Kenshi: Ultra Hard Realism Part One!

If you personally know me, you know I love the game Kenshi. It's my favorite game ever and Kenshi 2 is the only thing in these recent years that is something I look forward to. I also play the game modded, I first played it a bit as purely vanilla but once I got really into it I started to play with mods. I came to dislike mods that add too much and change too much, yet I was still getting an itch vanilla wasn't scratching anymore once I got decent at the game. The two mods I were using were Kaizo or Living World, they kept the game vanilla but Kaizo was good for making it more challenging and Living World added more world states. Of course they conflict with each other so I couldn't use them at the same time but I enjoyed them. However one day as I scrolled through Youtube binge watching Kenshi content, I came across a video. This man was having the same issues as me, he got too good at the game and vanilla was beginning to feel too easy, the exploits too tempting, and overhaul mods adding and changing too much. So he created Ultra Hard Realism, an overhaul mod that keeps Kenshi the same, but it's core mechanics overhauled to make the staying alive and thriving much more difficult. And so this is where my adventure begins and I will say I am so far enjoying the mod very much, so I plan to stick with this save file.

Also I'm gonna come clean and say I am a save scummer, if a unit dies I am restarting because losing them makes me too sad, plus like I said this mod is hard so I like to think I am learning before I am trying the bedrock challenge where I will try to fight every boss with no reloads.

Our adventure starts with Dewey, a Hive Worker formally named Dew who at some point in the past became a slave after being free of The Hive and has woken up on the shores of Sinkuun, an empty arid land bordering The Great Desert. Dewey is well aware of how dangerous of a spot he woke up in is, to the west of him would be where the cannibals live so he decides to make his journey to the east as The Great Desert might be a little more safer. Only a little as it's a harsh land where corruption thrives, being poor is a crime, slavery fuels the entire economy, slaves are viewed as subhuman, anyone is willing to beat you into the ground wherever it's to steal your food to live for another day or people dragging you away to sell you into slavery for a quick buck. Oh and the Skimmers are dangerous too, they're giant bugs that will kill and eat you.

Before reaching The Great Desert he came across a lonely fort, one surrounded with the same hungry rebels he had to dodge as they're one of the many groups willing to assault anyone just to survive for another day. Thankfully they willingly let him inside and there he met Boss Simion, the leader of the Rebel Farmers. Understandably Simion was on edge and assumed Dewey was out to collect his bounty, but Dewey knew better than to make enemies in a land that will kill anymore to either survive or for money and power. In fact he thought in a land like this, it would be good to have allies, so he asked to join the Rebel Farmers, they're only farmers who have been pushed by the nobles to live the way they do after all. Simion, seeing Dewey just escaped as a slave and was nothing but a stick, well Hivers are stickmen but he was even more of a stick as he was starving, welcomed him to the faction and gave him a loaf of bread. Taking of the nobles would require a strong and sizable army, Dewey knew this so as much as he would love to take out the ones who were behind his capture in the first place, the war on nobles will have to wait another day.

Now feeling a little safer during travel, Dewey came across his first town: Sho-Battai. There was nothing special about it, just another city found within the United Cities territory, but this is where Dewey would meet his first friend, Ells. While he simply wandered the streets to figure out what he would do, a large and fat male Shek came up to him begging for food. Feeling generous at the time with the amount of money he made from selling gear he looted from dead bodies he gave him 300 cats. Due to speaking in third person he reveals himself to be Ells, this came as shocking news to Dewey as there was a bounty on a bar thief named Ells, but it is soon obviously not only is Ells down on his luck but he's not quite the sharpest tool in the shed. Regardless, two is better than one and Dewey offered him to travel with him and the two banded together and left Sho-Battai.

Two is better than one indeed but you know what beats two? Blades. Blades will beat any amount of people if they're naked. So the duo made they way to Bast, a no-man's land bordering Sinkuun and The Great Desert where The United Cities and The Holy Nation are at constant war, a perfect place to loot the weapons and armor off of bodies! They looted a mixture of Holy Nation and United City armors and were lucky enough to find heavy polearms, the long reach will make it easier to keep a distance from whatever tries to kill them. feeling braver they ventured out and reached Bark, another city but more run down looking compared to Sho-Battai. As they walked, Dewey got pickpocketed and wasn't havin' it as he demanded his money back. The red haired greenlander woman fussed at him to keep his voice down as she's barely getting by and doesn't need the guards after her too. As like before, he didn't want to make enemies, convinced her why not join them as the woman complained she can't get out of town yet him and Ells were able to travel. Their new companion, appropriately named Red, joined and they went all the way back to Bast to find some salvaged new gear for her.

Now with three people they went back to Sinkuun to explore a mysterious tower not far from where Dewey woke up. Within the tower was a large group of very aggressive GOATS! That's right, no bandits hiding in there, no cannibals or killer robots, just a bunch of goats who attacked on sight. When you see a goat you wouldn't think much of it, they're small and weak, but they made up for this in size of their herd. Dewey, Ells, and red all fought until they couldn't stand anymore but thankfully only a few goats remained and they were able to patch themselves up and kill the rest. They got a lot of leather and meat from this but unfortunately that's where the riches end as once they went inside the only thing found were chewed up ancient science books, they were too far gone to gain any knowledge or be worth anything, so with that, they cooked all the meat, sold the leather to a nearby hive village, and traveled south.

Survival was better, attacks from bandits and even the skimmers no longer guaranteed death as the three became skilled enough to hold their own and fight off whatever sneaked up on them in the desert while still avoiding manhunts and traveling nobles game hunting peasants. And yes, some nobles view it as a sport to take their Eagle's Cross and snipe anyone poor and starving traveling in the desert, if their needed to be another reason to convince you how inhuman they are. They slowly getting out of the desert as bits of land turned into canyons the further they went and despite how tempting it was not to, they stopped at Eyesocket, a slave market within Stormgap Coast which is an arid land at the southern end of the eastern United Cities territory. As the trio settled down at the inn, nearby were a group of citizens and their slaves. With curiosity getting the best of him, Dewey walked over to examine the group as one man was being outed as a slave lover, a degenerative term used on people who treat their slaves as humans rather than mindless livestock. Another citizen complained about his slave, a supposedly useless Hiver Soldier who not only does what he's told, but had his tongue cut out by his previous owner and now faces the threat of being turned into animal feed if his owner can't make his money back from buying him. Dewey feeling sorry for his fellow Hiver offered to pay for his freedom despite getting labeled as a slave lower for it. However this would cause unfortunate consequences.

Ray, the mute Hiver Soldier was now a part of the squad but being an unseen consequence, now being both an ally to the Rebel Farmers and a known slave lover, he became enemies with the slavers which caused them to be attacked within the slave market. Ells and Red made it out but Dewey and Ray were beaten down and locked into cages. Once again, the two Hivers were locked away as slaves as Ells and Red ran away and tried to think of a way to get their friends back. They barely had the money to hire mercenaries to storm the slave market with and weren't sure if it was worth the risk. But then an idea! If they gather enough money they could pay a pacifier to smooth things over with the slavers! So then the two traveled north all the way back into The Great Desert and entered the city of Stoat. In the bar was the slaver pacifier sipping on his grog and the two asked for help. He could help... for a price. That price being 35000 cats! They didn't have that kind of money! They only had 2000 cats! And That felt like a lot! But no money then no help so they traveled up to Bast to scavenge for gear to sell to the nearby hive villages. After just one trip they felt discouraged, the gear was so heavy, took up so much room, and each piece was worth 200 cats or less, they just barely made over 1000 cats with one trip. Was this worth it? Were they going to get their friends out at this rate? Then, another idea, a stupid and risky idea but one that could work. Belong The Great Desert was Heng and below that but above Stormgap Coast was Gut, a dangerous land filled with Gutters. They were surviving and killing Skimmers so mayyyybeeeee they could survive Gutters? And if so they can gather Gutter eggs and sell them at a whopping 1500 cats a piece. As they planned and convinced themselves they had to try, anescaped slave appeared and confronted them, accusing them of wanting to turn him in but he's not going down without a fight. Thankfully the two calmed him down and convinced him not to fight and also to join them which he agreed. Now Dirt, the male greenlander joined them and they made a quick trip to Bast for gear and then made their way down south.

Back at the slave market the two Hivers unlocked their shackles and cages with Dewey attempting escape first but ended poorly each time. They just so happened to be in cages that were constantly stared down by guards so even if he tried escaping at the one hour of dusk where it became dark but no lights came on yet, he was instantly spotted, beaten, and thrown back into his cage. Wherever his friends were, he hopes they're making progress to get them out.

Ells, Red, and Dirt made their way into Gut and lucky for them, they came across a Gutter's nest that was left unattended as the Gutters were eating the body of a crab and an unlucky traveler. One Gutter did spot and attack but thankfully they made quick work of it and safely got out of Gut. By swimming in the small body of water that border east Gut. It was a slow swim but who cares if it gets you out alive. They arrived in the town of Brink, a city in The Outlands which was to the east of Stormgap Coast, and sold the eggs. 24000 cats! Not quite enough but that was so many cats! Dewey and Ray will be saved in no time! They made their second trip, the second next was guarded but with being smart and luring in Gutters one at a time, they killed them off, took the eggs, and went to sell their eggs, now having 46000 cats. Back to Stoat! And with that they paid the pacifier who said lucky for us, slavers care more about money than grudges and they are once again neutral with the slaver faction. For now.

Back in Eyesocket, Dewey once again tried to escape and to his surprised the guards did not care about him as he walked freely. Ray on the overhand was still seen as a slave as any attempt to get him out resulted in the both of them getting attacked. After some thinking he had an idea, he would attempt to hit a guard, angering them all within the market, run to lure them out and give Ray time to run out. he could outrun the guards but Ray could not and of course he wasn't strong enough to carry Ray and outrun them. With his mind set, Dewey got the attention of the guards and lured them out as Ray managed to slip out and run far away out of sight. As the guards left the two grouped back together but Dewey had but shot by a turret with the arrow still stuck in his chest. Ray did his best to patch him up, thankfully enough to stop the bleeding but Dewey collapsed and had to be carried all the way to Heng, a city sharing the same name with the region named Heng. The canyons made it easy for Ray to stay out of sight and was able to get Dewey into an inn to rest where then Dewey got up, bought medical supplies to bandage himself up more, and the two walked out of the city where they met up with the other three, the whole squad now together again.

What to do now? With a sizable squad should they make a small base? Might be too early, what if they get raided? Maybe buy a house for now but for that they need money, a lot of money. Stay tuned for next time as they have decided a decent money maker would be to bounty hunt, if they can handle it.