The Anatomy of a Damage Call, Part 1

Howdy Vados!

It’s still our Winter Break, but Rules Rambles don’t stop for silly things like time off! It’s Jonathan here, probably doing more than I should to bring you another installation of my discussion on the rules of Dystopia Rising. This week, we are gonna break down exactly what goes into a DAMAGE CALL, grade-school style!

The Basics

The rules for the contact-safe combat in DR start on p. 155 in the DR Corebook. It’s pretty easy to skip past this section cause it’s pretty short in length. I’m including a bit from page 157 in the book here, as a reference for this ramble.

Normally, if a monster swings a claw, hits you with a rusty nailbat, or shoots you with a rifle, the damage is assumed to be “base damage”. Melee weapons normally do 2 damage, ranged weapons deal 5 damage. When you use a Skill or a special ability that does something other than base damage, you call out the effect of that ability as a DAMAGE CALL.

Monsters (and characters!) will use a damage call to let you know what just happened to you in combat. Much like a Skill Call, the format of these calls is standardized, even though this part is mostly implied in the text and not spelled out directly. So today, we are going to examine the parts of a Damage Call and what it means, bit by bit.

The Damage Call

The structure of a damage call includes a few core elements. Most damage calls will be a short phrase or instruction, generally less than 10-15 words. The longer a call is, the harder it is to remember, so most Damage Calls are short and sweet.

The reason that this standardization of structure is important is similar to the Adjective Rule that we use in normal grammar. TL;DR, there is a normal way to use adjectives in a sentence, otherwise it sounds weird when you say it (the difference between saying “a new guitar folding” versus “a new folding guitar”). There is a natural way that the Skill Call flows to make it easy to understand, in a similar fashion. When we use the same format for all of our Skill Calls, it ensures that we can clearly communicate the rules of what is about to happen to our target.

Let’s look at an EXTREME example:

A sample Damage Call. Reminds me of those old grammar classes in elementary school…

There are SIX major mechanical parts of a Damage Call:

• Delivery Modifier

• Skill Name or Keyword

• Delivery Method

• Damage Amount

• Damage Modifier (or Augment)

• Damage Affix (or Effect!)

You can have a Damage Call that is simply just the Damage Amount, you can have a call only have Damage and a Modifier, or you can have a complicated call like we see here. (I’m sure you will have fun when you meet the monster that can do this.)

Important Note: Not all Damage Calls will include every part you see above.

The most common Damage Call is simply known as a SPIKE DAMAGE CALL. In these cases, the main effect is simply a larger amount of damage. This will sound something like the NPC saying “30 Damage!” when the monster contacts you with a boffer or packet.

The functional parts of a Damage Call are actually exactly the same as the parts of a Skill Call, but for this article we are going to focus on abilities used in combat.

Parts of a Damage Call

So let’s talk a bit about what each of these elements means for your character.

Delivery Modifier

The very first part of a Damage Call can be considered a Delivery Modifier. This lets you know that the effect is resisted with a different skill than normal. Normally, if an attack is delivered with a boffer or ranged attack, you can use the Avoid skill to resist the effect unless a Delivery Modifier is called. The only real Delivery Modifier at the moment is “PSIONIC”, but there could other abilities or items in the future that use this position in the call. This call lets you know that regardless of how the attack was delivered, it is a Psionic Attack (p. 105) and it can be resisted with Mental Endurance INSTEAD of the normal means of defense. This could be also considered a form of Delivery Method, but every time this is used it is as the FIRST part of the call and can be combined with other Delivery Methods so it really deserves a classification of its own.

Skill Name or keyword

The Skill Name is probably the rarest part of a Damage Call. It’s sometimes optional, depending on how complicated the Call is to say out loud. This part is used simply to identify the effect that is targeting you in a narrative fashion. This will generally sound something like “Impale!”, “Cannibalism!” or “Anomaly Response!”. The main function of this is to help you understand that the call that follows is part of that thematic effect so you can role play accordingly.

Delivery Method

The Delivery Method helps you know how you can resist the effect. The primary delivery method is a successful melee or ranged attack called a Strike (p. 107) or Ranged Attack (p. 106), which can both be countered by Avoid or Defend. If this is delivered with a weapon, a packet, or a NERF dart, you don’t actually have to say anything as part of your attack. It is assumed that the Delivery Method is either a Strike or Ranged Attack based on the physical attack you use. The main examples of a Delivery Method that matters in a Damage Call are OTHER forms of delivering an attack or Skill, like “Area of Effect” (p. 102), “Sound of my Voice” (p. 106), “Line of Sight” (p. 104), or even other weird ranges like “3 Steps” (p. 138, Master Pyrokinetics why are you so weird..). We will go into further detail about some weird interactions with delivery methods in the next blog post.

Damage Amount

The Damage Amount is probably the simplest and easiest part of the Damage Call. This is simply how much damage you take from the attack. Remember, unless a Damage Modifier is called you apply damage to your Armor first, then to your Body. Spike Damage strikes normally occur in 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 50 damage (yikes!) increments. A common strategy to buying Body points for your character is to have 1 more Body than these common attacks. You’ll see a lot of characters with 21 Body or 31 Body so they can survive one surprise attack without immediately dropping into Bleed Out. The beefiest of characters in the game with over 51 Body can survive an Apocalyptic Strike (50 Damage in a single blow!).

Damage Modifier (or Augment)

The Damage Modifier is sometimes also known as a Damage Augment. This is probably the second-most common part of a Damage Call, as this changes HOW the damage is applied to you. The most common Modifier is “Body” damage. Several Crafted Items allow you to change your damage type to Body, as well as the skill Piercing Strike. Other modifiers include:

• Body - skips Armor and deals damage directly to your Body.

• Bane - deals DOUBLE damage if you qualify for the type of Bane Damage

• Mind (Poison) - deals damage to your Mind instead.

• Rad (Radiation) - deals damage to both Body AND Mind in the same attack.

• Rend - deals damage to both Armor AND Body in the same attack.

Damage Affix (or Effect)

The last part of the Damage Call is the Damage Affix or an Effect. This effect is applied last, after damage is dealt and lets you know what else the attack does to your character. This is probably the most varied thing that can be included into a Damage Call as this can be virtually anything! Most commonly, this is a Skill or keyword effect like Blinding, Stun, Knockback, or Break. Other times, this could be a short instruction like “Reduce Bleed Out Time to 1 Minute!”, “Lose 6 Resolve!” (ouch!), “No Escape!” or “No Defend!”. In our example above, if the attack’s Damage Amount would drop you into Bleed Out, the MURDER effect happens immediately — killing your character D-E-A-D!

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That’s it for this week! Let me know what you thought about this article in the comments below or on our social media posts! Next week, I’ll break down some examples of each of the types of Damage Calls in more detail and explain how the order of operations works for a Damage Call.

As an extra special bonus teaser, you might notice a few updates to the Events page for the last half of Season 3…

Story Recap: The Long Night

It’s still our Winter Break, but I’m here with a recap of our last event, THE LONG NIGHT! The goal of these Story Recap posts is to help fill in the blanks for those that might have missed an important mod, been at NPC camp or even sleeping, or simply were not able to attend the game. These are major points of continuity that might be important as our season continues, and I hope this will help with the FOMO feels.

This was our annual Premiere game, which is simply a special game where we can up the stakes, let players buy additional XP for their characters, and produce an even more special event. We had dozens of players from abroad travel down as part of an “invasion” event and we even ran special Zip Line passes for the event that were part of the Monolith experience. We also had members of the National Team including Kyle Elliot and Jeff Dahl at the event as well. This was also the largest live game run since the pandemic started, and we’re kinda proud and grateful to so many folks for attending. If you were not able to attend this time, we hope you will be able to join us in February.

There were a few major developments during the LONG NIGHT event. This was our mid-season closer, so it’s a bit of a read but I hope it’s worth it.

THE MONOLITH

At the end of the last game, a terrible MONOLITH emerged near the edge of town. It started to cause cold weather and attracted one of the largest zombie hordes since the Hiway War. The zed seemed hellbent on destroying the Monolith, and were held back by the combined efforts of the Tribes Disparate and the Grave Council until further help could arrive. When the players arrived to town, there had been sightings of terrible frozen zombies known as RIMEBOUND in the Horde, even more deadly than previous encounters with the frosty zed. These frozen enemies exploded into icy shrapnel once their outer armor was broken, but fire was a sure way to kill them without them exploding.

Players took turns “delving” into the interior of the Monolith with the aid of several Graverobbers from the Grave Council, but had to time their entrances to match the deaths of other people in town. The Monolith had become an impromptu Morgue, a place where the dead emerge from the Mortis Amaranthine. Inside, there were reports of a strange ancient Facility from before the fall filled with personalities bent on containing some kind of creature inside. It appeared as if the Monolith was like a wound inside the Grave Mind, causing an “infection” like it was some kind of weird splinter. The zed attacking the site must have been part of the response to whatever was inside.

The first to die reported their minds lost to memories of the past, as they took upon roles of the researchers in the facility called CRADLE. They talked about an Overseer, a Scientist, and government funding. They talked about a “Department of Future and Progress”, but every story inside repeated itself in a twisted loop describing the downfall of this facility. At some point far, far, far in the past, the researchers here had tried (and failed) to contain an entity from beyond our world, an outsider known to our current world as an ARCHON. Every story ended the same - the Archon was trapped inside by the efforts of the scientists, but only after a great sacrifice. The creature must have been the source of the “splinter” that caused the abscess to form around it, the wound that became the MONOLITH. Something must have awoken the MONOLITH, perhaps the tampering of the GRAVE BELL by the villainous Dr. Nichols during the last game.

ARCHON ASSAULT

The first teams inside found an unthinkable horror trapped inside - a creature from outside of our reality, known by some as an ARCHON. The entity was awoken by the first delve and escaped into the world outside to wreck havoc on the town. It’s screeching otherworldly cry was answered by another, as a second ARCHON emerged into our reality to lay waste to the Survivors in the town. Together, the two ARCHONS seemed to be focused on freeing a third ARCHON trapped within the Monolith.

The entities were unstoppable. They were impervious to any weapons used against them, and their hideous claws were capable of rending through armor and flesh alike. They could snuff out the life force of anyone around them, ending the bleed out of anyone that had fallen to their claws. They could even devour the very Imprint of a Survivor, sundering all of their Resolve in one swing. They leaked radiation in the area around them and were capable of stepping through reality into any place that had electricity, even past closed doors or barricades. They could even drag a helpless survivor with them into an ABYSSAL RIFT straight into the Mortis Amaranthine. Countless survivors died the first night, caught off guard by the terror of the Archons.

The last time a trio of these creatures emerged in Essex, it took the combined force of a runaway Oxline, a bottomless pit filled with Zed, and a psionic weapon that rewrote reality to deal with them. Unfortunately for Bravado, no such weapons of overwhelming force were available so the town would have to find their own way to make the creatures vulnerable. Luckily, the town was up to the task and begin an arduous process to uncover a way to keep the creatures in our reality long enough so they could be killed.

• A special ST note here - “Archons” are a National level Threat, and only encountered at specific events that involve the Mortis Amaranthine with National approval, like our Premiere event. They first appeared during the Greenhouse online event, and have been sighted at a few events since then. They continue to be a serious threat from somewhere beyond death and it’s possible you might see one again if you choose to travel up to a National event. There are even a few Blueprints that deal with these threats.

• FUN FACT: The Archon is the only creature in the Threat Book to be classified as an “Apocalyptic Threat”.

THE LONG NIGHT & LONGWALKERS

As if rampaging Archons were not enough, the town was also dealing with another force of nature that had emerged from the darkness, known to the Quiet Folk of Widow’s Peak as the LONGWALKERS. The cold of the MONOLITH had awoken the LONG NIGHT, a time of frozen, terrible darkness that spreads across the land during the deepest Winter months (also conveniently during our Winter Break in January). The legends of the Lovelace clan tells of chasing away the Longwalkers with candlelight, but the town soon found out that they were not simply legends to scare children.

Terrible creatures prowled the night, including the Nowhere Man, the Midnight Gardener, the owl-like Lechuza, and more. From three-headed abominations to mesmerizing glowing Jellyfish-like creatures, once the sun set the things began to hunt in the darkness. Much like the Archons, no weapon could harm the Longwalkers, and the only solution to their threat was to run or hide. A few survivors swore that they survived an encounter with a Longwalker, but each seemed to be deadly if you kept their attention for long.

In the midst of this, the supernatural cold of the Monolith and the Long Night began to create other problems. The Rimebound dead were emerging from the Mortis, the crops were withering and dying, and even the buildings themselves needed to be winterized against the cold. Some took the opportunity to flee the town while others turned their attention to surviving the Long Night.

Thanks to the hard efforts of the survivors, they managed to winterize each building in Bravado, deal with a blockade of mines in the lake that prevented trade via the rivers, evade the Longwalkers, and even created a technological marvel to protect the farmland from the cold. If the town could come up with a solution to the Archons and the Monolith, they would be able to weather the Long Night intact.

THE END OF THE MONOLITH

Repeated delves into the strange MONOLITH uncovered bits and fragments of how the original scientists of the facility were able to trap the original Archons. However, it appeared that the Archon trapped within was actually the Archon that was thought destroyed during the Fountainhead Incident in Essex last year. When it tried to escape from Essex via electrical lines, it’s escape was cut short by a breach in the line, near where the Monolith emerged.

The town discovered a means to build an sonic amplifier from pieces scavenged from the Monolith, shards of icy armor from slain Rimebound, and the strange Imprint Crystals found within the outskirts of the Monolith. Together, the brightest minds of the town pooled their resources to create a psionic device capable of temporarily stunning the Archons. While stunned, they would be trapped in our reality for a moment, about 15 seconds, and they could not simply ignore the weapons and firearms of the town. However, the town had to gather every able bodied fighter they could to lure the Archons near to the Monolith so they could be confronted.

After a moonlit walk down the quiet, dark paths of Bravado, seemingly escorted to the fields near the Monolith by the Longwalkers, the survivors set their trap. With a terrible scream, the two Archons descended into the fray to assault the living. Alongside the Archon attack, the zed breached the perimeter of the town, with Rimebound dead emerging into the fields by the hundreds. Caught between two unstoppable forces, the Survivors braced for a long fight.

After a few failed attempts to wound the Archons, it was eventually apparent that not only could the Archons snuff out the life force of any of the dying near them they could absorb any psionic energy near them to heal their wounds. With the help of a few stalwart shield walls and coordination to prevent unnecessary healing of the Archons, the fight became a race to deal enough damage to the Archons in the brief windows of vulnerability while surviving the constant assault of the zed and even a few of the Longwalkers that drew too close. It was a chaotic mess of a fight, but with a earth rending screech, the first of the Archons fell to the ground followed by its partner moments after.

An unthinkable feat had been achieved. Two Archons were slain in battle, and the imprint of the third Archon was consumed by the strange sonic device in it’s last moments. The wound that was sustaining the strange Monolith was gone, and the walls of the Monolith began to crumble. As if some hidden signal went out, the assault of the dead on the town began to wane and the forces of the Tribes Disparate, led by Queen Jaspar and the Antler Tribe, the Reckoners of the Grave Council, and the mercenaries of the RRC were able to push back the horde. With a moment to catch their breath, the Monolith was destroyed, the zed horde was dissipating, and the Archons were no more.

The Aftermath

While the Long Night looms on the horizon, the town weathered an apocalyptic threat and managed to create some measure of protection against the cold and merciless winter. Bravado will survive the Long Night intact, instead of taking a step back to repair the damage of the winter. Several survivors took the advantage of the treaty with ANTON ANASTASIA of REQUIEM to travel North away from the cold, while others settled in for a long winter break. In a few months, the cold will pass, the Oxline will start fresh, and the town of Bravado will prepare for the Spring.

That’s it for the story this time, and we’ll be back in February with our next event! Stay tuned!

Pre-Game Rules Ramble

It’s Jonathan with another weekly Rules Ramble, this time focusing on stuff that might be super important for our upcoming event, THE LONG NIGHT. We’ll be covering some basic rules from the book, as well as some unique skill calls you should be ready to hear this weekend.

Website Updates & BUY LISTS

I’ve also updated a few sections of the website that might be of note this week as well.

Collectors rejoice!

• New Skill Buy Lists have been released! These change several of the available items for Trade Connections, Sailing, and Criminal Influence. The overall goal of this change was to reduce items that replaced Skills entirely or made some Skills obsolete. Also, this is first time that Basic Scrap is now available without relying on a Raider or Forage card and you might recognize a few of these items from the Faction Buy Lists we released earlier this year.

• Updated rules for Oxblood, and our new Essex Collectibles SET BONUS! Shamelessly inspired by New York’s bonus for the Rings of the Fold, these should be particularly useful for our travelers from New York, since Anton is signing that fancy contract this weekend.

• Last but not least, new Skill Calls are available on the website, including Impale, Terror, and Faith Bane! I’ve also listed other recent keyword updates like Overpower, Horde, and Reliable. These reflect upcoming new Augment blueprints, new monsters, or other ways to interact with the world. As new stuff comes out, we want to make sure you have a place to reference the new rules that are not in the DR Corebook.

On to the rules of note for this weekend, and a brief introduction to some of the antagonists that’ll you encounter in the darkness of the LONG NIGHT.

Armor in Dystopia Rising

This is a big topic and can be a pretty confusing one, I’ll admit. Armor is gained in a few different ways throughout the game. There are Skills like Master Combat Tactics that can grant everyone temporary Armor for the next hour, items that use PFA abilities to grant Armor buffs, or just the old fashioned Armor items themselves like the recently popular Striker’s Coat.

Basic Armor Rules

Regardless of the source, Armor functions in the same way as found on page p.169 of the DR Corebook. Armor is a very handy tool for newer players, as it lets you quickly gain additional combat survivability without requiring XP! Let’s cover the basics:

• Armor is equipment that gives you additional pool of Body to your character equal to the Armor rating. This ranges from 5-20 points of Armor at the moment, but later Augment blueprints will allow you to exceed the cap of 20.

• Damage is dealt to these Armor points FIRST, unless you take a call with the “Body” modifier (p. 103, DR Corebook). If your Armor is reduced to zero Armor Points, it is BROKEN and cannot be used to absorb damage until it is repaired.

• Temporary Upsurge buffs like Master Combat Tactics can stack on top of item card sources, and go above the cap of 20. Remember, most temporary buffs are Upsurge effects and you cannot have more than one Upsurge effect.

• Weapons like the Moulen Shank, Glass Stilleto, or skills like Pyrokinetics or Piercing Strike that deal Body Damage skip this pool of Armor altogether and deal damage directly to you. This means that Body damage does not actually Break your armor. This is an important distinction, for reasons you’ll find out this weekend. :)

• If someone uses the Break Skill to declare “Break Armor”, or a monster uses a Break Armor ability on you, your Armor is considered BROKEN, regardless of how many Armor points you had remaining.

• When you lose Armor points or the Armor is broken, the only way you can regain them is by someone either using the Basic Artisan skill (p. 117) or by using a similar item or room augment. This can also be done for FREE by any character using the Starter Workstation room augment (there’s even one of these inside the Depot in Bravado!).

armor Coverage

Armor must also be represented by a physical representation of some sort. This doesn’t have to actually be metal or heavy material, but should at least appear to be a protective layer of some sort (metallic paint is your friend!).

You must cover a portion of your body equal to 5% per Armor Point, up to a maximum of 80%. This means that Basic Armor (10 points) requires 50% coverage, Proficient Armor (15 points) requires 75%, and Master Armor (20 points) needs 80% coverage. There are some other types of Armor that can reduce the amount of coverage you need, like the Merchant’s Coat or the Striker’s Coat.

You can use a burn coverage chart (see to the right) as a loose approximation of what kind of coverage you need. In general, torso coverage (front and back) is about 40%, Each arm is about 10%, each full leg is about 20%, and head coverage is about 10%. In DR: Texas, during inclement weather we will reduce the total coverage to only you need to portray to only 50%, cause it’s too hot to wear that much!

“Reliable” and Reactions on Armor Breaks

Certain actions on Armor can be used as a reaction to an event, like entering Bleed Out or becoming Unconscious. Some monsters have effects that trigger upon their Armor being broken, so any effect like Break or doing enough damage to the Armor can trigger this event.

Let’s talk about a few specific rules and Skills that interact with Armor.

• Blinding (p. 112) - This skill prevents a target from using Skills, or Proficient, Master, or Achievement abilities of equipment from being activated while under the 10 second Blinded effect, or any equipment that uses a Skill that costs XP. An often overlooked, but VERY important loophole here is that the Killing Blow protection of the Striker’s Coat is a BASIC item effect and doesn’t use a Skill to use, and specifically cannot be stopped by being Blinded.

• Break (p. 112) - If you manage to land a Break Armor call on during a strike to the Armor, it will immediately remove the protection of Armor, even if it has Armor points remaining. However, if an effect triggers on the Armor breaking, this Skill will also trigger that effect, just as if the Armor had been reduced to zero Armor Points.

• Reliable - Most Armors have this Keyword now, or specify that an ability can be used in Bleed Out. Reliable simply means that the equipment can still be used, even if Broken. This is important because you can’t use Skills or equipment while in Bleed Out or use Broken equipment unless it specifically says you can.

  • A few notable pieces of gear that let you do this is the OOPH Tactical Armor Veteran Achievement ability, or the Striker’s Coat protection from Killing Blows.

• Striker’s Coat - An important distinction of this Armor is that the ability can only be used on the trigger of entering Bleed Out, not the Armor being broken.

• Subdued (p. 107) - A character that is Subdued (say, by being tied up by a Law Dog), they cannot use most skills or items unless they specifically say you can.

• Unconscious (p.108) - While you are Unconscious, you cannot use equipment, or use Skills, unless that Armor that states it activates when you go Unconscious!

That about covers it for our discussion on Armor, but this is a very important tool for surviving the zombie apocalypse. Lastly, let’s talk about some new friends you’ll meet this weekend.

Longwalkers & Rimebound

There will be two new antagonists in play this weekend for our LONG NIGHT event. You can find some narrative details of these folks below:

The Rimebound zed are a terrifying foe of the Long Night!

• Rimebound Dead

  Icy variants of the undead, the Rimebound were created by the creeping chill of the Bravado morgue.  Last seen two years ago, these undead are covered in a hardened, frozen ichor.  The makeshift armor breaks into icy shards that can explode out from them when broken. Possessing a frostbitten blue tinge to their skin, their muscles constantly contract creating the appearance of shivering to onlookers.   There have been recent appearances of new forms of Rimebound Dead, including variants of Tanks and Gorehounds.

  The Rimebound are virtually immune to common melee and ranged weapons, but if the icy armor is melted by an application of fire or intense heat (aka BODY DAMAGE) they become vulnerable. If this vulnerability is not exploited, breaking apart their icy armor will cause a razor sharp cloud of ice to be sprayed around them. Even without fire, they can eventually be taken down by enough attacks, but they are tougher than a common shambler.

  Like the more common Lost Boy zed, the Rimebound can mimic some short phrases and sounds, but it is generally some variation of “I’m so cold..” or shivering sounds.  It is suspected that the appearance of the Rimebound is but a symptom of the continuing sickness in the morgues of the San Saba after the Hiway War.

• Longwalkers

  The gallery of cryptids who, during the Long Night, stalk the darkness of Widow’s Peak. Some in search of prey, others absolution, most - with opaque motives. Are they strains gone mad in the blind eternity of the Long Night? Are they expressions of our terror made manifest in the chaos of sensory deprivation? Are they the Gravemind itself dreaming in the siesta between seasons? It depends on who you ask.

  Some Longwalkers have strange tells that indicate they are present. Water running backwards, the scent of rotten fruit, a glowing will-o-wisp in the darkness, the sound of tinkling chimes. These mysterious entities stalk the Long Night looking for something. The Nowhere Man, the Behemoth, the Midnight Gardener, the Shadow People, the Lady of the Long Night, and The Click - these figures sometimes derive from folktale and myth - and others are the inspiration for the same.

  The Longwalkers are strange and unknown entities, but one thing is certain - they CANNOT BE KILLED, only survived. You should either run if you can or hide if you can’T.

  While virtually invulnerable, Longwalkers are more than capable of impacting YOU with their Skills and abilities. They can be quite deadly, but during our Hearthbound online event, the Quiet Folk of Widow’s Peak talked about using light sources, like the candlelight of Winter Lights to ward them away. This may be one way of finding a vulnerability, but sometimes old superstitions are just that - simple stories told to children on cold winter nights...

We will see you this weekend for our December Premiere event, THE LONG NIGHT!!!

What Happens When You Die? (Part 2)

It’s time for another Rules Ramble with Jonathan! This week, we are continuing the discussion on what happens to your character when they die during a game of Dystopia Rising. Last week, we talked about some of the mechanics of what happens to a character, so this week we are going to focus on the post-death experience. This is a bit longer, but it’s a complicated subject.

Characters in DR start with an Infection Rate depending on their Strain (p. 154, DR Corebook). In the post-apocalyptic world, this is the reason why characters can survive multiple gunshots, being eaten alive by zombies, or cut to pieces by a Raider. The Infection stat is effectively the number of times you can “come back” from death in one piece. This means that death is not the end for your character. However, the journey beyond death can be a strange experience, and coming back intact is never guaranteed. There are many stories of survivors not emerging from the Mortis Amaranthine even when they had Infection remaining.

Mono no aware

When you die, you lose one point of your Infection (unless you had an item or Skill used on you). You can gain back Infection through a few expensive and risky in-game procedures, but generally once this hits zero, your character is gone for good. Once all of your Infection is lost, the Grave Mind is no longer able to bring back that “spark” of what makes you a person and all that is left is the unthinking hungry zed.

However, losing Infection (or even your character) doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, some folks think that Infection is a currency, and should be spent. We even have an entire faction in the game called the Red Ledger that dives into this idea, and the SES System allows you to sign up take risks as your characters on a out-of-character level. If you avoid dying, you miss out on a chance to experience what happens beyond death.

The idea that your character is impermanent is an important part of the story of Dystopia Rising, in the Japanese tradition of mono no aware. Awareness of the transience of all things heightens appreciation of their beauty, and evokes a gentle sadness at their passing. When your character dies, it gives you an opportunity to progress their story, experience change based on what happens during your Grave Mind scene, or even deepen your role play with your friends as they express sadness or emotions about your character’s final death.

Beyond Death

When a character is killed, their body is absorbed by the tendrils of the Mortis Amaranthine, sometimes called the Grave Mind. Their corporeal form is broken down, their Infection reclaimed, and their body is reformed within a place known as a Morgue, which is tended by the Groundskeepers (at least in DR:TX). The Groundskeepers help draw a person through the process of reforming and are the STs in charge of the Grave Mind Scene. The Groundskeepers are responsible for assessing the Grave Tax for the recently deceased. There are even places beyond the Mortis Amaranthine, entering into a state of being Beyond Death. Sometimes a Graverobber might conduct a Grave Robber Scene, restoring lost infection to a survivor.

That’s a lot of vocabulary words, so let’s take a brief look at what I consider the ‘cosmology’ of DR. You can also find more about this starting on page 209 in the DR Corebook. This is just one interpretation of these terms, and these are loosely summarized from materials in the book, tabletop materials, fiction novels, and plot kits.

• Infection - The infectious material that courses in your character’s veins is likely a blood-born fungal entity or virus, maybe even a mutation of the original zombie virus which broke the world. It is an organic, symbiotic host found both in Survivors, and the environment of the world itself. When you die, this Infection is reclaimed and absorbed by the Mortis Amaranthine. Eventually, when you have nothing left to be reclaimed you emerge as a zombie.

• The Mortis Amaranthine - This is not so much a place, as a concept. While it is true a rotting fungal mass exists under the ground, it is not as simple as that. When you die, your consciousness is temporarily stored within a psionic network of everyone and everything with the Infection running through it, including this fungal network. Collectively, this refers to the state of being that is responsible for the process of death and reconstruction that happens afterwards. Regardless of the source of your regeneration, the out-of-body experience of being rebuilt is maddening and is capable of fracturing mind and body.

• The Grave Mind - This is a bit of a urban legend, but many folks associate this term with a hungry intelligence within the Mortis Amaranthine. In fact, this could really just be considered the egoless space within the Mortis. There is no true sentience behind the Mortis and any voices heard within are simply fragments of their attempts to comprehend the experience. However, each settlement in the Wastes has different quirks and flavors of the death experience that seem to be unique to them so it’s easy to see how this legend has grown.

• Morgues - These are places where the dead return after dying. They are found in highly psionic areas or larger settlements and are often tended to by Graverobbers and other folks that are passionate about the Mortis Amaranthine. In Texas, there are several Morgues but the primary morgue we use is known as the Grave Annex, located within the Zuni pavilion behind our Logistics building.

• Groundskeepers - In the DR: TX setting, these are generally employees of the Grave Council, paid to maintain the morgues of Bravado and help the dead return intact. Out of game, these are the Grave Mind STs for our game, and are responsible for running the post-death experience.

• Grave Tax - In DR: TX, this is a fee paid to the Grave Council under the laws of the San Saba Territories after a person returns to the living. This generally starts at 25 brass, and can increase based on if the death was avoidable. This can be paid immediately or deferred until Collection Day (our April event). This is an entirely optional mechanic, and the Groundskeeper will explain your options for opting out of this if you choose.

• Grave Robber Scene - These are Action Requests generally created by a Graverobber LC that is attempting to “steal” lost Infection back from the Mortis Amaranthine. These are challenging mods set up in advance that allow players to risk their Resolve and future Infection for a chance at more time and new Infection. This is generally done via the Pallor Mortis procedure, a blueprint that can be found in game, and requires the player gaining Infection to spend 10 XP.

• Beyond Death - There are deeper ways to interact with the Mortis Amaranthine other than a Morgue, taking you into places and scenarios beyond the limits of what is normal.

  • Sunless Garden - These are areas of the Mortis where the skeletal remains of the consumed world of “the Fall” exists in a microcosm of reality. It is a physical space that functions almost like a stationary point in reality between the living world, the egoless space of the Grave Mind, and what lies beyond the Mortis. You will see these types of locations primarily at National events.

  • Abyssal Rifts - Several blueprints mention the concept of Abyssal Rifts and how to control them, including bodily entering into the Mortis. These were introduced during the online Green House event and these are effectively breaches into reality from beyond the Mortis Amaranthine. Threats like the “Archons” that nearly killed everyone in Essex during our online events are just one example of the threats that can emerge from beyond if these Rifts are not sealed quickly.

  • The Monolith - Other times, unique experiences can emerge from the Mortis like a foreign object stuck in a wound. The Mortis, or at least the rotting fungal mass below the ground, often exhibits medical-like scenarios akin to being infected or experiencing impacted foreign bodies or cysts. These can sometimes become an issue for a settlement, cause new diseases, or even exhibit strange new behaviors of the Mortis Amaranthine. One example was perhaps the Fountainhead during our online season in Essex.

Now that you understand the lingo, let’s talk about what happens for you, the player.

The Grave Mind Scene

Once you are ready, have had any Infection changes and Fractures recorded on your sheet, the STs on shift will summon the Groundskeeper, the local ST on call to handle Grave Mind Scenes. This person is our specialist in crafting a unique experience for a player after the death of their character and will work with you to craft a memorable scene.

First, the Groundskeeper will talk with you about how you died, how your character background or in-game actions might impact the scene, and help establish clear boundaries of what you will experience during the Grave Mind Scene. Consent is an important mechanic of DR, and we want to make sure you are able to have a great experience after death. If you have any questions, the Groundskeeper will make sure to help you understand your options going forward and this “interview” will help them personalize a scene to your character.

The Groundskeeper will also help you decide on a Fracture, since every person that experiences a Grave Mind Scene gains a Fracture as well as losing an Infection. Fractures cannot be soothed or cured for two hours after you gain them, so the shock of your psyche trying to understand what just happened will have an impact on your character after their death. The Groundskeeper will also explain your options for dealing with the Grave Tax, and ways to opt in or out of this mechanic.

Finally, the Groundskeeper will take you to a secluded location and run what we call a “black box” scene. This might be within our Morgue area in the Zuni Pavilion, or simply in a quiet area nearby. They will have you close your eyes, describe the last moments of your death, and then give a shared verbal (and sometimes visual) narration of the experience in the Mortis Amaranthine. After this, you will be allowed to return to play with full Body and 5 Mind points, unless you spend a Resolve (check out my blog post last week).

If you have a concern about where you emerge (say you are worried about an enemy trying to catch you emerging from the Mortis), the Groundskeeper can spawn you in another location if you like. However, the idea of trying to kill a person over and over again until they don’t come back is a terrible crime in EVERY settlement, and the Grave Council will violently respond to people trying to “camp” the Morgue. Murderers beware!

The Story of Death

Every one that dies has a different experience or story of what happens beyond, and what happens next is often dependent on how you died, how your mind attempts to comprehend the experience, memories of your past, or even a personification of your negative emotions. The Grave Mind Scene should be unique, but most of those that die describe some similar experiences.

Most describe a presence watching them or aware of them in the darkness, or disembodied voices talking to them. They might speak of a island in a vast sea, an empty wasteland with a lonely road stretching to the horizon, they might encounter people and places that they have seen before but are gone or dead, or feel a malevolent entity enticing them to stay within. Some settlements have unique experiences, such as people reporting that the Grave Mind demanding a single currency or else losing an important memory, or a hungering maw below that beckons them deeper.

Most describe a presence that “takes something” away from them, where it be a memory or an emotional connection. Sometimes as a survivor nears their last Infection, these cracks in their psyche manifest on their body when it reforms as greenish veins, scars, or skin discolorations where the Infection is visible. Ultimately, the experience after death is your mind’s attempt to comprehend and describe a completely alien and horrific experience, but you always emerged changed in some way.

The story of what happens next is up to you, but part of the “horror” of Dystopia Rising is the cosmic threat of how and why you return from the grave. How will your character react after being broken down to their very atoms and reformed again? Are they even the same person, or like the Ship of Theseus have they become something else entirely? Will this brush with death change in you some way, or force you to rethink the time you have left? Let’s find out together…

Next time, we will discuss some important rules you might want to brush up on before the game, particularly with some frostbitten zed lurking in the shadows. See you next week!

What Happens When You Die?

It’s time for another Rules Ramble with Jonathan! Death and dying in the world of Dystopia Rising are tied heavily into the setting. The Zombie Apocalypse story means the concept of Death is always close by for our characters. In fact, when you character dies in Dystopia Rising, you actually get to enjoy an entirely different side of the game. So let’s talk about a side of the game that you may not know much about, particularly for those folks that are new to the game.

Life Cut short…

When your character finishes their Bleed Out count without getting healing, or gets a Killing Blow delivered to them while in Bleed Out, you are dead. D-E-A-D. But for characters with the Infection surging in their bodies, that’s not quite the end.

• If it is possible, you should remain in play as a corpse for no longer than 10 minutes to allow for opportunities to interact with the dead character. (DR Corebook, p. 208)

There are a few reasons to stay behind as a corpse:

First, there is actually a Skill in game that can resurrect a character that recently died, known as Master Faithful Will (DR Corebook, p. 140) — provided they can Target you as a corpse. This is a rarer skill in the game, as it requires a veteran player with at least 75 XP to be able to select this skill.

This skill allows someone of your same Faith that gets to you before that 10 minute timer is up to throw a white packet, spend 1 Resolve and stop you from losing an Infection. There are even items that let them use the Skill on people not of their same Faith. Better make buddies with that friendly priest! You still experience a Grave Mind Scene if this skill is used, so we’ll talk about that next.

Lastly, staying as a corpse allows enemies or other players to take things from your Supply Bag (which is a CvC action), allows Gorgers to cannibalize the corpse to gain Body, or even let your friends experience a role play opportunity as they react to finding your body.

You can choose to ‘sink’ into the Mortis Amaranthine when you are ready, going out of character and holding a hand to your head or wearing a green headband. Any items you still have on you are taken with you into the Mortis Amaranthine. You don’t have to wait the entire 10 minutes (especially if no one is around to find you), but you should give a reasonable amount of time for folks to react and respond to your death.

After Death: The Mortis Amaranthine

When your character dies in game, their body is claimed by the Grave Mind and absorbed into the Mortis Amaranthine. This normally appears to your character as if murky tendrils are dragging your body beneath the ground, but this is mainly a trope to explain why you disappear out of character. In the fiction books of Dystopia Rising, the decay of the corpse happens much differently but we don’t have the SFX budget of Hollywood!

Once you’ve spent your time as a corpse, you’ll proceed to the Logistics building. In DR:TX, this is known as the Grave Council Annex and is located in the building known as the Hopi Lodge. This is the same place you’ll come for your NPC shift, so it’ll be easy enough to find. The first thing we do is congratulate or console you on your death, and make sure you have water and space to decompress. Death isn’t really a “lose scenario”, but sometimes you need a few minutes so the adrenaline can wear off. It’s important to take care of the player too!

From there, our STs and Guides will make sure that the GRAVE BELL is rung, signaling to the other players and designated Groundskeepers (Guides that specialize in running Grave Mind scenes), that someone has recently died. This also lets players that want to use a Death Brew or the Necrokinetics Skill know they have an opportunity to do so. These powers allow another player to sit in and observe the Death scene by your side, provided you consent and give them permission to be there.

Once the Groundskeepers arrive, they will walk you through the next steps and mark on your character sheet the changes that happen. The Groundskeeper will also have a short discussion with you that will help them build a better Grave Mind scene by understanding how you died, working with you to choose an appropriate Fracture, and helping them tailor the scene to your character and their backstory. Once you are ready, the Groundskeeper will lead you through a Grave Mind Scene tailored to your character.

Now, this is a Rules Ramble, so let’s address the mechanical impact of death:

The Price of Death

A few things happen mechanically upon death:

• You lose 1 Infection. (p. 95, DR Corebook)

  • If this leaves you with zero Infection, your character is permanently dead and will return as a zombie instead. The ST will work with you to create a unique undead threat to plague the town for what is known as your “last walk”.

  • There are ways to regain lost Infection in game, including the Pallor Mortis procedure and the Candlepin Medical Kit. Gaining new Infection costs 10 XP per point and can only be done at your home game or a national cross-network event.

• You gain 1 Fracture. (p. 180, DR Corebook)

  • Remember, Fractures cannot be resolved for the first 2 hours after you gain one and they can prevent you from using certain Anomaly Skills and equipment while you have one.

• If the character is not permanently dead, when the character finishes the death scene they emerge with full Body and 5 Mind points remaining unless there is a plot or mechanic that changes this amount. They can choose to spend 1 Resolve to return to play with full Mind points.

  • If you do NOT lose an Infection (say, someone with Faithful Will was nearby), you may NOT spend an Resolve to return with full Mind Points.

• [DR:TX ONLY] The Groundskeeper will assess your Grave Tax. This is an optional story element, reinforcing one of the laws of the San Saba. When someone dies in our game, the Grave Council normally assigns them a tax based on how they died. This is meant as an avenue for story, not as a punishment, so the Groundskeeper will help you understand how to opt in or out of this experience.

• Dying also cures you of most diseases or psionic effects you might be suffering from, restores Mangled limbs and lost organs, and ends any other effects that do not persist after death.

One final oft overlooked rule is that if you want to OPT OUT of a Grave Mind Scene altogether, you can simply spend one Resolve and return to play with full Body, but only one Mind Point (p. 183, DR Corebook). You still lose Infection but you do NOT gain a Fracture as you did not have the traumatic post-death experience within the Mortis Amaranthine. (You also miss out on a neat personalized scene, but sometimes you gotta get back to your friends quick!)

Next week, we’ll talk a bit more about what happens during and after the Grave Mind Scene with the Groundskeeper. Stay tuned for Part 2!