Craftable head-on-a-pike

Crafted from named corpse + wooden spear. Can be placed.
When placed no survivors will spawn within 3 map tiles. Any non-hostile survivor that would approach within three map tiles will either turn around and move at least ten map tiles away (80% chance) or become hostile (20% chance).
Major Speech penalty while you are within 10 map tiles of it.

(Basically a way to give fair warning that anyone who thinks they can wander into my shelter and start filching my loot is going to get an arrow in the face.)

My immediate thought was that this is silly, but I gave it a read and it makes a lot of sense.
I’m thinking “warning sign” that you can make several different ways, maybe reserve the dead on a pike for cannibals or similar :wink:

Hmm. I think this should “reduce” the chance of them spawning. And the more you have, the more it reduces.

Possibly also have a shorter range by default? Visual range for a lone spike, further for a thicket of them.

Bring in the 16th century English castles.

We got peasant villages. to pillage.

Call it a “gibbet”.

When NPCs are working, I’d like the idea that you can decide whether or not to advertise your presence. Live in a building that looks abandoned and you run the risk of a scavenger blundering into you and perhaps attacking out of surprise, or raiding your supplies while you’re gone. Put up a few obvious signs that the place is inhabited and doesn’t take kindly to strangers, and the scavengers will avoid it… but you run the risk of drawing the attention of well-armed groups of predatory NPCs who might have otherwise passed it by.

If hostile NPCs ever become a thing, putting up some gibbets could be the players way of saying “Okay game, I’m fairly well-equipped and I can defend myself. I can swat raggedy LVL1 scavengers like they were flies, they’re just an annoyance now, not a threat. Either send me some harder encounters or leave me alone”

[quote=“Bumpkin, post:6, topic:6193”]Call it a “gibbet”.

When NPCs are working, I’d like the idea that you can decide whether or not to advertise your presence. Live in a building that looks abandoned and you run the risk of a scavenger blundering into you and perhaps attacking out of surprise, or raiding your supplies while you’re gone. Put up a few obvious signs that the place is inhabited and doesn’t take kindly to strangers, and the scavengers will avoid it… but you run the risk of drawing the attention of well-armed groups of predatory NPCs who might have otherwise passed it by.

If hostile NPCs ever become a thing, putting up some gibbets could be the players way of saying “Okay game, I’m fairly well-equipped and I can defend myself. I can swat raggedy LVL1 scavengers like they were flies, they’re just an annoyance now, not a threat. Either send me some harder encounters or leave me alone”[/quote]

That is really good.

Someone add this. At least as a cliffhanger for now.

Honestly, i dont care about the npc parts. But that head on a stick needs to become craft able so i can put them up in my battefield

[quote=“StopSignal, post:7, topic:6193”][quote=“Bumpkin, post:6, topic:6193”]Call it a “gibbet”.

When NPCs are working, I’d like the idea that you can decide whether or not to advertise your presence. Live in a building that looks abandoned and you run the risk of a scavenger blundering into you and perhaps attacking out of surprise, or raiding your supplies while you’re gone. Put up a few obvious signs that the place is inhabited and doesn’t take kindly to strangers, and the scavengers will avoid it… but you run the risk of drawing the attention of well-armed groups of predatory NPCs who might have otherwise passed it by.

If hostile NPCs ever become a thing, putting up some gibbets could be the players way of saying “Okay game, I’m fairly well-equipped and I can defend myself. I can swat raggedy LVL1 scavengers like they were flies, they’re just an annoyance now, not a threat. Either send me some harder encounters or leave me alone”[/quote]

That is really good.

Someone add this. At least as a cliffhanger for now.[/quote]

Yes yes yes yes yes.

I’m always wanting to see NPCs expanded upon and improved

This would be amazing. And not only human heads, but animal heads too, like different enemy heads increase the chances of the NPC turning away/spawning, like, bear heads, Zombie Hulk heads, and things like that.

Oh god.
This is the shit.
Just imagine - [size=11pt]JABBERWOCK HEAD ON A PIKE[/size]. No one would ever think of coming mile close to your house if they see something like that.