Dead State - Design Update: Decisions of a Leader

This week's Dead State Design Update actually proposes a hypothetical situation, and asks forum members to vote on three different options:

This week, a poll related to the kind of choice you will have to make in Dead State and its consequences.

The Setup

Several people in your shelter have the infection. The antibiotics are rarer all the time and it’s getting harder to supplement the supply with homemade versions. A doctor and scientist in your shelter think they have an idea on how to slow the rate of infection with a non-antibiotic approach. The only problem is that the medical equipment is very specific and can only be found in a hospital. Hospitals were ground zero for infection and are still crawling with the undead.

Only someone with advanced medical training can identify this equipment. If your character specialized in medicine, they could retrieve it themselves, but this is not the case for your current character setup. To fetch the medical equipment from the hospital for this experimental procedure, a doctor will have to go in with you. That leaves space for you and two other people – the doctor has no combat skills. It’s a big risk and not necessarily going to work. There’s a chance you could lose your only doctor, which would surely hurt morale, yet if the procedure works, it would boost morale in the shelter. The doctor knows the risks and wants to take them to help people.

The Decisions

Do you:

Option 1 - Decide it is too risky and deny the operation. A few may die from the infection and the doctor and other leaders will lose some respect for you. Continue business as usual.

Option 2 - Risk it, knowing you could lose a doctor and others for the sake of helping your infected allies. Success is higher morale, more time for the infected, and respect of the doctor and other leaders.

Option 3 - Convince people to stick to antibiotics and step up the production to counter any shortages. This will slightly hurt respect with doctors, but leaders will support it. You will have to put most other projects on hold while all resources and ally hours are spent on increasing antibiotic stock.