits if you can survive the EarlyGameHell. |
| 309 | ** The Landscaper profession seems like yet another gimmicky ActionSurvivor profession... until you notice that they have a [[MacheteMayhem machete]], which is a great mid-game weapon that gives you an early start on swordsmanship. |
| 310 | ** The "Joke" monsters: the smoky bear, [[MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody Thriller]], and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/ShiaLaBeoufLive (actual cannibal)]] Creator/ShiaLaBeouf. All of them are {{Shout Out}}s to pop culture, but they are every bit as deadly as non-joke monsters. |
| 311 | * LevelGrinding: In the early game, expect to spend lots of time repeatedly crafting and disassembling items to improve your fabrication and tailoring skills. Later on [[AntiGrinding this becomes much harder]] since you need higher level crafting recipes to train higher level skills, and these recipes usually require rare components and cannot be completely disassembled. |
| 312 | * LivesInAVan: As it takes quite a bit of skill to install proper living facilities, and RVs are rare, early-game survivors wil often be forced to sleep on the seats of their vehicles, unless they're capable of taking over a building and squatting there. |
| 313 | * {{Lobotomy}}: A rare self-inflicted/accidental variant appears with the Numb mutation, which is stated [[AllThereInTheManual on Github]] to remove parts of the brain that are responsible for personality. It's not a full personality destruction, but it does severely reduce impacts on one's morale. |
| 314 | * LovecraftCountry: The game takes place in New England. With the default settings, the world generation results in small towns separated by stretches of untamed wilderness, which gives the map a rural feel. |
| 315 | * LovecraftLite: Grim as the fate of humanity may seem, a well-equipped, competent character can still face the worst the game has to offer and potentially come out on top. In addition, the Nether monsters who are out-and-out {{Shout Out}}s to Lovecraft are one of the least insidious monster factions. They don't [[TheCorruption subvert the land itself]] or bring the alien equivalent of GaiasVengeance. They don't subvert and re-animate mundane wildlife. They're also regarded as different from the [[DugTooDeep Unearthed Horrors]] that tend to reference other media. They're simply a disparate group of otherworldly creatures, with varying degrees of apparent intelligence and malevolence, with only some of them having outright anomalous abilities. |
| 316 | ** The mods in the experimental version take it further, allowing human ingenuity to weaponize . With Vehicle Additions pack, you can make dimensional vortices into [[MundaneUtility bottomless cargo holds]], and construct vehicles literally made from the blob. PK's Rebalance adds (among many other things) the forces of Hell itself, and you too can be a [[ComicBook/{{Doom}} man-and-a-half]] and wipe them out. And the Arcana and Magic Items mod is all about weaponizing or otherwise exploiting otherworldly forces. |
| 317 | * LuckBasedMission: |
| 318 | ** The game is mostly fair. Your starting location and climate not necessarily so. Spawned next to a fungal bloom and a swamp? It's better to roll a new character. Spawned next to a hostile, gun-wielding NPC? Better hope they only want your stuff. |
| 319 | ** A very effective early game tactic consists on setting bushes on fire and bait zombies to tumble across them, which both slows them down and heavily damages them. It's great for thinning out the horde and obtaining supplies from their corpses if you can get them before they burn out. [[spoiler:Some zombies drop alcohol or explosives]]. |
| 320 | ** "John Doe gives you a mininuke (active)." |
| 321 | ** The Infected and [[ChallengeRun Really Bad Day]] scenarios start you off with an infected bite wound. You ''will'' die slowly and painfully within a couple of days unless you find some antibiotics (which are rare, and aren't guaranteed to cure you) or just get really, really lucky and have the infection randomly cure itself. At any time until the infection is healed, the game can just decide "sorry, you lose" and kill you. |
| 322 | * LudicrousGibs: While normally averted, sufficient overkill and/or using [[ChainsawGood messy weapons]] can result in the enemy spraying a long line of blood, along with butchery refuse and meat scraps flying everywhere. |
| 323 | * MacheteMayhem: Machetes are great weapons, if you're lucky enough to find one. You can make your own with a blade from a lawnmower and some duct tape. And if you have the tools and materials for it, you can redesign a standard machete into a combat one, turning it into a proper sword. |
| 324 | * MagicalAntibiotics: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], as antibiotics can only cure infected wounds and nothing else, they're not guaranteed to work anyway, and they reduce your Health stat, thus making you more susceptible to other diseases. |
| 325 | * MagicalWeapon: A variety of them is available in the Magiclysm mod, the majority being +1/+2 variants of mundane weapons that simply get bonuses to their accuracy and damage. |
| 326 | * MasterOfAll: It's entirely possible to max out all skills with enough time and practice, leading to your character becoming a master crafter, mechanic, cook, electrician, programmer, chemist and tailor that can also cleave through a zombie horde single-handedly. |
| 327 | * MeleeDisarming: Many styles intended for combat will have a disarming technique. While most monsters don't have a weapon to disarm, ferals and [=NPCs=] rely on weapons to do damage, and can be rendered mostly harmless by disarming them. [=NPCs=], in particular, can be disarmed even without using a style, via a special interaction to grab at their weapon, although it has a decent chance of failing. |
| 328 | * MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody: There's a a zombie version as a joke monster. [[spoiler: It can turn nearby zombies into non-hostile yet NighInvulnerable dancers, but killing the Thriller turns them all into hulks.]] |
| 329 | * TheMafia: The Gangster and Mafia Boss professions embody this, combined with the male mafiosos being dressed like they came out of the 1920's, fedoras and all. |
| 330 | * MightyGlacier: The [[BearsAreBadNews Ursine]] mutation branch. You're gigantic, slow and extremely cumbersome with a bad temper, but strong as all hell with giant claws. |
| 331 | * MightyLumberjack: The lumberjack profession starts with a wood axe (which is a good weapon on it's own, if overshadowed by the [[RescueEquipmentAttack fire axe]]), as well as decent skills for wielding it in combat. |
| 332 | * MagikarpPower: If you get the Ki Strike trait from the Mythical Martial Arts mod, unarmed combat becomes this, as while it's initially weak, the damage will quickly improve with each level, with the scaling getting rather absurd. A large variety of styles is also available, letting you easily switch attacks on the fly. Some of the mutations and bionics can add up to it by adding new attacks (which happen concurrently with your normal attack), enhancing the standard unarmed strike, or giving special effects. |
| 333 | * TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Mutations, especially after crossing the post-threshold, may affect a character's personality. This is particularly pronounced when mutating into a predatory animal, as you eventually acquire the animal's mindset and stop considering yourself human. |
| 334 | * MolotovCocktail: The most easily-improvised bomb in the game, readily available to any player who has a bottle, a rag, some gasoline/alcohol, and a lighter. |
| 335 | * MooksAteMyEquipment: Whacking enemies with a cutting or piercing weapon can cause it to get stuck, which in turn can cause you to drop the weapon. Technician Zombies also have a special attack that grabs your weapon. |
| 336 | * MookMedic: The Zombie Necromancer can bring back unpulped or unburnt zombies from the dead. This can make [[ShootTheMedicFirst killing it first]] rather hard. |
| 337 | * MookPromotion: The Zombie Master can transform a random zombie in its vicinity into a nastier zombie. |
| 338 | * MooseAreIdiots: Moose will wander straight into hordes of undead. However, they can wander out the other side covered in pulped zombie. And then charge the player. |
| 339 | * MoreThanMindControl: Consuming the marloss foods (gelatin, berry, seeds) causes you to have a strong desire to consume the other foods, although you don't actually take penalties for not doing so. [[spoiler:This is how the Mycus manipulates you into transforming yourself into a local guide, losing your identity in the process.]] |
| 340 | * MugglesDoItBetter: If there is one big technological advantage humanity has over monsters, it's ranged weapons, as the most damaging and longest-range enemy attacks all come from man-made robots. And when it comes to fighting all the other monsters, a survivor with a ranged weapon (even a bow or a sling) has a major advantage in range and frequency of attack. |
| 341 | * 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 weapons and armor. 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. |
| 342 | * MundaneUtility: The Dodging skill is extremely useful in avoiding injury, and mutations that improve it are highly valued as the result. However, it also governs your dancing skills, so you can use your mutated tails and whiskers, as well as battle-hardened expertise, just to impress Draco Dune with your agility. |
| 343 | * MutagenicFood: In ''Bright Nights'', eating mutants will infect one with mutagenic toxins. A high amount of toxins will eventually cause one to start mutating. |
| 344 | * MyCarHatesMe: Damaged cars may fail to start if you try to turn on the engine, which can be potentially lethal if you have monsters on your tail. |
| 345 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Happens to your character if you kill a survivor in cold blood, kill a zombie child, or eat human flesh, unless you have the Psychopath/Uncaring traits. |
| 346 | * NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight: Most of the monsters only have melee attacks, which allows a gun-wielding survivor to easily kite them to death. [=NPCs=] and robots with guns can also easily kill anybody who tries to attack them with a melee weapon, unless clever tactics are used. |
| 347 | * NewSkillAsReward: You can ask [=NPCs=] to teach you something in exchange for completing a mission. You can learn a martial art or increase the level of a skill by 1, but only if the NPC has that skill and it's at a higher level than yours. |
| 348 | * 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. Those with Cannibal or Psychopath/Uncaring traits, however, get a massive morale boost for it. |
| 349 | * NintendoHard: It's a roguelike, using a gun carelessly can get you killed, your character doesn't get more [[HitPoints max HP]] as they gain experience, ''and'' healing is much slower? Yes, it's hard. |
| 350 | * NoOSHACompliance: In the labs, rooms guarded by automated turrets are often randomly placed next to bedrooms. And dissectors are put in the middle of many rooms. |
| 351 | * NothingIsScarier: After you've survived long enough, you can go long stretches without seeing any enemies. But if you have dynamic spawn or Hordes active, you know they're still out there... |
| 352 | * NobodyPoops: ZigZagged. |
| 353 | ** Although digestion is realistically simulated for the player, food and drink simply disappears once it's gone through the player's body instead of turning into waste. There are no plans to implement bodily functions for the player, which is notable considering the policy of making the game as realistic as possible. |
| 354 | ** Averted for wildlife, which will leave dung everywhere. |
| 355 | * NobleWolf: The Wolf mutation line is distinguished from other predator lines by having the Pack Hunter mutation, which makes you recognize the value of cooperating with humans. |
| 356 | * NonStandardGameOver: |
| 357 | ** The mi-go slaver can abduct you if you're really tired and have an extremely low strength stat (such as from getting hit with it's beam). You're not dead (and can be rescued, if you have a recruited NPC to switch to), but the difficulty of escape means that it is treated the same as dying, and can result in a game over if you don't have anybody in your faction to take over. |
| 358 | ** [[spoiler: Staying too long at the vitrified farm will turn you into an immobile black glass sculpture that is completely devoid of thoughts. This is considered death for all purposes, as there's no way to be brought back from this state.]] |
| 359 | * NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: Non-cannibal survivors may face such a dilemma, as [[TechnicallyLivingZombie feral humans]] are much easier to catch than animals. It does, however, cause a huge morale penalty. |
| 360 | * NoZombieCannibals: The zombies in this game will chase you to the end of the world and maul you, but they never seem to have an appetite for their own kind. |
| 361 | ** However, ''Bright Nights'' averts this for [[VillainProtagonist the playable feral character]], as they can kill other [[TechnicallyLivingZombie ferals]] in order to satisfy their bloodlust. Doing so, however, has a chance of making zombies hostile to you for several hours. |
| 362 | * NotTheIntendedUse: Vehicles are obviously meant to help you travel. However, there are many utilities that can be installed in vehicles, which are powered by its car battery. Since solar panels and wind turbines make it much easier and more convenient to recharge a car battery than normal batteries, it's beneficial to build an immobile "vehicle" with a welder, forge, kitchen, and lamps inside of a building. |
| 363 | * NuclearMutant: There is a chance that your character will mutate when exposed to radiation, but it's far less common than simply dying. This can be toggled in world generation. |
| 364 | * OnceIsNotEnough: Zombies and some other creatures have to be pulped upon death to prevent resurrection, and [=NPCs=] are smart enough to do this. Monsters, however, aren't capable of doing so, often causing them to slowly lose the battle of attrition. |
| 365 | * OneManArmy: Most characters will ''have'' to be this, as many locations are swarmed with anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of monsters, while [=NPCs=] tend to be rare to recruit, and often suffer from ArtificialStupidity. |
| 366 | * OneWordTitle: The original game by Whales had this title. |
| 367 | * OpenSaysMe: One of the ways of dealing with a locked door, if you don't have the prying/lockpicking tools (or they're not usable), is to simply destroy it with a sufficiently damaging weapon. |
| 368 | * OurElvesAreDifferent: Even a mostly-realistic game like this has elves. In this case, they're mutated humans with a few [[PlantPerson plant-like properties]]. |
| 369 | --> "You are the tree under which humankind will shelter during these dark times." |
| 370 | * OurZombiesAreDifferent: They seem to be of the fast variety, as they move at a deceptively quick pace, and then there is the even faster zombie dog. Also, the VideoGame/Left4Dead inspired zombies. |
| 371 | * PainfulTransformation: When gaining mutations, your character will feel a large amount of pain and often pass out. [[PhlebotinumDependence You can eventually get to enjoy the feel of it]] |
| 372 | * PaintingTheMedium: Messages indicating bad things are red, while those for good things are in green. [[spoiler:Your slow transformation into glass at the Vitrified Farm, however, uses green text to indicate your progress towards a NonStandardGameOver, as your mind is being altered so that you see this as positive.]] |
| 373 | * PaintTheTownRed: An intense fight against zombies often results in the entire room getting splattered with blood, due to how messy pulping the bodies can be. It's even more pronounced if you use a [[ChainsawGood messy weapon]]. |
| 374 | * {{Panacea}}: Panaceus functions as this, curing nearly every negative effect. ''Bright Nights'' also allows royal jelly to function as this, though it contains mutagenic toxins. |
| 375 | * ParodiesForDummies: |
| 376 | ** Self-Esteem For Dummies, which trains your Speaking skill. Of course, if you're reading it, that means you consider yourself a dummy, and thus probably have a self-esteem problem. |
| 377 | ** The real books also appear, specifically the ones for chemistry, computers, and business. |
| 378 | * PennyShaving: The Embezzler profession (only available in Prison and Island Prison scenarios) was arrested for trying to steal fractions of a cent at a time. |
| 379 | * {{Permadeath}}: As usual for a roguelike. |
| 380 | * PinataEnemy: |
| 381 | ** Triffids, at least the rank and file ones, make the ideal neighbours for your fort. They're not ''that'' tough, more tame than most enemies (as in, won't immediately charge at you on sight from 5 screens away), and unlike zombies, they leave behind raw vegetable matter that any character can safely eat without needing any preparation whatsoever. [[RankScalesWithAsskicking Queen triffids, on the other hand...]] |
| 382 | ** Cop and soldier zombies also consistently hold (damaged) riot gear, armor, and military-grade weapons. They're also a bitch and a half to kill at lower levels because of said armor. |
| 383 | ** Scientist zombies are easy to kill, but yield a few rare and valuable crafting components when they die. |
| 384 | ** Survivor zombies are tougher versions of the shrieker zombie, and drop a wide array of goodies including non-perishable food and survivor gear, which is usually a step up from the average stuff you find off other zombies. |
| 385 | * PipePain: Pipes make for rather decent weapons to start with, and can be easily obtained by smashing metal objects. Standard feral humans will also often wield them in combat. You can also upgrade them into maces, spears, or staves. |
| 386 | * PistolWhipping: |
| 387 | ** While guns are pretty bad as melee weapons (but still better than fists), the Krav Maga style has the gimmick of being usable with automatic rifles and pistols, thus making them suitable in melee combat to finish off an injured foe. |
| 388 | ** Gun-wielding ferals will try to hit the player with their guns if they run out of ammo or are engaged in melee combat, though it usually goes pretty poorly due to the low to-hit of the weapons and the amount of time it takes to swing them. |
| 389 | * PlagueZombie: The zombies are created when a Blob-infected creature of sufficient size dies, so long as the corpse is relatively intact. Since the Blob itself is extremely infectious, however, everybody is infected by it. |
| 390 | * PointBuildSystem: Pool-based character creation involves a [[TabletopGames tabletop-style]] system where you select stats, skills, advantages, and disadvantages out of a pool of points. |
| 391 | * PostApunkalypticArmor: With armor being valuable, and the conditions of the Cataclysm making it hard to get proper armor, your armor sets may end up as a wild mix of ImprovisedArmour, riot gear, industrial/sports safety gear, and modern military armors. |
| 392 | * PostApocalypticDog: By giving a stray dog food, you can make a cataclysm friend. Or two. Or five. |
| 393 | * PostApocalypticTrafficJam: abandoned cars and other vehicles litter the streets and roads. Most of them are broken, but they can be repaired if you have the right skills and items. You can also loot them for fuel, parts, and whatever items are laying around in them. |
| 394 | * PosthumanNudism: |
| 395 | ** A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] variation happens with mutations, as many of them outright prevent you from wearing clothes on the affected body parts. Others, meanwhile, either produce lots of warmth (making it hard to wear most clothes outside of winter), or make it encumbering to wear clothes on a certain layer, thus encouraging you to dress lightly. Quite a few of these mutations, in particular, will cause major issues with torso clothes. |
| 396 | ** The Exodii, with their [[FullConversionCyborg fully robotic bodies]], tend to not wear anything. Rubik's humanoid body, in particular, is fully compatible with human clothes and armor, yet he prefers to go naked. |
| 397 | * PrecautionaryCorpseDisposal: Any creature the size of a dog or larger will rise up zombified after some time if its corpse is left unattended (including creatures struck down ''after'' zombification). [[MakeSureHesDead Smashing]] corpses until 'thoroughly pulped' is the go-to method for preventing this. Methodical butchery or dismemberment will also work, as will (sufficient) burning. |
| 398 | * ProHumanTranshuman: |
| 399 | ** The Exodii might be a group of extensively modified cyborgs ([[FullConversionCyborg many only having the brain be organic]]), but they're firmly against the Blob, and are eager to take recruits who prove themselves. |
| 400 | ** Among the mutations, the Pack Hunter mutation of the Wolf line will make you one, as while you still have an animalistic mindset, you do recognize the value of cooperation with humans. |
| 401 | * PsychoSerum: Mutagens are a great way to empower yourself if taken carefully. Side effects, however, include PainfulTransformation, a chance for bad mutations (especially at higher levels of genetic instability), [[PowerUpgradingDeformation a monstrous appearance]], and even TranshumanTreachery. |
| 402 | * PummelingTheCorpse: Smashing zombie corpses is necessary, otherwise the enemies will come back to life after a while. As of the Version 0.F Experimentals, even non-undead beings need to be pulped, since ''everyone'' is infected with the Blob, which is responsible for zombification. |
| 403 | * PunchedAcrossTheRoom: The zombie brute, shocker brute, and zombie hulk all have the ability to hit you so hard you go flying. This is obviously quite painful. For some absurd reason, moose in PK's Rebalance mod (in the experimental version) can do this too. |
| 404 | * {{Pyromaniac}}: Subverted and played straight. It's subverted in that there are NPC arsonists that will torch buildings (such as that sweet gun store you were casing), but in-game dialogue reveals that they do it to salvage the rebar for the fledgling post-apocalyptic economy. Played straight in that nothing is stopping you from lighting the entire game world on fire, and is a worthwhile tactic when confronted by superior enemies. |
| 405 | * RainbowPimpGear: Having to balance encumbrance, protection, and storage can easily result in you wearing completely ridiculous clothing combinations. |
| 406 | ** As an example, an endgame character may end up wearing a trenchcoat, nomad gear, thermal shirt, leggings, boots, drop leg pouches, two hip flasks, hand wraps, fingerless leather gloves, a wrist watch, elbow pads, a knit scarf, stylish sunglasses worn under fit-over sunglasses, a cotton hat, a ballistic helmet, a headlamp, a survivor belt, and a MOLLE pack. |
| 407 | * RaisingTheSteaks: Most notably, [[BossInMookClothing Antlered Horrors]] (zombie moose, named so for good reason) and [[BearsAreBadNews Zombears]], though essentially anything (formerly) living thing from the size of dogs on up can be infected. |
| 408 | * RangedEmergencyWeapon: |
| 409 | ** Carrying a handgun is a good idea in general, as it can be drawn and aimed quickly, and is handy against monsters that are extremely dangerous in close combat, have bad effects if you hit them with melee weapons (such as shocking you or spraying acid all over the place), or explode upon dying. |
| 410 | ** While a character with the Brawler trait can't shoot a ranged weapon, they're not prohibited from throwing items at enemies, even grenades, making it a good idea to carry a few thrown weapons. They can also use spells, if using mods that allow for them, and any mutations that grant a ranged attack. |
| 411 | * RandomizedTransformation: Mutations randomly occur, whether provoked by the player or by events. |
| 412 | * RatKing: Rat Kings are enemies in caves. They can inflict the player with a disease called "Ratting" which reduces stats, can cause vomiting, or, in especially bad cases, cause the player to mutate slowly into a rat. |
| 413 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: The [[EnemySummoner Zombie Necromancer]] has glowing red eyes. |
| 414 | * ReducedToRatburgers: |
| 415 | ** Possible in the older versions, but much less viable in the 0.E experimental versions. Rats only give a few scraps of meat that won't be enough to sustain a character for a day. Insects and other mutated creatures have toxic flesh that can be eaten safely in small amounts, but will cause problems if you depend mostly on it. |
| 416 | ** Desperate survivors can also try to make wastebread, which includes bone meal/splintered wood, and also allows for a few other nasty ingredients to be put in. It tastes bad, but it's far more nutritious than normal bread. |
| 417 | * ReforgedIntoAMinion: A semi-consensual variant can occur with the player as the victim, [[spoiler: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.]] |
| 418 | * RegeneratingHealth: You have an extremely weak version of this, somewhat sped up by sleeping, but it's insignifcant unless you use bandages and disinfectant to treat your wounds. The Rapid Metabolism and Extreme Metabolism mutations, however, will noticeably speed up your healing, with the latter allowing you to quickly convert calories to HP. The Repair Nanobots bionic will also spend your calories and bionic powers in exchange for restoring 1 HP per minute. |
| 419 | * 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[[note]]Responsible for the Atlantic from the North Pole to the Carribean, and from the US East Coast to the middle of the Atlantic[[/note]], which has been expanded to include a large number of civilian vessels and a few ships from other NATO nations. |
| 420 | * RescueEquipmentAttack: Fire axes, rescue axes, and halligan bars all make for great weapons, and the former two are also wielded by some feral axemen. |
| 421 | * ReturningWarVet: Two of the professions include the War Veteran and the Old Veteran. The former compensates for their lacking gear by retaining all of their military skills, while the latter is rustier, but has a chest rig and an [=M1A1=] rifle. |
| 422 | * RevivingEnemy: Zombies in general. Butcher the corpse, smash it, or simply [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill kill it so hard there's no corpse left]]. This also applies to almost any creature given everything is infected by the Blob. |
| 423 | * RevolversAreJustBetter: [[ZigZaggedTrope depends on what you use]] - automatics benefit from a greater capacity and the ability to use magazines for faster reloading (whereas some revolvers can't use speedloaders), but if you want a HandCannon, the strongest ones are all revolvers. |
| 424 | * RewardingVandalism: Destroying an object will leave behind it's components, which can often be used as crafting materials or used as-is. |
| 425 | * RobbingTheDead: Of course. Most of your early-game (and mid-game, and late-game...) strategy will be taking everything from nearby houses and their (un)dead occupants. |
| 426 | * SandWorm: The giant worm, [[Film/{{Tremors}} Graboid]], dark wyrm, and [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos yugg]]. Luckily they cannot break concrete. |
| 427 | * SavageWolves: |
| 428 | ** Wolves are fast, hit hard, and come in packs. They're one of the worst non-zombie enemies, at least in the beginning. It gets even worse when you encounter their zombified friends. |
| 429 | ** The ''Bright Nights'' version of the Lupine mutation line comes with the [[BloodKnight Killer Drive]] trait (in fact, it's the only way to obtain the trait after game start), which gives you [[HighOnHomicide an intense bloodlust akin to that of a serial killer]], and prevents you from suffering guilt for killing. |
| 430 | * ScavengerWorld: You'd be hard pressed to find a vehicle that isn't severely rusted or beat up (let alone a ''working'' one). Many components are more easy to retrieve from broken vehicles or appliances than crafted from scrap, so in either case the player character tends to invoke this a bit. |
| 431 | * SchizoTech: Exodii equipment is a chaotic mix of whatever they manage to scavenge from the dimensions they pass through. While advanced cybernetics are a carefully guarded resource, their preferred weapons hover around World War II-era technology due to ease of maintenance. |
| 432 | * SchmuckBait: That marloss food that has high nutrition, quench, ''and'' fun values? Not only does it tank your health, it's also addictive and helps spread the Mycus around. The trait given from it also notes that you have strong desires for the other marloss foods, [[spoiler:which can lead to a nasty surprise, as doing so will make you [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie part of the Mycus]], possibly leading you down an undesirable mutation path that you can't escape from.]] |
| 433 | * SciFiKitchenSink: You have cybernetics, zombies, aliens and PoweredArmor all in the same game. |
| 434 | * SealedEvilInACan: What you can find in certain labs and mines. You know, in case [[TemptingFate all the zombies and other horrors infesting the land aren't enough for you]]. |
| 435 | * SelfSurgery: CBM installation generally involves doing so, albeit typically using an AutoDoc (programmed by you) and anesthetics. There's still a decent chance for the surgery to go terribly wrong, however. |
| 436 | * SetAMookToKillAMook: Zombie pheromone, which turns nearby zeds friendly for a handful of turns, and causes them to attack enemies. Can buy you a lot of time and is the primary reason you raise cooking to 3. |
| 437 | ** Because in this game bullets know no friends, with some footwork you can get a hostile turret to shoot anything standing between you and the turret. This is as risky as it sounds, but it works. |
| 438 | ** Monsters from different 'factions' will fight each other. Exploiting this is ''critical'' to surviving easily. Zombie horde on your ass? Lure them to that wasp hive you found earlier and let the wasps do your dirty work. Found a triffid grove? Lure a triffid army to the nearby town and watch them go on a rampage and wipe out the zombies. Low on ammo in a science lab? Let the mutants out and hide in a closet while they fight it out with the zombies. |
| 439 | * ShedArmorGainSpeed: Because most types of encumbrance will reduce your speed (movement, aiming, melee combat, or multiple), anybody who wants to be as fast as possible will have to go unarmored. |
| 440 | * ShockAndAwe: The shocker zombie and shocker brute. A middle game weapon is a taser which isn't that useful against zombies. |
| 441 | * 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. |
| 442 | * ShopliftAndDie: Don't barge into banks or pawn shops at the earliest opportunity. [[spoiler: An alarm will sound, drawing the attention of every zombie in a two mile radius. If ''that'' didn't kill you, an eyebot will shortly appear to take your picture. If it succeeds, a copbot will follow to tase you to death.]] Fortunately, [[spoiler:the zombies are also vulnerable to this trope.]] |
| 443 | * ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Powerful, but also among the [[AwesomeButImpractical noisiest]] weapons. Still usable in a pinch if you run like hell afterward, or if you intend to clear out every hostile in the area. |
| 444 | * ShoutOut: |
| 445 | ** Several zombie types are based on ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'': grabbers, boomers, smokers, spitters, and hulks (tanks). |
| 446 | ** The ethanol burner, which allows you to fuel your bionics with booze, references ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}''. |
| 447 | ** One Defense mode variant, which has you defending a bar from zeds, is based on and named after ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead''. |
| 448 | ** The description of the towel says: [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy "Any person who can hitch the length and breadth of the apocalypse, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a force to be reckoned with."]] |
| 449 | ** While exploring, one can stumble on a [[Literature/TheDayOfTheTriffids Triffid grove]]. |
| 450 | ** [[spoiler:In some labs, you have the option to trigger a [[VideoGame/HalfLife Resonance Cascade]].]] |
| 451 | ** There are also various shout outs to ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'', ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', ''Film/MadMax'', ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', ''VideoGame/{{RIFT}}'', ''Literature/IAmLegend'', and ''Film/{{Tremors}}''. |
| 452 | ** The description of the pickaxe ends with "[[VideoGame/DwarfFortress Strike the earth!]]". Vertical planes, while simply "levels" in game, are often called "Z-levels" in the official forums. Crafting (specially drug and weapons crafting) is sometimes referred to as [[StuffBlowingUp !!SCIENCE!!]]. And Urist is an eligible name for random [=NPC=]s. |
| 453 | ** A cookbook for survivors looking to emulate the zombies is called "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E89ToServeMan To Serve Man]]". |
| 454 | ** Mines occasionally end in [[Manga/{{Uzumaki}} a spiral cavern filled with human-faced snails and twisted mutants]], [[Manga/TheEnigmaOfAmigaraFault a rift that forces you to approach it and summons freakishly elongated creatures]], or [[Film/TheThing1982 a friendly dog... that turns into a tentacled horror]]. |
| 455 | ** Many of the official mods add even more references, especially in experimental builds. The [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys Animatronic Monsters]] mod is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin; [=DeadLeaves'=] Fictional Guns is outright focused on referencing fictional firearms; the Arcana and Magic Items mod references everything from the [[UsefulNotes/{{Alchemy}} Magnum Opus]] to ''VideoGame/{{Strife}}''; the Mythological Replicas mod focuses on Myth/NorseMythology; and so on. |
| 456 | ** Talking dolls have a small chance of being [[CreepyDoll creepy]], which changes the messages when you activate them. Among these messages are references to ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' ("Die for me!") and Music/JonathanCoulton's TropeNamer for CreepyDoll ("Do you really need that much honey?"). |
| 457 | ** The Debug menu includes an infamous rant regarding a journalist who used cheats to win ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice''. |
| 458 | --> Debug functions - Using these will cheat not only the game, but yourself. You won't grow. You won't improve. Taking this shortcut will gain you nothing. Your victory will be hollow. Nothing will be risked and nothing will be gained. |
| 459 | * ShownTheirWork: |
| 460 | ** Temperature affects the player's body parts individually and uniquely (a head that gets too hot results in a pounding headache, for example). When the player's torso gets too cold, the game will advise them that maybe they should remove some layers. This may not make sense until one realizes it is characteristic of severe hypothermia for people to remove their clothes, speeding up heat loss. |
| 461 | ** In the same vein, most food items found in the open during periods of cold weather will be frozen solid, especially liquids, making them unable to be consumed unless defrosted. However, alcoholic beverages will only be "cold" - chilly but still liquid and drinkable. This is because alcohol has a noticeably lower freezing point than water, with beers of higher alcohol content able to survive up to -3º Celsius (27º Fahrenheit), pure ethanol having a freezing point of -114º Celsius (-173º Fahrenheit). |
| 462 | * SinisterSwitchblade: Several criminal professions will start with switchblades as their melee weapons. |
| 463 | * SkipTheAnesthetic: [[FeelNoPain Being unable to feel pain (such as from the Deadened mutation)]] allows you to install bionics without anesthesia, although the message for doing so notes that the surgery is rather boring. |
| 464 | * SleazyPolitician: Implied by the Career Politician profession starting off with the Accomplished Liar trait. |
| 465 | * SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism: Animal-related mutations can take you all the way down to CivilizedAnimal, depending on how many mutations you have and whether you crossed the threshold. |
| 466 | * SlidingScaleOfUndeadRegeneration: Type IV, healing and no rotting. The Zombies don't rot, so even after several years of game time, you can just travel to a new city and find it full of fresh new undead to kill. And once you kill them, you need to further damage the corpse, or they will just keep coming back. |
| 467 | * SmartPeopleKnowLatin: The Priest's Diary, written in Latin, requires a whopping 15 intelligence to read without difficulty. For comparison, most lab texts, which pertain to secret technology and demand extremely high skill levels to read them in the first place, only demand a 13 in intelligence. |
| 468 | * SniperPistol: The [[HandCannon Magnum Research BFR]], due to it's use of a rifle caliber, has a range of 50 tiles. For comparison, the S&W 500, similar in power, only has a range of 16 due to using a handgun caliber. |
| 469 | * TheSociopath: The Psychopath/Uncaring 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. |
| 470 | * SocketedEquipment: One advantage to using a gun is all the nice upgrades you can give them. |
| 471 | * SockItToThem: If you're really desperate, you can put a rock in a sock as an improvised weapon. It's as bad of a weapon as you'd expect. |
| 472 | * SonOfAnApe: The Sapiovore mutation, which makes you okay with [[ToServeMan eating humans]], refers to humans as hairless apes. |
| 473 | * 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 of large gas sacs that definitely weren't part of the pre-mutation anatomy. |
| 474 | * StanceSystem: Combat styles can be switched at any moment, letting you benefit from different bonuses, weapons, and techniques as appropriate. |
| 475 | * StaticStunGun: The stun gun, which temporarily stuns any enemy struck by it. Unlike other melee weapons, it's used from the inventory instead of being wielded, thus allowing you to use it together with another weapon. |
| 476 | * SteelEardrums: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], as loud sounds can temporarily deafen you. While gunfire and explosions are the standard cause, a cacophony of bashing and roofs collapsing can also damage your hearing. |
| 477 | * StockAnimalDiet: Mouse mutagen (not to be confused with rat mutagen) is made with regular mutagen and cheese. You can also use candy (the "main attraction" to being a mouse mutant is being able to eat as much junk food as you like with no health penalty), but cheese was also included as an alternative ingredient specifically due to this trope, according to the comments in the data files. |
| 478 | --> fun fact: mice don't like cheese as much as sugar! we include it in the recipe because most people correlate the two, and as a fun poke at it |
| 479 | * TheStraightAndArrowPath: While firearms are the easiest ranged weapon to use, bows and crossbows are perfectly viable for stealthy players or those who can't consistently procure ammo. While each shot [[AnnoyingArrows does little damage]], they have an x10 critical damage multiplier, often resulting in a OneHitKill if you land a crit. |
| 480 | * StuffBlowingUp: Houses are remarkably flammable. Gas stations [[spoiler:and labs, strangely,]] even more so. |
| 481 | * SubsystemDamage: Torso, head, and left and right arms and legs. Hits to the former two may kill you (and sometimes [[EyeScream blind you]]), while damage to the latter will make you clumsier or slower. If any extremity is damaged below 0, it's broken and requires a splint and lots of downtime [[spoiler:or special machines in hospitals]] to fix. |
| 482 | * SufferTheSlings: They are very easy to craft; ammunition is everywhere (mash rocks). Standard pebbles are weak, but as your character becomes more skilled a greenie can be downed in as low as 3-4 shots. Then you craft metal bearings. |
| 483 | * SuperPersistentPredator: The relentless hulk, which shows up in the Hunted scenario. It's a unique zombie hulk that always knows where you are, but thankfully lacks the vanilla hulk's speed. |
| 484 | * SuperpowerRussianRoulette: Mutation in a nutshell. Sprout [[SuperSenses super-sensitive cat ears]] and a fluffy tail, develop digestive problems, gain the ability to see the infrared spectrum, become a freakishly huge hulk that can't fit in a car but can benchpress one, degenerate into a BlobMonster... it's an endless series of surprises. |
| 485 | * SurplusDamageBonus: Doing a lot of damage to an enemy can pulp the corpse instantly, preventing any resurrection from taking place. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] if you want to butcher the body, however, as this will reduce the yield. |
| 486 | * SurvivalistStash: What you can find in a house's basement, if you're lucky. And of course, you can make your ''own'' stash, and loot the stashes of your previously deceased characters! |
| 487 | * SwampsAreEvil: |
| 488 | -->''"Swamp - AVOID THESE. IT IS AN INSECT INFESTED HELL WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF VALUE"'' |
| 489 | ---> '''[[Website/FourChan /vg/]]'s Cataclysm FAQ on swamps''' |
| 490 | ** They are however a great source of salt water for cooking. Just watch out for the giant dragonflies. If you have the Dinosaurs mod on, dinosaurs can spawn in swamps in addition to wildlife field offices. |
| 491 | * SwordCane: Sword canes are somewhat uncommon, but can serve as a decent fencing weapon. They're noticeably easier to find than other swords, too |
| 492 | * RangedEmergencyWeapon: It's highly encouraged to carry one, as some enemies are either extremely lethal in melee combat, or [[DefeatEqualsExplosion explode on death]]. |
| 493 | * RoomFullOfZombies: A common occurence. The Refugee Center, in particular, has the backroom sealed due to a zombie outbreak, and one of the early quests you receive tasks you with killing all the zombies in there. |
| 494 | * TakeThat: Dianetics, a religious text of Scientology, is the only religious book in the game to reduce your morale when read. |
| 495 | * TechnicallyLivingZombie: Ferals, which are humans that weren't killed by the Blob, but were driven homicidally insane by it. Even the baseline ferals are smart enough to talk, throw rocks, and open doors, and more dangerous variants are even capable of using guns. Ferals are also allied with the zombies, and will work together to bring down the survivors. |
| 496 | ** ''Bright Nights'', in particular, makes it possible [[VillainProtagonist to play as a feral]], in which case you're just as smart as non-feral survivors. |
| 497 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Dealing far more damage than the total HP of the victim will cause it to turn into a [[LudicrousGibs big puddle of blood]] instead of a corpse, which [[DisadvantageousDisintegration denies you of any drops]]. Against [[RevivingEnemy zombies]], this is a viable alternative to smashing or butchering the corpse. |
| 498 | * ThrowingTheDistraction: Monsters that track sound will follow the source of said sounds (usually your footsteps). Talking dolls, active radios, firecrackers; All of them make excellent decoys, although rocks can work in a pinch if you can reliably hit a window far away. |
| 499 | * TookALevelInBadass: |
| 500 | ** Most of the skill books you can find are decidedly not combat-related. But then there's the Spetsnaz Knife Techniques book... |
| 501 | ** The player will start off struggling to kill one zombie. As you level up, and as you as a player get smarter figuring out better and more efficient tactics, your character will be able to take on larger and larger hordes or deadlier foes. |
| 502 | ** Zombies will also take levels in badass as you play, transforming into nastier types. The zombie master has a skill that turns one zombie into a nastier version of itself. |
| 503 | * ToServeMan: |
| 504 | ** The Sapiovore mutation will make you be perfectly okay with eating humans, if you weren't a cannibal already, since you're no longer human by the time you get the mutation. |
| 505 | ** Can be [[InvertedTrope inverted]] by a human survivor butchering and eating extradimensional beings. Triffids and fungaloids, in particular, can be cooked into tasty vegan-friendly food. |
| 506 | ** While most characters will be disgusted by the thought of eating demihumans due to how human-like they are, those with Strict Humanitarian will be fine with it (and will still detest true cannibalism). |
| 507 | * TooKinkyToTorture: While the Masochist trait is a more realistic depiction (as being in too much pain will negate the morale bonus), the Pain Junkie and Cenobite mutations in the Medical tree play this completely straight. The latter, in particular, gives you no cap on how much morale you can gain from pain. |
| 508 | * TooUpsetToCreate: If morale gets too far in the negatives, you are locked out of crafting or repairing items until you get it back up. |
| 509 | * TragicMonster: ''You'' may end up becoming one by crossing a mutation threshold, as some post-threshold mutations [[WasOnceAMan warp your mindset into that of a monster]], and it's heavily implied that you don't consider yourself a human in any case. You do keep control over your own actions, and aren't forbidden from interacting peacefully with [=NPCs=], but your interactions with humans may suffer greatly. |
| 510 | ** It's particularly bad with the [[spoiler:Mycus mutations, which strip away your individuality and assimilates you into the HiveMind. While you don't lose personality-related traits, and can still be affected by the Morale system, you no longer consider yourself an individual]]. |
| 511 | * TranshumanTreachery: Go far enough into the predation-related mutations, and your character will eventually stop counting themselves as part of humanity, nor will they care about it, to the point that they suffer no issues with murdering and [[ToServeMan eating]] humans. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the mutations altering one's personality. |
| 512 | * TraumaInn: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], as while sleeping will speed up your healing, you'll need to treat your wounds first for that to have a significant effect, and you'll usually still need several days to recover from severe wounds. |
| 513 | * TwoByFore: While weak, wooden planks are better than your bare hands and can easily be found. It's possible to add nails to it via crafting to improve its damage output. |
| 514 | * UltimateLifeForm: The Alpha mutation branch is effectively this. You require a bit more food than normal and you're less tolerant of drugs and alcohol, but you require almost no sleep, you have heightened senses, and your base stats gain a pretty nice boost. |
| 515 | * UndeadChild: Zombie children, of course. Killing them results in a morale penalty, unless you have the Psychopath/Uncaring 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. |
| 516 | * UniversalDriversLicense: Downplayed in that you have to separately learn proficiencies for land and water vehicles, and the aerial one can only be obtained by starting with it. Other than that, however, your proficiencies and driving skill apply to any vehicle of the appropriate type, from bicycles to APCs. |
| 517 | * UnstableEquilibrium: Gameplay changes drastically the moment the player character becomes competent enough to defeat zombies one-on-one with little risk (read: either managed to get a silenced gun or became dextrous enough to avoid melee hits). |
| 518 | * UnstableGeneticCode: Mutation in the Slime, Medical, or especially Chimera categories can give a character the ''Genetically Unstable'' or ''Genetic Chaos'' traits, which will cause them to suffer involuntary new mutations on an unpredictable basis. The latter trait can cause mutation up to ''twice a day''. |
| 519 | * UrbanFantasy: The Magiclysm turns the game into this, with the world mostly being the same as in vanilla, but adding enchanted items, fantasy monsters and races, magic-related locations (such as wizard towers), and the ability to learn spells. |
| 520 | * UtilityWeapon: |
| 521 | ** Items that serve well as [[ImprovisedWeapon Improvised Weapons]] also tend to be usable for their original purpose. |
| 522 | ** Many powerful bashing weapons can also serve as a crude hammering tool, if you're desperate. More practically, you can use them to destroy highly durable furniture and walls |
| 523 | ** Cutting weapons are usable for cutting and butchering, knives serving particularly well here, and battle axes can serve for woodcutting if you don't have a proper wood axe. |
| 524 | * 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. The health of enemies is also described vaguely with various descriptions cluing you in as to how hurt they are. |
| 525 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: |
| 526 | ** You can call for help to the factions in the game. Most of the time, they will send an armed NPC to help you. You can blow his head off and take his gear with little consequence. |
| 527 | ** Due to a programming oversight, some explosives still had trade value while lit. So yes, you could trade someone your armed C4 for their medkits and his gun and run like hell. |
| 528 | ** The wandering NPC's can be killed, their corpses butchered and eaten. With Internal Furnace installed, you can also eat all their clothes and set whatever is left ablaze with a lighter. |
| 529 | * VillainProtagonist: The ''Bright Nights'' fork allows one to play as a [[FeralVillain feral human]]. Like all other ferals, you're a [[TheSociopath psychopath]], and suffer from an intense need to kill humans. |
| 530 | * VirtualPaperDoll: Clothes are modeled down to each individual article, with a huge amount of variety available. With certain tilesets, outfits can then be displayed, though the low resolution doesn't leave much room for detail. |
| 531 | * TheVirus: While the Mycus usually prefers to just spread itself around, it does have the ability to convert other beings into it's servants: |
| 532 | ** Zombies might be taken over, turning them into fungal variants that are loyal to the Mycus and hostile to Blob-based zombies. |
| 533 | ** [[spoiler:The player might be converted into a local guide if they consume all the marloss foods, with their mind being twisted to be loyal to the Mycus, while their body is modified to better serve it.]] |
| 534 | * WasOnceAMan: Go far enough in some mutation categories, and it will apply to ''you'', as you stop resembling a human both mentally and physically. |
| 535 | * WeaponsOfTheirTrade: Many blue-collar professions (and a few others) tend to start off with heavy/sharp tools, which can be used as starter weapons. A few of these tools can even stay relevant into the mid-game. |
| 536 | * WeddingSmashers: If you start as a Groom/Bride, this happened before the game started, with your character being lucky just to escape from their own wedding. |
| 537 | * WideOpenSandbox: The map keeps expanding and generating new regions as you explore it. There is no win condition, other than simply surviving for as long as possible and/or killing as many enemies as you can. |
| 538 | * WidowedAtTheWedding: Strongly [[ImpliedTrope implied]] to have happened if you start as a Groom/Bride, as your spouse is nowhere to be found, and the description of the "profession" states that you were lucky just to have your feet attached. |
| 539 | * WinterOfStarvation: Winter makes it impossible to forage for food or grow crops, so your only source of food is scavenging or hunting. It can also make your food and beverages too cold to consume, forcing you to thaw them. |
| 540 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Many mutation categories tend to contain at least one mental negative mutation, and several others will grant you the mindset of a predator as a ''positive'' mutation. Mutating in the Medical category, in particular, is quite likely to make you insane due to most of the negative mutations being mental ones (up to a full-blown psychosis), and even the positive ones can leave you extremely masochistic and emotionally numb. |
| 541 | * WithThisHerring: May be played straight or subverted depending on what profession you pick at the start - the professions that give points rather than costing them usually have nothing but clothes, or even have negative effects like addiction. However, even these professions may have useful equipment - the "Crackhead" profession starts with a refillable lighter, for example. The Naked and Afraid "profession", however, plays this as straight as it can be - you start off with literally nothing, not even underwear. |
| 542 | * WizardNeedsFoodBadly: The game's nutrition system includes both hunger and thirst, as well as taste (affects morale, which affects focus, which affects experience gained) and healthiness (affects how quickly you heal). It also tracks calories and stomach fullness separately, so eating until you're full doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to starve to death if your food has low calories. In the early game, finding lots of snacks and canned food is easy, but finding water is a bit harder. In the mid game, it's easier to get water (set up a funnel and large tank, or find a river), but you'll have eaten most food already (and most of what you didn't eat will have rotted), so staying full requires more effort. |
| 543 | * WordSaladHorror: |
| 544 | ** Mi-gos tend to mindlessly parrot speech that they heard, including one commenting on their parroting. |
| 545 | ** Some of the [[TechnicallyLivingZombie ferals]] tend to repeatedly say phrases related to their former life, even as they're fighting you. |
| 546 | * WorkingClassHero: Many of the professions represent blue-collar jobs. As they come with their work tools and have decent levels of survival and/or crafting skills, they tend to have an easier time surviving than most of the higher-class professions. |
| 547 | * WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: Most of the professions will grant you skills, proficiencies, and/or traits. All of them may well make a difference between life and death. |
| 548 | * WorldOfBadass: ''Every'' survivor counts. Even a completely unskilled survivor with a halfway decent weapon can defeat a dozen zombies before dying, and anybody with a decent amount of actual training and/or a gun can clean up a village or a city block [[OneManArmy on their own]]. |
| 549 | * {{Wormsign}}: Mounds of dirt often indicate that a giant worm is nearby. |
| 550 | * YetAnotherStupidDeath: Like most classic roguelikes, part of the fun in ''Cataclysm'' is seeing all the inventive ways that you can get killed. Be prepared to die a lot starting off while you fumble around, decide the best tactics to killing a horde, what weapons are best, what to carry, what to eat and drink, where to sleep, etc. There's even a lore {{justif|iedTrope}}ication in the form of [[spoiler:Blob Psychosis, a side-effect of the Blob responsible for the zombie infection trying to take control of your body while it's still alive]]. |
| 551 | * 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. |
| 552 | * ZombieApocalypse: The zombies in all their variants aren't the ''only'' type of enemy you'll face in this game, but they're the majority. |
| 553 | * ZombieGait: The majority of low-tier zombies are much slower than humans, to the point that you can outwalk them. Even high-tier zombies are generally too slow to chase down a running human. |
| 554 | * ZombieInfectee: "The bite wound feels pretty deep..." [[spoiler:Averted; Zombification takes over only after you die. Ihe bite is just a mundane sepsis infection and can be treated with antibiotics, or with prompt treatment of the wound with disinfectant or cauterization]]. |
| 555 | * ZombiePukeAttack: In both blinding yet harmless and damaging acidic varieties, both referencing ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''. |
| 556 | ** Boomers can vomit all over you, limiting your vision to one tile away unless you use a towel or eye drops. |
| 557 | ** Huge Boomers are like their regular counterpart, but their bile glows, attracting zombies at night. |
| 558 | ** Acidic Zombies can puke acid onto your limbs to quickly break them. |
| 559 | ** Spitter Zombies can vomit large puddles of acid at a distance. |
| 560 | ** Corrosive Zombies can snipe you with their acid vomit. |
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