FIELD RESEARCH

Survival 101: Know Thy Enemy

The environments of Not A Deer do not yield their secrets easily. Survival demands more than quick reflexes—it requires studying the folklore, mapping the regions, and documenting the horrors that hunt you.

Map the Territory

Extract the Lore

Unlocking a region like the New England Forest or Appalachian Forest grants basic field notes on local legends like the Werewolf and Mothman. It is your starting point for survival.

Piecing together complete behavioral dossiers requires surviving multiple terrifying encounters, collecting scattered artifacts, and escaping back to safety with your hard-won data.

6+

Haunted Regions

10+

Cryptid Species

100%

Survival Driven

Survival 201: Understand Your Environment

Unwelcome Attention

Every sound shifts the odds. Proximity chat and footfalls make you heard, and being heard makes you hunted. The predator doesn’t react — it calculates. Speak, move, or breathe too loudly, and the balance tips against you.

Borrowed Faces

Identify the impostor before they get close enough to finish the job. Skinwalkers take the form and voice of the players they kill, slipping into the group to gain access, disrupt plans, and strike again. Every death gives them another perfect disguise

Psychological Tension

The fear isn’t scripted — it’s self‑made. Isolation, uncertainty, and shifting odds turn every choice into a question you can’t fully answer. Every player is a variable you can’t control, and their survival may not include yours.

Uncertain Foraging

Nothing you find is guaranteed to help. Edible plants, poisonous ones, and everything in between grow from procedural ranges, not placement. Some nourish; some harm. Every bite shifts the odds.

Folklore Survival

Knowledge is power. Learn what hunts you in the night and gather ancient folklore wards to temporarily repel the unseen. Some monsters can be killed; others can only be endured.

Game Specifications