Let's Read Let’s play Kenshi, a postapoc screenshot generator

[Demo.Graph]

Kenshi (v 1.0.44) is an arid-themed post-apocalyptic fantasy sandbox. Basically it’s a Fallout whose inhabitants fell so hard, they forgot about guns. They still have kinda modern windmills, droids and robo-prosthetics, but it’s a fantasy part for you.
Gameplay-wise it’s a character-focused RPG without a main character. You can gather up to 30 hobos (up to 250 with mods), improve them and do stuff. You can’t really spend dozens of hours on your characters, because RPG system is simplistic. And yes, you can gather dozens of guys in glorious squads and arm them with melee single-hit type weapons without special statuses, because 95% of all weapons are like this.
You’re able to construct buildings and craft stuff turning it into a kinda “what Warcraft 3 should have been initially” squad-based RTS game. But crafting, as far as I understand, has a limited role overall because there’s no item combination system (like in Diablo-type ARPG) or global trading system (like in trading sims). The best items and major profits are acquired from mob loot.
The game is a plotless survival sandbox. Survival takes care of itself when you learn to click “mine bronze, sell bronze, buy food”, repeat. It’s a sandbox with, uniquely, very little to do in the world. There’re very few quests. Pretty much no diplomacy or world alteration, even though you can change faction-based unit spawns by killing significant NPCs (in a “we kill Saddam and it’s all over!” kind of faggotry).

So, over all it’s an RPG with non-existent character interaction and very simplistic character development system, a squad-based tactics without tacticool decisions, RTS without non-random opposition, crafting and trading game without market and a sandbox with little means to change the world. In more enlightened times it would have been regarded as a beta version of a game, not as a finished product.
The game also lags like hell, probably because of Indian coders. And I’m going to run it on an integrated graphics card, because my GTX died in a short circuit and my RL cash balance is in the red. So you can expect low-res screenshots, zero shaders and a mod on decreased texture resolutions. Despite this the game still runs on like 20-25 FPS for me. And crashes every time I close the app. Fucking zoomers, why can’t they code.

Why am I doing this LP then, if all these things are stacked against me?
Firstly, because it scratches dat Morrowind itch. I’ll show you screenies. Developers seem to have a talented level designer in the team. And the music is so appropriate, it’s better than the game itself. Check it out.

Spoiler

Secondly, I haven’t run any game blind for a while. I’ve read a bit about Kenshi, spent like half an hour on Youtube (and an hour more trying to run this shit and looking for texture mods), and looked at political map for a bit, but other than that I know almost nothing about the game. It seems to be a harsh game for noobs, so I’m probably going to fail in an entertaining kind of way.
And thirdly, because it’s not a game per se. It’s more of a wallpaper generator sold to unsuspecting masses. One can seriously play it only if one is ready to run CYOA and roleplay it like it’s no tomorrow. And it just so happens that I need to practice written English. So I am into lots of writing from time to time. If you’re native speaker and/or know what you’re doing you can do me a favor by grammar naziing and semanticizing the shit out of me.

What’s in it for you?
Audience participation is going to be there. Probably. When I’ll get to it.
Get a name and die horribly! Participate in a forum democracy and watch your opinion being forgotten! The usual fun.
Character applicants:

Spoiler

Vazha, as Reginald Iolanthe Perrin (RIP), the most snobbish and misanthropic recruit available
tindrli
Andnjord
mondblut, a skeleton
Joined on the 4th of July, a no skill hiver
Zanzoken
baud

I expect making bi-weekly updates (one weekend evening to play, another to write shit up) at the moment, unless RL issues or laziness strike. It is going to be slow.
So let’s see how many references I’ll manage to fit in this LP and whether I’ll die of lag and boredom before page 3.

 

[Demo.Graph]

Episode 0. Character creation

I’ve decided to run a most vanilla setup I can find. I’ll begin as a solo dude with almost nothing in his possession and make my way grind up from there.

Spoiler

Character creation is very simple. You pick a species, a race, a name, adjust char model and that’s it. There’re no classes (a character system is skill-based with progression from usage, think Morrowind), no abilities/perks (because who needs them) and no social stats to choose from (ditto).
So, who can we play as?

A white man. Bonuses on farming, cooking and research make them prime candidates for forming populous industrial empires. Just like in real life.

A negro scorchlander. They’re lousy workers, but have aptitude for stealing, nigger-rigging and running like hell when all else fails. They also like to drink shit and talk shit. Definitely a nigger stereotype at its finest. I’ve googled who the game developers are and turns out they’re British. Not enough self-censorship behind the strait, it seems.

A Chinese bug of one of the three varieties. A shifty prince, an obedient drone and a good-for-nothing soldier. That’s the only race which you can’t play as a female because those are at a premium.
Maybe it's me or maybe the game is filled with social commentary.

Another nigger orc. A good fighter race, but otherwise mediocre. And horny. Have some horns.

An android turned Skeleton. They’re the race most different from humans gameplay-wise: they don’t need to eat, can’t heal naturally, but can repair themselves to full health quickly. Nice, but I’m going for a vanilla start.

Then there’re skills. You can’t choose any during character creation, because fuck you, everyone’s equal for the British communists.
And the skills themselves are simply atrocious.

There’re 6 damage modifier skills for melee weapons (because swinging masterwork katana is so different from swinging a sabre, right?), attack, block, evasion, unarmed attack, 2 shooting skills and a skill to avoid friendly fire. There’re 4 skills for 4 thiefy actions, 2 movement speed modifiers. Those are all boring and self-explanatory.
The rightmost column is interesting at a first glance. That is, before you read the descriptions and realise that it’s a healing speed, construction speed, robot healing speed and research speed for “sciences” and three crafting speed+quality chance skills, and three “digging” speed skills.
All the skills basically affect action speed or success chance. And that’s it. They don’t provide new gameplay options (Need to learn new recipes for crafting? Just buy them, duh.). No social skills (because there’s no dialogue system), even no barter skill (no barter, because we’re in postapoc Walmart, pals).
Oh and there’re 4 “physical” attributes that basically affect the same shit and improve the same way. Spend time doing stuff, get better. Everyone can get to everything hundred in due time, as far as I can say before playing it for real long time. The only racial differences I've seen are percentage modifiers to skill learning rate and in HP.
And that’s exactly why I can’t call it a real game. Maybe a babby’s first game, but not a real one.
Ok, rant time is over. Time to write stuff.

Meet our protagonist, Gaius Cadens Madmaximus.

Spoiler

He finds himself in a crumbling outpost, somewhere on the outskirts of civilization, wrapped in nothing but rags and hopes and ready to conquer the world or at least do what it takes to survive.

Spoiler

 

[Demo.Graph]

Episode 1. The first day of the dashing emperor’s saga, the intro, the prologue, part one, book one, tome one, shelf one

A windswept ruin in the wilds. The first thing you feel in a place like this is an all-consuming desire to get a drink. Wash the dust out of your mouth.

Spoiler

And here it was, the bar, and its ragged proprietor, gangly standing up to pass some booze.

New in town, eh?

If you call it a town.

We like living humbly here. It pays not getting a lot of attention in the shadow of the phoenix.

Suits me. Your establishment...

A finest in the town.

And the only one?

It’s nice to have a limited competition.

Of course. And you are?..

I’m the barman.

I see.

This's the book. It has letters in it and is used for research. We're not going to use them for some time. Gonna learn dem letters first.

How’s the business these days?

Slow and steady. Suits me.

It’s a bar. You got any fights?

Some. They end quickly.

How come?

I happen to provide food and lodging to the local Trade ninja branch.

I see. Can you provide some for me?

Do I need to worry myself about someone because of you?

Not specifically.

Then I don’t see a specific reason to say no. Bed and bread, forward payment, rates not negotiable.

So, you sell food and lodging. Do you buy anything?

Anything that might interest a caravaner. We have some visiting occasionally. They don’t usually buy from people they don’t know. They know me.

And what do they usually buy?

Well, we’re a border settlement. On the outskirts of war between Holy Nation, shek clans and an eastern warlord. No one expects great stuff from us. Nomads bring animal furs and edible roots. There’re some people who live here in the old houses doing odd jobs: scavengers, woodcutters, one particularly talented scourer. Some women. People come and go. There’s also a merc guild group, though they oscillate in and out of here.

Is it their tower I saw in the south?

No, that’s shinobis’.

I thought you said you’re the only trader here.

They trade only among themselves. Very shy, them. I’m much more friendly, don’t you think? I’m filling you in on our community just for two shots of rum.

Fair enough. Give me another one and some meat jerkies.

Are you staying?

Probably. I’ll see if I’ll fit in. Can’t promise anything, though.

No one can here, pal.

Here it is. A shinobi tower. Another source of power that can end me in no time. I had to check their attitude.

The little pricks had no interest in beggars like me. No money, no honey. Shy indeed.

I walked over the old wall, too tall and imposing for this ruin. The bartender hides more than he lets out. Shinobis can’t be here just for some beggars as well.

From the height I saw a group of nomads, getting back to the wilderness with their cattle.

I could have come with them. Or went alone. But should I? The wilds are not called so for nothing. There’re humans here who’re at least a bit friendly. They think I’m another flotsam from the north and they’re right. I’ll have to stay here, even though all my instincts shriek that this place is dangerous. I’ll stay here and try to become a good newcomer. Until I get better.

 

[vazha]

Quite fun so far. Can codexers join your esteemed entourage?

 

[tindrli]

Tindrli reporting for duty.

 

[Andnjord]

Andnjord looking for a red shirt to join the party!

 

[Demo.Graph]

Quite fun so far. Can codexers join your esteemed entourage?

Yes, of course. The only catch is, right now I can see no meaningful way to do it. First town has no mercs I can rename and no meaningful decisions for voting I can think of now. I'm open to suggestions, though.
Anyone can enlist for the future. I’ll make everyone who wishes into companions as they become available. Races and genders are described in part zero if you have any preferences.
Join! Die! Join! Die!

 

[mondblut]

You can call a skeleton "mondblut", okay.

 

[Joined on the 4th of July]

I think you can rename any recruit at a plastic surgeon.

I want to be a no skill hiver.

 

[Zanzoken]

I'll sign up. I'm sure everything will be great as long as we do our best!

 

[baud]

Sign me up as anything you want! Good luck!

 

[vazha]

Quite fun so far. Can codexers join your esteemed entourage?

Yes, of course. The only catch is, right now I can see no meaningful way to do it. First town has no mercs I can rename and no meaningful decisions for voting I can think of now. I'm open to suggestions, though.
Anyone can enlist for the future. I’ll make everyone who wishes into companions as they become available. Races and genders are described in part zero if you have any preferences.
Join! Die! Join! Die!

Splendid. Sign me up as one Reginald Iolanthe Perrin (RIP) as the most snobbish and misanthropic recruit available.
Source material:

Spoiler

 

[Demo.Graph]

Episode 2. Say hello to my little friend

Spoiler

I went back to the bar to wet a throat. With a goddamn water, no less. What little money I have is too precious to spend on booze right now. The Barman was quite unequivocal when he spoke about payment.
This bar. The smell here. Dry walls, creaky floorboards, the coarse taste if sand dust, old iron and fresh sweat. Smells like home.
While I savored a musty water my mind wandered around a simple problem I had no solution to. To turn this town into a new home, or leave it forever, I need a reliable source of income. And I have none. And while I can always get down to scavenging stuff... A mug of rum has slid through an unsteady gait of my thoughts. I raised my eyes to a shaggy woman that sat beside. She might have been pretty had she not grown in the wastes.

Spoiler

‘Name’s Pins.’ she said in a voice as coarse as the town.

To your health. Name’s Gaius.

You seem to be new here.

I’ve just arrived, yes.

Need some cats?

You offer?

I have a job you can do. I’ll pay hard money. Not those traders’ rags, real honest cats. Interested?

I might be. What do you need?

There’s a wreck of an old building nearby. Last storm unearthed it from under the dust. There’s a copper inside. A roof or cladding or whatever it is. I want you to get it.

Spoiler

Several powders of it, maybe a barrel*. Nothing a strong man can’t handle.

What’s in it for me?

50% of what I’ll be able to sell it for to my friends.

What’s the catch?

The catch is I can’t do it myself. I can ask someone else, if you don’t want to.

No, I’ll do it.

Now?

Now.

Let me walk you to the gate then. I’ll show you the wreck.
That she did. On the way to the gates she fished an old pick from an innocent-looking pile of rubble and handed it to me. It looked just a little bit better than a rusty old pipe I carried around as a bogey sword. It scared vultures.
The gates were as open as I saw them for the first time and almost as old as the wreck she pointed below the hill. I was going down, literally.

Wait.

Yes?

A buddy told me a gang was seen nearby. You see a group of people, you better get back to town.

Yes, mom. Will you give me a tit now?

Slip off.
That I did. Gracefully.

Spoiler

The building’s shell barely came out of sand. After pulling several roofing sheets from it I had to unearth the rest by hand. The pick was as useless as my pipe here. Soon I was sweating under the midday sun like a baked potato clawing through sand and pulling one reddish sheet after another. Pins obviously had no idea how much of the stuff was inside.
The shadow fell in the corner of my eye. I jumped. I threw a copper sheet behind, heard a satisfying thud, didn’t look back. I ran to the hill, heard a stomping behind. A bit later sneaked a peek. One guy with a sabre. Another’s behind. Several more on the sides. I dashed.

Spoiler

Bastards must have heard. I wasn’t really hiding. Drat that hill. The whooping got closer. The gate.

Spoiler

I tripped on the stairs. Heard him biting air. Jumped up. To the bar. I flew in, saw guards jumping up from the corners. The stairs. I crashed into the corner and swinged with a pipe. Steel met steel, spit met spit.

Spoiler

A dark red strip of metal burst bubbling from his throat. Bleak eyes looked at me and he fell. Reflexively, I’ve caught his sabre.
Ninjas went out of the door. There was crashing on the street, brief howls and all was over.

Told you, the fights here end quickly.

***

Ninjas shooed me away from the bodies. They were grim enough for me to not bother them with questions. Don’t stand between the law and its victim. So I hid a sabre, caught a breath and went back to copper. Then, when the pile got big enough I began to heave. I thought that dismantling the house was a hard part. Boy, was I naive. Dragging the metal up the hill was even harder than dragging myself out of this whole mess. It pushed me down.
The sabre was a catch, though. Its handle laid in my palm as if it belonged there. A bit too heavy for my taste, but it was a real weapon. I could use it or sell it and begin saving for a journey from this place. A place in a caravan, maybe, or a guide.

Spoiler

The sky turned brown when the last of the metal sheets found their rest in a yard we agreed on.
As I entered the bar, Pins waved me to her. The mug was already waiting for me. I sat down. She rolled me a metal bar with a wooden handle across the table.

Spoiler

‘That’s one of the bandits’ better weapons.’ She then rummaged in her bag and dumped a pile of wet rags next. ‘And that’s their leader’s clothes. They’re yours. I took them from ninjas and boiled. You don’t want to catch lice, do you? No need to thank me, you’ve deserved them.
I took a sip.

Oh, and I pulled a chopper out of your hidey hole and gave it to ninjas. They would’ve taken it from you anyway – they killed its owner here, so its theirs.
I took a bigger sip.

‘And here’s the payment.’ The little pouch clanged softly on the wood. ‘An advance payment for copper and a share of bandits’ stuff.’

Anything else?

No. Why?
I took an even bigger sip.

Spoiler

You knew they would attack.

I wasn’t sure. I’ve suspected it.

Kind of you to warn me.
Bitch.

Put yourself in my place. My friends should come through this place soon. And I hear that a dozen or so half-naked starving assholes are in the area. Ran away from the slave camp or something and began clubbing travelers. They’re too scared to approach the town. Probably too scared to rob a caravan. My friends travel light and would likely be seen as a tempting target. All I needed was bait.

They might not have bit it.

They might’ve clubbed you as well. I had to try.

And you chose a newcomer.

M-hm.

What about the copper?

I’ll find a way to use it.
I choked on the biggest sip and coughed some.

Next time you’ll want my help, spit it all out.

I’ll consider it. No hard feelings, eh? I’ve catted you well enough for a guy I know for a day.

Charitable, aren't you.

Kinda. But you should probably thank the landlord.
I looked over a shoulder. The barman raised a cup he was wiping in a mock salute.

No hard feelings at all, Pins. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I had a hard day.

I’ve bought a bed for a night and crashed feeling used.

Endnote

Spoiler

*“Several powders of it, maybe a barrel.”
Powder is an analogue of Russian pood (16 kg). I’m also going to call it a sack or halfmaru.
Barrel is 192 kg. It’s also called koku.

Yes, I’ve made this shit up for this LP, just to sound familiar but alien. I’m an autist and I know it. Now suffer some more.

Spoiler

Barrel to powder ratio has a factor of twelve, because many traditional measurement systems depend on you counting finger phalanxes with a thumb of the same hand.

Real barrel is a measure of volume not a mass. The effective mass is 120-160 kg per barrel of crude oil depending on its density, because who in their right mind measures anything else in barrels.

Koku is a measure of weight from medieval Japan, about 150 kg. It’s approximately enough to feed a man for a year and an equivalent of a single gold coin. To be a daimyo you had to have an annual income of at least 10k koku. In practice it means that daimyo could field 10k half-starved baboons or 5k well-fed naked males, or 200 solo samurais (with families, some manservants and a bit of rice on top to pay for new gear) or about 20-30 prestigious squad-leading samurais (similar to a European knight with a combat retinue).

Gameplay note

Spoiler

First fight wasn’t exciting. Several bandits spawned nearby and homed in on me while I was digging stuff to sell. Note on the previous two screenshots that I have a whopping 0 (-1) attack and defense – this’s my 1 level skill modified by a majestic plumbing pipe I have as a weapon. Meanwhile bandits have 5-10 skills. I have no idea what this means. Maybe d20+skill, maybe not. But I was outmanned and outskilled so I run. Guards aggroed and killed the bandits, while I looted. Wasn’t hit even once, didn’t hit anyone, so I have no idea how my character fares in combat, though I have some suspicions. Note also, that the sabre has 0.4 damage while my pipe had 0.1 – again, no idea what that means, but I can see a difference well enough.

Saw nothing hard as of now. Noobs crying about the game’s difficulty are probably too young to know about dem battlefield maneuvers.

Oh, and while I’m at it, don’t spoil me game mechanics, please. Limited information is part of fun.

Edit. Restored phrases lost while copypasting.

 

[Andnjord]

Good stuff boss. Nice to see a seriously low power beginning.

 

[baud]

If you’re native speaker and know what you’re doing you can do me a favor by grammar naziing

I'm not a native speaker, so I can't comment on everything that seemed fishy to me, but here's a few:

Spoiler

the coarse taste if sanddust, old iron and a fresh sweat
of sand (I don't think sanddust is a valid word) and fresh sweat (sweat is uncountable).

I through a copper
Should be threw (simple past tense of throw)

(in before I get grammar nazied by a native speaker, but whatever)

 

[Demo.Graph]

here's a few

You're right, thanks. Also fixed OP for it to be less pompous.

 

[hostergaard]

Good stuff so far, love kenshi, sign me up!

Gameplay note

Spoiler

First fight wasn’t exciting. Several bandits spawned nearby and homed in on me while I was digging stuff to sell. Note on the previous two screenshots that I have a whopping 0 (-1) attack and defense – this’s my 1 level skill modified by a majestic plumbing pipe I have as a weapon. Meanwhile bandits have 5-10 skills. I have no idea what this means. Maybe d20+skill, maybe not. But I was outmanned and outskilled so I run. Guards aggroed and killed the bandits, while I looted. Wasn’t hit even once, didn’t hit anyone, so I have no idea how my character fares in combat, though I have some suspicions. Note also, that the sabre has 0.4 damage while my pipe had 0.1 – again, no idea what that means, but I can see a difference well enough.

Saw nothing hard as of now. Noobs crying about the game’s difficulty are probably too young to know about dem battlefield maneuvers.

Oh, and while I’m at it, don’t spoil me game mechanics, please. Limited information is part of fun.

Edit. Restored phrases lost while copypasting.

Okay, gonna try not spoiling anything or give tips on metagaming. But for those interest in what the numbers mean:

Spoiler

Its simple enough, the skill you have with a weapon is the raw damage you do with it. This is then multiplied with the weapon damage if I remember correctly. So if you had 100 skill then you would do 40 damage with the sabre and 10 with the sabre. This is not counting various other things that affect the damage is done to enemies.

Also, sweet jesus if you think the game wont fuck you over if you look away for a moment then you are in for some fun. I do love that its rather unforgiving tough. And juking, kitting and using npcs guards to protect you, battlefield tactics as you call it, is a rather valid method to survive early game.

 

[Demo.Graph]

Episode 3. Pinned to the bottom

Spoiler

In the morning I’ve changed to raider’s clothes.

Spoiler

Not a fancy dress, but at least I don’t look like a runaway slave anymore. Next thing I need to think about is getting some more money. Pins gave me several hundred cats, enough to buy food for a week or two, but not nearly enough to feel comfortable. So next thing I need is a new job.
As if an answer to my thoughts, Pins has appeared.

Gaius!

Morning.

All’s well?

Guess so.

Spoiler

Are you in a mood for some more copper shuffling?

You wish.

No bullshit this time, I promise.

Is this why you’re not offering me free booze?

Several locals are considering fixing a house and they would really appreciate some copper sheets for a roof.

And?

And if you happen to dig some more of those sheets out of that building I’ll tell everyone not to bother taking it away from you. I’ll also tell you who’s the buyer.

For a measly 5%?

20.

10.

20.

You’ve got to be shitting me.

I’ve found the thing, remember?
I caved. She is a bitch indeed. But I don’t feel myself ready to go away from the town walls and there’s nothing to do inside. I’ll have to play a muggee for now.

Spoiler

And that’s how I found myself at the building again. Also found some more copper sheets and an assortment of pipes and other scrap. For the next several days I’m a garbage diver.
I must admit, wearing real pants is a pleasure. And shoulder rags to protect from sunburns are a bonus as well. And sandals, gods know I won’t miss the feeling of a naked road.

Spoiler

Speaking of the road, I probably should feel myself lucky, if one can say that, to work with Pins. Of course she’s ripping me off. But she also found me a job right beside the city wall, hidden from the road by that pale outcrop. Of course she probably didn’t really grieved over it. She must have went on the wall one day to watch the sunset or something, saw an edge of this wall I’m sweating on and found herself an useful idiot in distress. On the other hand I have a pretty safe job. And a loud one at that...
Right at that moment I got a feeling someone was watching me. I looked around and just like that some locals were standing on the top of the hill looking at me. I’ve stopped working. Maybe it’s time to run? Guards won’t see them flaying me here. But if I circle the hill from the left... There was a commotion on a hill and while I stood thinking Pins appeared, waved me and they left. So she does something to meet her end of a bargain as well, a greedy... girl.

Spoiler

Good thing they’ve left. They didn’t seem friendly.

Next day a wind went up. At first it was just a bit stronger than usual and lazily sifted sand through my hair. At noon, however, the horizon went hazy with sand. The storm began to gather.

Spoiler

I had to hide behind a tree. Among the whirls of sand I’ve seen a hut. For a moment I thought it’s abandoned but then I’ve noticed a windmill spinning nearby. Pins and Barman didn’t mention it when I’ve asked them about the surroundings. I might need to check it soon, but not today, the wind is too strong. I saw sticks and bushes flying in the air flailing everything on their path. I hid there for the rest of the day – climbing to the city was too dangerous.

Spoiler

Next morning I went back to digging cats and blisters from the graves of the ancestors. Several of the sheets I dig up yesterday disappeared under new sand and I had to dig them up again.
Dumb labor makes one’s mind wander. I’ve noticed that I tend to focus on every scrap of cloth I have nowadays, think about every meal that waits me. This’s probably so because I have so little to spare. It’s probably how poor people tend to think. Hope I won’t get accustomed to it.
What I would like to get accustomed to, on the other hand, is carrying a serious load. I used to be able to do it, but now my back is killing me after several powders of scrap. If I ever want to wear armor again and move away from this poverty, I need to get back in shape.
Lost in thoughts I’ve missed the sunset. Nomad campfires began to flicker in the dark as if stars themselves slowly sank into the sand.

Spoiler

Night came and with it came absolute isolation. I was alone in the void, only wind my partner. I turned to look at the town. It stroke me how small and crumbling it was, with its few lights dancing weakly here and there below the boundless dome of sky. I went back to bar, tired and a little sad for no reason.

Spoiler

Gameplay note

Spoiler

You can change game speed ingame to make farming more bearable. However, I find that farming in real time is a nice backdrop to writing these updates. Next one should be more eventful.

 

[Andnjord]

Liking the writing so far boss, MOAR!

 

[Demo.Graph]

The LP is officially on hold. Market drama is grimderpier than this game.

Spoiler

And more fun.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Booo. Continue