It’s time for another Rules Ramble with Jonathan! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic in the DR rulebook in a deep dive that focuses on explaining it more detail than the book alone can provide. Today’s series starts to delve a bit deeper into the logic behind some of the things involved with CvC, or Character vs. Character behaviors. For this first article, let’s talk at a high level about some of the concepts behind CvC.
It’s time for another Rules Ramble with Jonathan! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic in the DR rulebook in a deep dive that focuses on explaining it more detail than the book alone can provide. This week we are wrapping up the final discussion of the Anatomy of a Damage Call in Dystopia Rising. There are four core pillars of the DR game in my mind: Combat, Roleplay, CvC, and Economy, and this series delves a bit deeper into the logic behind some of the things you say during a combat.
Catch up with Part 1 here. We introduce some key terms for each part of the Damage Call and break down each component. There’s even a handy dandy graphic!
Catch up with Part 2 here. We discuss some example Damage Calls, and break them down in turn. These range from simple to complicated calls, and we cover one of each type of attack.
Aesa also covered some really important Logistics announcements yesterday for the February game here, so take a look. Go on, this will wait!
Ok, so we’ve spent some time talking about Damage Calls and gave you some examples, so now let’s look at a Damage Call in motion and where Defenses come into the picture.
This logic also explains the order and timing that we use with a call, so we are going to discuss timing and defenses, and how they apply to a Damage Call. This is a longer post, so fair warning!
So someone has attacked you and made their Damage Call. One of the first instances of TIMING when it comes to a Damage Call is the reaction that is called in response to being targeted by an attack or Skill. Once a call has been made, you have a brief window to declare a DEFENSE. Let’s look at p. 157 in the DR Corebook for how to call a defense.
You must interrupt what you doing to use these Skills, so using a Defense while working on a Full Engagement RP skill interrupts that skill use (p. 103-104). There are several Defensive Skills in the game:
AVOID - This skill is the most versatile Defense in the game, as it stops almost every melee Strike or Ranged Attack in the game. The only type of physical attack not stopped an attack that uses the phrase “No Avoid!” OR the Skill Proficient Malicious (aka MANGLE!) when it is delivered from behind you. This skill is also the most taken Skill in the game for this reason — It’s the surest way to protect yourself in a combat, even as a non-combat player!
DEFEND - This skill is almost always used by NPCs. This works the same as Avoid, but only protects in the front 120 degree arc. If they are behind you, you cannot call this Defense and this cannot be used against an attack that uses the phrase “No Defend!”. This skill is designed to reward you for good positioning and flanking in a fight against NPCs.
BALANCE - This skill protects against any effect that causes you to lose your footing, fall down, be knocked back, or any STUN effect. This counters Knockback, Stun, Takedown, and even Area of Effect versions of these skills. Important note here is that Balance stops the EFFECTS, but not DAMAGE. If someone declares a “10 damage, STUN!” attack, declaring Balance only stops the Stun, not the 10 damage.
MENTAL ENDURANCE - This skill protects against any PSIONIC effect that directly Targets you, except for Master Pyrokinetics. This is sometimes useful against other skill effects like Agony or Terror. This is also one of the few skills you can use while in Bleed Out.
INTERFERE - This is a strange Defense, as it’s not so much avoiding the attack as redirecting to another. The person that calls Interfere takes the attack instead, and cannot reduce or defend against the damage under normal circumstances. You must qualify as a Target to use this as a defense, so no taking a Mangle to your leg when it’s already Mangled! (This also cannot stop a Killing Blow on someone, as you are not in Bleed Out when you use the skill!)
Other Item/Skill Defenses - There are several items that offer new defenses against attacks, make attacks automatically miss, or provide a more narrow Defense to particular calls. There are far too many different types to cover them all here. Generally items that make you immune to an attack will have a specific Counter to call out like “OOPH, Blocked!” or something similar to “No Effect!” followed by the Defense name. For instance, most Zombies are immune to Mangle effects on their arms and will call “No Effect, Strong Arms!” in response, or you might call “No Effect, Phalanx!” while participating in a shield wall called by a Phalanx Doyen.
The main reason I want to focus on the idea of Defenses is that these represent the concept of an INTERRUPT to the flow of a Skill call. If I can react to an attack BEFORE the effect is applied, that means there are some kind of hidden “pause” steps in a Damage Call where we work out some basic logic. It also means there is a distinct order to how things are applied in a fight, and an order to that timing.
I’m a bit of a Board Game nerd, so in a lot of games the Order of Operations can make a big difference in understanding the interactions in a game. Dystopia Rising is no different, though we don’t have an official ruling on Timing in the game. What I’m going to attempt to discuss here is the flow of a Damage Call and how all that information is there, if you know where to look.
This is why the order of a DAMAGE call matters! Following our discussion last week, the way a Damage Call is designed with a Delivery Method first, Damage Amount next and any modifiers, and finally an Effect that informs this order of operations. An attack sequence can be broken down into a few key steps:
Declare the attack as a DAMAGE CALL, spending any items or Mind needed
Make a Successful Attack, on a valid Target and location
Declare any Defenses to the attack
Apply Damage from an attack
Apply Effects from an attack
When I think of the “flow” on an attack, there are natural points in this where you look for Triggers, or instances where you can call an interruption or Defense against the attack. These interrupts happen Instantly, and can Interrupt the flow of an attack. A great example of these types of phrases used in other games can be found in systems like Magic: The Gathering, or Warhammer 40K. You may not always use a Trigger to activate a Skill, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still there!
This example of the timing behind an attack is pretty simple, but let’s dig a little bit deeper and explore all the separate logic steps of the sequence. Most of the time, these steps happen pretty quickly so you may not have stopped to think about the steps much.
Let’s look at that in text, and not just my silly Paint project.
Declare the Damage Call or Skill out loud where your target can hear (p. 157).
Spend your Mind or other Resources to power the attack. You always spend for resources at the START of a Skill use or attack.
If your attack is Countered, Interrupted, or misses, you still spend the Mind and items!
You must always Declare the attack BEFORE actually making the physical attack!
Make your physical attack against the Target.
If your target is a Non-Combat Target (marked with an Orange Headband), DO NOT physically attack them, but instead point at them and declare your effect or damage (p. 155). This is an automatic hit, but they can still declare Defenses like Avoid.
Strikes will use a contact-safe boffer and need to hit a valid location
Remember the FLURRY rules - You may not swing more than 3 times in a row, unless you are using Florentine weapons (p. 156).
The 1st and 2nd strike in a Flurry cannot hit the same target to be a valid location. You got to change up where you hit them each time! No “machine gunning” the same spot!
Ranged Attacks will use a packet or NERF gun bullet, and they need to hit a valid location
First, check if you can still use a Nerf Gun against your target. If they are within TWO PACES, you must use a Packet instead.
If the attack is a red packet or bullet and contacts a shield, it is not blocked by a Shield and the attack is considered a hit unless they use some other Defense.
If the attack is a thrown weapon, a blue packet or arrow, and contacts a shield the attack ends and it is considered a miss.
Remember your RELOAD rules - After 6 shots, you must pause for a moment to simulate a reload of your weapon. Some items have longer Reload times (p. 156).
Psionic Attacks use a white packet and are always accompanied by the “Psionic!” call at the start of the Damage Call, but must still hit a valid location.
If the psionic attack contacts a shield, the effect still works. Shields can’t normally stop Psionics.
You CANNOT use a Psionic Attack while Blinded!!
Area of Effects, Sound of my Voice, and Line of Sight all automatically hit if they are in range.
Very few Defenses can be used against these delivery methods, but Balance can be used against any AOE or Sound of my Voice attack that uses the STUN mechanic.
Check if your attack hits AND contacts a valid location (p.155). If you successfully hit, you proceed with the application of the attack and its effects.
If you miss your swing, it contacts a non-valid location, or is blocked the attack ends.
If your attack or Skill is Interrupted, it has no effect (p. 104).
If you successfully hit, your Target can declare a DEFENSE. The Target has 3 seconds to declare a counter and spend Mind or Resources for that Defense (p. 157).
If the appropriate Defense is called, the attack is ended and is considered a miss. NONE of the effects of the attack apply if it is appropriately countered. A proper defense stops the entire Damage Call.
Avoid/Defend - stops melee Strikes or Ranged Attacks
Balance - stops Knockback, Takedown, or Stun effects
Mental Endurance - stops Psionic Attacks
Interfere - changes the Target to the user of Interfere, and it is considered an automatic hit that cannot be Defended against.
You cannot exchange a series of blows and THEN call a Defense. You must immediately interrupt to declare a Defense before continuing other attacks.
Check for effects that trigger on Defenses.
OVERPOWER - This is the primary Keyword that activates on a successful Defense. You can spend 1 Mind and declare the same attack again as a new attack. The Target will have to declare ANOTHER defense to that second attack. Go all the way back to the beginning.
Some items give you a temporary buff to other skills once a Defense is used, and would activate at this step. This includes some Augments and weapon effects.
Check for Damage Resistance or Damage Immunity.
If Resistant, the Damage is generally reduced to 1.
If Immune, the Damage is generally reduced to 0.
If the attack is not countered or Defended against, you apply the damage of the attack to the target’s Armor (p. 169).
Check to see if their armor is broken, and activate any effects that happen on armor break. Unique undead threats like Rimebound Dead would explode at this step.
If the attack uses a Body effect, apply the damage to Body first instead. Body SKIPS Armor completely, so any effects that would happen on Armor breaking are not triggered.
Apply any remaining damage to the Target’s Body pool.
Check for Bleed Out (p. 208).
If the Target hits zero Body, they enter Bleed Out.
Activate effects that trigger on entering Bleed Out. The primary example here is the Striker’s Coat call of “Immune to Killing Blow, 1 Minute!”.
If they still have Body remaining, the damage step ends and you proceed to apply any effects at the end of the call.
Some effects won’t really impact a dying Target, but most can carry over.
Apply any instantaneous Killing Blows, like MURDER.
If the Target is in Bleed Out and receives a Killing Blow, their Bleed Out timer ends and they immediately die (p. 208).
If the Target is under the effects of Proficient Faithful Will, protected by a Striker’s Coat, or protected by Master Biogenetics, they can declare their immunity in response to the Killing Blow.
If still eligible, apply other Effects of the Damage Call
This is the most broad step of an attack, as there is the most variation in effects from Damage Calls during this step. I can’t possibly predict every effect here, but I’ll cover the basic interactions.
If the Target has some unique Defense to an Effect that would activate, they can declare a reaction to the trigger of taking the Effect.
For example, a target protected by Basic Faith Vessel could declare “No Effect!” to the first Break Armor effect they take during the 12s.
If a Target is IMMUNE to some portion of the Effect, they can “No Effect!” or the appropriate Skill call and ignore that particular Effect.
Unless specified by an item or Skill, you only avoid that portion of the effect. If someone had a protection versus Mangle and was hit by an effect that called “Mangle, Stun!”, they would stop the Mangle but NOT the Stun.
The threat Skill Cannibalism (used by most Zombies and Raiders) has a specific unique counter to its call of “Reduce Bleed Out to 1 Minute”.
If under the effects of Proficient Faithful Will, the Bleed Out timer is NOT reduced, but stays at the extended time of the Skill effect.
Lastly, any effects that would Trigger from taking a particular Effect take place. This might include certain abilities that allow you to use an item, or trigger a counter attack back at the opponent. There’s a few of these in play, particularly on Threat skills on monsters. The threat skill Anomaly Response allows a monster to heal themselves in response to a Psionic skill being used near them, for instance.
WHEW!
That was a lot. Sorry for the wall of text, but it’s a pretty complicated subject. I’ve spent three weeks digging into the details of the Damage Call, and we still didn’t even address Bane and Resistance (that’s a topic for another day!). Next time, we are going to pivot a bit and discuss THEFT in Dystopia Rising.
Tickets for our February Event "BEYOND THE HORIZON" go on sale on MONDAY, JANUARY 17th at 1PM! We hope you’ve enjoyed your Long Night!
See you later Vados!
Good morning Vados!
It’s Jonathan here with the second part of my discussion on the rules on how we declare attacks and skills in the world of Dystopia Rising. I started this discussion last week with my first blog post, but we also had a really neat story written by Shan detailing some important events for some of our casted characters (in case you missed it!).
First, I’d like to address a few comments on my last post before we get it into it! Thanks for all the feedback, as I love hearing how these posts help you better understand the rules of DR.
It was mentioned about some confusion with the Poison keyword in the DR Corebook (pg. 105) and how I described Poison Damage. Threats in the wastes have access to other skills and abilities that are not listed in the Corebook, in materials that are provided to the Guides and STs of the local games. While the Poison keyword in the Corebook covers most of the mechanics for how ITEMS that deal with Poison function, there are several attacks and abilities used by monsters that all use the same phrase of “poisonous strike” or something similar. While I called this damage type “Poison” damage, it is actually officially called during an attack as “Mind” damage instead. The monsters will declare “10 Mind Damage” as an attack, instead of using the phrase “Poison”. I’ve edited the previous blog post to be more specific about this Damage Type.
While I outlined some cool things in my nifty chart I made last week, I used some phrases like Damage Modifier, Delivery Modifier, etc. It should be noted that none of these things have an consistent official name in the book, but is simply the phrase I used to describe them. It’s clear from the mechanics that each step of a Damage Call follows a certain logic, and these terms are just my way to describe each step. If you’ve heard it called something else, that’s entirely fine! I think my terms are pretty elegant and clearly describe a thing we can see in the book, and I hope you agree. :)
The rules of DR are in a constant state of interpretation and flux at the moment. We have an expected FAQ due from our DR National team soon, so some of these things I’ve described here may change in the future. There are also several skills and abilities that appear on Blueprints and crafted items that do not have an official ruling on how they work yet. I’ve updated our DR: TX Rules Page with the most recent updates that I have, and I’ll make sure we have a solid repository for these kinds of clarifications for our local game.
Now that FAQs are done, let’s talk a little bit more about how the Damage Call works in the game with some examples of how easy or complicated this can be. Remember, I covered the breakdown of each step of the Call in my previous blog post, but I’ve included the handy dandy chart from last week below to describe the six parts of a Damage Call.
The example above is a rather complicated call that includes every part of the Damage Call, so let’s look at some breakdowns of other calls.
Toothpiq Chopper - The Toothpiq Chopper is a great example of a crafted item that allows a character to deliver a Spike Damage Call (any attack that does MORE than base damage). The blueprint rule with Master Melee Standard states that “Spend 10 Mind to do 15 damage on next attempted Strike.” Let’s examine the Damage Call for the weapon by itself first:
The Master effect while using this item effect is declared simply as “15!” or “15 DAMAGE!”. It’s not necessary to declare ‘damage’ as this is assumed to be the Damage Type unless you say something different.
Since we use a boffer to make this attack, the Delivery Method is assumed to be a melee Strike and isn’t declared out loud. Since it’s not a Psionic attack or Unique ability, we have no Delivery Modifier or Skill Name used either.
The only parts we declare for this strike are the Damage Amount of “15”. Since it’s just basic damage, we don’t need to declare a Damage Modifier and there is no extra Damage Affix or Effect.
Even though a Spike Damage Call does way more damage than a normal swing, it still applies to Armor first, then Body unless a different Damage Modifier is used. Spike Damage is a great way to break through armor to soften up a target if you don’t have easy access to BODY damage types.
Let’s discuss some common complications to an attack like this:
The Piercing Strike (p. 113) skill allows us to change the Damage Modifier or Damage Type to “Body” instead. If you paid the Mind to use this skill, you could STACK it with the Toothpiq Chopper effects to declare “15 BODY!” as your attack. Because we’ve changed the Damage Modifier, it’s important to include that in the Damage Call. Since the attack is Body damage, it skips past their Armor and deals damage directly to their Body pool.
Remember, BODY damage supersedes other damage types. If you were using a weapon that normally swung for BANE damage, the BODY damage type would be applied, and it would lose the BANE type for that swing. (p. 113)
The Proficient Combat Tactics skill (p. 114) allows us to change the Delivery Method to attack more than one target in range. When you use this skill you can change the Damage Call to “SCATTER SHOT! 15 DAMAGE!”.
Scatter Shot is a Delivery Method. Instead of needing to make a successful hit with your boffer, you simply declare up to FIVE targets within 5 feet of you that are automatically hit. They can still use Avoid to prevent the attack. Most folks will make this Damage Call, then point at the 5 targets in range immediately after the call.
Important reminder on Scatter Shot is that it has a unique rule that the Damage Amount cannot be improved above 20. If you use an item that deals 30 Damage on a swing and use Scatter Shot, it is reduced to 20 damage instead.
Let’s look at a pretty common Ranged Attack next:
The Mountain Rifle blueprint allows for a skilled Projectile user to make shots at incredible range. With the Profession Focus Achievement, or PFA, (p. 144) of Marksman, you can use this weapon to brutal efficiency. The call for the PFA ability of this weapon is declared as “Line of Sight, 30 Damage, No Defend!”.
Line of Sight is a Delivery Method, and the rules for this are found on p. 104. This allows you to declare a target out to about 50 feet from you and automatically hit with your attack.
IMPORTANT NOTE! An important clarification to Line of Sight effects is that the type of defense used to prevent the effects is the SAME as the weapon it is used by. In almost every case, this is a Firearm so the normal instance of this will be prevented by the Avoid skill. In the rare types this Delivery Method is used in other ways, it’ll usually be accompanied by the “No Avoid!” effect to make it very clear.
The Damage Amount of this attack is 30, and there is no particular Damage Modifier. Unless there is some listed restriction, you could stack an attack like this with Piercing Strike or other Damage Modifiers.
The final statement of this call is the Damage Affix or Effect. The call of “No Defend!” means that an NPC cannot use the Defend ability to prevent this attack. This weapon is brutal against NPCs that only have Defend, but can still be Avoided by another player or an NPC that as the Avoid skill.
Finally, let’s talk about a Psionic attack that uses the Area of Effect rules to hit everyone in a nearby area.
Master Pyrokinetics (p. 138) - This is a very powerful Psionic skill available to characters that can purchase Master tier skills. This Skill is declared as “PSIONIC: 3 Steps - 30 Body, Self Break All Brews and Injections”. Let’s break down each part below:
The first part of the call is the Delivery Modifier — “Psionic”. This lets us know the power is a psionic ability and be resisted with the Mental Endurance skill. Remember that Psionic is the only Delivery Modifier at the moment.
However, one weird complication here is that Master Pyro can ONLY be resisted by MASTER Mental Endurance and this isn’t part of the call. This is a great example of an exception to this rule, but it’s basically the only exception that I can find in any published materials.
The Delivery Method is declared in the call as “3 Steps”. This means that this attack is NOT delivered with a white packet like most psionic attacks but rather is a small area of effect attack. This is also one of the few exceptions to the common range of Area attacks - any attack that uses the Area of Effect call hits everyone within 10 feet of the user.
IMPORTANT NOTE! Unless otherwise specified, Area of Effect attacks always hurt you as well as your opponents. This attack targets EVERYONE, including you, your friends, and anyone nearby. If an AOE effect would exclude you as a target, it will generally involve the phrase “SELF IMMUNE” in the call.
The Damage Amount and Damage Type is declared in the call as “30 Body”. This means you take 30 points of damage, and it skips your Armor to hit your Body pool directly. Ouch! This is one of the bigger attacks that you can easily get access to as a player and it’s pretty brutal.
The Damage Affix, or Effect is declared last, and this one is uniquely targeted against the USER, not the target. In this case, any item with the Brew or Injectable keyword is immediately BROKEN and destroyed. Better hope someone nearby can pick you up from Bleed Out, cause you are in some serious danger!
That’s it for this week, but we will be continuing this discussion next week in Part 3 as we explore how the Timing of Attacks works, and how Damage Calls interact with various defenses. We’ll also tackle the dreaded “Why is MURDER stopped by my Striker’s Coat?” question!
BONUS CONTENT: Here’s a sneak peek for our eventual discussion of how BANE and DAMAGE REDUCTION work, illustrated in a cute zombie doodle done by Shan.
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 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 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.)
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.
So let’s talk a bit about what each of these elements means for your character.
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.
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.
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.
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!).
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.
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!
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
