Into the Fire Expedition Planner

Open this page while the daily report is still on screen. The planner is a checklist, not a theorycraft thesis. It exists because playtesters leave camp with two launchers, no tanks, and a plan to “see how it goes.” Into the Fire is a single-player extract. “How it goes” is the volcano’s line, not yours.

Copy the block below into a note if you want. Then force each line to name an item from the weapons or gadgets lists, or a kit from loadouts.

1. Why are you going out?

Pick one:

• Named rescue (write the name)
• Unnamed lives for a bench you lack
• Supply run (food / water / parts — circle one)
• Scout a new district / Ruins
• Relic only if the three above are already green

If you circled two, you already failed. Extraction is a clock.

2. What does camp actually need?

From this morning’s report:

• Food: low / ok / high
• Water: low / ok / high
• Morale: low / ok / high
• Threat skull / number: ____
• Spare beds: yes / no

If water is low, you are on a supply kit, not a hero kit. If beds are no, survivor priority becomes “do not import a crisis.” Details in camp.

3. Bag (name the item, not the vibe)

• Corridor tool 1: ____ (extinguisher should be here)
• Corridor or precision tool 2: ____
• Breach: ____
• Detect: ____
• Mobility or shield: ____
• Tanks / first aid: ____
• Empty slot for loot: yes / no

Rules: two fire shapes, one breach, one detect, tanks. If a line says “whatever,” rewrite it. Controls cannot spray a tool you did not bring.

4. Perks for this door

• Durable if the axe is on the bag
• Breacher if interiors are the point
• Stamina if Ruins / carry
• Kicker if you are on a budget breach

5. Abort lines (write them while you are brave)

• Abort if bomb tell hits before the objective: yes / no
• Abort if quake starts on a plank: yes (this should stay yes)
• Abort if tanks < 25%: yes / no
• Abort if a second civilian appears and beds are no: yes / no
• RV voice beats relic: yes (this should stay yes)

6. Route sketch

• Way in: ____
• Cover if bombs: ____
• Way out if fire ate the alley: ____
• RV landmark: ____

If you cannot name a way out, you are not ready for hazards on this district.

7. After the RV

• Did we do the one job? yes / no
• What broke (axe, tanks, stamina, nerve)? ____
• What the camp report will look like tonight: ____
• File a playtest bug? yes / no — playtest guide

Worked example

Why: Zoe in New Sindra. Camp: water ok, morale low, one spare bed. Bag: extinguisher, shotgun, axe, detector, tanks. Perks: Durable, stamina. Abort: no second civilian; RV beats ash souvenirs. Route: main street in, bakery alley out, RV by the broken tram. That is a plan. “Shotgun and vibes” is not.

If you hate writing, fill only sections 1, 3, and 5. Why, bag, abort. Those three prevent 80% of the cartoon deaths: mixed objectives, missing tanks, and “I’ll just check one more house” during a bomb tell. Sections 2, 4, 6, and 7 are how you get better the next morning instead of repeating the same Crimson Pass wipe.

Do not let the planner become camp stall. Threat ticks while you admire your own checklist. If filling it takes more than five minutes, you are writing a guide, not packing. Use a kit name from loadouts as a shortcut: “Kit 2, abort on second civilian.” That is a legal plan.

When a playtest patch changes kick cost or quake length, edit section 5 first. Abort lines are the only part of this card that must track playtest notes. The bag can wait until you see the district.

Run the planner twice a week during a test wave and you will feel the Getting Started guide get shorter. That is the point. The island can still veto you. It should not veto you because you forgot water.