Seeds of Corruption
Howdy Vados!
It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to next premiere Dystopia Rising Live event SEEDS OF CORRUPTION! This game will be led by Jonathan and Fable. Each post, 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 themes of our upcoming event!
Notes & Updates:
TICKETS FOR OUR february event ARE ON SALE NOW!
We have a special EARLY BIRD promotion for our tickets for February! If you purchase your ticket BEFORE February 1st, you’ll receive a bonus XP for FREE! If you’ve already bought a ticket with additional XP, send us an email to info@dystopiarisingtx.com for more information!
We have our new Half Season Passes for sale before this event! Save $50 by purchasing tickets for all of our Spring 2026 events in advance. This functionally matches the discount you could have received on a Season Pass at the start of the season, so it’s a great way to save some money if you didn’t get a chance to pick up one last year.
Undated Scrap Cards expire on February 1st, 2026, BEFORE our next event. Back at the start of DR Live last year, we set expiration dates for all undated cards and the day is finally here. Read more about this and how to gather scrap here.
If you had a great experience at our last event BLOOD IN THE WATER or had some suggestions for how we can improve, we’d love to hear from you! We appreciate your high-fives and suggestions and always want to seek ways to improve our events.
Fill out our Feedback Form!
Green, But Still Breathing? If your character recently dropped to 1 Infection, send us an email with the subject line "Project Green" with your player number and character name for a special opportunity at our next event!
Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, including Lily-Jay Jones, Miranda Farmer, Heather Halstead, Noah Goodman, and Max Pohlmeier.
THE PREMISE - SEEDS OF CORRUPTION
With that out of the way, let’s get to our next event. Each season, we share a bit of a teaser about our upcoming event. It’s one part ‘movie trailer’ and one part ‘story time’, but it covers some of the important beats of our upcoming event.
The DR:TX team has prepared some fun stories ahead, so let’s see what is in store for our event, SEEDS OF CORRUPTION:
Every year, the Long Night brings the San Saba to a quiet halt. The cold weather and the deep shadows cloak the region in an inky gloom during the deepest part of winter, a remnant of the radioactive blast used to level old Bravo so many years ago. As the shadows lengthen and twist through the trees, the mournful wail of the undead seems closer than ever. The candlelight glow of shrines and memorials dot the landscape of every town nearby as the Long Night draws to a close, but the threats remain.
The Battle of Drywater was won, but it was a costly victory. The heroic sacrifice of Admiral Sinker Swim and the tireless efforts of Vados, Peacekeepers and Loyalists kept the worst of the corrupted morgue from erupting into an apocalypse, and the last of the Drowned Sun were hunted down and slain. The Junkerpunks refugees have returned to their reclaimed home across the lake, and the shadows of the reminding airships of the Spindrift Navy retreat to Bastion, leaving Bravado strangely lonely in their wake.
While Drywater will take some time to recover from their victory, the true cost of conflict is the surge of undead from those slain in the fighting, as the death toll surges through the Mortis Amaranthine. While waves of nightmarish undead were stopped during the final dives into the corrupted morgue, many of Capricorn’s creations escaped into the night during the battle. The Mortis has churned out hundreds of shamblers from those lost into the waters of Lake Bravo during the siege, and strange new forms of undead haunt the night.
The fallout of the bitter faction war lingers on, and there are many who still seek justice. It is said that you ‘reap what you sow’, but what good can possibly grow where seeds of corruption have been planted? This spike of distrust and blame threatens anyone touched by the conflict, and the added stress and threat of the undead turns arguments into bloody fights. How can you be a good neighbor when so many sat by and let Margeaux and Capricorn run amuck? Why should you defend someone that fought on the other side? How can you defend what is yours when so much has been lost?
The Long Night is almost over and a new dawn will soon break over the San Saba, provided you can survive the churning bodies of the undead that threaten Bravado once more…
INSPIRATION & TROPES
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 or show to inspire your role play for this event, here’s a list of our favorites to get ready for SEEDS OF CORRUPTION!
Day of the Dead
The Walking Dead (series)
Train to Busan
28 Years Later
Now, you probably recognize a few of these movies as zombie apocalypse classics, and it’s for good reason. We have a saying amongst our DR:TX Storyteller Senate: “When in doubt, send out zombies.”
Meat & Potatoes - Each year in February, we’ve learned a few valuable lessons over the seasons of DR:TX. As folks get back from the long winter break, they don’t want complicated. They just want zombies. Much like our September event, these first events back work best when we focus on the simple and classic elements of Dystopia Rising Live. That’s Zombies, Raiders, Critters, and just the good old fashioned apocalyptic survival. As such, our plot for this game will be fairly straight forward - you’ll need to kill some zombies, and accomplish certain tasks while killing zombies. It’s classic, gnashing horror basics. This is a perfect time to start playing in our new world of Bravado and Dystopia Rising Live.
New Beginnings- Each season we focus on a major overarching theme, split into two sections of four games, in fall and spring. Our first arc dealt with the conflict over Drywater, and our upcoming arcs will detail what happens next as new threats emerge. As such, February is a time of new beginnings. This is the first chapter of a new story, but it’s certainly influenced by what came before. Each of our Storytellers will opportunities for new stories and personal underarcs and we even have a few overarc games coming up soon that will be led by some of our newest STs. Pay attention to this game, as you might catch the hook or start of something new!
The one theme that diverts from these norms involves some of what happened during our last half-season arc:
The Aftermath - The Battle of Drywater involved a lot of moving pieces, from grave heads delving into the corrupted morgue to assault teams striking into the heart of the conflict. The lead up to the battle took months, but now that it is over and the Alliance was victorious, what happens next? There was a lot of death that happened recently, and that obviously means ZOMBIES. Perfect for our February event. But there’s also a lot of rebuilding, cleaning up the messes from the battle, and folks returning home after a hard-fought victory. While the Drowned Sun were defeated, the impact they left is still being felt. Some might still be mourning losses or remembering exciting moments, but it’s clear that the Battle of Drywater will mean a new chapter for our neighbors to the north. What does that mean for Bravado, and how will that impact our future?
The last theme is one that we’ve touched on before, but it’s worth mentioning for this new world of Dystopia Rising Live, and it deserves it’s own section.
The Long Night
The last theme is one that we’ve touched on before, but it’s worth mentioning for this new world of Dystopia Rising Live. This is a tradition that is ultimately centered around the out-of-game fact that our Girl Scout camp is closed for January each year. They focus on repairs for the campsite, and it’s just a fact that the coldest part of the year makes it a bit more difficult to run our game. Many other chapters take breaks during this time, and the Christmas season always makes it a bit difficult to schedule events like ours. Shan & Aesa wanted to build a story for this normal gap in schedule, and thus the Long Night was born. The story of the Long Night first started at the beginning of 3.0, so we felt it important to update this story for a new edition.
Every year, the Long Night brings the San Saba to a quiet halt. The cold weather and the deep shadows cloak the region in an inky gloom during the deepest part of winter, a remnant of the radioactive blast used to level old Bravo so many years ago. As the shadows lengthen and twist through the trees, the mournful wail of the undead seems closer than ever. The candlelight glow of shrines and memorials dot the landscape of every town nearby as the Long Night draws to a close, but the threats remain.
Each year, the skies around the San Saba grow darker earlier than normal and things start to stir in the night. Where as the influence of terrible undead terrors like the Archons, the Nightmares, and Longwalkers are long gone, there are still mysteries that go bump in the night. Previous stories of these creatures are a thing of the past, but as the shadows lengthen, one can’t help but wonder…
Nominally, the effects of the Long Night are a side effect of the bomb that was used to level old Bravo back at the end of the 2.0 edition. During the Hiway War, the final battle was decided by literally nuking our hometown and killing every living (and unliving) thing for a huge area. The blasted ozone layer over the area tends to increase the ambient radiation in the area during this time of year, which leads to increased cloud cover, harsh weather, gloomy and dim conditions even during the day, and prime conditions for the noctural predators of the wasteland to thrive. Night falls earlier as the Equinox wanes, and the weather and wasteland grows even more hostile to life.
Every survivor in the area hunkers down for the dour cold of January, barricading doors against the churning masses of undead and terrible critters that hunt the darkness. Undead grow restless in the gloom, and the more predatory dead like Hunters and Gore Hounds roam further than ever. Critters react strangely to the increased radiation, mutating and changing for a new year, like shifting into a new skin or a fresh change of clothes. Raiders grow more desperate, breaking down doors in the wee hours of the morning hunting for dwindling fresh meat, much to the consternation of those survivors huddled inside. The winter is a time where survival is not just a memory, but a mandate.
Ghost stories and frightful tales take center stage during the Long Night, as the huddled masses share legends and memories of times long before. From terrible faced things many hands taller than any survivor, to glowing apparitions in the forest on moonlit nights, the imaginations of survivors run wild during this time. No one is truly sure exactly what stirs during the darkest hours of the Long Night, but there is something out there. Strange footprints, sounds, and evidence of things moving about in the woods around Bravado are not just figments of an overactive imagination. There are terrible threats that hunt the night and any sane survivor takes shelter from the creeping darkness.
Daylight is spent on anxious and focused survival, gathering food and herbs to eat, refilling water stores with mostly rad-free water, and spending the few hours left repairing and maintaining the protections for the upcoming night. Families spend time repairing armor, barricades, and gear from the threats the night before, and try their best to prepare for what is coming. There’s precious little time for true community in the cold winter nights, so the focus instead turns inwards — to those closest and most cherished. When survival is even more desperate, you hold close that which matters most.
Many strains have traditions of candlelight memorials, remembrances, or simply celebrations to remember those that have been lost. Some share simple meals, pray for the salvation of the next dawn, or share thanks for what remains. The gloomy conditions bring a somber, but hopeful tone for the upcoming year, as the few weeks of darkness will eventually give way to a return to the searing sun of the San Saba soon enough. As the Long Night comes to end, thoughts of seeing friends once more and gathering in town becomes a welcome respite.
How did you survive the Long Night? Where there any strange happenings that you recall from the darkest hours of the year? What preparations did you take? What traditions did you share with your loved ones, or what have your mourned during the Long Night? Share with us your stories and we hope to see you at our next event!
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.
Resource scarcity, and the struggle to provide for yourself in the apocalypse
3.0 Scrap is EXPIRED! Scrap cards that don’t have an expiration date will expire before our next even in February 2026. Expect there will be some adjustment this season as folks work to use their remaining items before the winter break. Make sure to check your item cards before you come to event to prevent some surprises!
Give people time to mourn and be gentle. The timing of this change caught many of us off guard, and it’s okay to have some feelings about seeing a lot of saved up resources expire. This change will have some big impacts to the economy of the game, and there’s going to be some fluctuations as people figure out how to adapt. It’s okay to feel a loss or to mourn how things used to be. Give yourself and your friends the time and space they need to vent.
Expect a scarcity of some resources. There’s still going to be a LOT of folks building equipment or working with a bit less resources than they had before. Crews will likely be focused on copying new blueprints, making items for their team, and harvesting resources for their personal use. There could be some scrambling to use important workstations or getting access to places like the Helscape Mine. There may not be as many people selling the goods you need, so plan ahead!
Our team will help with the adjustment. We will be increasing the amount of found Foraging cards we distribute over the game, as well as making sure that there will be Raider threats throughout the weekend. The DR Live system is much more forgiving than the world of 3.0 when it comes to resources, so you might find you don’t need that stockpile of scrap nearly as much. If you have any specific concerns or want to consider some changes to your character sheet, please let us know!
Wrap Up
That’s it for today, Vados.
We hope that you will come join us for our next event, SEEDS OF CORRUPTION. Will your successful survival of the Long Night come to a harsh and abrupt end when rampaging hordes of the undead swarm across Bravado? What new stories will be found as the first rays of daylight mark an end to the coldest parts of the year? Will you band together with your kin to remember the fallen, or lick the wounds of the past conflicts? What will happen to the Tri-City Alliance now that the biggest threat has been addressed? What consequences are left unseen after sealing the corrupted morgue for good? In the aftermath of a deadly battle in Drywater, will you discover the Seeds of Corruption that remain?
Let’s find out together! See you soon, Vados!
