LONG BLOG
Tales from the RimWorld Episode 1
Introduction
Hello there! After discovering RimWorld last week, I’ve wanted to start a series about the adventures of my colonists, using Destructoid community member names in hopes of making some interesting stories. I’d like to keep this going as long as my colony can stay afloat.
Before we get started, let’s talk about what RimWorld is in the first place. RimWorld is an early access game similar to Dwarf Fortress, but with a sci-fi (with a bit of Firefly-esque western) spin. The premise of the standard game type is that three random individuals on a space ship awaken from their cryosleep to a catastrophe, and manage to make it to escape pods and crash land on a nearby planet. From there, they must use whatever materials are on hand to survive day to day life.
My original plan was to enter the game completely fresh, and see what sort of ways I could mess things up simply due to a lack of experience. Unfortunately, as I played over the weekend, things went pretty smoothly, but at the same time nothing particularly exciting happened. This time around, I’ve chosen to have events happen much more randomly, turned on permadeath mode (only one file, so no save scumming!), and boosted the difficulty to the second highest level. That should spice things up nicely.
Am I digging an early grave for my crew?
Final Preparations
Since I’m definitely no expert, I chose a temperate forest area for my initial landing spot. I chose to stick with the standard amount of equipment, but I did reroll a couple of the characters’ stats so that I have at least some coverage in basic skills. The first three Destructoid survivors are Zombz, Morpho, and Dangus. (Quick note: Since the male/female ratio of the site is not anywhere near 50/50, I’m not making any effort at all to keep people’s genders the same. Sorry if you get switched!) Dangus’s trusty Labrador retriever Unrest managed to get out in time as well. Here’s the basic rundown of our heroes:
Zombz began his life as a slave in a medieval society, and was sold off to become a space marine. As expected, he’s rather talented at making things die. He can also do a respectable job of raising crops, mining, and cooking. The negatives are that he’s almost incapable of social interaction or more intelligent work. Zombz is a very pretty man, which helps make up for his lack of personality, but is incredibly jealous of others who he perceives to have better accommodations.
As a child, Dangus worked as a tech on the ship, and eventually became the chief engineer. As such, her skills of construction and crafting are very high. She’s capable of doing quality research, and can fight in melee competently if needed. She’s trigger happy, so pretty much useless with a ranged weapon. Dangus is also a very attractive individual, but neurotic. She’ll work harder and faster to get everything the way she likes it, but is more susceptible to a mental breakdown.
Last but not least is Morpho, a housewife who grew up in a shelter deep below a toxic world. Morpho is fantastic with animals and medicine, and is also a talented cook. She has some interest in crafting and art. Morpho is an amateur in combat, but knows enough to fill in if necessary. The interesting character trait here is that she is a nudist at heart, and is less happy when wearing any clothing.
Off We Go! The First Few Days
The survivors in their new surroundings
The survivors hit the ground in the middle of spring time, luckily giving plenty of time to get situated, crops grown, and hopefully extra clothing made before the winter. Time to get to work!
The first thing necessary was to get some shelters built with some places to sleep. A preexisting structure was taken over to become the storehouse. Dangus got to work on this, and built an electric cooking stove, butcher table, as well as an attached room that would serve as food storage, especially once he could get air conditioning installed. Zombz took care of planting some potatoes and cotton, while Morpho worked on getting everything else in order. Once the basics were handled, Dangus built some solar panels, batteries to keep the power running at night, and a rudimentary electrical grid. Once the power was up and running, she added the air conditioner to the food storage room to keep things fresh much longer.
Time to name this crew and their settlement
On the fourth day, one of the solar panels broke down, but Dangus was able to quickly make the necessary repairs. Overall, the first days were relatively uneventful, giving the survivors the time they needed to get the essentials prepared. Day four finished up with the building of a large gathering space with some tables and chairs to eat at.
Day 5 
The settlement so far
In the morning, Zombz set out to the west to mine some steel, since the technological creations of Dangus were using up most of the starting supply. In the meantime, Morpho had been hanging out with him, and the two had been having some very deep conversations. Between that and the shared experiences since the crash, the two became lovers out in the wilderness.
Around mid-morning, a trading caravan rolled into the settlement. Being the only one with any social skills at all, Morpho ran back, to meet up with them to see what they had to offer. One of the members of the caravan was an ex-lover of Morpho’s, making the encounter a little awkward for him. However, he was able to trade an exquisite pet sleeping box that was built too small for some extra steel to build things.
Things suddenly went dark at lunchtime; one of the planet’s moons had eclipsed the sun. So much for solar power! It was around this time that a figure was seen running frantically toward the settlement. He said his name was Jinx, and he was being chased by a crazy mace wielding scientist. There were no defenses in place yet, so Dangus quickly threw some sandbags together while Morpho and Zombz grabbed the two guns from the crash site. They were able to wound the attacker enough to render him unconscious, and the crew repurposed one of the bedrooms into a makeshift cell while Morpho tended to his wounds.
Once things had calmed down, Jinx introduced himself. He is a skilled engineer, like Dangus. His best skill is an off the charts ability to perform research, making me realize I never set up any area to research new things that could make life on the planet far easier. Like the rest of the crew, Jinx has very little aptitude in social interactions. Hopefully the small group wouldn’t soon run into a situation they would need to talk their way out of. He was very run down and hungry, so headed off to get some rest.
Two extra living quarters were built as the day was coming to a close. One had a double bed built in it, for the new lovebirds Zombz and Morpho, and the other was for any other new arrivals that come along in the coming days.
As what would normally be night time began, the lights all went out. The batteries were dead and the kitchen that was powered by electricity would now be totally useless. To top it off, the prepackaged food that was scavenged from the crash site had just run out. This was not a very good day.
Day 6
Summer had arrived, bringing with it a severe heat wave, bringing the temperature up to around 40 degrees Celsius. In the dark. The eclipse was still in effect, and any food that could be gathered would quickly go bad with nowhere cool to store it.
Dangus quickly began to work on a wind turbine that could hopefully get the kitchen and air conditioning going at least. Unfortunately, work was slow in the heat, and after completion the group realized that there were a number of trees blocking the air flow of the turbine. It was far too hot to get out there to chop the trees, and people were going hungry.
The eclipse came to an end, but it was right at sunset, giving only a few brief moments of power as the solar panels absorbed the last remaining light of the day.
Day 7
The oppressive heat continued to beat down on the hungry settlers as a mad boomrat was spotted heading toward the settlement. Knowing that the creature would explode upon death, Zombz and Morpho quickly grabbed their firearms and ran out toward it. The two defenders split up just in case the rat would reach them and blow up, so as to not kill them both. Most likely due to the poor condition the two were in, neither was able to do more than get a glancing shot on the boomrat, as it closed in on Zombz.
Not wanting to be blown to bits on some random world by a rat, Zombz began to make a run for the settlement. Morpho tried to distract the rat by continuing to fire upon the rat, but only made matters worse when he accidentally shot the fleeing Zombz in the leg. They both fled toward the shelter of the storage room as the rat viciously continued to savagely bite Zombz.
Zombz might be witholding sex tonight... if both of them survive.
Zombz was close to the doors when it looked like he was about to succumb to the crazed animal. Jinx burst through the doors, mace in hand, and was able to get the beast’s attention while Morpho helped Zombz in to the safety of the shelter. In the process, Jinx was wounded as well, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to fully get away. Out of nowhere, Unrest the Labrador leaped into the fray, knocking the rat unconscious. The beaten settlers dragged the rat away from the building, and shot it until it exploded.
Unrest, standing victorious as the battered surviors take cover
Afterwards, Morpho checked on the prisoner to find that he was becoming gravely ill, and might not make it. He hadn’t been fed at all, and the medicine Morpho gave him wasn’t seeming to help.
Dangus couldn’t take it anymore. The injuries to her friends, the heat, and the lack of food had gotten to her, and she locked himself in the room, and refused to come out. The trees still hadn’t been cleared around the turbine, and she was the only uninjured one that could have taken care of them. It was looking like the battery charge wouldn’t last through the night.
That ends this episode of Tales from the RimWorld. Check back next time to see what happens as night falls on the survivors. Things couldn’t possibly get worse, right?
Tales from the RimWorld Episode 2
Tales from the RimWorld Episode 3
Tales from the RimWorld Episode 4
LOOK WHO CAME:
