Dangerous Ground
Howdy Vados! It’s almost time for our February event!
It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our first official Dystopia Rising Live event CRADLE’S LULLABY! This first game in the new system will be led by Noah Goodman and Luka Drystan. 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 the ZONES OF MECHANICS that you might within the underground facility underneath Bravado!
TICKETS FOR OUR february EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! can you survive the descent into the facility?
Item Exchange Submissions are still Open!
Our Spreadsheet is open to submit your Item Exchanges in time for DR Live! Our due date for this project has been extended to Thursday, January 30th, so we can have plenty of time to write these cards. After this point, you’ll have to use the Kitchen Sink Exchange in the Depot during the February event!
The newest sourcebook for DR Live has been uploaded to the Most Improbable website! Check out some fun new content on the Faiths of DR Live, including new tenets for the faiths, new cults, and updated story. Just in time for February!
Some photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, including Lily-Jay Jones, Miranda Farmer, Noah Goodman, Heather Halstead, and Max Pohlmeier.
DR Live Item Exchange FAQ
Before we get started, I’d like to cover some clarifications and updates to our Item Exchange process for DR Live. After spending a weekend writing out cards for the early birds that filled out our spreadsheet, here’s the answers to some questions that were asked:
Q: What happens to my master-tier Armor?
A: Because DR Live armor needs to be upgraded with Rare Scrap AT THE TIME OF CREATION, we are making a special exception for folks with Proficient- or Master-tier armor from 3.0. If you had an upgraded suit of armor, you’ll get the new armor upgraded an equal number of times. If you had Proficient armor, your DR Live armor will have one upgrade applied for +5 armor. If you had Master armor, your DR Live armor will have both upgrades applied, for +10 armor.
Q: What happens if my item became a Necrology item in DR Live?
A: While we cannot break down that item for the new Necrology Resources (such as Mycellium Wiring, Festering Crystals, etc.), we will issue a new Crafted Necrology Item card. If you had a suit of Helscape Armor, a Deathmask, or a Byproduct, you’ll get the equivalent item for DR Live. We feel that this decision best balances honoring your investment in these items while still keeping the powerful Necrology items in check.
Q: What happens if my item no longer exists in DR Live?
A: You’ll get a choice of an equivalent item to replace the gear, with a similar expiration date. It’ll need to be the same time of item, such as a weapon for a weapon, or a gizmo for a gizmo. If there’s something that’s drastically changed about that item and you are still unhappy, come chat with us at game and we will do what we can to make it right.
Q: What is the required coverage on my armor in DR Live?
A: Early copies of prints may list the armor coverage as 30/45/60%. These are incorrect, and it should be 30/40/60%, just like the item cards. If you have a suit of armor that’s been upgraded once, you’ll need 40% coverage, not 45%. You can bring these blueprints back to us to get reprinted, but we won’t be trying to dig through the piles to make this correction.
Q: Is Meaty Bits a produce or a gizmo? Why does that Necrology card look weird?
A: Meaty Bits is a produce. However, the original printing of these new DRL Produce cards neglected to include Meaty Bits on the card, and some blueprints may still refer to it as both types of items. If you see a handwritten section for Meaty Bits, that’s fine. There was also an issue with the first Necrology cards, so you might see some densely written cards since there was not a space for the name of the item until we can order updated replacements.
Q: What do I do with the old item cards I’m requesting in the exchange?
A: You’ll need to bring these cards with you to the Kitchen Sink Exchange when you come to pick up your new blueprints and items. You will need to surrender these old cards to get the new ones in exchange. We will check to make sure that the right items have been traded in and recycle or trash your old 3.0 gear cards.
Blueprint Vouchers
To save a bit of our sanity, we are temporarily introducing a Blueprint Voucher for use with replacing Blueprints. As we mentioned in our Item Exchange post, there are over 100 blueprints that don’t make the transition to DR Live. Rather than try to collect a wish list of all the new prints from each player, we are instead issuing a voucher that can be turned in at the Post Office later for a requested blueprint of your choice.
This item card will count as if you had spent the Mind and Herb to transcribe a blueprint of your choice. Each time it’s used, we will mark a use off of the card. These can be traded with other players, and it’ll be up to you to keep track of them like any other item card.
However, each of these cards will expire in May 2025. If you haven’t used them by then, sorry! We feel this will be plenty of time to pick with blueprints you want to add to your collection.
Zones of Mechanics
While we are still a few months out from the official launch of the Zone of Mechanics book, Dangerous Grounds, here’s a sneak peek at what to expect during our February event. While we have strived to keep things as a ‘what you see is what you get’ and we’ve made a concerted effort to reduce the number of yellow pages you’ll see in game, there are still some useful places for a Zone of Mechanics.
A Zone of Mechanics is simply an area of the game site where a special temporary mechanic applies. It’s a ‘zone’ of ‘mechanics’, get it? These are intended to represent areas of dangerous terrain like pools of radiation, fire, pitfalls, and worse. These rely a bit on our tradition of radical trust, as many of these will require you to apply the effect to yourself or read the instructions to find out what happens next. If you have questions about one of these mechanics, you can always ask a nearby Guide.
Let’s look at some of the mechanics you can expect to encounter during Facility mods:
Spore FieldS
One insidious threat you might encounter in the Facility are the dangerous SPORE FIELDS. These areas of fungal growth seem to have a strangely calming effect on survivors that linger too long.
Characters entering spore-infested zones are subjected to environmental hazards:
LOW SPORE DENSITY:
Characters experience mild disorientation and fatigue, reducing their Maximum Resolve by 1 for every 15 minutes spent in the area. This call is: “Down Surge: Maximum Resolve reduced by 1. Stacks.” This will continue until they reach 1. If a character reaches 1 Maximum Resolve, they become Unconscious for 2 minutes and unable to be woken up by taking damage. Expended Resolve are lost first.
MODERATE SPORE DENSITY:
As per Low Spore Density but triggered every 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes.
HIGH SPORE DENSITY:
As per Low Spore Density but triggered every 2 minutes instead of 15 minutes. In addition, “By My Voice Choking Blow” every 2 minutes unless wearing protective gear. These calls alternate, so every 1 minute one of these two calls is occurring.
Left over time, some delvers reported their friends just sat down and refused to leave. Some have died of starvation or thirst while trapped in the Spore Field, but most tend to be caught alone by the dangerous Undead within the tunnels. Since the “Unconscious” effect doesn’t break on damage, it means that they won’t even fight back while being Cannibalized!
A character who is Unconscious cannot use any equipment (save for armor they are currently wearing or equipment that states it activates when the wearer goes Unconscious), cannot use any skills, crumples to the ground, and is unable to move of their own volition. Anyone moving an Unconscious Target may move the individual at a walking pace (the Unconscious Target is unable to resist). Equipment may be stripped from an Unconscious character and an Unconscious character has no memory of events that occur while Unconscious. If you are unsure if there is something your character is allowed to do while Unconscious, ask yourself “did I have to think to do this.” If the answer is “yes” then chances are good that your character can’t do it. An Unconscious character may be woken up if they receive any damage or if another individual spends 30 seconds of Full Engagement Role-Play waking up the Unconscious Target. If not disturbed, a person remains Unconscious for 10 minutes. Unconscious characters cannot be the Target of skills that require reasonable responses or for a character to be conscious and role-play.
- Player’s Guide, p. 90
Scrap Piles
One bit of feedback we got during Downfall was on the lack of Raider threats to use cool new skills like Salvaging, or Gimme Your Kicks. To help with this effect while still keeping a zombie-focused story, you might encounter SCRAP PILES in the bowels of the Facility. These represent troves of scrap and useful materials collected for later retrieval by some past delver.
The pile of crates and boxes represents a trove of useful salvage collected by a previous delver in the Facility.
This area counts as a Container for purposes of traps. Beware!
Spend one (1) minute and expend one (1) use of Salvaging. Gather the appropriate resource from the nearby envelope.
These resources are limited to the cards included in the envelope. Once these cards are gone, the Scrap Pile is considered exhausted and can longer be Salvaged.
You may use Profession Skills and items to modify this ability, and this Scrap Pile counts as a Target Raider for purposes of these skills.
Once these Scrap Piles have been fully looted, this ZOM will be removed from the prop area. First come, first served! Additionally, remember that these count as a Container for purposes of traps, so you may want to find a friend with some uses of Trap Dis/Arming to avoid a deadly surprise!
Zed Tunnel
You may have encountered this mechanic during our DOWNFALL event, but it’s returned for the sequel! As the problem in the Facility escalates, you might find Zombies appearing in unexpected places! If you see Zombies in a closed room or building, there’s probably a tunnel into the Facility nearby.
This area will be marked with a TUNNEL prop, and counts as a spawn point for Undead threats until closed.
Any character can spend 10 minutes as a Full Engagement activity and expend 5 Basic Scrap to close this tunnel. Any interruption will reset this timer, but does not expend the Scrap.
A character with Basic Artisan working with an additional Skilled Assistant character can reduce this time to 5 minutes. As long as both characters are not interrupted, the timer does not reset. Each additional Skilled Assistant past the first reduces this time by 1 minute, to a minimum of 2 minutes.
Any character with Basic Artisan or greater can spend 5 Mind to reduce this task to 2 minutes and 1 Basic Scrap.
Once this task has been completed, loudly call “TUNNEL CLOSED!” so that the nearby NPCs and Guides can adjust the scene appropriately.
You’ll have a choice when a Zed Tunnel appears — Do you expend valuable Mind points getting it closed quickly, or simply rely on a team of Artisans to get the job done?
Wrap Up
That’s it for today, Vados.
We hope that you will come join us for our next event, our first DR:TX event using the new rules for Dystopia Rising Live. We have some fun surprises in store for you during this game, and we hope that you are ready to try brave the dangers of the Facility. Will you discover the source of the zombies that are plaguing the Lone Star? Will mark a hard choice about a fellow survivor seeking shelter and refuge? Will you put to rest the things that lay sleeping in the Facility once and for all?
Next week we will cover some of the RULES YOU SHOULD KNOW for the first DR Live event of the year! See you soon, Vados!
