Howdy Vados!
It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our November live event EMERGENCE! This is our next ST led overarc of the season, led by Maenad Wilder. 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 a mechanic to extend your disease timer - the CONTAINMENT ZONE!
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. Thanks to DR: Michigan and DR: New York for paving the way with excellent similar content!
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!
Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, by Max Pohlmeier, Lauren Guzaldo, and Maddeax Khole.
Let’s get started!
The containment zone
One last major mechanic of note this weekend will be the brand-new CONTAINMENT ZONE. Sometime Friday night, you can expect this custom Zone of Mechanics to enter play at the Depot. Let’s take a look at the specific rules, which are also conveniently posted on our Local Rules page:
Containment zone Mechanics
Once activated, the following mechanics apply to the entirety of the interior cafeteria building, the Terminal Station Depot:
Entering the Containment Zone causes an “Inflict Disease, Behemoth Parasites (Stage 1)”, unless already Infected. If you are already sick, this does not advance your illness to the next stage.
Characters with BASIC MEDICAL may spend 1 Mind for each 10 minutes within the containment zone to safely enter without being infected.
While in the zone, Strains cannot transmit Behemoth Parasites by touch. Other Inflict Disease mechanics spread by Strike, Ranged Attack, or AOE still work with the Zone.
Strains with Behemoth Parasites (Stage 3) have their timer paused for the duration they are in the zone. Strains with the Symbiotic Parasites LPC do not have their timer paused.
This will be a powerful tool for controlling the spread of disease, but it will involve a bit of restriction to some common resources within the play space.
Here’s some points to consider:
The primary theme for this role play zone is one of ISOLATION. The goal of these mechanics are to provide a space to perform medical role play to their hearts content, and to enable those that reach Stage 3 to pause their timers while a cure is being researched.
There will still be a path to use the kitchen without interacting with this space. The main area impacted will the Depot space itself, not the kitchen, the bathrooms, or the covered sections outside.
There will be additional advantages to using your Skills while inside the Containment Zone. While this is normally a convenient Crafting Zone, there will be rewards for players that actively engage with this mechanic within. You’ll have to wait until this area is posted in game to find out more!
Consequences of Radiation
For the last few games, you might have noticed some yellow sheets of paper throughout the camp detailing the impact of the radiation on the local wildlife. The crash of Waking has impacted all the flora and fauna in strange ways, but it’s continuing to get worse as it has still not been properly addressed. This is part of our Temporary Local Mechanics, but I’ve repeated it here.
Beginning this event, the following Consequence has been applied:
Meat, Fish, and Shellfish may not be acquired with Hunting or Agricultural until the ZOM: Return to Nature has been completed.
This joins the other two Consequences that are still applied:
Scrap acquired with Trade Connections, Salvaging, Foraging, or Trailblazing now has an expiration date of 6 months.
Herb and Produce acquired through Agricultural is treated as Wild, with a 3-month Expiration, regardless of how it is made.
This ZOM will be posted at Game On at the entrance to the Waking Exclusion Zone if you’d like to be part of the team that addresses this growing problem.
There will be several Research opportunities to begin to address these Consequences, so stay on the lookout for NPCs and other in play mechanics that will allow you mitigate these penalties.
Rules You Should Know
Let’s cover some of the common Skills and mechanics you might run into this weekend:
Inflict Disease
A single Strike that causes an approved disease to be inflicted at Stage One. If you are already infected with Behemoth Parasites, this advances your disease by one Stage.
This is going to be one of the primary threats this weekend. This ability can be spread in several different ways, from melee Strikes, to Ranged Attacks, and in rare cases, Area of Effects. You’ll see this attack on a variety of threats as the parasites continue to spread. Generally, you’ll be able to use the skill Avoid to prevent the attack but remember you can’t Avoid if you are in BLEED OUT!
Let’s cover something you might see on a particular [REDACTED] threat:
Parasitic Feeding
As per Cannibalism skill on subdued target but does not reduce bleed out timer. Call “Parasitic Feeding” over a target instead of “Cannibalism”. Often Parasitic Feeding is linked with Inflict Disease. If Inflict Disease is taken with Parasitic Feeding, passing of diseases via Parasitic Feeding does not count towards the total uses of Inflict Disease.
This is a nasty ability that will be used on fallen foes to spread the Behemoth Parasites. Unlike Cannibalism, this doesn’t reduce your Bleed Out timer, but instead gives you the disease carried by the host. I’d save an injectable for a quick getaway!
Massive Infectious Strike
The [REDACTED] rears back with a mighty blow to strike down their prey. Call “20 damage, Inflict Disease (Parasites)”. Can call Overpower versus any Defensive Call or use of Inoculation.
That’s a curious keyword there in that attack. 20 damage is a lot, but that’s what Avoid was made for. Wait, what’s Overpower? Let’s cover this specific Lexicon keyword that was added to the rules last year:
OVERPOWER
If an effect used by this item is defended against with a skill, the user may spend 1 Mind to have it repeat with a call of “Overpower”. If defended against a second time, Overpower may not be used again. This keyword ability cannot be used with PFA abilities.
This is a unique keyword included with most Two-Handed Weapons and represents the overwhelming force of their blows. For creatures, this is equally deadly, as it can punch through defenses and force you to spend for Avoid a second time. These types of massive strikes are virtually unstoppable and will wear you down in a fight!
Additionally, Overpower as part of the Infectious Strike can also be used against Inoculation, a method of preventing the disease from spreading to a new host. If you are only Inoculated, an Overpowered Inflict Disease will also overwhelm your biological defenses, so watch out!
FAQ for Behemoth Parasites
We published the full mechanics for this new disease a few weeks ago, but in the time since that post I’ve received a few questions about the disease:
Q: Does using a Freeiron Dry Pack spread the disease to someone that uses Larceny against you?
Generally yes. We recommend telling the Guide you involve for the theft about your current infected status, so they can relay that to the would be thief. We aren’t going to be enforcing every single touch that occurs, and this is largely left up to you, like I mentioned in my post on the disease. If it feels like you spent long enough in contact to get infected, you did!
Q: How does Inoculation work versus the Parasites?
This effect works against Parasites, provided the doctor takes proper precautions. This effect to temporarily render someone immune to a disease until the next 12s requires you to touch an infected target, then use that sample to make them immune. If you aren’t in the Containment Zone or using a Doc Ottoman’s Disease Control Kit, all you’ll actually do is spread the disease to yourself and your patient.
Q: Can the use of the Master Disease Kit be overwhelmed by the Overpower mechanic?
Nope. Overpower will only overwhelm the Basic use of Inoculation.
Q: Will this infectious disease have an impact on the War of Antlers plot?
Most certainly. You’ll have to found out the specifics at the event!
Q: Will a Deep Fried Meal cure Stage 3 Behemoth Parasites?
Nope. At game on, there is no cure for this Stage. You’ll have to work with the medics in town to understand the source of this disease and develop a Treatment Plan for this disease.
Keep your distance from the infected!
Wrap Up
That’s it for today Vados! The weather will be cool and chilly, the perfect temperatures to pick up a BUG or two if you aren’t careful. The threat of the Behemoth Parasites seems to be spreading quickly, and it’s up to you to keep it CONTAINED. Hope you saved some Mind to avoid that use of Inflict Disease!
Remember, you can still get tickets at the door, so don’t miss out on THE SQUICKS aND SQUIRMS!
See you soon Vados!