The Reckoning Third Stage: Guide to the Apocalypse

Have you ever wanted to go into the brutal Universe of the Walking Dead, Rage and Fallout New Vegas combined? Perhaps as a lone slippery scavenger or a crazed cannibal? The Union and The New Confederacy are in a final civil war for the ruins of the nation. The agressive Arian Brotherhood and other gangs now rule many cities, will you fight the Neo Nazis or perhaps join them? Or perhaps fight for the Church Of Our Savior or the rising Dead Mens Cult! Well look no further than The Reckoning Third Stage!

(Lor Dric and others took it upon themselves to help fix and actively improve upon this mod over the past year.)

Where realism takes on a whole new form...

Background

The year is 2029, the land is ravaged by raiders and the dead roam in hordes. From the mainland to the eastern wastes. Most of the population and animal life is dead and it's up to you to survive and make what you wish of what is left of the world. The original mod has been redone and improved upon by Lor Dric, hence the name Third Stage.

Character Creation In A Chaotic World

There are only a few options so choose wisely as they affect your stats and your starting gear. If you choose a Cop for instance you will start out with a certain fighting edge.



Companion or Gun?

Among the options you can choose to start out with a brother, son or a gun. And vice versa for the opposite sex. Yes they are companions but do not send them on a mission to raise your right to rule or they seem to never come back. You can even choose a name for them!

I started as a teacher with a trusty Rifle yet all I started out with was a pistol. So not sure if that worked. However, it would be a better idea to start out with a good companion.

Now I highly recommend doing the starting quest because it does actually function and money is hard to come by.

Radical Realism - Quick Important Info

First thing you must know is that this mod is more dangerous than any other as not only can zombies maul you but also a single bullet or explosion could be the death of you.(Though if you literal die, which is rare, you can sometimes load back your last save) And this cannot be turned out. If you go down in battle, the battle ends, so it is of the upmost importance that you stay ALIVE! So my advice to deal with this is as follows and some tips:

• M kneels down, use this to take cover!
  
• Turn down damage to self at least half or 1/4th before battle. This is so you can survive being scimmed by a bullet in battle. (It's in the options.)
  
• When Scavenging personally don't worry about that as if you are taken down it doesn't affect your stats or health.
  
• For now, If you go down in battle you will likely take stat loss with no way to heal it!!! Though I have seen an arm wound heal by itself though once. The injuries can be serious. (And the battle ends but the autoresolve result is decently done)
  
• Turn down battle size to about 100 or so if you think you will be on a smaller battlefield. Usually I also split my forces into a first and second line so they take up less space too.
  Where cover is limited. Out in the open full battle size is fine and I'd encourage it. (The reason for this is so you have less men standing in the open in the case everyone is taking cover taking pot shots at cha.)
  
• You cannot scavenge a location unless you have friendly relations with the faction it seems.
  
  
• Gas masks actually work. (And you really need one to survive a battle with any chem weapons.)

Also things are costly and money is hard to come by. The main ways to make money is through scavenging, war or all around robbing any poor soul you come across. Fights are commonly fast, furious and lethal.

Unique Commands

• H = Picks up resources
  
• M = M key crouch
  
• V = V key toggles scope

Must push 1, 2, or 3 first, to select a certain type or group of troops... for the next 2 keys listed,

• J = J key sends troops to cover
  
• U = U key makes troops leave cover

God, Guns, And Glory

Guns are Gods Equalizer, from big to small you will find all types used by different groups in varying degrees. Take into account the player as far as I know cannot use bows or Crossbows at this time. However, troops and companions can. Hand to hand weapons are still all useable though.

Types Of Guns
You'll find guns in every town and fort from all times periods. Here's a few types you'll come across:

• Pistols
  
• Revolvers
  
• Semi Auto Rifles
  
• Rifles
  
• Sniper Rifles
  
• Shotguns

FIRING A GUN



Okay, many people seem to have messed this up in the past. Guess city folk don't know how to handle one of these bullet spitters too well.

First, you hold down the fire button to aim. Then you let go to shoot. This is the rule for any pistol, rifle, shotgun ect All your run of the mill type guns.

EXCEPT, when you have a Machine gun! Then you can tap the fire button to raise your gun and do a burst. If you hold it down, you will spray your ammo most likely inaccurately.

BOWS AND CROSSBOWS?

These I've heard do NOT work in battle for the player. Though feel free to test that out. Companions are able to use them! This is due to the unique ammo system employed in the mod.

Ammo And Where To Get It

First, Once you use ammo, it's gone... This occurs when you shoot your gun in battle or against zombies while searching for supplies. Each gun type has its own type of ammo. Some pistols use 9MM for instance. You store this in our inventory and not on your character itself.

Second, you only can carry as much ammo into battle as your ammo belt has which you wear on you. (and you obviously can't have more ammo on you than is in your inventory) The best way to get a max 200 is to steal one of those belts from a companion who commonly have them.

It seems companions don't use your ammo. At least as long as you let them keep their starting weapons. If I remember correctly from a conversation I once had with the last maker of the current release. Now I would be recommend to use longer ranged weapons for greater personal safety.

At least until you can get a fast Motorcycle or car perhaps. But hey if you want to charge head first into gunfire with a rusty pipe then hey, break a leg. (No literally, that will probably happen to you.)

So overall, don't waste ammo as it doesn't come cheap.

Exception to the Rule: When attacking a lair then you have your ammo belt max and it doesn't use up inventory ammo.

Where do I find it?

• In towns in the marketplace.
  
• In forts when you talk to the right person that sells a small inventory.
  
• You can now trade resources for ammo with the Town Leader. (the same one you can trade resources for troops with.)
  
• Sometimes after battles you will find some.

Trading resources for ammo
This is the most cost effective way to get ammo for yourself.

• US Army, Confederacy - .556 rounds
  
• Aryan Brotherhood, Bennet Clan - 12Ga. rounds
  
• Church Of Our Savior, Woodbury - .308 rounds
  
• Hagar, Miners - .42 magnum rounds
  
• Dead Mens Cult, Marauders - 9mm rounds

Recruitment And Types Of Locations

Forget about recruiting from villages, those are now places to scavenge and do a little rare trading from time to time with the loners who still bother to hang around the zombies. So here are some places and ways you can get men to join ye. Also a rundown of certain types of locations.

Places Of Interest

These are what were originally villages.

• Now they are zombie infested locations where you search for batches resources worth roughly 70 each and smash some heads along the way.
  
• They nearly always have a person to trade with hidden somewhere. Sometimes they sell cheap food which is nice and some other things.

(Also buying cattle isn't worth it in my opinion.) But overall, they are poor and easy to look over.

FORTS

These are common across the map. Some better defended than others. Though you cannot recruit from them as far as I know. You can however buy and sell from a person there. Who usually has only guns and ammo and some money.

Eastern Raider factions commonly only have Forts and are forced to therefore fight over a select few towns or expand deeper into the nation.

TOWNS


These are far and few in some regions of the map. The closer you get toward the center the more common they seem to get. Not all factions even start with a town. Here is where most troops, trade and fighting occurs in and around. Out of them stream scavengers, supply caravans and those who own them. Take into account the upgrade trees for each, some are shown in the reports and others are not so you'll have to discover them.

• Talk to the Town Leader or whoever is in charge of the town and you can trade Scavenged Resources for troops. One for a regular scavenger.
  
• Pay three resources for a Rifleman and you'll get a well trained faction specific troop.
  
• In Bars you can commonly recruit large amounts of men of just about any type. This is the main place I like to recruit for my Raider Type Troops.
  
• You can go to all the markets in town to buy your guns, armor ect
  
• You can recruit a powerful tank for 5000.

In one bar alone at times I'll recruit dozens of men. Such as in this example here when 23 Gearhead and Khan raiders total were for hire.

Recruiting Cultic Riflemen:

If you find wandering Cultists or Dead Men Preachers and identify yourself as one of them. Then donate 250 to them, you get a few Cultic Riflemen. Or you can choose to attack them, like you can attack nearly every other group on the map if you wish. Or you can give sacrifices to them.

Also you can get them for Three Resources from the Dead Men.

Troops Trees

Due to the nature of this mod and the wish to allow a wide array of troops. Many bandit troops that you recruit can be upgraded to turn into the faction troops of particular factions. Such as my Raider units could be turned into the first tier of Woodbury Troops.

Or in another way, the top tier of a lowly scavenger is to be a Khan Raider should you wish. These troop trees are found in the reports and if you click on any of the units within it, you see their gear and stats.

Player Built Camps And Outposts

CUSTOM LOCATIONS


You can have up to two camps, this is done by going into the camp menu and clicking on take action.

Here you can place troops and prisoners and even stockpile a stash for later. This has a wide range of uses most of all for raiding.

• They cost one hundred to build
  
• A companion to govern it.

Outposts

You can also construct two outposts. But only one can be upgraded into a literal Fort after a few upgrades. Most impressively, once you have a Fort you will attract merchants and thus have your own independent base of operations on the map.

Just like Negan in the Walking Dead, you too can build up outposts full of blood thristy men. These include the following:


Patrols loyal to you.


Merchants


They don't seem to be able to be attacked or conquerable by factions. But that has not been tested by myself too much as of yet. Last tip, dont build on highways. It seems to glitch it.

Make Troops Companions!

If there is a particular man or woman you find has done great deeds in battle then you can make them a companion! Here's how:

• 1. Talk to them after a battle.
  
• 2. Ask their name
  
• 3. Make them a companion for 1000.

Then you will get a copy of all their weapons and armor as well. They operate like a regular companion and start at the same level as they were as a troop unit. So a level 14 Bounty Hunter will start out as a level 14 companion then you can upgrade him as such. I wouldn’t recommend sending them on a mission to raise your right to rule as I haven’t tested if they come back yet.

This is a good way to get hard to find armors to fit your personal character.

I haven't tried sending them on missions yet or anything so I don't know if that glitches them. Something to test in the future i suppose.

The Innocent And The Insane

After so much death only the lucky and the lunatics have survived this long apart from the army and gangs. Here is a brief rundown of a few of the different groups apart from the factions on the map:

Hostile Bands



Roaming the map you will find many hostile bands to fight. They can vary widely in size and quality. In the west there are many zombie hordes usually around the population centers. While the further east you go the more likely you will see larger more organized raider forces without enough lawbringers to stem them. While in the west, the groups are less quick and dangerous. They go by many names and commonly will have a nice conversation with ya before they try to kill and eat cha.

Oh also, the hordes of zombies wandering around attack everyone.

Loot varies depending on who you are fighting. If you kill some Jackals then you will likely get Jackal gear, if you fight US Troops you'll likely get some US gear.

Scavengers|


People just trying to get in the weary world. Men and women who are usually lightly armed and roam in small groups between settlements to points and interest and back. Their loot can vary widely from little to the rare high valued item. Commonly they can be a source of fresh meat as well. (apart of loot from them; ;) )

Convoys


There isn't much of an economy left, just scarce supplies moving between settlements. Usually in well armed bands of a few dozen who are not afraid to put up a bit of a fight to defend their cargo. There's good chance of higher quality loot in comparison to scavengers. Or just to threaten for tolls as they pass through your parts can earn a good amount.

Neutral Groups you can attack

UN Troops - If you are feeling a bit anti globalist and would like to blame the UN for all the nations problems. Then feel free to attack the UN troops that roam about. They keep to themselves, seeming intent to watch good people suffer.

Swat Teams - Still trying to serve the common good. These men have taken it upon themselves to continue fighting for "Justice" and shoot any honest raider that gets in their way.

Bounty Hunters - Sick of these do gooder Regulators hunting down your insane kin? Then feel free to attack these bounty hunters and free your people!

Who you sadly cannot attack.

It appears you cannot attack the County Cops. Except perhaps if you join a battle and join the other side.

Thanks for reading/Suggestions

Overall, I've been able to quite enjoy this mod for a while and it has high replayabity with all the different ways to try to play it. I've considered making a Faction Overview Section but that would be quite time consuming to make so I'll hold off on that for now. Now, the download for the latest version of the mod is below and also I will include my two personal gaming playlists from spotify.

With such an in depth mod, with so many features. This guide has barely scrapped the surface of this mod but I hope it helped a bit. Please be sure to give this guide a like and favorite and comment below your feedback!

Note: Every now and again I may add things to this guide so feel free to check back every now and again. If you have suggestions for more sections feel free to comment below your request!

Music For A Mad World

[Outside Sewer City]

This is ten hours of hand picked music of mine in the "The Reckoning: Hail the Apocalypse" playlist on spotify. Made up of the most intense Nhilist Metalcore and Christian Metalcore combined to sum up the extreme divide in The Reckoning. Also there is some dark instrumental themes that keep with the apocalyptic atmosphere.

https://open.spotify.com/user/josh42392/playlist/5jt9wPhsZUScWkZssI8a56


If you wish for a dark intense purely Cultic Playlist then please give a listen to my handpicked music below. Since the mod itself only has a couple songs and the same few thrashing metal songs eventually wears on ya. These are both around ten hours of music and I'm always tweaking it to be ever more perfected for the mood. The playlist below is called DARK AGES GAMING MUSIC.

https://open.spotify.com/user/josh42392/playlist/2qZrnhe91iH5wWWhQZuwri

If you wish to be inspired toward a higher ideal and the cause of Christianity and The Glory Of God. Then draw your sword and charge while listening to the playlist below called FOR GLORY!

https://open.spotify.com/user/josh42392/playlist/7afCqCx1EbQDWKZebMEMJY

TR3rdStage New Years Download!

There was a new full download this New Years! Just drag and drop it into your Warband Modules folder.

http://www.moddb.com/downloads/the-reckoning-third-stage-1-90

Work has ceased on this mod except for The Reckoning New Beginning Mod which is a Sequel

Thank you all for downloading and please refer this mod to friends. Now recently the maker has announced after the long wait, he will again working again on the mod. Please be sure to give Lor Dric your support and postive encouragement to help perfect this mod.

http://www.moddb.com/news/started-work-on-this-again/#6798982

EDIT: Unfortunately, Lor Dric has passed away. Thank you so much for all the happiness you brought others. However, a new modder has begun working on a new version taking place a hundred years after the events of this mod.

How to Download Mods

Yes this guide is for a mod of Mount And Blade Warband. This is how you would install it if this is your first time.

Winrar
This is a program I use to unpack the mods. Download link below but don't risk it if you don't trust it. http://www.win-rar.com/start.html?&L=0

How:

1. Download the mod you want to install. ...
2. Extract the files. ...
3. Copy extracted files to Warband's Modules folder. ... (This pc, local disk (C:), program files (x86), Steam, Steamapps, common, MountBlade Warband, Modules) - (drag and drop them into the right folder)

Start Mount and Blade: Warband and check the Modules drop-down box for the mod you installed.

Patching

In the event you ever are asked to install a patch this is how.

1. Simply go into the module file location(wherever that is).
2. Then highlight and drag the patch files over to the folder and drop it in.
3. Then you should be asked if you want to 'Copy And Replace' say YES. Then you'll likely be asked if you want to 'Merge Folders' say yes again to all of them.

If it doesn't ask you to do this, then you did something wrong.

New Guide for Scavengers and Cannibals

The Reckoning Third Stage: Guide to the Apocalypse

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1222886352


Be sure to check it out for more cool and in-depth useful info!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1280571992