Wasteland Survival Game Runsheet

This runsheet is the blow by blow guide for everything Wasteland. Scan through before your crew arrives to make sure everything's ready.
Once people start arriving, open it on your phone as a handy reference in case you're stuck.

Let's do this!

Metal rusted from the dripping sweat of survivors. Dust airborne like a plague. Conflict-ready, always.
Our home the Wasteland.
Beautiful.

Here's where we're headed:

One week before the event

On the day before your crew arrives

Consent chat & story intro

Runsheet for Tribal Battles

One week before the event

Most of the setup can be done on the day, but there's a few things that will be *so much easier* to get done a few days early.
The most important of these is finding the players who will be the Tribal leaders and special characters in the game.
Here's the full checklist from the setup guide if you'd like to double-check it as well.

Find 3 tribal leaders

Reach out to your most competitive and creative friends and ask them to be the Tribal leaders.

If possible, match the person to the vibe of the tribe.

Find a High Priest of the Order of Dead Gods

This character has a huge impact on how the Survival Game will play out so choose a friend who's confident and quick with ideas.

Explain how the Dead God works and ask if they're feeling competitive enough to try and form their own tribe on the night.

If not, no worries. They'll still be the High Priest of the Order of Dead Gods and get a chance to welcome people and revive them when dead.

Here's the full walkthrough for the High Priest.

Find someone to run Vigo's Chop Shop

Vigo is by far the craaaziest character to play as on the night.

If you'd like to be Vigo yourself it's worth finding a helper on the night. Sometimes you'll need to leave the Chop Shop to run Tribal Battles, so the extra hand keeps things from getting too overwhelming.

Find an MC

The Wasteland needs a loud-shouty-person who can marshal others into Tribal Battles and keep the night moving.

Again, this could be yourself or a friend. If you do both this role and Vigo yourself, make sure you have a helper for the Chop Shop.

Print the game

Printing the game on the day of the event is a little like that time you got your assignment in 5 minutes before it was due.

You can totally do it, but hey, do it a few days earlier and you'll have a much better time! This ensures any issues with the print store can be fixed and gives you the chance to look over the kit and work out what's going on.

Collect some props

Grab the Nerf guns, fake knives and other gear we couldn't squeeze through your printer. If you don't think you can get something in time just use what you have around the home.

For example, if you can't get Nerf guns and fake knives just use a marker to cross out the 'guns' part of the Vigo's Chop Shop poster, and grab a handful of knives and forks from the kitchen drawer. Easy!

If you have some time, and feel like editing the game, you can also remove/edit anything that doesn't suit your crew (or anything that you just don't feel like arranging!).

Here's the full list of props to collect.

On the day before your crew arrives

This last-minute checklist is to give you peace of mind on the day. If it's done before your crew arrives you'll know you're good to party.

Check in with special characters

Contact your friends who are playing as special characters on the night and ensure they're still good-to-go. Check that they can arrive 1-2 hours early so you can walk them through what's going on.

If one of them doesn't show or arrives late it really throws a wrench in your plans.

Setup music

• Music: Follow this wasteland party music list and save it to your phone.
Switch to any of the last 5 songs when running Tribal Battles (like the fashion show, bomb speed grab, or tug of war). These are high-energy and great for amping up the atmosphere to 11!

• Visuals: If you've got your TV hooked up to Youtube here's our custom Wasteland background visuals playlist. It'll run for a few hours and keep shuffling through different wasteland vibes.

Place all game posters up

Stick up the game posters around your home. If you feel like going all out you can theme up each of the Tribal spaces as well.

Make the Chop Shop, Shrine, and Art Station

• Set up Vigo's Chop Shop with the prices sign and all the props

• Create the High Priest's Shrine somewhere near the entrance.

• Set up the Art Station for people to make Tribal war banners and body tattoos.

Start with a quick consent chat

Once enough of your crew has arrived it's time to kick off the Wasteland game.

Don't worry if there's a few late stragglers since the game's designed to handle them. Latecomers simply choose a character card and then head to Vigo's Chop Shop to collect their starting loot.

Before starting the game it's great to have a quick chat with everyone about how to have the most fun while keeping everyone safe.

Example of a consent chat.

For example, someone playing as a fierce Warrior might be very loud, aggressive, and intimidating. While this might make the night significantly more immersive, it could make someone feel imposed on or uneasy. Or, if you're playing with the R-Rated expansion pack, then some players will be initiating sassy suggestions such as 'Can I tempt you with a deadly lapdance?'

In these moments, it's useful to have easy-to-remember shortcuts to help with communication. This is a simple green, yellow, red traffic lights system.

? GREEN for 'yes'
? YELLOW for 'can you stop what you're doing' or 'that's a limit’
❤️ RED for 'hard no’. This means everyone who hears you say Red should stop what they're doing, break character and check in how you're going.

You can explain this to the group in whichever way fits your crew the best. If you'd like an example, then watch the video to see how our Shadow Tribal Leader explained it with drama and brooding menace to make it more playful.

Starting the game

It's time for the blood to flow!

Welcome players to the Wasteland and introduce the story, world, and game mechanics.

Here's a short script you can read out as well as a video of the introduction we did. This is a great time to be in character which sets the tone for the whole night.

Script you can read out:

Metal rusted from the dripping sweat of survivors.
Dust airborne like a plague.
Conflict-ready, always.
Welcome to home - the Wasteland.

No-one knows how the world ended. Nuclear war? Climate change? Zombies? A virus? Bad humor?

What I know for certain is the 3 warring factions have been fighting a water feud for as long as our Elders can remember. After all, it's the scarcest resource on this rock.

Rather than shed blood for the generations to come, the 3 Tribal Leaders have bargained to let their best and bravest fight it out in one night of survival - Tonight.

The winning faction at the end will hold the only water source in the Wasteland - the Spring of Life.

Tribal Battles

Bring everyone together 30 minutes after the Survival Game has started for the first Tribal Battle. Ideally, go around to all the Tribal Leaders 5 minutes before you announce this and remind them to have a contender ready for the challenge.

Each Tribe must enter the battle and pay $250. The winning tribe walks away with all the loot ($250 x 3 = $750) plus a key from Vigo's Chop Shop.

After each challenge, let everyone know that the next one will be in 30 minutes.

30 mins: Bomb speed grab

In this challenge, both players are trying to grab the 'bomb' when the music stops.
You can use anything for the bomb, like the cardboard inner tube from a roll of kitchen paper or even a plastic cup.

The winner of the first battle then faces the last remaining tribe.

1 hour: Most Fearsome tribal war chant

5 challengers from each Tribe will need to unleash their most fearsome war chant.

Make sure to announce this challenge at the end of the previous Tribal Battle to give teams a chance to prepare.

1.5 hours: Fashion battle

If Zoolander was in the Wasteland they'd be dropping style in this all-out catwalk of death.

Each Tribe can bring forth 1-2 challengers to strut their stuff. The winner will be judged by Vigo based on how epic their costume is as well as how well they embody/act their character.

2 hours: Maddest Max

This is a battle between the Max's and Tribal Leaders. After all, their goal in the game is sweet, sweet revenge. Since Max's can't join a tribe it's also their chance to participate in a larger challenge.

Start this challenge with one of the Max's standing back to back with a tribal leader. They'll each have a Nerf gun with 1 bullet in it. Count out 5 steps and then pause to build some anticipation.....

Yell out FIRE!

Anyone hit by a bullet loses a life (including not-so-innocent bystanders).

Then, move onto the next Max and next Tribal Leader until all done.

2.5 hours: Tug of war

This one's a 3-vs-3 tug of war. Pretty simple stuff.

Grab a large bed sheet or an actual rope.

After this Tribal Battle, announce that the game will be ending in 30 minutes sharp. Time to get some killing done!

3 hours: Winners are declared!

The game ends after 3 hours or when a Tribe amasses 10 keys - whichever comes first. The 3 hour limit prevents the game from dragging on.

Announce the game has finished and celebrate the winners by showering them in the blood of their enemies. Or you could pour a round of shots. Up to you.

If the vibe is right, there's an achievements poster you can fill out as a group. This is a great way to wrap up the evening while ending on a high. Make sure to shout out each achievement and let people shout back who they feel should earn it. Write their name on the poster as a way of immortalizing their moment. This way, any players who put heaps into the game get to be celebrated, even if their tribe didn't win.

Got a question about the night?

Ask away! Our team is in the southern hemisphere and checks messages Mon-Fri, so it might take us a day or two to get back to you but don't worry - we will.

Just shoot us a Facebook message or email.

How'd your party unfold? We'd love you to share a photo on our Facebook page.
Psst... if you leave a review I'll send you a free game.

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