Because of the “Apocalypse World fever” my group is in now, I decided to take a look in the STALKER pc game. Despite the hype, Ive never played it at the time, discarding it as just another mindless shooter.
Oh boy, I was wrong.
Im playing the last entry In the series, “Call of Pripyat”, with the mod MISERY. And It must be the most atmospheric game Ive ever played (and I played a lot of System Shock, Bioshock, Amnesia, etc). I don’t know if it’s the mod fault, or vanilla, but the graphics are awesome in a realistic way – the night is pitch black, the ambient lighting is totally realistic, the itens and people and clothes and textures and weather are all “decayingly sober” – and the survival/simulation elements are awesome: you have to eat, sleep, get tired if running constantly, encumbrance effects, etc. And the scarcity is very tangible. Food is scarce, med supplies, etc. even bullets – If you play it like your typical shooter, you will be empty really soon. And since you are fragile and cant stand more than a few blows, its wiser to plan ahead carefully instead of go on shooting. All this really adds to the sense that you “is there”, in this desolate, twisted, and “real” world.
But lets cut to the point:
So, where is the Stalker playbook ? In the vein of the game (and the Tarkovsky movie who inspired it), I imagine he would be a guy who leaves everything behind to try his luck in searching for "anomalous artifacts" in radiated/contamined/mutated twisted areas in the wastes. He searches for the "Wish Granter" or the "Room in the center of the Zone" who will change his life forever. He would be a lone explorer who knows the zone as the back as his hand. He can take care of himself, serve as guide to others, and have gear and maps to search for misterious anomalies, that he collects - some give him strange sensations, others improve his night-sight, others yet are just beautiful.
Does a playbook like this exist ?