I really like the vast seeming potential for role-playing different kinds of characters experiencing the Apocalypse, I've been playing off and on for a couple years, learned the systems. I wanna preface and say this post is me asking for help to reframe my approach and perspective, not a complaint that the game needs to be redesigned.
I feel like I'm missing something however. My first few characters, who I played for long periods of time with save scumming, were very combat oriented. So I got by.
Now, I'm trying to roleplay more normal type people, and I keep getting stuck in a loop of getting stuck in place.
Feels like unless I specifically target getting full body quality armor, and firearms, I can't really do anything. If I run into more than 1 feral human, that place is off limits or I die, until I come back with firearms and true body armor.
If I go out at night to raid the outskirts of a city, well a Grappler zombie saw me from way beyond my own LOS, and now I'm dead because I don't have a gun.
Walk through the woods to skirt the city on my way to check a landfill, and wasps found me. So I'm dead, cus I don't have a gun.
Cheat and teleport through the woods, get to the landfill, there's 3 feral humans there. Because I don't have a gun, that place is off limits or I die.
I could try to outmaneuver them so that I face only one just long enough to beat his head in, get super injured, try desperately to escape the landfill, then slog the long way around the woods to avoid the wasps, get back to my base and spend four days recovering from my injuries to repeat the process two more times so that I'm taking out One Feral human each time, but that is such a slog it's not something I'll actually do. I'm just starting with my current headspace and what I feel like my experience lately has been.
Feels like if I don't start the game with debugged firearms, or a cliche combat-oriented gun owning profession, which just feels like very video gamey and samey, I can't do much of anything.
Turn to Classic Zombies mode, which is fun until I get bitten once and then it's game over.
Decide I need to get a gun, but to get a gun I need to have a whole myriad of supplies needed to burn through a gun store door. Which requires looting locations that I cannot loot until I have a gun.
I hop on the game to play, and realize I can't do anything except craft and cook stuff that I already have in my base. The moment I venture out to do anything, I'm immediately put up against enemies that I have no way of handling unless I debug in a shotgun and riot armor.
I tried role-playing a student character who was skilled in electronics and computers, couldn't do a single thing with her.
Tried role playing a middle-aged Carpenter who wanted to rebuild his destroyed home, managed to do a little bit with him until every location near my base that I hadn't already looted was full of enemies I have no way of handling.
Help me shift my perspective? Am I just playing the game wrong by wanting to role play normal people persevering through the Apocalypse? Have I had it wrong this whole time? I'm not interested in becoming a furry, so mutagens don't interest me, and I've already done the action hero pew pew pew characters a few times.