Travel Needs Gameplay

Right now, traveling is mostly: Fly → Buy → Leave. A few locations have something unique (like big-game hunting in South Africa), but most countries have no real interaction beyond shopping. It would make travel more interesting if each location had one themed activity or crime to take part in while abroad.

 

I would like to have these use your Nerve when out and about instead of Energy, but that would need to change Big Game hunting as well. Energy would keep it consistent, but Nerve, I feel, would attract more people.

 

Example idea for Mexico:

 

Cartel Smuggling

This is not a new mechanic; it is much like the scamming crime with building of contacts, then trying to smuggle, just adding into 

 

Stage 1 — Build Cartel Contacts  (Cost: 4 nerve or Energy if using it like Big Game Hunting)

 

You work to establish connections with cartel couriers. Successful attempts increase your Cartel Contacts. Contacts slowly decay over time. Each contact increases future shipment payouts slightly (example: +0.02% per contact).

 

Crit failure: Option 1: Lose x amount (10%-20%) of contacts   Option 2: Hospitazed 

 

Stage 2 — Move Contraband (Cost: 8 nerve or Energy if using it like Big Game Hunting)

You coordinate a cartel shipment using your contacts.

 

Example payout:
Base $1500 with ±20% variance ($1200–$1800). Modified by your cartel contact multiplier.

Failures could reduce contacts. Critical failures could result in losing the shipment and/or getting mugged.

 

Successful shipments could also occasionally include small contraband items," that fell off the truck", from the Mexico pool, such as:

• Bonus Cash
• Crazy Straw
• Zip Ties
• Bolt Cutters
• Bottle of Tequila
• Card Skimmer
• Flare Gun
• Springfield 1911
• Mayan Statue
• Cannabis (thematic)

 

We could also add a few new pieces of common clothing:

• Sombrero
• Poncho

 

Items used for museum collections (plushies, flowers, artifacts) would not drop. The goal isn't to replace the travel economy, just to give players something interesting to do while abroad besides buying items and immediately flying home.

 

This could eventually expand so that each travel destination has one unique activity tied to that country.

For Argentina,

 

Artifact Hunting.  Cost: 5 energy

Players search for fossils and relics in dig sites and ruins. Much like we already do at the Dump. Although there is a possibility of Failure

 

Outcomes

• Failure: Nothing found.
• Critical Failure: Hospital time (dig collapse, cave-in, attacked by locals for stealing their treasures).
• Success: You get a single item from the list. Most of the time, a common item that is already in the game makes thematic sense. (ie Shove, wheelbarrows, rings, and necklaces... nothing new) Occaionally you could find one of the artifact discoveries. 

 

Artifact Discoveries (5–10%)

• Glyptodont Skull
• Glyptodont Armor Plate
• Glyptodont Tail Club
• Glyptodont Leg Bone
• Fossilized Glyptodont Egg
• Mapuche Ceremonial Pipe
• Tehuelche Bola Weight
• Mapuche Arrowhead
• Diaguita Pottery Shard
• Mapuche Silver Pendant

 

Ultra Rare (~1%)

• Patagonian Fossil
• Chalcedony Point

 

Honors that could be added 

• Amateur Archaeologist – discover your first artifact
• Bone Collector – discover all Archeology items
• Master Excavator – discover all 10 artifacts
• Glyptodont Specialist – discover all Glyptodont fossils
• Keeper of Ancient Secrets – discover a Patagonian Fossil or Chalcedony Point on the same day

For China

 

Industrial Espionage

This is focused on stealing trade secrets and producing counterfeit goods for the black market. 

 

Stage 1: Steal Trade Secrets.

This would allow you to find the materials needed for making counterfeit manufacturing in the second step. I chose items that were already common in the game and fairly inexpensive. Why not use things in the game and give them a reason? There are 5 counterfeit areas:

 

• Automotive: Tires
• Pharmaceuticals: Cough Syrup
• Fashion: Trainers
• Electronics: Cell Phone
• Cosmetics: Lipstick

 

Stage 2: Manufacturing

This stage would work like bootlegging: you use the material, start the process of creating items, and sell those items as you do in bootlegging. Progress with the same style rewards and counterfeiting here would count towards the counterfeiting offenses honors that are already in the game. Suggestion for 1 new Honor would be to Sweatshop: perform 500 counterfeits in each of the Industrial Espionage categories