The Rage Within
Howdy Vados!
It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to the finale Dystopia Rising Live event of Season Seven, THE RAGE WITHIN! This game will be led by Andrew Harper, Jonathan Loyd, and Fable Brown. 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 May event ARE ON SALE NOW!
Our EARLY BIRD promotion continues for our May tickets! If you purchase your ticket BEFORE May 2nd 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!
Undated Scrap Cards expired on February 1st, 2026. Back at the start of DR Live last year, we set expiration dates for all undated cards and the day finally arrived. Read more about this and how to gather scrap here.
If you had a great experience at our last event ARTIFACTS OF DEATH 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!
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 - THE RAGE WITHIN
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, ARTIFACTS OF DEATH:
The seasons turn. The frenzied warmth of the Spring is a distant memory under the pressing assault of the upcoming Burning Season. Life grows riotous and virulent, desperate to make use of the short time before the searing fire of the Summer descends to smother with flames and ash. As time runs out on the season, so does time run short on the latest crisis to afflict the San Saba. A crisis that will not be cauterized and that will only fester and rot within the oppressive heat.
Pride’s Hold has gone silent.
The headquarters of the Peacekeepers, the shared defense of the Tri-City Alliance, and the place where terrible relics are stored within the Vaults of Reckoning has been infested with plague and terror. The virulent disease of Bad Brain is spreading quickly within its walls, dooming our allies and guardians to a fate worse than death. Despite attempts at warnings, something terrible was released within the fortress, and the ensuing chaos has cut off any connection they had with the outside world. The last few sane soldiers managed to close the gates and warn any survivors to steer clear, a desperate attempt to quarantine Pride’s Hold from the rage within.
Raiders and Bad Brain. Once fellow Lineages, now fallen and lost to the horrible disease that remakes them into one of the more dire threats in the Wastelands. Forever haunted by the life and community that they have lost and are now compelled to lash out in rage against. Yet cunning enough to use what fragments of that past life they can hang onto to aid their infiltration and hunt.
Casualties are piling up from brutal assaults, the few remaining Peacekeeper forces that were caught outside are close to breaking, and increased cases of Bad Brain infections are being reported across the Tri-City alliance area. Each settlement is left to fend for itself, as the protectors turn to predators. The fragile Alliance is tested, tempers flare, and citizens are killed or worse yet corrupted and fallen to the rage of Bad Brain.
How do you deal with a threat that can hide behind the face of those who should be allies in survival? When casualties are not just losses, but potential new threats. Can scarce resources be diverted to save those infected but not yet turned? How does civilization stand when faced with a tide of violence and corruption from The Rage Within?
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 THE RAGE WITHIN!
Firefly (obviously…)
Assault on Precinct 13
Pandorum
The Crazies
Now, you probably recognize a theme in these inspirations, and it’s for good reason. These are all stories of dealing with dangerous, intelligent threats that used to be people like us. This month, you’ll be facing dangerous RAIDERS, an intimidating threat that is in a class of its own compared to zombies or critters. They have unique abilities, crazy durability, and lethal intentions. When you set out to defend your home or rescue survivors from Pride’s Hold, you’ll need to be ready to withstand the fearsome rage of the raiders while also avoiding infection from a dangerous disease.
Bad Brain - The insidious disease spread by the Bad Brain Raiders you’ll face over the weekend is a horrific fate. Survivors that fall victim to this plague lose what ever it is that makes them human (or a Strain). That spark of life that allowed them to reason, feel empathy, or anything other than a blinding rage at the existence of Strains near them is gone, replaced with a maddening anger that drives them to destroy. Like the Reavers in Firefly, these things are cannibals, killing and eating their foes, and you hope they do it in that order. While they may resemble people you once know, many of the Peacekeeper soldiers will be hapless victims to this dangerous disease, newly risen Raiders that must be defeated if you wish to survive.
Raiders - These threats are intelligent, clever, and capable of reacting in ways that you don’t really experience with zombies or critters. Their madness is overwhelming, like the citizens of Ogden Marsh in the Crazies. Like a mutated form of rabies, Bad Brain drives these threats to attack any survivors in sight, but they haven’t lost all of their faculties. They can react to your tactics, plan ambushes, and pick better fights if they are outnumbered. They are rage filled, but not stupid. Raiders are also a reminder of how dangerous the wasteland is, particular when disease runs rampant.
The Danger of Your Fellow Survivors - Tainted are particularly vulnerable to certain abilities Raiders can bring to the fight, so you may need to be careful about how close they are while defending a cabin. While some diseases can have overt, physical signs, Bad Brain is a bit more insidious as it warps their minds and removes their ability to reason or think calmly. If that person was already a bit erratic, it might be difficult to tell if they are infected with a dangerous disease or just being a nuisance. Like the mutated abominations in Pandorum, these threats are spreading a dangerous disease and you may never know how close they are to turning into something even more deadly…
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 May event.
Raiders and Extremely Deadly, intelligent Enemies
In the new world of DR Live, Raiders have had a major glow up. Even basic Raiders are closer to Rank 2 threats of other types. They have many abilities to ignore common attacks when they use Raider Rage, and they are capable of using tactics and their own cleverness to kill their foes. Raiders have a number of nasty tricks in the new edition and they aren’t quite the push overs that you might have faced in previous games.
Raider Rage is now variable. The ability you may have not noticed that the “Raider Rage” ability has been updated into short, medium, and long durations, often with different resistances. You may not be able to count out loud to track a raider’s rage, as each may be different. Beware!
Every single Raider is “killing blow active”. This means if you fall into bleed out against a Raider horde and you have no friends nearby, you are likely to die. They offer no quarter and many are cannibals, taking flesh and meat from the survivors to fuel their blood lust. The only time Raiders are not killing blow active is when they are purposefully taking prisoners to convert into new Raiders via disease.
Raiders are clever and capable of using tactics. They are not just scavengers or bandits. They are organized, ruthless, and often driven by a complex primal hierarchy of power and brutality. Within the ranks of Raider there are three subgroups, there are those who have evolved naturally, those who have become aberrations through partial infection, and those who were once Lineages but have fallen victim to the disease known as Bad Brain. Each requires a different approach, but they are all dangerous foes that can be more than a match for many survivors.
Disease, infection, and consequences of diseases
While the primary danger during the May event will be Raiders, some carry an insidious threat. It’s worth mentioning that some Raider threats can also use the “Inflict Disease” ability. This powerful threat skill is normally used on survivors that are bleeding to death, but can infect them with the same disease that runs rampant in the Infected Raider clans. Many can spread it in other ways as well, without necessarily needing to knock you into Bleed Out first!
The disease Bad Brain can be incredibly deadly. It is a sinister disease that erodes both the mind and brain tissue, leaving victims in a state of violent delirium before they succumb to cerebral ulceration. This disease causes Lineages to become Infection type Raiders, which they cannot recover from. If you succumb to this disease, you don’t die but become a Raider instead. For many, this is a fate worse than death. While it is quite unlikely to reach lethal levels of this disease within one game for most players, there will be ways to risk this fate if you are foolhardy and ignore the warning signs.
Tainted can be vulnerable to certain Raider abilities through their own disease. Most Tainted carry a strain of Bad Brain in them that never fully evolves. Like Full Dead can be influenced by the dead, Tainted can be influenced by Raider threats through the Tainted Bond ability. You should be prepared to possibly turn on your friends, or lose a bit of your agency in making decisions if you play a Tainted. However, Tainted are completely IMMUNE to the Bad Brain disease, so that part they have to worry less about. However, there are still some diseases that can STILL impact Tainted and that can be spread by Raiders so don’t think you are completely safe!
Lost Raiders are scary. When a survivor succumbs to Bad Brain, they can become something worse than the usual raider threat. If a player character or prominent face NPC reaches Level 5 of this disease, they can stack Raider abilities with their previous Impact skills, Development skills, and other stats. This can make for some truly terrifying combinations, as they can often still use equipment they had when they lost their spark, and use powerful Profession skills against you. This is a pretty rare occurrence, but if you are not quick, you may not be able to save everyone…
Resource scarcity, and the struggle to provide for yourself in the apocalypse
The Burning Season is approaching! You’ll need to check your equipment carefully, as many items that have been crafted or looted this season expire in May. If you want to have gear when you come back in Season 8, you’ll need to make a plan. If you plan on visiting any neighboring games over the summer, you’ll want to make sure you get your gear in tip top shape before the break. However, if you aren’t traveling, it might be worth it to wait until September to craft, so you’ll get most of the time in game to use the item. If you craft a 6-month item in May, it’ll last until October, so you’ll only really get 3 games worth of utility from the gizmo.
Online games require a separate online inventory. If you plan on attending an online games over the summer break, this will be your last opportunity to craft items in game to add to this inventory. When you craft an item like a weapon or brew in game, you can choose instead of getting a card in game to put it into your virtual inventory. These expire like normal items once there, but can’t be brought back into live play. It can be helpful to have a brew or two before an online game, or maybe your favorite weapon you love to use in a fight. Take advantage of this last game of the season to prepare!
3.0 Scrap expired just a few months ago, so expect a scarcity of some resources. There’s still a LOT of folks building equipment or working with a bit less resources than they had before. Crews are still 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, particularly items that might be used to cure diseases or deal with Raiders, so plan ahead!
a new holiday approaches!
At player request, we’d like to introduce a new HOLIDAY to celebrate during our May events. While we have a lot of traditions that have stuck around over the years like Winter Lights or Bunny Day, May is always a time of updating our setting and introducing some big narrative changes to the world.
Thus, the Reveille is born. Inspired by a Texas A&M tradition originally back in 2.0 during our Aggieland game, the name evoked some special meeting for our team at DR:TX. We always have some big events happen during this month, and it was truly impressive how many memories we’ve built during games in May. When we built out the list, it was clear we needed to do something to both honor that memory and prepare for the years to come. Like many of our current holidays, this might be something as grilling a burger and spending time with your loved ones, but for others its a moment to remember those who came before. Part Memorial Day, part July 4th, this new holiday will be a way to share and remember the history of our game in Texas, over the last decade and into the future. We’ve updated our Holidays & Traditions webpage, and we hope you are as excited as we are to celebrate the Reveille.
Here’s our blurb for the holiday:
The Reveille
The Reveille is a new holiday celebrated by the citizens of the San Saba each May, in the last weeks before the Burning Season truly begins. While this holiday has several different names across strains and settlements, it traditionally takes place during the second weekend of the month, after the last false freeze of April. The month of May is a time of change, a time of conflict, and a time to gather your strength before the brutal conditions of the summer, and this holiday marks a memory of independence, freedom, and transformative change.
Throughout the years, May has marked the destruction of cities, the end of multiple wars, elections and political upheaval, the signing of treaties, and brutal crises. It marks when we move our calendar forward, remembering the destruction of past wars and conflicts. This time remembers when the Brave 21 stood against stampeding zed hordes at old Bravo at the close of the Hiway War, when the Grave Council breached the Cicatrix and stopped the Plague of the Unfinished, and when the Battle of Essex broke the strength of the San Saba Board and Arthur Lovelace. It marks the start of the War of Antlers, the destruction of the Washbourne plantation, when raiders nearly destroyed old Bravo with a massive bomb, and the transformation of Aggieland under new leadership. It recalls the formation of the Militia that sparked the fire of rebellion, and when Bravado truly declared their independence against tyranny and oppression in battle. Throughout the years, May has been incredibly important for independence in the wasteland, and we remember these major events in the Reveille.
In the oldcestor days, a Reveille was a call to gather, a wakeup call to get ready for the day and be ready for the challenges ahead. It marked a new beginning and was a time to raise your flag high in the air and salute your common cause to the music shared by horns and trumpets. It also echoes an old Darwin tradition from Aggieland before its destruction, when a new leader was chosen for their home and they celebrated the best and brightest of their people in a grand contest of merit and skill. This new Reveille is a reminder of the awesome power of change. It calls to each survivor to resist stagnation, and that every struggle is a chance to strengthen your resolve. The future is not built without a cost, and we must use this time as a catalyst to resist those who would oppress our freedoms and threaten what we hold dear.
How will you answer the call of The Reveille? How will you make your mark on this new tradition?
Wrap Up
That’s it for today, Vados.
We hope that you will come join us for our last event of Season 7, THE RAGE WITHIN! Will you survive the threat of deadly infected Raiders? Will you ride the edge of madness as Bad Brain pushes you closer to the edge of oblivion? Will you help what is left of the Peacekeepers save who they can, or will you lose important allies and friends? Can you uncover the source of the danger within Pride’s Hold before it changes the face of the San Saba forever?
Let’s find out together! See you soon, Vados!
