Tragedy: A full story of a colony with plently of pictures

[MiniKeeper]

The Rimworld adventure:
Cassandra Extreme on permadeath.
Location: A mountainous forest with year-round growing. Never too cold or too hot.

I got my 3 starting colonists after a lot of re-rolling.
Choke: The machine collector who is great at research and crafting.  She also has green thumb, sanguine and night owl. Otherwise her skills are meh, but she is capable of everything. 53 years old.
Zeppy: A deep space miner who is great at both mining and medicine. His starts are otherwise decent with a couple single flame interests and a passion for construction. He has two traits, nudist and too smart. 34 years old and capable of everything.
Seraph: A good shooter and decent melee combatant. Capable of everything but mining and art. Has 9 in social along with 7 for growing. Otherwise his skills are poor.

Day 1:
After deconstructing the fallen ship parts, the colonists constructed a small shack. All is well for now.


Day 2:
We get our first trader! They have some pretty great stuff too.

Not that I actually intend to buy anything though. I already took note of the local timber wolf population and plan to lure one toward the trader. Tragically, a lucky great bow shot to the spine of the wolf renders it useless. I bandage up the wolf, whose spine is 2/20 in hope of using it again. Curse you Saio. I wanted that triple rocket launcher so bad.
I name my colony Tragedy in remembrance of this event.

Day 5:
So many things have happened since day 2. A wanderer named Tina joined, who is Zeppy's brother. She is good at medicine and working with animals, and otherwise has good stats.
We also created a battery room and are constructing power sources. 2 Solar panels and 2 wind turbines.
Others things were built too, a prison barracks and 5 smaller rooms for colonists.
The timber wolf who previously had his spine damaged by the trader has escaped, and a grizzly bear is kicking around our base as well. Those traders won't escape next time as long as we don't get eaten before said next time.

(The rooms are a little cut out).

Later in Day 5...
Happy the raider (That's his name. Yes, really), has decided to attack our colony, which has just been approached by an exotic goods trader.
Poor Happy. His timing wasn't very good.


Day 8:
Another lonesome tribal trader has come. Val doesn't have amazing equipment, but I am eager to give the timber wolf his chance for redemption.

Rest in peace Val. I will enjoy the various things I gave me. I regret this only slightly.



Day 11:
Another raid has come. With it, has come a pretty powerful raider, whose only weakness is his minor asthma.

I'm a little worried though. Choke is incapacitated from the plague and I have no turrets built. This is definitely the most challenging thing that's happened yet.

Luckily, we managed to survive. Choke got up at the last minute but it didn't matter. We fought the raiders off easily. This is mostly due to me sending Seraph to inflict some minor damage on them.
Crink, the godly assassin managed to shoot Seraph's arm off, but didn't kill him. We're going to need a bionic arm.

Later that day, one of the raiders we incapacitated, Erisen the researcher, decided to join us. The RNG gods have taken pity on me.


Day 15:
Another raid came. The colony managed to beat them off and we took a prisoner. Trigger, who we captured ended up with an infection and died. This is a blow to colony morale, and with Seraph's arm gone, things seem to be going downhill.

Day 19:
A four man raid, but this one has well armed raiders.

The colony has survived though. We have an assault rifle now too. Hopefully we can get our hands on some bionics soon.

Day 22:
A while ago, we got an escape pod. We just managed to recruit this escapee, Engie the engineer.
Despite the very low odds, the RNG gods are still compensating me for the loss of Seraph's arm.

(It was 7.2 percent chance to recruit).

Along with this, a slave trader came. We sold a few of our smokeleaf joints from the late Val and purchased Doctor. He is a pretty decent colonist who can do everything but haul.


But, before we brought Doctor, a poison ship landed. This will be tricky to deal with...


On the bright side, our freezer is finally done.

(I know the jade is right there, but I don't want to add unnessicary wealth to the colony).

[MiniKeeper]

Day 23: The bloody day
What a disaster. First the day started with Engie and Doctor going to attack the ship with their survival rifles. They get destroyed by a single syther. Doc lost his foot and Engie lost a kidney and her jaw.
Along with that, a social fight resulted in Erisen vs Tina. Somehow, magically, Erisen won.
And by won I mean she beat Tina to death with her fists.
On top of that, Tina and Seraph just became lovers. Poor Seraph, he's going to be pretty depressed for a while.
With one less colonist and Doc losing a foot, things are really breaking down.


And, to add insult to injury, while attempting to install a jaw on Engie, I mistakenly had Choke do it. Never ever have someone with 4 medicine install a jaw with herbal medicine.


Choke botched the surgery, inflicting 2 surgical cuts and some removing Engie's sternum. Her sternum. She was trying to install a denture. How the hell do you remove someone's sternum when you're installing a denture?


Rest in peace Tina. Your memory of striking compacted machinery will not be forgotten.

Day 25:
Friendly visitors arrived. With melee weapons, they rushed down the poison ship. The killed the syther and did signifigant damage to the centipede. They might have saved the colony. But, even if the colony dies, I'm glad they avenged Doctor's foot.

Later that day, Doctor shot the Centipede about 20 times and downed it. We have bested the poison ship!

Day 29:
After surviving another raid despite Seraph going on a berserk rampage during the raid, some tribals came to visit.
Surprisingly, Saio, the first trader who appeared to the colony has returned with this group. I would totally try the timber wolf thing but they don't have anything worth taking.


Day 31:
Sappers are attacking. They have pretty good equipment too. Luckily, Engie crafted an assault rifle and we picked up a charge rifle off a dead raider. This is going to be quite a fight.

End of Day 31: The bloody melee
The sapper raid was the worse damage inflicted by a raid yet.
It was chaos.
A manhunting bear attacked and downed Seraph and distracted our turrets as the sappers attacked. Some visitors near the top of our base attacked the raiders too. It was complete carnage. Raiders died, visitors died, but my colonists somehow lived.
But, near the end of the raid Zeppy was clubbed to death by a raider called Fowler.
There are three raiders who can and will be captured. A lot of turrets got destroyed, but everyone is alive.


Our three new inmates.


The colony will have to rebuild and repair our defences. Fowler actually has good stats and a low-ish recruitment difficulty, so he could be joining us eventually.
It wouldn't be the first time having someone in the group who's killed a colonist.

Day 35:
We are cleaning up after the raid. We released one of our prisoners after she got 3 infections, leaving us with only Fowler and Toni. A bulk goods trader arrived and we sold all the clothing the sappers left us.


Day 37:
The RNG gods have favoured me with insane recruitment rolls. Welcome to the colony Toni.

(It was a 3.1% recruit chance).
Other than the new recruit, we are slowly rebuilding and repairing the colony. We have a bit of a steel and component shortage, but if we can last a little longer we can mine some components. Things are getting better, slowly.

And as a plus, Toni has pretty good stats.


Day 38:
Right as we are recovering from the sapper disaster, here comes some trouble. Manhunting elephants, four of them. Good thing we have automatic weaponry.


We took out the elephants easily, but Erisen lost her nose. Not that it's a big deal though, everyone hated her before since she killed Tina.
More importantly, Seraph lost his left foot. Poor Seraph really can't get a break.



My plan is to call an exotic goods trader and sell off this ivory. I might even be able to buy some bionic limbs. I just need to scrape together some silver first.

Day 41:
Even more trouble this time. An all melee raid from the Smokey Vipers. They all have personal shields.
This will be a hard fight.


Thankfully, making friends with a local outlander town has it's advantages. I called in some miltary aid.


Luckily though, we finished the fight with no serious damage. The visitors took out a sheriff who was a Go-juice addict. My three colonists who did all the fighting, Choke, Engie and Erisen, quickly ingested some Go-juice. Thanks to the OP drug, my pawns quickly took out the shielded raiders.


Thanks Karo. Addiction really does kill people.

Day 45:
The colony has been repairing itself and improving. Things are going well. Unfortunately, my head miner Toni won't be as good as she used to be. Stupid birthday.

(She got the health condition Frail).

Day 47:
We have called an exotic goods trader and are progressing well. We have a stonecutting table now and are producing stone for defenses and fireproofing buildings. We have a great stockpile of pemmican in the fridge. Our biggest problem right now is lack of gold and running out of projects for Erisen (who is now 20 in research) to research.
Hopefully we can fix the gold problem and the everyone-is-disfigured problem soon.


Day 49:
Right as the exotic goods trader arrives, so did a raid of mechs. Lucky and unlucky in a way.


The battle quickly turned into a gunfight against the sythers. Engie had her foot shot off, and tragically Erisen was shot to death. She will be missed by me, but not the other colonists.
In the middle of the gunfight we bought some things from the trader. We had to sell the Husky we started with, so Seraph will be super depressed since his bonded animal is gone.
But, we now own a prosthetic arm and a bionic arm, and 20 gold. The only problem is our researcher is dead.

Then in the middle of the shootout with the inferno cannon-wielding centipede, Seraph decided to go berserk!
I shouldn't have sold that dog.


Despite getting shot at and mobbed by visitors, Seraph is alive. But he is missing one eye.
He really can't catch a break. I'll try to get a bionic eye now.


Choke got a minor burn scar to the eye, but otherwise the colony is fine.

Heh. Right as everyone is getting bandaged up Cassandra wants more blood. No thanks.


At the end of the bandaging, Erisen was put into a sarcophagus. Goodbye Erisen. You will be missed. Not by colonists though, they all hated you. Especially Seraph, he got a +10 mood bonus from your death for an entire season.

[MiniKeeper]

Day 51:
Finally! After about 8 days of resisting an 18% recruit chance, Fowler has finally joined us. Ironically after the only other colonist who killed a colonist died.


Day 57:
After many quiet days of repairing and recovering, the colonists threw a party.
Seraph has a bionic arm and is (slightly) less depressed. This is a sure sign something bad is coming soon.


Day 58:
Some more luck! An exotic goods trader! If I can scrape up some silver I can buy some legs and eyes.


But later than day the bugs show up...


Day 59:
We killed the bugs without many injuries. Everyone hates each other a little more because of all the friendly fire, but otherwise the pawns are alive.


We are slowly researching shipbuilding. I don't want to jinx it, but maybe we can escape.

Day 60:
Things are going okay. A geothermal plant will be built soon. There is lots of raw food stockpiled, and we have lots of medicine and about 30 yayo for emergencies.
The only problem is I did jinx my chances of escaping. A poison ship has crashed. I don't know if I should even bother attacking it, since I have a good amount of food and I don't want to deal with mechs.


Doctor is also recovering from an infection he got from gunning down the infestation.

Day 62:
A bulk goods trader showed up. Even though they are close to the ship, I don't want to battle the mechs.
Turns out Choke had 13 research plus an interest in it, and she is now our full time researcher, with her skill now at 15.
Fowler does all the cooking now, and we've had a few cases of food poisoning since she only has a skill of 4 in cooking. Choke had a skill of 6. We need a good cook to join soon. 


The bulk goods trader must have lost some animals though, since later that day we had three pigs join us.

Instead I decided to sell the pigs for 300 silver. No regrets.

Day 65:
Uh oh. A Warg manhunter pack. There is 23 of them. I don't think I can take them on in a head on fight, this will be a bloody day.


I could shoot the poison ship to unleash the mechs, but I don't think they'll attack the wargs.
My plan is to bring all the colonists into the refrigeration room and hide out for a few days.

The evacuation was a success. Everyone is in the refrigerator. I lost a bunch of turrets, but we are alive.


Day 67:
The colonists have been inside the fridge for 2 days now. They have been mining just to have something to do. We dug out a storage room for weaponry and apparel.


Unfortunately, there is also a dry thunderstorm outside. I hope my base doesn't burn down while we are sealed in here...


Crisis averted! Rain came shortly after the first fires. Thank you RNG gods.


And of course, right after the wargs leave, a siege arrives. Sigh.


I quickly deployed Doctor with a sniper rifle to take out the siege, but I didn't notice the triple rocket launcher projectiles until it was too late. Rest in peace, Doctor.


I then sent out Engie to snipe them. But Doctor had our only sniper rifle, which is now a piece of crap thanks to the damage it sustained from the rocket launcher. Engie missed a three shots, and they fired a mortar, which sailed right over our hospital and killed Fowler who was hauling a warg.

At this rate we're screwed.


To add insult to injury, the raiders have set themselves up in a really good position.
The sandstone building prevents us being able to snipe them effectively.



And to add more salt into the wound, a mortar shot also destroyed by 30 yayo and the 6 Go-juice that were being saved.

Day 69: The siege aftermath

The deed is done. We repelled the siege, but at a terrible cost.
Fowler and Doctor are dead. Engie and Seraph almost got kidnapped, but the raiders we're too injured to escape with them, instead deciding to save themselves. We incapacitated a single raider, Brows.
We'll need to recruit her. We need more people now.
On top of this, there is a heatwave which is causing more stress. Hopefully we'll be able to recover from this.


Later on day 69:
Engie went on a berserk rampage, downing Choke and getting downed by Brows. Seraph and Toni are passed out from heatstroke. This will be the end.

Day 70: The end of Tragedy
It is over. Everyone is dying on the ground and starving, so they won't get up. They survived so much. They survived mechs, raiders, and wargs. Only to die because of Engie's berserk rampage.


The colonists:
Seraph: The head farmer, even while he was missing one arm. He was pretty much always depressed, but rarely broke. Even with a single arm, foot, and eye, he grew enough food to keep the colony going. He was also a good soldier before he lost his eye. One of the original colonists. He was Tina's lover.
Notable skills: 13 shooting, 8 melee, 11 social, 15 growing.
Injuries: Left arm- shot off by raiders, Left foot- torn off by elephants, right eye- stabbed out by visitors when he went berserk.
Cause of death: Heatstroke.

Fowler: Killer of Zeppy. A good hauler and farming assistant. One of the few colonists without crippling movement-related injuries.
Notable skills: 11 shooting, 7 medicine, 6 growing.
Injures: Left fourth toe- shot off
Cause of death: Mortar shell.

Toni: A raider recruited through an insane 3.6% chance. A loyal colonist and very useful overall. Was our head miner even after she developed Frail.
Notable skills: 16 melee, 11 medicine, 12 mining, 8 art, and 8 crafting.
Injuries: Torso: Frail- gained after her 58th birthday.

Choke: The colonist who was the most helpful in attempting to save the doomed colony during its last days. A decent soldier, hauler and cook. An unsung hero of the colony's success.
Notable skills: 11 crafting, 15 research, 6 cooking (the highest of all my colonists).
Injuries: Left eye: burn scar- her eye is 7/10, caused by a centipede's inferno cannon.

Engie: The engineer who was our main crafter and constructor and who ultimately doomed the colony (or at least sped up our demise). A very useful pawn until the very end.
Notable skills: 12 shooting, 12 construction, 13 crafting.
Injuries: Right foot- shot off by a syther, Jaw- shot off by a syther, Sternum: removed- removed during a botched surgery by Choke, when she attempted to install a denture to Engie. Last but not least: Right kidney: destroyed- shot out by a raider.
Cause of death: Blood loss.
Zeppy: Our main constructor before Engie took his place. Also a great soldier, miner and doctor. One of the original colonists. He was the brother of Tina, Seraph's lover.
Notable skills: 8 shooting, 11 medicine, 12 construction, 12 mining.
Injuries: Right hand: old gunshot
Cause of death: Clubbed to death by Fowler.

Erisen: Our researcher. All she did was research and fight against raids. She was very good at what she did, but was hated by the other colonists because she had annoying voice and beat Tina to death in a social fight. She was especially hated by Seraph, who had a +10 mood bonus when she died.
Notable skills: 20 research, 11 animals, 8 crafting.
Injuries: Nose: torn off- it was torn off by elephants, Left lung- shot out by sythers before her death, Left big toe- shot out by sythers before her death.
Cause of death: Shot to death by sythers.

Tina: A hauler and generally useful pawn. She did some construction as well. She was Zeppy's brother and Seraph's lover. She was wooed by Seraph days before her death.
Notable skills: 8 shooting, 9 animals, 10 medicine, 8 construction.
Cause of death: Beat to death by Erisen during a social fight.

I'll also give a special mention to Brows the prisoner. She went berserk and died to a Megatherium

Later day 70:   
But then the impossible happened.
Toni recovered from her heatstroke coma. She made her way to the fridge and stuffed herself with insect jelly, before rescuing Choke and feeding her. Everyone else is dead, but could these two somehow survive?


Day 71:
Choke and Toni cobbled together some crappy sarcophagi and gave Seraph, Fowler, and Engie and decent resting place.
There is no way the two can survive any more raids though, we need to rush research.


Not all this lost though, as a wander shows up to save the day.
Oh wait. He's a model, incapable of Dumb Labor, Skilled Labor, Intellectual and Caring.
Boy, what a useful pawn.


Oh Larry. How are you supposed to be useful?

Day 72:
Toni caught the plague and is extreme at 61% immunity. She will die soon unless something is done.
I built a cryptosleep casket for her. Luckily we have some uranium that fell in a drop pod.



Day 74:
An all melee raid has arrived. They all have personal shields and as a result, my colonist can't win a battle against them.


Instead, I had Choke build more cryptosleep caskets near Toni's. Meanwhile, Larry went out to aggro the Poison Ship that had been lying all this time.


Larry vs the syther squad:


Larry survived (although he is missing his right big toe, and his stomach). He then regrouped with Choke.

The shielded raiders moved in...


But, rather than right the sythers, they decided desecrating our tombstones is a better idea.


But, after lighting our other sarcophagi alight, they decide to steal what they can and flee.


Sadly, my sarcophagi burnt to ash. These are the bodies of Zeppy, Tina, Erisen, and Doctor.


The fire spread, and despite Choke's attempts, it burnt down my prison, hospital and got to the research room.


Choke was already suffering from a charge lance shot to the left leg, and knowing we could not fight the sythers, she retreated to the kitchen, then went to one of the bedrooms and slept. Larry and Toni were already in cryptosleep. As a result, most of my base has burn down.


Day 77: The End. For real this time.
The colony is over. Everything is gone.


I sent my last colonist Choke to cryptosleep. At least I saved 3 colonists.

Endgame statistics:
Major threats: 15
Enemy raids: 10
Damage taken: 79547
Colonists killed: 7
Time played: About 11 hours and 30 minutes

Despite all my efforts to stall out and survive. Despite all the insane recruitment RNG that kept the colony running when it should have collapsed. Despite EVERYTHING my colonists lived through, from killer elephants to killer robots.
I still died.
What a playthrough. This was an insane game and I am very glad to have recorded it. I hope you enjoyed this documentation of my permadeath adventure. It took up 71 pages on Microsoft Word (mostly because of pictures) and has roughly 3700 words.
If you enjoyed, please tell me, I might do more of these documented playthroughs in the future, especially while we wait for Alpha 16.

[Pink Omega]

I enjoyed it. Keep it up!

[MiniKeeper]

I enjoyed it. Keep it up!

Thanks, I appreciate it.
I have a question:
Did you find it too long without breaks between the parts?

[Pink Omega]

I enjoyed it. Keep it up!

Thanks, I appreciate it.
I have a question:
Did you find it too long without breaks between the parts?

Nope, at least for me its fine.

[Posswam]

Excellent stuff, I thought this was great. 

I never have the guts to try the harder settings, so seeing the rapid build-up of problems was great.  I especially loved the brief resurrection at the end!

Definitely post more when you get the chance.

[Mkok]

Great story. Wonder if a wanderer could join to rebuild the colony, only to find 3 members still alive in the cryptosleep 

[MisterVertigo]

Thanks for posting! I'm hoping to do something like this with my next colony. It should be fun!

[A Friend]

I find simple stories with screenshots to be much more engaging than the usual wordy stories people put out. Please do keep these up. It's great and quite enjoyable to read.