NEW PIONEER? START HERE
Alaskan Forest shrouded in fog and mystery
Tips for any new Pioneer are myriad so it’s hard to know exactly where to start.
The vast landscapes of 19th century Alaska in Fatal Frontier 1869 are filled with peril and hazards both animal and human (and in some rare cases … unknown). Wade Tornstrom is a solid starting Pioneer to choose from, offering solid Defensive skills when attacked. He’s tough. Drown-proofed and build like a fleshy tank. He stomps around the landscape rather noisily (unlike Skookum Joe Mason, the Stealth Master) so it’s fair to assume he creates a noisy ruckus simply passing through grasslands and forested areas (not helpful if you’re trying to sneak around!). That said, Wade has all the basic skills you’ll need and over time can become a powerful Pioneer once leveled-up (you get Experience Points - XP - for pretty much all activities from exploring to finding special locations or fending off hostiles). So … Choose Wade, then add your choice of Trait (it’s like giving a Pioneer character an extra set of abilities or characteristics). Over time, as your Wade levels-up, he’ll be able to add more than one Trait before launching your Expedition …
Don’t fancy playing as Wade Tornstrom? Not a problem! There’s a healthy choice of Pioneer characters, with more being added over time. Each Pioneer looks and play differently, depending on your preferred play ‘style’.
Want to have a little bit more Energy to continue running around, or chopping trees (or digging up the Earth)? Well Energy is a key resource for you (dear Player) to manage. Energy allows your Pioneer to ‘do stuff’ and is second-only to your precious ‘Health’ level (hit zero Health and your Pioneer collapses and will need to be rescued, but more on that later …). So, choose the +Energy Trait and you’ll have that much extra ‘gas in the tank’. Or maybe you’re a fan of lumbering, felling trees and carting them around to earn Camp Credits (Frontier Mining Camps in the period always issued their own form of credit - also called ‘scrip’, back in the day). If being a lumberjack is your calling, then why not add the +10% Lumber Speed Trait to Wade, to make him swing that Axe just a little bit faster (assuming you can find an Axe, or simply buy one at a Trading Post).
Also, don’t forget to load up with Greenbacks. This was the Federal Reserve currency of the era, first issued in 1862. Called ‘Greenbacks’ due to the green ink, these notes were pretty rare, particularly in the Northwest Territories of the Frontier. Players can equip their Pioneer with a bundle of Greenbacks to make life easier in exploring the landscapes whether by day or by night (the short nights gets sketchy - quickly - you were warned). We recommend new Players take at least some Greenbacks in on their first Expeditions, but it’s not mandatory. Who knows, perhaps you’ll be successful in finding rare items which can be sold for Greenbacks at one or more of the Trading Posts ‘out there’?
What else? Wait, gold prospecting? You want to learn how to do that already? Sheesh … so soon! OK, OK, here are the basics. The crazy-smart software systems have created an explorable landscape with gold buried beneath the surface in two forms: There’s gold Ore, which looks like black rock with rivulets of gold in it as well as pure gold Grains (‘grains’ are an actual real world measure of gold …). You can mostly find Ore in the topsoil, the top most layer of Earth in the landscape. Find Ore and carry it back to a Trading Post where you can trade it for Credits.
Grains of pure gold, meanwhile, are only ever deeper in the ground, beneath the topsoil. These are worth real money and getting them out of the ground requires some serious skill and dexterity. To get at them down on bedrock, you’ll need to find or buy a Pick Axe (loads to choose from, naturally). Swing the Pick Axe to delve deeper, down to that bedrock where (over time) the pure gold Grains have moved through the Earth and settled (gold is heavier than soil, so in this way the location of pure gold Grains reflects reality). Where‘s the gold? Well, that’s up to you and your Pioneer to figure out (again, just like in real life). And nope, nobody in the Fatal Frontier team has any idea where the gold is buried, so please don’t bother asking us … all we can say is, “there’s gold up in them hills”. What happens next, is up to you. Just be guided up front that any gold Grains are only worth real money to you if you can escape back to Civilization!
In the real world era, successful gold prospectors would take a Steam Ship back from the Frontier with their gold Grains (or ‘Placer Gold'‘ like fine dust) wrapped carefully in carpets or even in bags carried in cast iron bathtubs (right?). Once the Steam Ships docked back in San Francisco or the Port of Seattle (a journey of many thousands of miles by ship!) the Prospectors would hurry to the Smelters and sell their Gold for real money. Thankfully, in Fatal Frontier that process is way easier (and faster!).
Once you are ready to end your Expedition, head for the Mining Camp by the river where a Steam Ship may already be docked, waiting on you (but, you’ll need to buy a ticket don’t forget). In the alternative, if you prefer a challenge, go in search of the great Signal Fire somewhere on the coastline. Once lit, this will blaze bright enough for any offshore Steam Ship to send a rescue launch. However, it will take time for the rescue launch to arrive … and in the meantime any and every bandit close by will know you’re loaded with gold and trying to escape. So, make sure you’re ready for hostiles to come for your gold before you light that Signal Fire. Once you’ve successfully Escaped, you can transfer your hard-earned gold Grains back to your real world bank account. Didn’t Escape? Well, the gold Grains are still yours, in the possession of your collapsed and exhausted Pioneer … so choose to send in another Pioneer you have in your collection to rescue his or her felled fellow Pioneer … or hire the Pinkerton Detective Agency to get in there for you. That choice is yours to make … we’re rooting for you all.
Get out there, survive the world, explore, prospect to get the gold and get out.
