Originally Posted by
Arthur LaMarche
the brass...
Ammo will run out and brass can be reloaded as Crowbar says. But, with what? Ammo is more common than smokeless powder and lead. Old black powder could be made, but is a lot harder than it looks. It is not just add some charcoal to some saltpetre and some sulfer pour in into a piece of bamboo and knock the Gorn on his ass.
The part that most forget is grain size. The finer the grind the better the burn. So as a scavenger I might like some for noise or light flash makers not as a mass driver. Even empty they ca be usefull. There are a lot of things that go bump in the night, but hollow brass on hollow brass or on a hard surface is as good as any windchime and very distinctive. The flashbang trap is a dead giveaway, but scattering brass, empty bottles or cans or whatever may not actually alert the intruder. It is more likely that these are refuse from the outbreak as it is a communication device.
Going back to Subway vs. water pipes. The subway will have many more walking dead than the water-ways. But, a case could be made that it could be cleared and relatively secure with limited access points. But, another advantage of the sewers is "hmmm.... It has not rained in more than a week. Where is that water running off from? It could provide information on a waterspring and it will also alert me to survivors trying to hold onto the past. All of Tower's used water had to go somewhere...
