DR:TX Lore INtroduction

Welcome Home!

Here’s a few things your brand new character might know about the tiny town of Bravado.

You don’t have to read ALL of our lore we’ve written on the game to play, so this is a brief guide focused on what you might know as a new character in our setting. You can choose to know as much or as little of this information as you like. It can be fun to learn it all in game, but some folks want to have a bit of an idea of what to expect from the story…

So, welcome and congratulations! Your character is preparing to arrive on the Oxline (the train) in New Bravado. Here are some fundamental concepts that your character understands implicitly as a denizen of the Greater Wastes. If you know these as a new player, you’re ahead of the curve.

Who are you?

  • Your character is a Survivor. The wastelands are a harsh and deadly place, filled with zombies, dangerous raiders, disease, radiation, and many other deadly threats. You’ve probably already survived some harrowing situations just to get here.

  • Humanity Doesn’t Exist Anymore. You are a member of a Strain of Humanity, evolved and adapted to survive in the harsh and radioactive wasteland. Your ancestors were people that survived the original zombie plague that ended the world as we once knew. Something happened during that distant apocalypse that fundamentally changed the biological superstructures of our DNA - killing off humans as they were and replacing them with hardier, more specialized Strains of humanity.

  • The Apocalypse Was a Long Time Ago. The Fall of Man to the zombie virus happened generations ago, but no one is really sure when it happened or what exactly happened. All we really know is that nuclear weapons were used on most major cities to stop the zombie hordes, and they didn’t work. Instead, the disease mutated and spread even further. There isn’t a person alive in the Greater Wastes who remembers the towering skyscrapers of New York or the concept of an email, or the notion of a governmental body larger than a town council. In many ways, the world has regressed to something simpler in the wake of incredible loss.

  • Death is Not the End. Every Survivor has a bit of the zombie plague inside them called the Infection that will eventually turn them into a zombie. However, this disease means your character can heal from most wounds very quickly, and you can come back from death multiple times. Once you’ve run through all your lives, represented by the Infection stat on your character sheet, your character won't have enough of themselves left to claw their way out of the Mortis, and instead will return as a shambling and shuffling undead monster.

  • There is Safety in Numbers — Sometimes... Survivors tend to band together in small settlements across the wastelands for mutual survival, and the major settlement in our area is called Bravado. However, in a wasteland with limited and scare resources, sometimes the greater enemy is the other survivors that also call this place home.

What is this place?

  • Bravado is a tiny stop along the Oxline, a massive train network owned by the RRC, or Railroad Conglomerate. 

  • The area around the town of Bravado is known as the “San Saba Territories” and sometimes just called the “Lonestar”. The Territories are run by a group of powerful and wealthy people called the “San Saba Board”.

  • Bravado is known for strange tunnels underneath the town that are a source of scrap and artifacts from long ago. People who risk the tunnels looking for scrap are often known as “Delvers”.

  • The primary export of the town is the metal and scrap uncovered from the tunnels below, as well as the oily fuel known as “Oxblood”.

  • New folk to Bravado are called “Dusters”, for the coating of dust on their clothes when they step off The Ox, the train that brings you to town.

  • Bravado uses it’s own form of currency to conduct trades and barter for supplies. The currency in town is called “Brass”.

Felicity Redfield

Who is the RRC?

  • The Railroad Conglomerate (“RRC”) is the most financially powerful faction in the entirety of the San Saba Territories. Most people in the San Saba and in Bravado are contracted employees of the RRC.

  • The Oxline is expanding throughout the San Saba Territories and most folks are eager to get a piece of the action.  It’s provided a “safer” way to get to another settlement in the wastes.

  • The Foreman of Bravado is a person named Felicity Redfield. They are connected with the RRC and known to be a bit of an explorer. She has bright red, curly hair, and always wears a wide-brimmed hat.

  • The railways of the RRC stretch across the wasteland, connecting settlements across the Greater Wastes.

The Obelisk in the lake

What’s around Bravado?

  • The nearby lake, Lake Bravo, is boiling and no one knows why. Folks think it might have something to do with a strange white Obelisk in the middle of the lake.

  • On the outskirts of Bravado to the southeast is the crashed skyship-city known as Waking Prime. This airship is a marvel of technology from before the fall of man to the zombie plague, and is the capital of the San Saba and home to the San Saba Board. The area is still heavily radioactive and dangerous to enter.

  • Southwest of Bravado is the metropolis known as Essex, the City of Light and Sound.  This is one of the largest settlements in the entire region. It is known to have a single massive tree growing in the center, called the “Fountainheart”.

  • Northeast of the city lies Prudence Penitentiary, also known as “Killhouse”, a former fortress-prison that once housed the worst criminals imaginable.

  • To the southeast lies The Clutch, a major port city on the Spoiled Coast and home to the Junkerpunks. A major river connects the lake near Bravado to The Clutch.

  • To the far north lies the Oxkiller Territories, home to a warlike tribe that is at war with the San Saba. Their soldiers have been threatening the region for the last year.

Why is Bravado important?

  • Bravado is near a major intersection of the Oxline, and it’s a convenient stop when traveling through the San Saba.

  • An old war was ended a few years ago by the folks near this town. It was the site of the last battle of the war, and is a place of historical significance.

  • Something important and valuable is suspected to be under the town, and people are flocking to Bravado day by day in search of fortune and adventure. New materials have been found under the settlement, and it’s sparked a new rush of prospectors seeking to make it rich.

  • Every faction of the San Saba Board is offering contracts within the tiny town. There’s steady employment here, and a person can make a name for themselves on the frontier. Do work, get paid!

  • Bravado is connected to each major locale in the San Saba through a network of strangely similar Obelisks. These structures have been found across the region and they are hundreds of years old, but they all seem to have some connection to Bravado.

Is Bravado dangerous?

  • Bravado is no more dangerous than any other town in the wastes, but that’s not saying much. There is always a threat of zombies, ferocious raiders, mutated critters, and even your fellow survivors.

  • Bravado is at war with the enemy group of survivors called the Oxkiller Alliance. These soldiers are zealots that will stop at nothing to destroy major sources of technology, like the Ox or Waking Prime.

  • Local threats in this area that might be different than other settlements are:

What are the laws in this town?

  • The San Saba Board has recently enacted several Laws, and you can find them here.

  • Generally, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t break contracts, don’t mess with the Postal Workers, and always pay your Grave Tax. Oh, and don’t use Crystal Candy.

  • The Grave Tax is a fine paid to use the Morgue if someone dies. If you die accidentally or to zed and raiders, the fee is negligible. But if you die foolishly, or intentionally kill someone, the fee is much steeper. Remember, most characters can die multiple times!

What about violence from other survivors?

  • Bravado is a rough and tumble frontier town.  Casual violence is a part of daily life, but remember not to kill anyone. As long as they don’t die, you can generally just buy them a hooch at the bar and walk it off if you are on the losing end. Talk shit, get hit!

  • If you are interested in CvC (Character vs Character conflict), talk to a Guide! Guides wear green headbands and/or a pin that says ‘Guide’. They are players who help to run the game.

What are contracts?

  • When everyone in the area is focused on the rail line and commerce, it pays to choose a side. You do so by signing a Contract with one of the factions of the San Saba Board.

  • Signing a contract with a faction makes you a Contractor, and earns the protection of that faction in exchange for doing jobs for them. It’s the surest way to earn currency, or “Brass”, in town.

  • You can get a standard Work Order from the Post Office or the Depot. This is an easy way to get started with paying work. If you complete one of these during your first event, you can easily earn 10 Brass!

Who are the factions of bravado?

  • There are seven major organizations that you might encounter or work with while in Bravado.

  • The Railroad Conglomerate, or RRC, is a financially powerful group that is focused on expanding the railroads of the San Saba.

  • The Grave Council is a banker’s guild that enforces a tax on when people die and are mystical experts on the Grave Mind. They maintain a massive bank in Essex, to the southeast.

  • The Junkerpunks are a group of merchants, pirates, and explorers that dominate the waterways of the San Saba and make their home in the Clutch.

  • The San Saba Republic is a massive organization that represents the majority of the population of the San Saba. They organize themselves in several small Tribes, each an important part of the whole.

  • The Law Dog Union are rangers and marshals that help enforce the laws of the San Saba, and track down the “Breachers” — criminals who have violated the law.

  • Prudence Penitentiary is a massive fortress-prison that once held the most dangerous criminals in the wasteland. They are now an important strategic location in the war against the Oxkillers raging in the area.

  • The Widows of the Lone Star are the only faction not formally part of the San Saba Board, but they are members of the powerful Lovelace Family, a group of Quiet Folk from the town called “Widow’s Peak”. They are a charitable organization that runs several orphanages.

What is the grave mind?

  • Sometimes called the Mortis Amaranthine, this is a massive fungal growth under the ground that tends to grow near settlements of survivors.

  • When you die, the tendrils of the Grave Mind, a mysterious and terrible sentience behind the zombie plague, claim your body from below to rebuild under the ground.

  • The process is maddening and hard to handle, and not everyone comes back in one piece. Some are a bit fractured and traumatized by the experience.

  • When you have regenerated, your body emerges from a Morgue, an exit from the fungal growth under the ground.

  • Most folks can survive dying a few times, but eventually your body cannot be regenerated. When you die for the final time, you will come back as a zombie, ready to kill and eat your friends.

Other background stuff that might be important

  • You’ve heard of the Hiway War, a massive conflict five years ago that nearly killed everyone in the San Saba wastes.  It was stopped by the sacrifice of a few brave souls in the former town of Old Bravo. Now, the ruins of that settlement lies under the crater and lake that formed after its destruction.

  • The flying city of Waking recently crashed near Bravado. It is still heavily radioactive and is leeching radiation into the land, water, and plants of the area. It’s a big problem, and it’s going to take some time to fix. All you can do is try to survive.

  • The San Saba Board has recently arisen as a force of law and order. They represent the interests of the major financial institutions of the area, including the Railroad Conglomerate, the Grave Council, the Junkerpunks, San Saba Republic, the Law Dog Union, and Prudence Penitentiary.

  • The lost city of Barogue was recently discovered in the Dune Sea to the west. Something the survivors found there made them very interested in the tiny town of Bravado. You’ve heard that some kind of music was heard from all over recently, and it was somehow connected to Barogue.

We’ll have much more for you in play, so if you don’t remember everything that’s ok!  There’s lots more to experience at the game, so we are excited to see you at your first event!

I have additional questions!

Additional Information

We’ve provided a lot of additional background information on the setting, all of the various factions, and even summaries of our virtual events in the links below. But you do not have to come into play knowing it all! However, if you want to get a feel for the setting before entering play this is a good place to start. All of this information is stuff your character is able to come into game knowing, if you choose.

Again, if you don’t think you would have kept up with all of this, that’s fine! You are welcome to come in fresh and learn things once you start playing, and there's a lot to learn about in game by talking to other players! We have lots of characters that would be happy to tell you their side of the story of all these crazy events. These kinds of roleplay interactions can make for a memorable experience!

We’ve taken a lot of pride in documenting all the stories we’ve told so far, so we hope you’ll enjoy reading about the setting we care about very much!