Logistics

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Whispers from the Deep

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our April live event WHISPERS FROM THE DEEP! This is our next ST led over-arc game, led by Noah Goodman. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering the premise of our event, some content warnings, and some teasers about our upcoming event!

  • TICKETS FOR OUR APRIL EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! CAN YOU survive what emerges from waking?

  • If you had a great experience at our last event GIFTS OF SUFFERING or had some suggestions for how we can improve, we’d love to hear from you! Did you get to take one of the Crowns of Suffering for yourself? Did you hear Brother Agony explain why he was “helping” the town? Did you help the Rebellion fight the first battles of the war against the San Saba Board? Let us know!

  • CLEAN UP IS CHANGING! We will be experimenting with a new process for Clean Up at the end of the event during our April and May games. Immediately after closing announcements, we will start with our Camp Cleanup first, and then complete our Personal Cleanup last! We will have some more details on this soon, but we appreciate your flexibility as we try some new ways to speed up how fast we can get off site after game and still keep our friends in the Girl Scouts happy!

Our photos for this post were taken from our March 2023 DR:TX event by the talented Heather Halstead.

The Premise

Something is churning deep within Waking's corpse. Memories best left forgotten from the time of the Hiway War have left old Darwin experiments to fester in basement labs. As Mustang Loyalists solidify their hold over the decaying remains of Waking Prime, the final safeguards on long dormant projects have become unstable, threatening to unleash what has been left trapped within the radioactive wreckage. Errant and uncaring soldiers shut off power, open doors, and unlock new sensitive areas within the city without thinking of why those doors were shut in the first place.

Sometimes a door was closed for a reason…

Project EVE, one of those forgotten evolutionary experiments, was said to bend infection itself, capable of mutating flora and fauna and worse, and now it stirs within the bowels of Waking, changing and mutating into something new and unique. Underneath this glowing city of scrap and decay that looms over Bravado, a new danger threatens to EVOLVE.

Kincaid Buzzbee, scion of the Waking Families of the RRC, has called upon the townsfolk of Bravado to help him contain the worst of these threats within Waking. With the aid of brave Vados, he hopes to reactivate the remnants of the Buzzbee Electric Shield ™ to save the town from this new ecological destruction. If these dangerous experiments are let loose to infest the tunnels below Bravado, there is no end to the mutated nightmares that might erupt if evolution is left unchecked.

At the same time, Collection Day looms. With The Grave Council in disarray, Mother Mayhem and Cassiopeia come to negotiate with Bravado’s citizens about a reformation within the Grave Council and revision of the sacred tradition of the Grave Tax. The Grave Council must evolve as the Rebellion continues, but the mystagogues and auditors wish to reestablish their society’s legitimacy in Bravado even after Reckoner-General Rampart’s fall from grace.

Sitting at the edge of a possible mass extinction event, Bravado must salvage the remains of Waking Prime to save themselves from total annihilation while building the pillars of their future society. How will the townsfolk of this rebellious boom-town survive an evolutionary leap into the next epoch of San Saba history?

Inspiration & Tropes

This season in Bravado we have focused on bringing some new elements of Survival Horror to the forefront of the story. In our tradition of Radical Trust, we want to share some of the inspirational bits of media and movie magic that we feel help capture the themes and feelings of our upcoming event. If you are looking for a movie to inspire your role play for this event, here’s a list of our favorites to get ready for WHISPERS FROM THE DEEP:

  • Resident Evil

  • Parasite EVE (Video Game)

  • Cabin in the Woods

  • Mimic

  • The Crazies

For this event, the common theme is that “evolution doesn’t have a plan. It makes frequent, catastrophic mistakes”. Waking was a city of a mad scientists, using technology beyond their ken to tinker with things that should not be. With the Board in exile, and the city in the control of their enemies, no one is left to contain these projects, and sometimes something goes wrong.

This event also plays on the ideas of “Mad Science Gone Wrong”. The world is being forcibly evolved because of the horrors within Waking. Experiments created in attempts to play God have now escaped and are wreaking havoc on the world. We are looking extinction in the face because scientists focused on if they could without ever considering if they should.

As strange new creatures emerge from Waking, echoes of these experiments can be seen in the horrors like the Necrophage, the terrors within Killhouse Prison, and all of the mutant monstrosities unleashed on the town last year. With this new lingering threat emerging, can you save the town from the disastrous consequences of unchecked evolution?

CONTENT WARNINGS

The themes of Dystopia Rising often touch close to our real world in ways we cannot always avoid. The DR:TX team believes that we can still tell these stories about challenging topics, but we also believe we need to be transparent about our intentions and set proper expectations for our content. In our tradition of radical trust, we want to also trust in each player that attends our game to know their own limits and be able to choose to avoid topics and situations that make them uncomfortable.

It’s important to watch for descriptions, situations, or events that you might want to avoid. You may find new limits that are unknown to you because the matter never came up. We encourage you to take the necessary steps for your own emotional safety. We want you to be comfortable with the types of horror in our events so you can enjoy the thrill of the zombie apocalypse and the nightmare creatures we introduce into the game space.

It’s one reason we take our OK Check-In system so seriously! We understand that these may not be stories you want to participate in, and that’s okay! Remember, you can always use the OK Check-In System to choose to leave a scene, even CVC!

You can always find a list of our Content Warnings on our website, but let’s talk about some of the specific things you might want to be prepared for during this February event.

Overall, this next event focuses heavily on the themes of BODY HORROR, LOSS OF AGENCY, and TAX COLLECTION. These can be some serious themes, so let’s talk about some content warnings of note for WHISPERS FROM THE DEEP:

Body Horror, grotesque or disturbing mutations, visceral costumes and props

  • Certain creatures this weekend will have disgusting and visceral costumes and props that might require you to interact with sticky, gross, or terrible looking things. These props will change the features of certain threats, and should be repulsive and terrifying.

  • If a module requires you to interact with chemicals or substances that might stain your clothing or costumes, we will announce these aspects as a “SPLATTER MOD”. We will try to give you a fair warning before engaging with these challenges, but we cannot guarantee clothing or items may not be affected by the disgusting goo in our mods.

LOSS OF AGENCY, UNSTOPPABLE THREATS, Consequences AFTER DEATH

  • Some threats during this weekend will not be things you can truly kill. Much like the Tyrant in Resident Evil, while you may be able to defeat them temporarily, these are threats meant to survive and endure, not overcome. As evolution itself runs out of control, these threats will continue to return after being killed and continue the pressure of their attacks. You’ll need to run and hide, rather than trying to make a valiant last stand.

  • There will be mechanics during this event that return the recently dead back to play as a new threat. This is a powerful way to restrict your character’s agency after death, but will not be something you can avoid if you get put into certain situations.

  • Many horror stories involve this concept of loss of agency, where you are powerless to stop a monster that is itself a metaphor for the relentless advance of time, death, or war.

TAXES, RENT, AND DEBT COLLECTION

  • Each April we feature the Grave Council tradition of COLLECTION DAY. While this is on it’s face a way to represent the horrors of financial burden and mimic the real life stress of tax day, it’s also a big part of how the town continues to support one of the major factions.

  • There will likely be conflict over how the Grave Council attempts to collect debts incurred over the course of the season. If you notice on the bottom left corner of your character sheet, you might see a GRAVE TAX owed if you’ve died during this season. This is a monetary amount in Brass that your character may be expected to owe by the end of the event. While there are ways to ask for forbearance or have this debt taken by another, you may encounter NPCs asking to “check your contract” for their debt. Be prepared!

FORCED EVOLUTION & RAD DAmage

In our tradition of Radical Transparency, let’s discuss some key mechanics that could happen to your character during WHISPERS FROM THE DEEP.

If you are caught alone on the battlefield with certain threats, they may convert you to their cause by a spontaneous evolution before the Mortis Amaranthine takes you with a FORCED EVOLUTION.

Forced Evolution

Upon taking a “Forced Evolution” call, writhe in pain for 10 seconds before rising again and fighting for [REDACTED] with the following stats.

30 BODY, Strong Limbs (Immune to Mangle), Keywords: [REDACTED], Once per flurry/reload deal Radiation Damage. Radiation Damage inflicts both Mind and Body damage at once.

Upon death, report to Ops. Return from The Grave Mind with Radiation Sickness Stage One.

Similar to being devoured by zombies with Cannibalism, if this attack hits your character they will be D-E-A-D, slain by the [REDACTED]. After your death, instead of proceeding to Ops to get your death scene, you’ll first return to play as a NPC threat. You’ll join the horde of enemies, and try to kill your friends until you are stopped for good.

Let’s cover this attack in a bit more detail.

  • This attack counts as a Killing Blow. It’ll only be used on bleeding, helpless, and dying characters, so it’s not really something that can take you down in a single hit.

  • It’s not a Murder effect, so armor like the Striker’s Coat won’t prevent this effect. However, stuff that stops a Killing Blow can prevent this effect.

  • You cannot use most Skills, Equipment, or Abilities during this Forced Evolution. You are just a reanimated corpse, so you can’t do much other than attack.

  • You can use still use the basic damage of your weapons (even firearms!) during this brief return from death, but cannot use activated abilities of the item. Rad Bullets sound pretty scary to me! We will also have some white brawlers available for you should you fall to this effect without a weapon handy (or if your friends disarm you.)

  • Since your body isn’t really YOU anymore and you aren’t really dead yet, certain skills like Faithful Will won’t be very useful on the creature you become. This means it may be hard for your friends to prevent an Infection loss if get up and wander away.

  • Once this Forced Evolution has ended, you can collapse on the ground dead for a brief time before headed to Ops. Once this has happened will effects like Faithful Will or Necrokinetics be again useful on your corpse.

Let’s talk briefly about the other prominent mechanic during this event, Radiation Damage.

Rad Damage (P. 105)

This is a mechanical damage effect normally associated with radiation or irradiated creatures. Radiation damage cause an equal degree of lost Mind as it does Body.

This is a dangerous effect you might have seen before on Glow Boys and Toxic Terrors. When damaged by this type of attack you lose both Mind AND Body, so it’s particularly devastating. For example, if the threat calls “5 Rad!” on an attack that hits you, you lose 5 Body and 5 Mind from the wound.

  • Radiation Damage by itself doesn’t inflict Radiation Sickness, the disease most commonly associated with irradiated creatures.

  • These attacks can (and should!) be Avoided, and are generally delivered by a melee Strike or a Ranged Attack with a packet.

  • If the attack is called by an AOE or Sound of My Voice call, these effects cannot be Avoided, and must be prevented by mechanics that stop AOE effects.

  • Armor doesn’t stop Rad Damage. If your got hit by a “5 Rad!” hit while wearing 20 Armor, you would lose 5 Mind and have 15 Armor remaining.

Small attacks with Radiation Damage may not be worth using Avoid on, as spending the Mind on the defense may be more costly than the damage you’ll take. But, take enough of those small hits and you won’t have the remaining Mind to dodge the next big hit! Ouch!

wrap up

That’s it for today, Vados!

We hope that you will come join us for our next event, led by the very talented Noah Goodman. We have some fun surprises in store for you during this game, and we hope that you are ready to EVE-OLVE your tactics to fight the dangerous new enemies facing Bravado. Will you be able to help contain the danger within Waking? Will you fight for the soul of the Grave Council as they take steps forward into this brave new world? Will you pay your Grave Tax?

Next week we will recap some of the important events from our last game, and catch up to speed on all the story continuity you’ll need as we face the WHISPERS FROM THE DEEP! See you soon, Vados!

Tickets are on sale for our april event now! Don’t miss out!

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Scope of Setting & DR:TX

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with a special DR:TX Rules Ramble! This week, before we get started into our previews of our April event WHISPERS FROM THE DEEP, led by Noah Goodman, I’d like to discuss some changes that are ahead for our game on a broader network level and what it means for each of you.

Our photos for this post were taken from our March 2023 DR:TX event by the talented Heather Halstead.

tl;DR

In our DR:TX tradition of Radical Transparency, I’d like to cover a few big changes that are going to be implemented over the next few months, and briefly recap the past few months.

Here’s the basics, or TL;DR:

  • We have a new license contract with Michael Pucci, the original creator of DR.

  • The “national” team doesn’t really exist anymore. Everything goes through the local game now.

  • We have some changes to story planned to happen by the end of our season to bring our setting in line with our new contracts:

    • The scope of setting is going to change to focus more on Bravado and less on the San Saba Territories as a whole.

    • Some of our local mechanics need to change, notably our San Saba Sundries and the SES Buy List items.

    • Some of our DR:TX locations and factions will need to be adjusted to avoid certain Canon content from the published materials.

  • DR Live is still coming, and we are currently in the feedback process on the Player’s Guide and Guide’s Guide. There’s still a lot to do, but the progress is very cool!

This is a bit of a longer blog post, so buckle up. Let’s cover the specifics in detail:

Changes, changes, changes

In early January, a serious incident occurred on the DR: Michigan Discord with Kyle Elliot, the previous owner of the DR Network, that led to a week of anxiety that nearly ended the entire game as we know it. His behavior caused the closing of several chapters, and led to a lot of serious conversations about how to proceed in a network where the owner was not really someone we could reprimand. For a few days, there were very real talks about ending our chapter and contracts entirely, and it was a lot of stress for basically anyone involved with DR, players and staff alike. Shortly after, Michael Pucci made the hard decision to reclaim his license rights to the intellectual property from Kyle and formed a new company called Larp License LLC. The silver lining of this drama is that we can now license the game from the original creator of Dystopia Rising, but that means that the entire structure of “DR National” will need to change as part of the process.

In the weeks that followed, I took over the business of DR:TX from Shan Lindley as the full owner of the Texas chapter, though this means very few actual changes for our game. I’ve been in charge of the day-to-day affairs since January 2023, so most of the stuff that needs to be done every month like taxes and bills was already a thing I was responsible for. Most of this was simply updating contracts and paperwork, and updating various services we use as a business. We’ve completed most of this process now and in early February, we signed a new business contract with Larp License LLC for the right to continue running Dystopia Rising events. For our part, this has meant business as usual for our chapter with a few key differences.

First, “DR National” no longer exists in the form it did before the change to our licensing contract. In fact, it doesn’t really exist at all. The new contracts are designed in a way to prevent the kind of pseudo-franchise decisions that were common in Kyle’s National network previously from happening at all. The DR Network Support team run by Michael and Catie will be limited to the licensing support stuff, like collecting license fees, maintaining the databases, and updating general docs for our games to use to run their chapters. The new structure means that that the local chapter and not “national” is now the primary source for conflict resolution, rules changes, and pretty much everything needed to run the game.

You can find a great description of this new organization on the new website, Dystopia Rising Live. The other main difference with this new Network Support team is that we don’t really have any group with overarching control over our games like we did before, other than some rules set out in our contracts. The new focus of the Network Support is complete transparency, and publishing new materials for Dystopia Rising, and you can see a lot of these changes over at the new landing page of the national website.

Secondly, we’ve gained a spot and a voice on a new National Advisory Board where we meet with the other owners of DR chapters across the nation to decide how we structure big changes to our games and maintain consistency across the network. This is kind of the new “National”, and Amber and I hold the seats for our game. We’ve even recorded the first meeting that anyone can reference here on the Network Meeting Recordings page. This is a much more community-driven process and it’s enabled a lot more communication between the various owners of games. As long as we stay current on our payments for the license, we get to be a member in good standing on this board. This is a great way to contribute to the growth and development of each branch, while also make sure everyone is on the same page for our setting and our game. We have our second meeting coming up soon, so stay tuned for more updates here.

Lastly, we have some new rules and frameworks that we need to abide by as part of our new licensing contract. Our contract allows us to use the Dystopia Rising world under certain conditions. While most of this is common sense business needs like maintaining contracts, community engagement, bank accounts, insurance and such, we have a few promises we need to keep regarding the genre of the game we run, how we use the licensed canon content, and what the scope of our local game is. These obligations mean we need to make a few immediate changes to keep our game in line with the new contract and make sure we can comply with the rules going forward.

How does this impact us?

As part of our new contracts, we have pretty much total control over our own “town” narrative space, providing us a canvas for creative storytelling and the immersive experience you know and love. We get to control our own local story, and we can tell a narrative that fits into the thematic essence of the world of Dystopia Rising.

However, this creative freedom comes with some responsibilities to adhere to our scope of setting, genre guidelines and canon world details. Right now, we need to make some changes to fully uphold these responsibilities.

Our goal is to implement these changes by the LAST GAME of the season in MAY 2024, and fully shift our story and setting over the summer.

In order to meet these guidelines, I’d like to talk about the immediate changes you’ll see as we continue our season.

Scope of Setting - the big one

Currently, the scope of our game needs to change to focus away from the San Saba Territories as a whole, and instead bring the story back home to Bravado. As part of our new contract, we no longer have any actual or implied broad authority over the entire state of Texas and instead only really control our town of Bravado and the immediate surroundings. This is a pretty big change to be honest, but I’m confident that we still have plenty of stories to tell about our town.

This means that far away areas like Barogue, Widow’s Peak, the Clutch, Star City, Fort Worthless, the Dune Sea, and even Essex will need to take a step back from our story as we continue. These places won’t stop existing in our story, but they will fade in priority as we shift our focus closer to Bravado. It also means some of our player story areas like Lucky Town and Falken Castle will likely remain in the background going forward. Some areas may need to even change slightly, but I’ll cover that shortly.

However, we’ve only scratched the surface of some big mysteries of closer areas that ARE within our scope and nearby locations like the crashed airship city of Waking, the strange underground Facility below the town of Bravado, and the nearby Junkerpunk settlement of Drywater are great examples. We still have some fun ideas that can build on these locations and help draw our focus back to Bravado proper.

Luckily, Heather and I were already planning on a similar shift of focus in our stories and the new Bravado Rebellion and war against the San Saba Board will provide us an excellent story reason to support these upcoming changes. As the war continues, you can expect to see Bravado cut off from some of the other areas in the San Saba, and several of our allies and enemies moving closer to our town so they can remain relevant in the stories to come. I’m working on a new local map of our surrounding areas, and Heather and I have a lot of cool plans for updating our setting over the summer with our new and current Storyteller Senate.

Genre Guidelines

This is probably the easiest change to consider, as I believe we do a pretty good job of enforcing our genre in DR:TX. While the technology of the wastelands remains at a pre-Industrial Revolution there are a few specific exceptions of our setting that push this limit. However, there will be some impact on the complexity of our Local Rules and Mechanics. I know I love crunchy custom rules, but I honestly think this is a pretty good thing overall, especially for new players.

The general genre of DR is described as “brutal, charming, and believable enough”

You can find more information about these two Guidelines here:

One big place that will be impacted is the San Saba Sundries, the items tied with the various factions of our game. Our Factions are generally tied to the larger world of the San Saba Territories, and these other locations in the setting. While these aren’t being removed right away, we want to encourage you to use these items for big and cool scenes as we finish out our season. It’s possible we will try to revamp these over the summer, and I don’t want you to miss out on getting to do the cool thing with your factions.

The second place impacted will be our SES Credits, so we want to give you time to use these points before the end of the season. While these were originally tied to the Red Ledger, a national faction created by the DR:TX team, the way these National factions work in the future will be determined by plot kits released by the licensing company and future publications. This is another big area we will need to revisit over the summer, so be prepared for changes here.

Lastly, the scope of our War Mechanics will eventually be reduced, as these are still heavily tied into the greater world of the San Saba Territories. We will likely keep some of the core mechanical framework in our other local setting stuff, but we want you tell big stories with the Rebellion as we continue towards a new and exciting future for Bravado.

Canon World Details

The last big change is that we need to be careful with the impact of our story on Canon events and canon world details of the greater world of Dystopia Rising. A big chunk of our setting is based on the 2.0 Dystopia Rising sourcebook, Embers of the Irradiated Wastes, but most of this material is canon material not specifically licensed for our game to use ‘in game’. This means that while our setting and characters can always refer to big places like Star City and New Austen, they will always need to stay just ‘off camera’ and we can’t really directly interact with them. However, some of our in-game locations and events tread a bit too closely on this canon content and will need to change.

In general, we won’t be able to really use NPCs that are mentioned in the books (like General Mustang, the Violet Princes, etc.) without written permission, impact any major city or faction in the published material (like the Rangers), or effect much outside the confines of our immediate local area of Bravado. We won’t be able to blow up whole cities, kill off major characters, or really cause any major changes to the setting outside of our town.

One of the major reasons behind this change is that Michael intends to write several new books to support the next edition of Dystopia Rising, including the first updates to settings locations since 2.0. This is a real exciting update, as it will be a great opportunity to update the canon of the world with the stories we’ve told since we started DR:TX back 12 years ago. I’m currently working on a document to send to Michael regarding major canon events of our game over the past 12 years. My goal is not to invalidate these years of story, but make sure that the big things get to be honored in any upcoming publications concerning the setting of the Lone Star and the state of Texas.

While most of our DR:TX locations are in the gray spaces of the map and won’t really impact the canon setting as a whole, our story of the San Saba Board will come to an eventual conclusion. While this was always the plan, The Board represents a major settings defining organization, so you won’t see anything similar emerge from the ashes of its fall as the rebellion continues. The fall of the Board will be designed to move our local setting back closer to the status quo described in the books with individual locations being mostly unconnected. Likewise, this means we will never really impact Star City, Fort Worthless, or General Mustang in a major way, as these are published canon locations and characters. Even as we move to end the war with the Board and the new Mustang Loyalists, you can expect our villains to be a bit more local in the future.

This also means many of the larger San Saba factions like the Grave Council, the San Saba Republic, the RRC, the Junkerpunks, and more will need to also adjust their setting focus and where they are based. We want these factions to continue to matter in our stories to come, so you’ll see these groups establish a few more local faces and nearby locations rather than focus on far away locations outside our purview of the hometown setting. But it’s not really possible to keep tying these groups tied to a bigger San Saba area as a whole, so we need to bring the focus back to Bravado proper.

Lastly, Essex, the City of Light and Sound, will need some significant changes in the near future. Originally, this location was designed as a stand-in for the canon location of “New Austen”. While we didn’t really ‘replace’ New Austen, this location was always supposed to be nearby to Essex, and we just eventually stopped referring to it as we shifted to 3.0 and even removed it from some in-game maps. It’s my hope we can still keep a lot of our local lore about this location intact or make some slight adjustments, but it’s technically outside the range of our setting and too close to the canon location of Austin. We’ll have more information on this soon.

DYSTOPIA RISING Live

As the new edition of Dystopia Rising approaches, we will need to be mindful of the various unique items, our impact on the canon story, and the scope of the story as we move forward. However, the most exciting part of all of this is that a BRAND NEW EDITION of our game is on the way. All of these upcoming changes are really just going to help us support the shift to a new edition, and I’ve never been more excited about the future of our game and our shared stories.

The next edition of our game, Dystopia Rising Live, is currently in the feedback and editing stages with the various owners of the National Advisory Board. I’ve had the privilege of reading the new Player’s Guide and Guide’s Guide and I’m very excited about the new materials. We’ve been going over the books, suggesting edits and updates, and preparing for the next round of feedback from our Admin teams and other Directors. We’ve already seen some really promising changes to the books based on feedback from the owners, so it’s definitely a community-led effort to get these books ready for our games. Once that step is done, you’ll likely see the new rule books for yourself soon enough, and a chance to provide your own feedback.

If you watched the last recorded Advisory Meeting, you likely saw a preview of the brand-new database and a teasing glance at the character builder for DR Live. However, this is only the first part of what we will need to start true play testing, so there’s still many, many, months of this process ahead. There are some possible play-test events happening next fall, but a lot of that is still very tentative and in no way set in stone.

there is no real firm timeline for all of this — DR Live is still a ways off.

While the core books are in the process of being edited, there’s still a lot of work to do on settings materials, blueprints, threats, and more. Only a portion of the books are at the editing stage, so this isn’t something you’ll need to worry about immediately. There’s a lot more to finish before we can move to larger play tests of the next edition, but it is slowly getting there. As we get more information on the next edition, we will share everything we can with you, so stay tuned to see more. I’m already chomping at the bit to write a few Rules Rambles over the new mechanics.

In the meantime, you’ll start seeing some new Local Items that start including some teases of future mechanics and ideas, and we may even schedule some play-test DR Live combats and similar mechanics soon if you’d like to be involved directly in helping get the next edition ready.

wrap up

That’s if for today Vados!

Next week, we will dive into the WHISPERS FROM THE DEEP, our next DR:TX event led by the talented Noah Goodman. Rumors have it that the recent occupation of Waking by the Mustang Loyalists has stirred up some trouble deep in the husk of the city, and new and dangerous threats are emerging from the depths.

Tickets are on sale now, and next week we will talk about the premise of the event, some of the inspirations you can consider, and some of the key mechanics for the game. See you soon Vados!

Get your tickets for April today!

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Rules You Should Know - March

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our March live event GIFTS OF SUFFERING! This is our next ST led over-arc game, led by Andrew Harper. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering some of the last minute rules you should be ready for this weekend!

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, by Max Pohlmeier, Lauren Guzaldo, Sidney Betzina, and Jason Dumas.

ONE LAST GIFT FROM BROTHER AGONY…

While the most prominent Gift from the wandering Final Knight monk is the Crowns of Suffering, Brother Agony does have a message for those willing to take up the mantle of his crowns:

You have sealed the Obelisk against The Prince Undying, but I assure you it is but a barred door that he shall seek to test and break through again and again.  

Do not let him. 

If you but accept my gifts then I shall give you one more.  A ritual to bolster the Obelisk and deflect the power The Prince Undying sets against it for a time.

You shall want all the faiths.  Even if they do not see as true as we do, there is still power in them.  So we shall take that power and bend it to a worthy goal.  To defy The Prince Undying yet again.  And so take our humble place in this legend of his eternal defeat.

Brother Agony

Well, if it’s for the good of the town I guess I could be convinced to claim a Crown.

Or two.

To make sure that you can each focus on the CONFLICT that the Crowns bring to town, Brother Agony has also brought a special change to the world:

BLOOD MOON

To enable the CVC centric plot of GIFTS OF SUFFERING, the usual 4-hour requirement before attempting theft is waived at game on. This supersedes the 4-hour limit for CVC play listed on p. 162-163. The time restrictions for lethal CVC must still be met.

Enjoy the suffering faster!

LAST MINUTE LOGISTICS

We’ve received a lot of great feedback from our last game, and we are hard at work responding to some of the key behaviors we can improve going forward. Based on your suggestions, we’ve made some immediately changes you’ll see as soon as our February event:

  • Make sure you check out our last blog post on a few settings updates that might be important for this weekend - Age of Rebellion Blog Post

  • We’ve dramatically revamped our war game mini plot to be more forgiving, more approachable, and less narrow that it was originally designed. This new ruleset is still designed to be optional and most of this will be available to see on Zones of Mechanics and at the War Table in the Depot.

    • You don’t have to memorize anything, but if you like reading over this kind of thing in advance, here you go!

  • War Supplies are now much easier to make and can be made without such a large expenditure of resources. In addition, anyone can recruit a Combat Unit for the war game now, without needing to go through specific folks in the Militia. Lastly, anyone can participate in the war games throughout the weekend, so check out the War Table in the Depot for more info!

  • We’ve planned a few NPCs to leave the story based on feedback, and you should see these stories come to a close by the end of the season. We are continuing to find ways to improve our behaviors regarding continuity and Face NPCs as well, and have already started some additional ways to collect after action reports for key characters.

  • We’ve received the copies of the 42 new Benediction prints from the Great Revival. You’ll be able to make copies of these Blueprints starting this weekend! You can find a list of the new prints on our Blueprint Checklist!

  • Daylight Savings happens this weekend. Saturday night, we will LOSE an hour as the Final Knights enact their ultimate plan for suffering. Prepare accordingly!

Rules You Should Know

Let’s cover a few of the basic mechanics that might be relevant this weekend.

AGONY

Countered by Basic Mental Endurance if delivered by an AOE or Sound of Voice call, or by Avoid if delivered by a Strike or Ranged Attack. Agony is an ability that causes intense physical and/or mental pain in the character affected, making it difficult if not impossible to act through the torment. This effect normally lasts 10 seconds if not otherwise specified, and during that time, the character cannot use Skills or items but can move at a slow pace and defend themselves. Agony Interrupts skills being used when it is called.

That sounds like pain and SUFFERING to me. Surely this won’t come up a lot during this weekend…

Some important details to remember:

Agony is a versatile skill used by several different entities in Dystopia Rising. While affected by this ability, you may not use Skills (including weapon skills!) or items, but can move slowly and act defensively. This means no brews, no gizmos, no armor, no weapons, nothing!

  • This attack interrupts all Skills being used, including Crafting. Remember, if you start using a new Skill while working on that expensive Artisan project, you will also be Interrupted. If you use Mental Endurance to resist the effect, you will Interrupt yourself. Best be careful about crafting while [REDACTED] are about.

  • Agony is often a precursor to more dangerous attacks like Break and Mangle, so remember you can’t Avoid while under the effects of Agony. 10 seconds is a LONG time in the heat of combat!

  • The Candlepin Survival Pack can protect you from this attack, but remember this is a Supply Bag item and cannot be stacked with a Freeiron Dry Pack. You can use either or, but not both!

  • The Battle Hymn is probably the best single defense against Agony, as it gives you an Upsurge protect and simply makes you immune. This is the only way to avoid interruption from Agony, as the effect simply doesn’t happen. Remember, an Upsurge only lasts one hour, so make it worth it!

BAPTIZED

A character that has been inducted into a faith, normally through the use of Basic Faithful Patterns, is considered to be Baptized into the faith. They gain the name of their faith as a Keyword, for the purposes of certain abilities that only affect members of a certain faith.

It’s a simple rule that involves Keywords, but remember if you are considered to be Baptized, then that means you can interact with Faith items, Benedictions, and even other things that specifically target folks with that Faith. It also means if someone calls out a mass heal effect like Proficient Faithful Miracles, then you will also gain the benefit of the healing.

Surely monsters (or other players) won’t be using this against you this weekend…

Faith Bane

Bane is a type of damage that can be done to anyone with the matching Keyword. If the Bane damage hits the correct Faith, then they take double the damage called. For example, if 5 Final Knight Bane is called and hits someone that has been baptized into that faith, the character takes 10 damage. If the Faith Bane hits someone without that matching faith, then they only take 5 damage. If the target of the appropriate type Bane damage would normally take reduced damage from the source of the attack, Bane damage and the reduction cancel each other out and the Target would take the standard base damage. If a Target of Bane damage would normally be immune to damage due to the nature of the source, the Target of the Bane damage takes no damage and is still immune.

While one of the primary advantages of the Crowns of Suffering is a resistance to most damage, it does have a particular weakness - FAITH BANE. If you are hit by the Faith Bane and it matches your faith, you take DOUBLE damage.

Better get someone to heal you… oh wait…

Wrap Up

That’s it for today Vados! Short and Sweet!

This weekend, you’ll get to fight amongst yourselves for the honor, nay the privilege, of claiming one of Brother Agony’s GIFTS OF SUFFERING. Will you stand triumphant against the arrogant usurpers that would claim your rightful prize? Will you claim power and your true role among the Damned? Will you thwart those who would promote the false truths of the divine? Will you uphold the laws of Hell and trust not those that claim knowledge of those laws? Will you bring suffering where you can and take power at all times?

Let’s find out together, as we claim the GIFTS OF SUFFERING…

TICKETS ARE STILL ON SALE AT THE DOOR! SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND!

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Age of Rebellion

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our March live event GIFTS OF SUFFERING! This is our next ST led over-arc game, led by Andrew Harper. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering some of the major settings changes from last event, as well as some other updates for our March game!

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by Jason Dumas.

Boss Debs and Malorous Mab meet with the Bravado representative, Ace.

The REsults of “The Breaker of Crowns”

During our event last month, we presented several important CHOICES about the fate of the San Saba to the town of Bravado. With all the charm and stubbornness we’ve come to expect from Bravado, our folks stepped up to the challenge and made some big decisions that will have a continuing impact on our setting going forward. There’s a reason the Bravado (and Texas) Motto is “Come and Get It!”.

Let’s get the biggest choice out of the way - the town of Bravado has DECLARED a full REBELLION from the San Saba Board.

We’ll cover what this means in game in a moment, but let’s first discuss how we got to this point.

During this event, we had several prominent NPCs in play that could each be interacted with to influence the decision of the event towards, WAR, PEACE, or REBELLION. Each of these NPCs had an agenda they wanted to achieve, some secrets they had to hide, and some deals that could be struck. We talked about these specific faces in a previous blog post, but here’s a reminder:

  • The Breaker of Crowns - The leader of the Oxkiller Alliance, she has had a significant presence in town over the season so far. She’s attacked folks during the first game as they completed Liquidation Runs into Waking, crashed the Tribe of Seasons meetings, and even fought alongside Boss Debs against the Nightmares. She was the most interested in a chance of REBELLION, but wanted the town to prove their willingness to stand up and speak truth to power. This character was portrayed by Ace Sexton.

  • Ahote, the Restless - The mentor of the Breaker, this Natural One leader appeared for the first time in the live space and kept his cool throughout the Summit. One of the agents of PEACE for the Oxkiller War Party, he was the most interested in hearing what the town had to say about about a path forward, particularly for how they would hold people accountable for crimes committed during the war. The character was portrayed by David Rios.

  • Marcus Remington - The Minister-General for the Star City faction of the Mustang Loyalists, Remington was a divisive figure. The most eager for WAR or REBELLION, Remington was more focused on setting rules of engagement for future conflicts and ignoring the long history of violence the followers of Mustang have committed against the people of old Bravo. He also had a part to play in a serious betrayal, but ultimately wanted to wage war against the Chairman and the crashed city of Waking Prime. This character was portrayed by Ariel Patrick-Munoz.

  • Carina Astora - The “Saltwater Sweetheart”, Carina has been a terror of the Spoiled Coast for quite some time. First appearing during our online Junkerpunk event, THE CERTAINTY OF TIDES, Carina is the leader of the Junkerpunk organization known as the “Clearwater Accord”. A known pirate, terrorist, and general anarchist, she kept to her divisive nature through the event and towards a cause of WAR. This character was portrayed by Kiara Everlen.

  • Lucy “Boss” Debs - The leader of the San Saba Republic, and representative of the Local 727, Boss Debs has been a recurring NPC in our events. She was the titular character of the Summit, hosting her cousins in the Oxkillers in the ancient rituals of her tribes despite the threat of treason against the Board. Boss Debs was a powerful advocate of PEACE, even under the threat of death. This character was portrayed by Barbara Vold.

  • Malorous Mab - One of the only open Final Knights of Essex, Malorous Mab stands as the Spymaster for San Saba Republic, and for the Cali*Co Caravan. Regal and mysterious, the Accensorite always has another scheme in the background, and knows which strings to pull to get her way. Mab has always been an agent of chaos, but always seems to come out on top, whether it be in WAR or PEACE. This character was portrayed by Liz Harvey.

Each of these characters brought information, agendas, and secrets into play, and our characters still made some interesting choices on how to solve the crisis of the Summit.

The Breaker and Ahote consider the town’s offer at the Summit.

The Choice Points

During the game we had several planned CHOICE POINT events that occurred. Each choice had WAR, PEACE, or REBELLION choices that could be made, and up until the final night of the game, the choice for Peace was leading the way. A decisive stand against the forces of the Board at the Dive on Saturday night set the stage for several decisions in quick succession that led to Rebellion.

Choices for Peace

  • The Oxkiller War Party Arrives: One of the first few choices dealt with Friday night was “How does the town treat the Oxkiller ambassadors?”. The town treated the Oxkillers on Friday night with respect, and even went out of their way to help the Oxkiller War Party escape out the back door when Zombies attacked the Depot.

  • Zombie Ambush: Presented with an option to just let the War Party fend for themselves, the town protected their guests. Even with blood scented threats tunneling towards the Oxkillers, the town jumped in the way of the trouble and defended their promise to keep the peace during the Summit.

  • The Rescue Mission: After the disastrous rout at Barogue, the Militia found a way to retrieve their captured commanders from the Prince Undying via a Mortis procedure. Taking a force of Vados into the Nightmare, they rescued not only the captured Militia leaders, but saved an Oxkiller commander as well.

  • The Loyalist Demands: The Oxkiller War Party NPCs each had a series of demands and concerns to address during the Summit. The Mustang Loyalists demanded the right to conquer Waking and came to an uneasy truce with the town. While most of their terms were met and the faction is not at outright war with Bravado, the town still has plenty of reasons to be suspicious of Remington and his Fallow Hope forces.

Choices for War

  • The Summit Negotiations: The Summit arrived on Saturday afternoon, and the town heard the various demands of the Oxkiller representatives. They considered grievances, talked about solutions, but ultimately there was conflict on how exactly to proceed. Some advocated for war, while others advocated for peace, while others still suggested open hostility against the Chairman and the San Saba Board.

  • The Clearwater Demands: The Oxkiller War Party NPCs each had a series of demands and concerns to address during the Summit. The Clearwater pirate queen demanded an exorbitant ransom to pursue peace but was rebuffed at every turn. The town was openly hostile to Carina and refused any demands she made, causing her to leave in an explosive exit as she convinced several dusters to bomb Anyport and destroy the docks at Bravado.

Choices for Rebellion

  • Publicly Defending the Oxkillers: Not only did players publicly defend the Oxkillers, and advocate for a refusal of the Board’s terms of war, the Summit simply proved how many were willing to spit in the eye of the Board. Not only did they defend the Oxkillers against another strange zed attack, but many of the townsfolk even signed a contract with the Breaker agreeing with her terms to defy the Board and the Chairman, Arthur Lovelace.

  • The Foiled Mustang Plot: The Oxkillers were not entirely harmonious, as a secret plan to murder the Breaker was uncovered by the town. Putting one of their own in a disguise as the Breaker, they stopped the assassination and prevented the death of the Oxkiller leader at the hands of her so-called allies. This was one of the major crises that swayed the Breaker towards Rebellion, though she is not yet in a position to truly act against Remington. With her people still in Star City, the Breaker will need time to consider her next steps with the Loyalists.

  • The Oxkiller Demands: The Oxkiller War Party NPCs each had a series of demands and concerns to address during the Summit. The town was able to agree to a series of treaties and contracts with the Breaker and Ahote, promising fair treatment of those accused of war crimes and giving them time and space to negotiate with respect and honor. Both Oxkiller leaders were impressed by the commitment of the town, and have sworn themselves as new allies.

  • The Grave Council Influence: While the true implications of this secret have yet to be leveraged, the town discovered the Reckoner’s influence on the strange zombie behavior in town during the Summit. They disrupted a strange ritual to control the zombie hordes from afar, defeating General Rampart and killing the villainous Board member in an act of open defiance against the Board.

  • The Arrest of Boss Debs: The true moment of Rebellion occurred Saturday night, as the Waking Intelligence Service arrived to arrest Boss Debs for her clear acts of treason. As one, the town told Lawrence Graves and his paid thugs to fuck off, ignoring the orders from the Board to strip Debs of her power and title. With a hoot and holler, the town cheered its first step towards a new age of Rebellion.

With those Choices in mind, let’s cover what happens next…

A Map of the Contested San Saba Territories, as of March. Key: Purple for Rebellion, Pink for the Nightmare, Green for Board, Blue for Clearwaters, Yellow for Loyalists, Orange for Neutral

continuity & Settings Updates

With such a monumental decision for REBELLION comes a bit of an update for our various factions and personalities of the San Saba. Let’s cover the various events that your characters should know about as you enter into our March event, GIFTS OF SUFFERING.

The Current State of Affairs

  • Bravado is in open Rebellion against the Board, based on player decisions in February. The Board has declared Bravado an enemy of the San Saba and declared that they are all traitors under the Wartime Powers of the Charter.  Not every faction is willing to respect this claim entirely, but all are wary of the consequences of dealing with Bravado in an official capacity. The new Rebellion took most of the Board’s active military forces with them, except for the few mercenary and Grave Council units loyal to the Board.  The Board will need some time to respond to the other threats they are facing, and Bravado can exploit that time to prepare. Many of the factions have even sent rebels to join the Bravado resistance as new military units.

  • Bravado is under a blockade and siege by the remaining forces of the Reckoner Legion, led by Reckoner-Commander Grant. The Board has severed telegraph lines, stopped the trains from running into Bravado, and generally cut off the town from outside support until this force can be defeated. Travel into and out of Bravado is extremely difficult, and access to common trade routes is hampered. The ports and access to the waterways at Bravado and Drywater were attacked by the Clearwater Pirates on the way out from the Summit and heavily damaged.  Support from Drywater or the Longberths will require repairs and help from Bravado to fix the damage.

  • The Mustang Loyalists under Marcus Remington are in military control of Waking, but are not necessarily enemies (yet).  The Loyalists are currently working on pacifying the city and any remaining resistance.  The remaining RRC presence is limited to a few refugees that are either fighting back or trying to survive the occupation.  The Loyalists are expecting a counter-offensive from the remaining Board forces, and are preparing for a battle.

  • The Chairman escaped Eureka Tower in his private airship during the occupation of Waking, along with a few of the loyal Pureblood family heads and fled to Essex.  Essex is now occupied by the remaining Board forces and has become the new home of the San Saba Board. The Board controls most rail and water traffic out of Essex, but the city has reached an uneasy cease fire amid martial law.  Most of the actual resistance has either gone underground, or has fled the city with the forces of the Rebellion.

  • Carina Astora has escaped to the Spoiled Coast and is a general nuisance, but she has few interests in returning to Bravado.  The Clearwater Pirates and most of their forces have broken their alliance and taken their resources and troops with them to the south. The Board has declared the Coast a lost cause as they can no longer properly defend it against the Pirates with their remaining forces. The Junkerpunks are now on their own and Sinker Swim has returned home to the Clutch in preparation for the eventual attack.

  • The Law Dogs joined Boss Debs in her rebellion against the Board, following Boss Wyatt’s public defiance of Lawrence Graves and the Waking Intelligence Service.  Most Law Dogs have followed Wyatt, but a few rogue agents still exist in the Board’s employ. While the town is facing anarchy, the Law Dogs have a plan to sign a new Bravado Charter to establish some common sense laws and rules for the town with the help of the Justices of Sin.

  • The Grave Council is in a quiet civil war following the revelations of February about General Rampart.  The Mystagogues and even parts of the Reckoners are frustrated and ready to end Rampart’s hold on the faction, but need assistance to have him removed from power politically.  Cassiopeia, head of the Quiet Path, has presented herself as a voice of reason, and has kept open conflict between the faction from erupting.

Let’s talk about some of the ways these continuity updates will be reflected in game through Rewards & Consequences…

Marcus Remington (left) and Finnegan listen intently during the Summit.

Consequences & Rewards of Your Choices

We clearly have some exciting times ahead of us. Let’s cover some mechanical changes to be aware of as we continue our season.

The Bravado Blockade

  • Uses of Trade Connections or Sailing Buy Lists will be limited during this event until the Blockade is broken. Connection with the greater San Saba is extremely limited as long as the Reckoner army is on the door step and Carina’s sabotage of the docks remains.

  • The Blockade can be broken by defeating the Reckoner armies during the war game phase on Saturday night. The docks at Anyport and Lake Bravo can be repaired via a Zone of Mechanics during this event.

Radiation Penalties are Gone!

  • Research was completed to contain the worst of the Radiation from Waking.  While the city is still deadly, the surroundings are now causing less damage to the environment.  The hard work and countless Crafting Components worked into the soil have returned most of the town back to normal. Well, as least as normal as the wasteland can be.

  • Scrap and Herb are returned to normal expiration dates!

Waking is Occupied by the Loyalists

  • Liquidations Runs into Waking will require more subterfuge to avoid Loyalist attention, while rescuing innocent survivors caught there by the siege.

  • Radiation is still a worry on the outskirts of the Exclusion Zone, but incursions inside the city will require Stealth to avoid Fallow Hope patrols.  The focus of these runs will be more focused on evacuation, infiltration, or sabotage, rather than surviving the radiation.

Morale Boost

  • Every LC in Bravado, once per game, may spend 1 Resolve to declare “Is that all you got?!” and stand back up from Bleed Out with 10 Body, as the fighting spirit of Bravado is stronger than your fear of death.  This effect lasts until the end of the season.

Welcome to the Age of Rebellion, Vados!

Wrap Up

That’s it for today! I’ll be back on Wednesday with our customary “Rules You Should Know” post for Wednesday, covering a few last minute details about the GIFTS OF SUFFERING and what awaits you this weekend. Will you help Brother Agony prove his point, or will you defy his machinations? Will you claim one of the Crowns of Suffering for yourself, or will you help destroy them? What will be your role in this new Rebellion, and the shiny future ahead?

Let’s find out together, as we experience all the gifts the Final Knights have to offer!

See you soon, Vados!

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Rules You Should Know - February

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It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our February live event THE BREAKER OF CROWNS! This is our next event, led by Heather Halstead and Jonathan Loyd. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering some last-minute Rules You Should Know, featuring some Threat Skills that might be useful to prepare for as the Summit begins…

  • TICKET SALES ARE CLOSED ONLINE, BUT YOU CAN STILL GET A TICKET AT THE GATE!

  • We’ve updated our New Player Corner with a lot of great resources for new and returning players alike. This is a great place to start if this is your first game in awhile!

  • We’ve updated the SES Buy List, and we’ve allowed it to use your San Saba Society Memberships instead of requiring involvement with the Red Ledger. Check out what your Marks can earn you if you sign up for the Survival Ethos System last month!

  • You might have missed it, but we updated our Local CAPS list last season. There are some brand new shiny rewards if you bought some items from our Wish List, or if you help our game with extra NPC shifts or spend time as a Guide. Check it out!

  • Did you attend The Great Revival National Event? Unfortunately, the 42 shiny new faith blueprints from this event have not been added to our shared drive yet by the Network Support team. This means that for now, you won’t be able to make copies of these blueprints until we receive these files from the event game runners. If you’ve received your mail package of item cards from that event early, you can craft the items and perform the benedictions as normal, just not duplication of the prints. We will update you at the game if this changes before then!

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, by Max Pohlmeier, Lauren Guzaldo, Jason Dumas, and Maddeax Khole.

CHOICE POINTS & the Summit

The outcome of THE BREAKER OF CROWNS will not be decided by a vote alone, or by choosing a new leader of the Tribes, or even killing a certain big bad. Instead, YOUR actions will matter over the course of the event. Several CHOICE POINTS will be presented to the town throughout the event, and how you react to these in-game situations will determine how the resolution of this game will end.

Your actions as a player will determine if the Oxkillers decide to pursue a peace treaty, or if the War is doomed to continue into the months ahead, or some unknown third choice is selected... Heather and I have prepared multiple endings based on how these flash points resolve, and you will get to have a direct impact on if the War of Antlers continues or the Oxkillers instead head towards peace. Pay close attention to the story of the Summit, and you will have multiple opportunities to sway the opinions of either the San Saba forces or the Oxkillers.

  • There are at least EIGHT difference CHOICE POINTS to make over the weekend, and depending on your actions during the game there could be more. One decision alone won’t be enough to sway the opinions of the Summit.

  • We will telegraph when one of these events occur by using a clear OOC sign that reads CHOICE POINT. It should be clear to those involved that a choice is being made or can be made, but we won’t always detail exactly how to pursue that choice. Whether your choice will push the various personalities towards peace or war will depend on the choices you make!

  • Some CHOICE POINTS will be decided by role play behaviors alone. Not every Choice Point will be spelled out on a Zone of Mechanics or exactly detailed on a print out. Instead, how you react to certain events or roleplay from the NPCs will determine which direction you sway the choice towards war or peace.

  • Some CHOICE POINTS will be decided by mechanics, usually detailed on a Zone of Mechanics sheet of yellow paper. There will still be a few ways for you to mechanically interact with the plot if heavy roleplay isn’t your style, particularly for those with Society Memberships in the various San Saba factions.

  • Each of the NPCs has a series of agendas, secrets, and leverage they want to use to pursue their goals. If you can discover where each representative stands, you’ll be better prepared to push the Summit towards a path of your choosing. These NPCs will also have item cards, Brass, supply bags, and can be looted, killed, or protected.

  • Your decisions over the weekend will determine the final Battles in the War of Antlers plot that occur on Sunday at the war table, so be prepared for the shifting battlegrounds based on your actions during the event itself!

When is the actual Summit of Tribes?

Great question! While our Choice Points will begin on Friday night, the main affair is scheduled during the Siesta on Saturday, at 3:00 pm, in the Depot. The delegates of both factions will be present to hear arguments for or against peace, in the tradition of the ancient Tribes, so everyone can have a say. It’s up to you what secrets or leverage you might use against one of the representatives, or what alliances and promises you might make to sway them towards your desired outcome.

The Honored Guests

There will be several new NPCs in town that represent the leaders in attendance for the Summit of Tribes. According to the tradition of the Antler Tribes, each of the Houses of the Republic is given an invitation to attend. However, you might notice that the invitation above doesn’t technically exclude enemies of the San Saba. Just remember the new Wartime Powers of the Charter keeps the Oxkillers from enjoying the protections of the law against murder, theft, and worse, and has a few other fun complications.

You’ll see a few of these characters as early as Friday night, but here’s an idea of who to expect.

The Oxkiller War Party will consist of a few new characters that you might have seen on a War Report if you’ve been paying attention to the War of Antlers mini-game on Sundays.

  • The Breaker of Crowns, Leader of the Oxkiller Alliance

  • Carina Astora, the Saltwater Sweetheart, Leader of the Clearwater Rebels

  • Marcus Remington, Minister-General of Star City, Leader of the Mustang Loyalists

  • Ahote the Restless, Oxkiller Mentor

The San Saba Republic will have two major representatives to expect during the Summit. While the third member of the Troika remains on the front lines to defend against betrayal, two of the leaders of the faction will be in attendance.

  • Boss Debs, Queen of the San Saba Republic

  • Malorous Mab, Spymaster of the San Saba Republic

THREAT SKILLS OF NOTE

There’s one last thing to be concerned about during the Summit. Zombies are a key part of Dystopia Rising, and this weekend a few of our classics gain a dangerous new ability. This new threat skill will see play during the February Event:

Blood Scent

  • The [REDACTED] will point at a Target and call “Line of Sight, Downsurge: Blood Scent!”.  This ability may not be Avoided or Resisted.  

  • This Downsurge replaces any Downsurge currently on the Target, and lasts for one hour.

  • All nearby Undead will swarm and try to kill that target, channeling the anger of the horde.  If a character goes into Bleed Out from the attacks of the swarming horde, any member of the horde can call a Killing Blow instead of the Cannibalize skill on the Blood Scented character. Ouch!

This skill means that even a normal Shambler can suddenly become DEADLY. Make sure you have some friends close by, because you won’t have the normal Cannibalize window to rescue them before they die!

Wrap UP

That’s it for this week Vados! We have a great event planned for you and we can’t wait for y’all to decide the next steps for the people of the San Saba as we begin the last half of the season. We hope that you are ready for the challenge of THE BREAKER OF CROWNS. Will you choose a path of peace, or do you want to make the Oxkillers pay by continuing the war? Can you survive the deadly politics of the Summit and risk treason to make your point? We have some some fun and exciting challenges planned for your characters in the nightmarish zombie apocalypse.

See you soon Vados!