It’s Jonathan here again with another Rules Ramble! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic that will be important in an upcoming game, explain some new mechanic or system for DR:TX, or discuss a particular rule from the DR Corebook. In each ramble, I’ll focus on explaining that topic in more detail than the book alone can provide and help provide one place to reference all the various errata or rulings that might be relevant. Sometimes I’ll even drop a few Story Teasers or provide a summary of the last game in a Game Recap.
As we get ready for our next event this weekend, CRISIS OF FAITH, I'm going to be covering a bit about Rules You Should Know. We have a number of special things happening during this game, and we want to make sure you have a head start on any particular mechanics to watch out for. This week, we are going to cover some Characters of Note you will see in play, some recent local Rules Changes (including a change to LIT Inventory for live events), and some key Threat mechanics like the Benediction of the Reborn, Faithful Strike, and Test of Faith.
TICKETS ARE still on sale at the door starting at 5pm on Friday! DON’T MISS OUT ON THE NEXT DR:TX EVENT!
We’ve shared some interesting teasers this week, including a few announcements of note:
The Girl Scouts of Central Texas will be present at our February event to sell cookies! You’ll find our favorite cookie raiders by the Depot on Friday from 4p-7p and on Sunday 12p-2p. This is a great way to support Camp Kachina and the scouts who use it. You can pre-order here (or place an order for delivery if you aren’t able to make it to game):
Heather Halstead and Stephanie Patrick-Munoz did an excellent teaser video highlighting one of the villains we will talk about today. You can find the video below:
We had a Wastelander article release this week, with a bit of news from Essex!
Photo credits in this post are from Max Pohlmeier, Lainey Weiss, Sydney Betzina, and Noah Goodman.
Notable Rules Changes and errata
There’s been a few updates at the National level since the last time we had a live event. Let’s cover a few of the notable changes:
LIT Inventory 2.0
DR National has updated the rules for how you can interact with your LIT inventory at a live event. This breaks down into three big changes, and all took effect as of January 1st, 2023. That means this will be the first live event under these new changes. The link above will take you to the blog post they released on December 20th, 2022.
Here’s the specifics:
All items that were expired were removed from LIT inventory. This was mostly stuff like Meals or Legacy Buy List items (Lock Poppers, and stuff that changed last year) that were still out there. Most of y’all weren’t affected by this.
All items that didn’t have an expiration date in LIT (like Herbs, equipment, etc) will now be entered with a proper expiration date, and will automatically expire if left in your inventory past that expiration date. This just means those herbs sitting in your LIT for three years will finally expire.
Chapters should no longer be adding items to LIT at live events, barring extenuating circumstances.
What does that mean for our next game?
You can WITHDRAW items from your LIT, but we can’t ADD new items into your LIT inventory.
This change means we will no longer be issuing the LIT Trade Sheets for character to character transfers during check in. If you need to trade with someone, you’ll need to first remove the items from your LIT inventory, then physically give them the item card for that item.
You’ll still have limited access to remove items from your LIT inventory at the Post Office, but you should not be removing more than 10 total item cards each event. If you still have a large amount of items past this, send us an email at info@dystopiarisingtx.com so we can work out a way to get your cards to you.
If you have questions on this policy, please let either Shan or I know. We want to make the transition away from LIT as seamless as possible, but we want to let you have a reasonable amount of time to withdraw these items while we comply with National’s new changes.
National Blueprint Change log
Periodically, National updates certain Blueprints with changes. We had an update on 1/4/23 with a change to stop an exploit with a popular cooking blueprint. I also keep a list of all the Updated Blueprints on our DR:TX page, in case you want to makes you have all the latest updated dates on your collection of blueprints.
“Glitter Gulch Prep Station: A character utilizing the Culinary skill in the area this augment has been set up in to create a meal may be assisted by another character who has at least Basic Culinary. The time required for crafting is reduced to half, and the Mind and Resolve costs of creating the meal can be split between the two characters however they wish. Both characters must abide by the rules regarding crafting. Any PFA benefits utilized during crafting must be provided by the primary crafter.”
National Errata & FAQ
You can browse a list of major changes to the Corebook at the link above. One common sense change was added here since our last game:
“Blueprints: Copying a blueprint requires Active Roleplay and Full-Engagement.”
This just means you can’t use other Skills while copying a Blueprint, and you can be interrupted while duplicating a blueprint. This has been how most folks have already done this, but now it’s officially on the FAQ page.
San Saba Socials
We had one minor update to one of the custom Proficient Society Membership items in DR:TX. The San Saba Republic has had to place a limit on their Open Market, thanks to some clever interactions from our players.
The Open Market San Saba Social now has a limit of 25 Herb or Produce traded per character.
You’ll still be able to trade Herb for Brass at a decent rate, but you’ll be limited to numbers that are attainable in a live event.
characters of Note: CRISIS OF FAITH
This weekend, you’ll encounter several new faces in town, probably trying to convert you to the Cult of the Reborn one way or another. Each of these Face NPC characters will be in town this weekend and they will have more information about their respective causes during the CRISIS OF FAITH. We’ve mentioned a few of these folks in previous blogs, but let’s make sure you have the basics of what to expect:
Sister Greywand, the Prophet Reborn
Sister Greywand is a Full Dead whose body has become more mummified rather than freshly decaying. She still wears the ragged clothes that she “woke up” in, patched and repaired through the years and she wears a veil across her face to conceal the worst parts of the decay. Through her new title as the Prophet Reborn, she leads the recently renamed Cult of the Reborn. While she is not much of a physical threat in her own right, she is always surrounded by an entourage of fanatical devotees to whom she is psionically linked.
It was shortly after the violence surrounding the Dead Man’s Hand Tournament that Sister Greywand first showed up in Essex security reports. She was frequently spotted in the House of Books, pouring over religious tracts and collecting as many accounts of the life and teachings of Pfilomena as possible. While her contributions to organizing the varying apocrypha of the cult into a cohesive history were appreciated, initially her position within leadership was minimal and other scholars noted her to be kind but distant, often lost in the intense thoughts and the echoed memories that are known to plague her Strain.
Ever since the Monolith erupted forth over one year ago, the cult, ever seeking signs from their Lost Prophet, started looking closer at Bravado. A schism began to form in the leadership of the cult, with a growing number of fanatical devotees stating that the events in Bravado were a sign from Pfilomena of the long-awaited end-times, while the main body of faithful, cleaving still to Pfilomena’s surviving son, Caleb Lovelace, took a more tempered approach to understanding the message being sent. Greywand kept sequestered in the House of Books, however she sent some of her protege’s out with Caleb, seeking knowledge about the events that had unfolded in the past and were anticipated to come.
The tipping point came in the lead up to the Archon’s anticipated return. As events unfolded just as the Midnight Orrery foretold, Sister Greywand presented an ambitious claim; she now knew the hour and the form that the Great Miracle would take. According to her new revelation, within the myriad echoes of her mind rests the imprint of Pfilomena Lovelace, and through her the Prophet is Reborn. When the ensuing power struggle settled down Caleb, initially opposed to the claim, was in agreement with her claim and Greywand now had the reins.
Sister Greywand seeks to create a unified chorus of Faithful voices heralding their singular intent for the Fountainhead’s second coming- rather than the cacophony of desires that greeted it at its birth. To achieve this, discordant voices of any person who acts counter to the "true faith" must be brought in tune, or made silent.
Caleb, the Mad Prophet of Cutthroat Alley
Caleb Lovelace is the son of Pfilomena Lovelace, the deceased leader of the Church of the Tiny God and, until recently, her reluctant, de facto successor. A gangly teenager with lank red hair that wears rags wrapped around his entire body save for the crown of his head and his hands.
The bandages on his face hide a disfiguring crystalline growth that hampers his vision and make him sensitive to radio waves and other signals. He claims to hear screams through the crystal and is a potent psion. Caleb is known to brave the most dangerous corners of Essex looking for people that he can help, and wanders Cutthroat Alley rambling about the dead voices of the Fountainhead, through lips the color of poison.
While initially disenchanted with the faith following his mother’s death, his kinship to her drew her despondent faithful to seek his comfort and guidance. His first forays into Bravado were out of curiosity at the similarities between the events of the Monolith and that of the Fountainhead, seeking the patterns and signs Pfilomena always spoke of, but he was opposed to the radical new faction within the church claiming that the Monolith was a portent of Pfilomena's return. His general personality is peaceful, kind and likable, but he has shown he is also capable of great passion and even violence, particularly where faith and the plight of Psions is involved.
Caleb’s sudden support of Sister Greywand has been instrumental in the Cult of the Reborn solidifying their message and reaching new voices in Essex, and he is as equally fervent about the prophecies and faith of the Cult as the new Prophet Reborn.
Gabriel, THE INQUISITOR
In a response to the recent unrest caused by the Cult of the Reborn, the RRC and the San Saba Board has opened a new contract with the Red Ledger to deal with the threat. The Red Ledger is something of an expert on the Cult, as they first gained prominence during the Dead Man’s Hand Tournament and defended Essex against the zealots. Gustav Glasseyes, the leader of the Red Ledger, has personally assigned one of his best Strikers to deal with these cultists in the way they know best — showing them the power of incredible violence.
The man known as Gabriel is a member of the Fallow Hope who has married his position in the church to his business with the Red Ledger. He claims the title of Inquisitor and is a master of a firearm and wielding his faith as a weapon. The Inquisitor is skilled at interrogation and hunting the Reborn cultists, no matter where they may hide or who they pretend to be. The Red Ledger attracts warrior monks and ascetics to their zealous cause of constant self-improvement and readiness, and Gabriel is no different. Seeing himself as one of the last Watchers of the Crossroad, he believes he is the last line of defense from another Fall.
Gabriel was at the fall of Temple Station during the Hiway War and is known to be fierce in his protection of the faithful and a former colleague of Reckoner-General Rampart of the Grave Council. With the disappearance of Colonel Sabbath Jacinto from Essex, the Inquisitor of the Red Ledger has taken the new Board contract as a personal crusade to root out the heresy of the Cult of the Reborn and rip it out at its roots. The cultists have been marked for their sins, and Gabriel and those that follow him will not rest until the sun can rise upon a wasteland safe from their machinations and misery.
Threat Skills of Note: CRISIS OF FAITH
The Cult of the Reborn will be a major threat of the weekend, and they are bringing a few new tools of the trade with them to aid them in their war of faith.
We covered the Benediction of the Reborn in our first blog post, but it’s worth repeating here:
BENEDICTION OF THE REBORN (Threat Skill)
The NPC spends 10 seconds roleplaying the ritual conversion and then gives a Subdued or willing target the REBORN or HERETIC keyword. Call “Benediction of the Reborn: Inflict [REBORN/HERETIC] Keyword, Red Star Immune”.
Characters Baptized into a Faith may spend 1 Resolve to declare “No Effect!”
If a character is Faithless or cannot spend Resolve, they cannot resist.
Characters of the Red Star Strain are IMMUNE to this Skill and it has no effect.
Keywords remain on the victim until specifically removed by another plot effect.
Like I mentioned in my blog post, this is functionally just a new version of attack monsters will use on you when you get taken down in combat. If you get knocked into Bleed Out or otherwise Subdued, they will use this Skill to give you a new Keyword. Make sure you save an Injectable to get yourself out of a tough situation!
Most of the Cultists you’ll encounter this weekend will have some ability to perform Faithful Anomaly Skills (and will also be vulnerable to Aberrant Bane!). This means there are a few particular common Faithful Skills worth mentioning here:
proficient faithful patterns
Countered by Basic Mental Endurance. This skill is delivered via a Psionic Attack, and the NPC this weekend will call out “Psionic: Suggestion, Declare your Faith and Devotion: Are you Heretic or Reborn?” The Cult of the Reborn will use this to question if you have the HERETIC or REBORN keywords with this Skill, so it might be a good idea to save some Mind to resist the attack if you are trying to keep a certain allegiance a secret…
Basic Faithful Spirit & Faithful Vessel
These Skills are normally used to buff a member of your faith. Faithful Spirit makes a target immune to next Mangle or Blinding, while Faithful Vessel will make the target immune to next Break Armor. If you throw an attack against a Cultist that is protected by one of these effects, the power of their faith will let them resist the FIRST use of these Skills. The Cultist will answer with “No Effect!” to let you know the attack failed.
Proficient Biogenetics
Countered by Basic Mental Endurance. By engaging in a Psionic Attack, the user can cause the target to be knocked Unconscious (p. 108). They will call “Psionic: Unconscious” after using this skill, but it does not work on zombies and most forms of Undead. Remember, while you are Unconscious you cannot use any skills, you are unable to move on your own, and can’t resist attacks like the Benediction of the Reborn. You can awaken someone from this state by spending 30 seconds of Active Role Play waking them, otherwise they are out for 10 minutes!
Proficient Faithful Vessel
Countered by Basic Mental Endurance. By engaging in a Psionic Attack, the user can cause the target to become inundated with a debilitating volume of hallucinations centered around the themes of a crisis of faith (get it?) and otherworldly wrath for 1 minute, making the Target incapable of using ANY Anomaly skills. To use this skill, the NPC will call “Psionic: 1 minute no Anomalies!”
Next, let’s consider a few unique Threat Skills that you might hear from our white-robed Cultists this weekend:
Terror (Threat Skill)
Countered by Basic Mental Endurance. Often delivered as an area or Line of Sight effect, those affected by Terror are overcome by an urge to flee from the source of it. For 30 seconds, they must attempt to flee from the presence of the source of Terror, regardless of (IG) safety. If they cannot for some reason escape, they will cower as best as possible. The target may still defend themselves, but fleeing will always be a priority when possible. Effects and items that give immunity to Fear do not give immunity to Terror unless noted otherwise.
Faithful Strike (New Threat Skill)
Countered by Avoid. This is the basic offensive attack the Cultists will use against their enemies. This is a Strike, so it can be Avoided, or simply blocked with a shield. The NPC will call “10 damage, Heretic Bane!” after a successful hit. If you have the HERETIC keyword, you will take DOUBLE damage from this attack.
Test of Faith (New Threat Skill)
Countered by Basic Mental Endurance. A powerful attack used by the leaders of the Cult of the Reborn, this will allow the Cult to quickly identify their enemies in the midst of a crowd. The Cultist will call “Area of Effect: All Heretics, Agony!”. 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.
Reborn Strike (New Threat Skill)
Countered by Basic Mental Endurance. The Cult of the Reborn can wear down their foes and weaken their ability to resist the powerful Benediction of the Reborn. This dangerous attack will be delivered by a Psionic Attack or touch, and the NPC will call “Psionic: Heretics lose 1 Resolve! Red Star Immune!”. If you do not resist this ability, you immediately lose 1 Resolve, which could cause a Fracture if you hit zero. Since you need to spend Resolve to resist their conversion, this pushes you one step closer to being marked as part of the Cult. Watch out!
Shield of Faith (New Threat Skill)
Certain powerful members of the Cult of the Reborn can force their way through a crowd by sheer force of will. When this skill is used, anyone nearby will be repulsed away from them with a Knockback effect similar to the effects of Master Biogenetics. The NPC will call “AOE: Shield of Faith, None May Approach!”. If you are near the NPC, you must leave their immediate area and you may not re-enter as long as they keep their hand raised in a fist. There may be ways to overcome this protection, but you’ll have to find out more in game.
Wrap Up
That’s it for today Vados! We still have a few more surprises in store this week, and we can’t wait to see you this weekend! Steph and Chase have put a lot of hard work into crafting the story this weekend, and I hope you find a way to survive your CRISIS OF FAITH!
See you soon Vados!