Scavenging in Probably Stolen: the Dumping Ground
After you close the store you can travel to the Dumping Grounds and press Scavenge. A normal shopkeeper gets 5 scavenge attempts per visit. Each attempt either finds loot, finds nothing, or injures you, and the injury odds climb with every attempt. Georgio’s Assistance, a Flashlight, a Scav Scanner and a few starting perks change those numbers.
How many scavenge attempts do I get?
The count resets each time you arrive at the Dumping Grounds. The panel shows “Attempts Remaining” and your current Minor and Major Wound Chance.
| Source | Effect on attempts per visit |
|---|---|
| Normal shopkeeper | 5 |
| Proficient Scavenger (starting perk) | +2 |
| Careful Scavenger (starting perk) | -2, and you never get injured while searching |
| Degenerative Osteoarthritis (starting perk) | Normal for the first week, then -1 more for every week that passes; once the maximum would fall below 3 you cannot scavenge at all |
| Maimed (starting perk) | None. The Dumping Ground is not available |
| Georgio’s Assistance (event) | +5 and no injuries, see below |
| Fresh Dump (event, Wednesdays) | No attempt change, but loot and injury odds change |
You also cannot scavenge while you are freshly wounded; the panel then shows “Can’t scavenge while wounded!”. See Perks for the exact perk texts.
What are the injury chances?
Chances are counted per attempt, using the number of attempts you have already made on this visit (n).
| Chance on attempt n+1 | |
|---|---|
| Minor wound | 5% + 1% per previous attempt |
| Major wound | 1% + 0.25% per previous attempt |
With the base 5 attempts that is 5% to 9% minor and 1% to 2% major. A Flashlight in your after-hours inventory halves both. If a luck roll succeeds, “Your luck saved you from an injury!” and nothing happens; with negative luck an attempt can instead be an empty search (“Your bad luck strikes”). When the game started with the intro (not skipped), the first 10 searches cannot give a minor wound and the first 20 cannot give a major wound. Wounds themselves are treated with bandages; the Mentor’s after-hours note says to bring one.
What do I find?
Each successful attempt rolls the table group dumpingGroundTG once, and some bonus rolls can add items:
| Roll | Result |
|---|---|
| Main roll | 65% junk table (Junk and rarely Glass Shard, Ruined Module, Lead Pipe, Empty Beer Bottle, Scratcher Ticket), 15% materials, 5% bandages, then small shares of household goods, packed food, tools, makeshift weapons and modules |
| 3% | A Satchel (Small); after you have one, a Kid’s Backpack. Each can be found only once |
| 1% | A Mouse Trap |
| 10% each | Metal Screws if you carry a Screwdriver, Wire if you carry Wire Cutters, Scrap Metal if you carry a Plasma Cutter |
| Double loot | A second main roll. A Scav Scanner gives 15% at the start; each upgrade with Electronic Parts adds 5 points up to 100% |
The full item chances for every table are on the loot tables page. In the game files the Disposable Keycards belong to a separate table (accessCardTable) that is not part of the Dumping Ground tables, so scavenging does not give access cards. You cannot carry much back without a backpack, and anything left on the ground is lost when you leave.
On Wednesdays the Fresh Dump event (“A fresh load just got dumped from the Upper Levels janitorial”) runs for one day: junk is 50% less likely, which lowers the junk table’s share to roughly 48%, but injuries are 25% more likely.
How does Georgio’s Assistance work?
On day 15, if you did not start Maimed, Georgio visits and offers “Georgio’s Assistance”: 50 credits for 3 nights of help at the Dumping Ground. If you accept and have the cash, the event starts that day and lasts 3 days including today. While it runs you get +5 scavenge attempts (10 in total for a normal shopkeeper) and no injuries. Declining costs nothing. The code offers it on day 15 only; see Georgio for the rest of his visits.
Player-reported, unverified: a player who bought it said the 50 credits “paid itself off” in loot. The +5 attempts and the no-injury effect are confirmed by the game files.
Is there more than the Dumping Ground?
The code also contains an expedition system for hired scavengers with the same loot tables, but how a player reaches it in 0.46D is unverified.
FAQ
How many times can I scavenge per night? 5 attempts per visit for a normal shopkeeper; 10 with Georgio’s Assistance.
Does Georgio’s help cost 50 credits? Yes: 50 credits for 3 nights, offered on day 15.
How do I stop getting hurt? Carry a Flashlight, take Careful Scavenger, or buy Georgio’s Assistance.
Does the Dumping Ground drop access cards? Not according to the loot tables in 0.46D.