Crew Loss Instant Death

[Sun of Socialism]

Worst mechanic of the game I've encountered so far. An otherwise spectacular run ended because I decided to dip into the three sisters' house (right next to London) before refreshing my crew and a 100% chance Veils challenge killed off my last remaining crew member.

I haven't spoiled myself so I had no idea that succeeding the event would ♥♥♥♥ me over like that. Your ship is (apparently) filled with seaworthy officers but the loss of that one last generic pleb zailor apparently meant the death of us all. Loss of fuel & food gives you a lifeline, why aren't you allowed to operate your steamship at a reduced efficiency & speed without any crew whatsoever?

I took steps to ensure my legacy, etc, etc, knowing anything can happen out in the zee, but it's still frustrating as ♥♥♥♥ to die like this.

[Woudo]

Your last crewmember is literally you. The Captain. Why did you think it was a smart idea to roam around with one crew member? The game is absolutely chock full of positive and negative, expected and entirely random, events that will strip away a crew member or two. Crew members are a resource you need to manage just like Fuel, Supplies, Hull, Terror, Wounds and so on.

Originally posted by Sun of Socialism:

Loss of fuel & food gives you a lifeline, why aren't you allowed to operate your steamship at a reduced efficiency & speed without any crew whatsoever?

It literally does. If you go below half crew, you're no longer able to thrust or reverse at engine speed 2. It gimps your mobility, costs you in food due to your low travel speed, and the low quantity of crew results in higher gains of terror. You're given plenty of encouragement to not travel at sub 50% crew capacity.

[Richard02]

Originally posted by Woudo:

Your last crewmember is literally you. The Captain.

[Lцсᶖаᶇ º¹]

must suck dieing such a short swim from london

well at least you learned that the crew number is pretty much a HP bar and not something to be ignored. like what's a ship without it's crew?

[Sun of Socialism]

Yeah, it was frustrating, but despite making this topic and disagreeing with the zero crew member game over, I took the death in stride and started over through the legacy stuff and decided to find my stupid father's bones this time around. The same dude who I messed up with right outside London.

A Cutter with a trio of clay men perhaps wasn't the best first play through setup in retrospect, for obvious reasons. Great game, and I'll do better next time.