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Age of Rebellion

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our March live event GIFTS OF SUFFERING! This is our next ST led over-arc game, led by Andrew Harper. 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 of the major settings changes from last event, as well as some other updates for our March game!

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by Jason Dumas.

Boss Debs and Malorous Mab meet with the Bravado representative, Ace.

The REsults of “The Breaker of Crowns”

During our event last month, we presented several important CHOICES about the fate of the San Saba to the town of Bravado. With all the charm and stubbornness we’ve come to expect from Bravado, our folks stepped up to the challenge and made some big decisions that will have a continuing impact on our setting going forward. There’s a reason the Bravado (and Texas) Motto is “Come and Get It!”.

Let’s get the biggest choice out of the way - the town of Bravado has DECLARED a full REBELLION from the San Saba Board.

We’ll cover what this means in game in a moment, but let’s first discuss how we got to this point.

During this event, we had several prominent NPCs in play that could each be interacted with to influence the decision of the event towards, WAR, PEACE, or REBELLION. Each of these NPCs had an agenda they wanted to achieve, some secrets they had to hide, and some deals that could be struck. We talked about these specific faces in a previous blog post, but here’s a reminder:

  • The Breaker of Crowns - The leader of the Oxkiller Alliance, she has had a significant presence in town over the season so far. She’s attacked folks during the first game as they completed Liquidation Runs into Waking, crashed the Tribe of Seasons meetings, and even fought alongside Boss Debs against the Nightmares. She was the most interested in a chance of REBELLION, but wanted the town to prove their willingness to stand up and speak truth to power. This character was portrayed by Ace Sexton.

  • Ahote, the Restless - The mentor of the Breaker, this Natural One leader appeared for the first time in the live space and kept his cool throughout the Summit. One of the agents of PEACE for the Oxkiller War Party, he was the most interested in hearing what the town had to say about about a path forward, particularly for how they would hold people accountable for crimes committed during the war. The character was portrayed by David Rios.

  • Marcus Remington - The Minister-General for the Star City faction of the Mustang Loyalists, Remington was a divisive figure. The most eager for WAR or REBELLION, Remington was more focused on setting rules of engagement for future conflicts and ignoring the long history of violence the followers of Mustang have committed against the people of old Bravo. He also had a part to play in a serious betrayal, but ultimately wanted to wage war against the Chairman and the crashed city of Waking Prime. This character was portrayed by Ariel Patrick-Munoz.

  • Carina Astora - The “Saltwater Sweetheart”, Carina has been a terror of the Spoiled Coast for quite some time. First appearing during our online Junkerpunk event, THE CERTAINTY OF TIDES, Carina is the leader of the Junkerpunk organization known as the “Clearwater Accord”. A known pirate, terrorist, and general anarchist, she kept to her divisive nature through the event and towards a cause of WAR. This character was portrayed by Kiara Everlen.

  • Lucy “Boss” Debs - The leader of the San Saba Republic, and representative of the Local 727, Boss Debs has been a recurring NPC in our events. She was the titular character of the Summit, hosting her cousins in the Oxkillers in the ancient rituals of her tribes despite the threat of treason against the Board. Boss Debs was a powerful advocate of PEACE, even under the threat of death. This character was portrayed by Barbara Vold.

  • Malorous Mab - One of the only open Final Knights of Essex, Malorous Mab stands as the Spymaster for San Saba Republic, and for the Cali*Co Caravan. Regal and mysterious, the Accensorite always has another scheme in the background, and knows which strings to pull to get her way. Mab has always been an agent of chaos, but always seems to come out on top, whether it be in WAR or PEACE. This character was portrayed by Liz Harvey.

Each of these characters brought information, agendas, and secrets into play, and our characters still made some interesting choices on how to solve the crisis of the Summit.

The Breaker and Ahote consider the town’s offer at the Summit.

The Choice Points

During the game we had several planned CHOICE POINT events that occurred. Each choice had WAR, PEACE, or REBELLION choices that could be made, and up until the final night of the game, the choice for Peace was leading the way. A decisive stand against the forces of the Board at the Dive on Saturday night set the stage for several decisions in quick succession that led to Rebellion.

Choices for Peace

  • The Oxkiller War Party Arrives: One of the first few choices dealt with Friday night was “How does the town treat the Oxkiller ambassadors?”. The town treated the Oxkillers on Friday night with respect, and even went out of their way to help the Oxkiller War Party escape out the back door when Zombies attacked the Depot.

  • Zombie Ambush: Presented with an option to just let the War Party fend for themselves, the town protected their guests. Even with blood scented threats tunneling towards the Oxkillers, the town jumped in the way of the trouble and defended their promise to keep the peace during the Summit.

  • The Rescue Mission: After the disastrous rout at Barogue, the Militia found a way to retrieve their captured commanders from the Prince Undying via a Mortis procedure. Taking a force of Vados into the Nightmare, they rescued not only the captured Militia leaders, but saved an Oxkiller commander as well.

  • The Loyalist Demands: The Oxkiller War Party NPCs each had a series of demands and concerns to address during the Summit. The Mustang Loyalists demanded the right to conquer Waking and came to an uneasy truce with the town. While most of their terms were met and the faction is not at outright war with Bravado, the town still has plenty of reasons to be suspicious of Remington and his Fallow Hope forces.

Choices for War

  • The Summit Negotiations: The Summit arrived on Saturday afternoon, and the town heard the various demands of the Oxkiller representatives. They considered grievances, talked about solutions, but ultimately there was conflict on how exactly to proceed. Some advocated for war, while others advocated for peace, while others still suggested open hostility against the Chairman and the San Saba Board.

  • The Clearwater Demands: The Oxkiller War Party NPCs each had a series of demands and concerns to address during the Summit. The Clearwater pirate queen demanded an exorbitant ransom to pursue peace but was rebuffed at every turn. The town was openly hostile to Carina and refused any demands she made, causing her to leave in an explosive exit as she convinced several dusters to bomb Anyport and destroy the docks at Bravado.

Choices for Rebellion

  • Publicly Defending the Oxkillers: Not only did players publicly defend the Oxkillers, and advocate for a refusal of the Board’s terms of war, the Summit simply proved how many were willing to spit in the eye of the Board. Not only did they defend the Oxkillers against another strange zed attack, but many of the townsfolk even signed a contract with the Breaker agreeing with her terms to defy the Board and the Chairman, Arthur Lovelace.

  • The Foiled Mustang Plot: The Oxkillers were not entirely harmonious, as a secret plan to murder the Breaker was uncovered by the town. Putting one of their own in a disguise as the Breaker, they stopped the assassination and prevented the death of the Oxkiller leader at the hands of her so-called allies. This was one of the major crises that swayed the Breaker towards Rebellion, though she is not yet in a position to truly act against Remington. With her people still in Star City, the Breaker will need time to consider her next steps with the Loyalists.

  • The Oxkiller Demands: The Oxkiller War Party NPCs each had a series of demands and concerns to address during the Summit. The town was able to agree to a series of treaties and contracts with the Breaker and Ahote, promising fair treatment of those accused of war crimes and giving them time and space to negotiate with respect and honor. Both Oxkiller leaders were impressed by the commitment of the town, and have sworn themselves as new allies.

  • The Grave Council Influence: While the true implications of this secret have yet to be leveraged, the town discovered the Reckoner’s influence on the strange zombie behavior in town during the Summit. They disrupted a strange ritual to control the zombie hordes from afar, defeating General Rampart and killing the villainous Board member in an act of open defiance against the Board.

  • The Arrest of Boss Debs: The true moment of Rebellion occurred Saturday night, as the Waking Intelligence Service arrived to arrest Boss Debs for her clear acts of treason. As one, the town told Lawrence Graves and his paid thugs to fuck off, ignoring the orders from the Board to strip Debs of her power and title. With a hoot and holler, the town cheered its first step towards a new age of Rebellion.

With those Choices in mind, let’s cover what happens next…

A Map of the Contested San Saba Territories, as of March. Key: Purple for Rebellion, Pink for the Nightmare, Green for Board, Blue for Clearwaters, Yellow for Loyalists, Orange for Neutral

continuity & Settings Updates

With such a monumental decision for REBELLION comes a bit of an update for our various factions and personalities of the San Saba. Let’s cover the various events that your characters should know about as you enter into our March event, GIFTS OF SUFFERING.

The Current State of Affairs

  • Bravado is in open Rebellion against the Board, based on player decisions in February. The Board has declared Bravado an enemy of the San Saba and declared that they are all traitors under the Wartime Powers of the Charter.  Not every faction is willing to respect this claim entirely, but all are wary of the consequences of dealing with Bravado in an official capacity. The new Rebellion took most of the Board’s active military forces with them, except for the few mercenary and Grave Council units loyal to the Board.  The Board will need some time to respond to the other threats they are facing, and Bravado can exploit that time to prepare. Many of the factions have even sent rebels to join the Bravado resistance as new military units.

  • Bravado is under a blockade and siege by the remaining forces of the Reckoner Legion, led by Reckoner-Commander Grant. The Board has severed telegraph lines, stopped the trains from running into Bravado, and generally cut off the town from outside support until this force can be defeated. Travel into and out of Bravado is extremely difficult, and access to common trade routes is hampered. The ports and access to the waterways at Bravado and Drywater were attacked by the Clearwater Pirates on the way out from the Summit and heavily damaged.  Support from Drywater or the Longberths will require repairs and help from Bravado to fix the damage.

  • The Mustang Loyalists under Marcus Remington are in military control of Waking, but are not necessarily enemies (yet).  The Loyalists are currently working on pacifying the city and any remaining resistance.  The remaining RRC presence is limited to a few refugees that are either fighting back or trying to survive the occupation.  The Loyalists are expecting a counter-offensive from the remaining Board forces, and are preparing for a battle.

  • The Chairman escaped Eureka Tower in his private airship during the occupation of Waking, along with a few of the loyal Pureblood family heads and fled to Essex.  Essex is now occupied by the remaining Board forces and has become the new home of the San Saba Board. The Board controls most rail and water traffic out of Essex, but the city has reached an uneasy cease fire amid martial law.  Most of the actual resistance has either gone underground, or has fled the city with the forces of the Rebellion.

  • Carina Astora has escaped to the Spoiled Coast and is a general nuisance, but she has few interests in returning to Bravado.  The Clearwater Pirates and most of their forces have broken their alliance and taken their resources and troops with them to the south. The Board has declared the Coast a lost cause as they can no longer properly defend it against the Pirates with their remaining forces. The Junkerpunks are now on their own and Sinker Swim has returned home to the Clutch in preparation for the eventual attack.

  • The Law Dogs joined Boss Debs in her rebellion against the Board, following Boss Wyatt’s public defiance of Lawrence Graves and the Waking Intelligence Service.  Most Law Dogs have followed Wyatt, but a few rogue agents still exist in the Board’s employ. While the town is facing anarchy, the Law Dogs have a plan to sign a new Bravado Charter to establish some common sense laws and rules for the town with the help of the Justices of Sin.

  • The Grave Council is in a quiet civil war following the revelations of February about General Rampart.  The Mystagogues and even parts of the Reckoners are frustrated and ready to end Rampart’s hold on the faction, but need assistance to have him removed from power politically.  Cassiopeia, head of the Quiet Path, has presented herself as a voice of reason, and has kept open conflict between the faction from erupting.

Let’s talk about some of the ways these continuity updates will be reflected in game through Rewards & Consequences…

Marcus Remington (left) and Finnegan listen intently during the Summit.

Consequences & Rewards of Your Choices

We clearly have some exciting times ahead of us. Let’s cover some mechanical changes to be aware of as we continue our season.

The Bravado Blockade

  • Uses of Trade Connections or Sailing Buy Lists will be limited during this event until the Blockade is broken. Connection with the greater San Saba is extremely limited as long as the Reckoner army is on the door step and Carina’s sabotage of the docks remains.

  • The Blockade can be broken by defeating the Reckoner armies during the war game phase on Saturday night. The docks at Anyport and Lake Bravo can be repaired via a Zone of Mechanics during this event.

Radiation Penalties are Gone!

  • Research was completed to contain the worst of the Radiation from Waking.  While the city is still deadly, the surroundings are now causing less damage to the environment.  The hard work and countless Crafting Components worked into the soil have returned most of the town back to normal. Well, as least as normal as the wasteland can be.

  • Scrap and Herb are returned to normal expiration dates!

Waking is Occupied by the Loyalists

  • Liquidations Runs into Waking will require more subterfuge to avoid Loyalist attention, while rescuing innocent survivors caught there by the siege.

  • Radiation is still a worry on the outskirts of the Exclusion Zone, but incursions inside the city will require Stealth to avoid Fallow Hope patrols.  The focus of these runs will be more focused on evacuation, infiltration, or sabotage, rather than surviving the radiation.

Morale Boost

  • Every LC in Bravado, once per game, may spend 1 Resolve to declare “Is that all you got?!” and stand back up from Bleed Out with 10 Body, as the fighting spirit of Bravado is stronger than your fear of death.  This effect lasts until the end of the season.

Welcome to the Age of Rebellion, Vados!

Wrap Up

That’s it for today! I’ll be back on Wednesday with our customary “Rules You Should Know” post for Wednesday, covering a few last minute details about the GIFTS OF SUFFERING and what awaits you this weekend. Will you help Brother Agony prove his point, or will you defy his machinations? Will you claim one of the Crowns of Suffering for yourself, or will you help destroy them? What will be your role in this new Rebellion, and the shiny future ahead?

Let’s find out together, as we experience all the gifts the Final Knights have to offer!

See you soon, Vados!