Lineages & Strains

It’s Jonathan here again with another Rules Ramble! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic that will be important in an upcoming game, explain some new mechanic or system for DR:TX, or discuss a particular rule from the DR Corebook. In each ramble, I’ll focus on explaining that topic in more detail than the book alone can provide and help provide one place to reference all the various errata or rulings that might be relevant. Sometimes I’ll even drop a few Story Teasers or provide a summary of the last game in a Game Recap.

As we get ready for our next event, IMPRINT BY DESIGN, I'm going to be covering a bit about Lineages & Strains. We have also finished sending out the emails for the folks that filled out the survey for the special plot event during this next game. This special plot will include an option for a permanent STRAIN CHANGE, and you’ll still be able to opt-in at the door if you missed the chance for the survey.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE FOR IMPRINT BY DESIGN until friday, november 4th! DON’T MISS OUT ON THE NEXT DR:TX EVENT!

Photo credits in this post are from Max Pohlmeier, Lainey Weiss, Crystal Louise Remy, and Noah Goodman.

lineages vs Strains

One of the key concepts of IMPRINT BY DESIGN will exploring the importance of Lineages & Strains to your characters, especially as the imprint becomes… mutable. So, let’s take a look at some of the rules on the topic in our traditional Rules Ramble manner.

The world of Dystopia Rising is set long after the fall of humanity from zombies, plague, and radiation. It has been generations since the fall and while most of humanity was wiped out, some hardy survivors managed to eke out an existence in the world that remained. The survivors of the fall EVOLVED (get it? DR: Evolved?) into the Lineages & Strains we use in game today, based largely on “how” they survived this new irradiated wasteland. Some banded together into communities of their peers, others mutated and evolved to survive the harsh conditions, some adapted to their unique environments or upbringings, and some even took to a nomadic life to avoid the roaming packs of the undead. As the generations passed, these survival traits became something more - the adapted and evolved Strains of Humanity.

Lineages are one aspect of your character you choose at creation and sets how much Body, Mind, Infection, and Resolve you start play with. They also come with distinct Lineage Advantages, which are a type of Skill that doesn’t cost XP to add to your sheet. Each Lineage features some broad, overarching cultural and and genetic characteristics that are present in each of its Strains, while the Strains branch into hyper-defined traits (p. 34).

Strain is similar to a Race in D&D or World of Warcraft, a Clan in Vampire: the Masquerade, or an Archetype in Blades in the Dark. Strains are simply the physical way the zombie Infection adapted and changed your family over the generations, and provide only a few mechanical considerations. While each Strain shares the same Lineage Advantage, they each have different Strain Role Play Traits to help define your Strain further. These can be things as simple as role play expectations, but can include makeup, prosthetics, or even glow effects.

Ultimately, STRAIN is the key identifying outward element of your character that most people recognize and provides the most information for costuming and role play, but Lineages are where the mechanics and interaction with most items come in.

Lineage Rules: The Basics

Let’s look at a few basic rules from the Lineages, starting on page 34 in the DR Corebook:

• Local games can restrict certain Lineages & Strains based on a need for a background or story that matches the local game (p. 25). You can view our DR:TX list of Lineages & Strain Requirements on our website.

• There are EIGHT (8) unique Lineages, each containing THREE (3) related Strains. That means there are TWENTY-FOUR (24) different options for your character when you start!

  • Fun Fact: Even though the book wrongly suggests there are only SEVEN lineages on p. 34, the error probably comes from the fact that 3.0 added three new playable Strains to the game (Quiet Folk, Tainted, Unstable) and introduced the concept of Lineages for the first time. In earlier editions of Dystopia Rising, there were only Strains!

• Lineages are a THREAT TYPE. This is the “creature type” of most Face NPC characters, LCs and SCs in game. There are four major classes of Threats in the game - Lineages, Undead, Raiders, and Critters (though a few things like Longwalkers and Archons defy classification). Many items and Skills will mention “Lineage-threats” or “non-Lineage threats” accordingly. If something specifically states “Lineage threats” that includes your character too!

• Lineages & Strain names are also KEYWORDS. Keywords are useful bits of shorthand rules that quickly tell you if you qualify for an ability, item, or skill. If something targets you by Keyword, then that effect works on you if you match the Keyword. That means by simply making a character you will have at least TWO keywords right off the bat — your Lineage & Strain!

• Each Lineage has an mechanical Lineage Advantage that counts as a SKILL. This means it follows the all the rules for Skills, so things like being in Bleed Out (p. 103), being Stunned (p. 107) or Subdued (p. 107) prevent you from using the Advantage. However, you can still use these powers while under the effect of Blinding (p. 112), because you didn’t pay experience for your Lineage.

• Each Lineage has TWENTY (20) points split between starting Body and Mind. This means that no character really has a significant characteristic or XP advantage over another based solely on Lineage, since each point of Body and Mind costs 1 XP to raise until you get to 20.

• Each Lineage has EIGHT (8) points split between starting Resolve and Infection. Like above, since each point of these stats costs 10 XP to buy later, there’s no real advantage here for XP costs. It’s really a personal preference if you value more Resolve over Infection when you start or vice versa. For me, I think that starting with more Resolve is more immediately useful though it can be much more difficult to gain Infection later in game.

That’s about all the major lineage rules, so let’s look at the list of Lineages & Strains and consider how each Lineage changes the rules a bit more from this baseline.

The list of lineages & Strains

Mutant (p. 52)

• Remnant

• Retrograde

• Tainted

Landsman (p. 56)

• Merican

• Natural One

• Quiet Folk

Devoted (p. 60)

• Accensorite

• Red Star

• Unborn

Evolved (p. 64)

• Irons

• Reclaimers

• Unstable

Elitariat (p. 35)

• Digitarian

• Pure Blood

• Solestros

Townie (p. 39)

• Baywalker

• Yorker

• Vegasian

Nomad (p. 43)

• Diesel Jock

• Rover

• Saltwise

Gorger (p. 47)

• Full Dead

• Semper Mort

• Lascarian

Lineage Advantages

Let’s look at the advantages of each Lineage, all in one place. You can find the specifics in the book on the pages listed above, but here’s my quick summary. I’m definitely a Gamist, so I’ve included a few of Jonathan’s POWER GAMER TIPS™ on the Lineages below:

Regardless of my opinions, There are truly no wrong choices when it comes to choosing a Lineage or Strain. Pick the one that will be to fun to role play.

• Elitariat - Once per event, characters with this Lineage can generate Brass by using Financial Influence. This is the only Lineage Advantages that requires another Skill to use, but it generates more currency as you invest in the Skill levels, though Financial Influence is a subpar skill over all. You can get up to 16 currency each game if you take all three levels in Financial Influence, though it takes a lot of Mind. This is the ONLY way to regularly generate Currency in the game. It’s a game changer, especially if you can take advantage of the money generation when you first start play.

• Townie - These characters can spend 20 minutes role-playing with at least FIVE New Players (players with less than 50 XP) or Travelers (players that aren’t from your local chapter) to regain 5 Mind. This ability has no limit to the number of times you can use it, but it does require you to actual wrangle 5 other players into one place so it can be challenging to regularly use. I’d consider this one of the weaker advantages, unless you put the work into making these kinds of role play scenes happen. Fun Fact: This is also the first place in the book that declares exactly what a “New Player” is mechanically in game.

• Nomad - My personal favorite but mechanically average, this Lineage actually has TWO advantages but each has a very narrow application. The first Advantage lets you ignore any mechanic that affects “traveling to a game”, unless it specifically targets your Lineage. And, if it does target you, you can still spend 1 Resolve to ignore it. If you plan on traveling a lot, this can be occasionally useful but it rarely comes up if you only play at your home game. The second Advantage allows you to spend 10 minutes to regain 5 Mind while role playing in a “vehicle” mod. In DR:TX, we always have at least one Sailing mod each game that would classify as this, but this advantage is rarely useful in a lot of situations.

• Gorger - This is one of the more powerful active Advantages. Gorgers can spend 2 minutes to “feed” on an incapacitated or dying Lineage or Raider to regain 1 Body (sorry, no feeding on yourself, Undead or Critters!). However, it counts as a Killing Blow, so this isn’t really a power you use on friends. It can be used FIVE (5) times on a single target if they aren’t in Bleed Out (since it counts as a Killing Blow), for a maximum of 5 Body regained and 10 minutes spent eating. Unlike most Skills, this can be stacked with up to 6 Gorgers, and it’s one of the few Skills that can be used while Stabilized (p. 107).

• Mutant - Mutants also have two distinct Advantages, but they are very narrow in use. First, Mutants cannot die from a disease. They can still suffer the negative effects, but they won’t die unless the disease specifically ignores this advantage (like Necrophage). However, it doesn’t protect you from being turned into a Raider by the Bad Brain Disease. Secondly, they can spend 1 Resolve to ignore an instance of being inflicted with a disease. One important note is this can stop you from CATCHING the disease, but not it advancing once you’ve caught it. Once you get infected, this power can’t be used anymore. This is useful for doctors and graveheads that like to play in areas rife with disease. Or really just anyone that lives in Bravado.

• Landsman - This advantage allows you and at least FOUR (4) other Landsman (5 total) to regain 5 Mind after spending 20 minutes in some specific role play. This is one of the two Lineage Advantages that mentions Active Role-Play (p. 102) as a keyword, so you can’t do this while walking/fighting/sleeping or using other Skills. Like the Townie advantage, this can be useful if you can wrangle a group of 5 Landsmen together in one place and has no limit to the number of times you can use it, as long as you are all obviously being Landsmen during the role play. However, if you build a crew of all Landsmen (or just get a lot of Landsmen friends) so you can easily meet the requirement of 5 folks, this can be a easy advantage to use regularly.

• Devoted - This advantage allows you to spend 30 minutes of role play to regain 5 Mind. This Skill can be VERY powerful, but has some non-obvious limitations. This is a Skill that is VERY useful when you first start out but becomes less useful as you gain XP or better access to brews and meals. For instance, a Basic Mind Refreshing Meal can restore 5 Mind for only 10 minutes of roleplay and you could eat three meals in the same time frame, so this is a slower, but dependable access to Mind restoration. This is the other Active Role-Play advantage, so you can’t use other Skills while meditating or praying, and you CAN be Interrupted (p. 104) if you enter Bleed Out.

• Evolved - This is one of the more powerful advantages, as you can spend 1 Resolve to ignore the effects of a Mangle Limb ability. You can use this a number of times per event as you have Resolve, so it’s possible to ignore up to SIX instances of a Mangle with this advantage. This can be a lifesaver, but it is reliant on encountering monsters or other players with this ability. This can be VERY useful in CvC as well, as Mangle is a powerful skill to limit a player’s ability to escape a trap. However, as you gain more ability to use Resolve on items and Skills, this advantage can become less useful, but there are very few items or Skills that can duplicate this effect entirely.

Lineages are truly where the mechanical effects of the character come into play. Let’s look next at the Strain requirements, and I’ll call out a few noteworthy entries.

Strain Rules: The Basics

Strains have very few actual rules involved. While there are some items and Skills that interact with Strains, their main interactions for rules are covered in Lineages instead. The main rule for Strains comes in the form of a role play requirement.

• Each Strain has a Role Play Trait, which if not followed can cost you a point of Resolve. This is rarely enforced in my experience in game as a “gottcha!”, as the goal is to simply make sure you cover some of the most obvious parts of a Strain in your role play and appearance. For most folks, this is a key element of their costuming and part of the recognizable traits You’ll also see something similar to this mechanic in our Roleplay Burdens for IMPRINT BY DESIGN.

• Most Role Play Traits are just that, but a few have costuming requirements or some kind of mechanical interaction. If a Strain has a Mechanic listed in the Role Play Trait, it must be followed and cannot be ignored. If you don’t follow the costuming or role play requirements in a gratuitous way, you could have a Guide cause you to lose a Resolve.

• I’ve listed the few Strains of note with unique mechanics below. If you want the specific descriptions of costuming or roleplay, read the book (it’s free!).

  • Digitarian - Roleplay requirements

  • Pure Blood - Costuming requirement (three color minimum)

  • Solestros - Roleplay requirements

  • Baywalker - Costuming requirement - tattoos

  • Yorker - Roleplay requirement, light costuming (a symbol of your group)

  • Vegasian - Roleplay requirements

  • Diesel Jock - Costuming requirement - dirt & grease

  • Rover - Roleplay requirements

  • Saltwise - Costuming requirement (gills on the neck), roleplay requirement

  • Full Dead - Heavy costuming requirement (undead makeup, etc).

    • MECHANIC: Must eat the flesh of the living once per event, per the Gorger Lineage advantage. They also treated as if they had the UNDEAD keyword for effects.

  • Semper Mort - Heavy costuming requirements (claws & fangs), roleplay requirement

    • MECHANIC: Must consume the blood of a living Raider or Lineage once per event, per the Gorger Lineage advantage.

  • Lascarian - Costuming requirement (covered skin during daylight), roleplay requirement

  • Remnant - Heavy costuming requirements (outward physical mutation)

    • MECHANIC: Must fulfill a role play “obsession” once per event. Must submit an Action Request to get mutation approved by staff.

  • Retrograde - Heavy costuming requirement (rotted, decayed skin & masks)

  • Tainted - Roleplay requirements related to Bad Brain

    • MECHANIC: Always has Stage Two Bad Brain (p. 206) that can never progress, be cured, or spread from them.

  • Merican - Costuming requirement (a hat!)

    • MECHANIC: Always come back as a Shambler after losing the last Infection.

  • Natural One - Roleplay requirements

  • Quiet Folk - Roleplay requirements

  • Accensorite - Heavy costuming requirement (Physical mutation of “ascension”)

    • MECHANIC: Every 100 XP gain a new mutation representative of their faith, must submit an Action Request.

  • Red Star - Roleplay requirements

    • MECHANIC: Cannot be Baptized and cannot use “Faithful” Anomaly skills on anyone that is Baptized. Can replace (Faith) with a (Society Membership) instead.

  • Unborn - Heavy costuming requirements (green skin, white eyes), roleplay requirements

    • MECHANIC: Cannot cry out for help while dying.

  • Irons - Costuming requirements (red glow at ankles, neck, and wrists)

  • Reclaimers - Costuming requirements (leathery exposed muscles on arms and legs)

  • Unstable - Costuming requirements (blue glow at ankles, neck, and wrists)

    • MECHANIC: Cannot run from a horde of undead

Notable LINEAGE Brews & equipment

There are only a few items in the game that interact in a notable way with the Lineages and Strains. You find the specific mechanics for these items below on the Character Database, and I’ve built a complete Blueprint List on our website.

Let’s take a look:

• Brews & Meals - This is the most common item interaction that uses Keywords for Lineages.

  • Healing & Refreshing Meals, Healing & Recovery Brews, Healing Injections - The Lineage version of these blueprints have improved amounts of Body & Mind regained if that Lineage consumes them, but do nothing if you are not the right keyword. These can be VERY efficient to craft and give the best yields for gaining Mind and Body.

  • Death Brews, Hallucinogens, Intoxicants - These brews often have longer duration and improved effects for the affected Lineage. Like the meals, these do nothing if you are not the correct Strain. Note: There is no universal Death Brew — you must use the Lineage specific brew to use these effects.

  • Lineage Poisons - These brews deal heavy Body damage to a particular Lineage that consumes them over 1 minute. Unlike the Arsenic or Caustic Poisons, these only deal damage to the specific Lineage listed.

• Little Drop of Poison - This particularly foul brew DOUBLES the impact of a Lineage poison when used in the creation of that brew, at the cost of narrowing the effect to a single Strain within that Lineage. This means a poison modified by this blueprint could deal SIXTY (60) Body Damage upon drinking! OUCH!

• Luminescence Liquor - A new item we introduced during the NECROPHAGE, this item lets Irons and Unstable change the color of their glow.

• Green Light Frying Pan - When made, this item makes a single type of Lineage meal chosen at creation take half the time to prepare. This is amazing item for making Lineage meals faster.

• The Queens Cup - This item DOUBLES the yield of a lineage brew when consumed, but only for the person who is on the card. However, this item takes a national scrap called Imprint Crystals to make, so it can be very difficult to make until an updated blueprint is eventually released.

• Toothpiq Chopper & The Big Hate - These weapons offer the only source of Lineage Bane in the game available to players. The Big Hate even offers Strain Bane. These weapons deal DOUBLE damage to characters that match that keyword and can be very effective in CvC.

• Crystalline Biological Enhancer - This item is something that specifically mentions “non-Lineage undead”. This wording is specifically so that Full Dead are not impacted by the Telepathy abilities of this item.

• Hunter’s Secret, Crystal Candy Nucleation, & That Cursed Pitchfork - Each of these items offers some reward for completing a Killing Blow or is only usable on a Lineage target. Of special note, the PFA ability of the Pitchfork can target Full Dead, as it is not limited to "non-Lineage Undead”.

As you can see, there are several items that can help or hurt a Lineage, but it’s still very few items overall. We’ve yet to see true Strain- and Lineage- specific equipment return to 3.0, but I’m hopeful that the Blueprint team has some neat stuff in store in the future. Send in that feedback and cross your fingers!

Wrap up

That’s it for today Vados! We are weeks away from our next event IMPRINT BY DESIGN! Brett Pittman has poured his heart and soul into this event, so I hope you enjoy the story he is telling during this game. Each of STs will have some mods that build on this story, so you will get to see several different takes on the theme. I hope you take advantage of the role play opportunities this event offers, and I hope it serves as a nice break before we ramp back into the action of THE EMERALD GALA.

Next week, we will cover some RULES YOU SHOULD KNOW for the event, as well as any last minute logistics reminders. See you soon Vados!

Pyroclasm: The Anatomy of a Disease Plot Kit

It’s Jonathan here again with another Rules Ramble! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic that will be important in an upcoming game, explain some new mechanic or system for DR:TX, or discuss a particular rule from the DR Corebook. In each ramble, I’ll focus on explaining that topic in more detail than the book alone can provide and help provide one place to reference all the various errata or rulings that might be relevant. Sometimes I’ll even drop a few Story Teasers or provide a summary of the last game in a Game Recap.

This week, we are continuing with our four-week countdown to our first combined virtual AND in-person NATIONAL EVENT of 3.0 - THE NECROPHAGE! Today we will be covering some of the specific details and mechanics of the Necrophage disease itself, and what to expect if you choose to opt into the plot kit. This post will contain heavy SPOILERS, so reader beware!

Tickets are still available for both events, and you can find out more about what you get for an advanced ticket in my blog post from last week:

Welcome to Pyroclasm!

Photos used in this post are from the talented Lainey Weiss and Max Pohlmeier, from our September event, VALLEY OF FEAR.

With that out of the way, let’s first talk about WHY we are doing this post today…

Radical Transparency

Last week, we talked a bit about our Content List and included some warnings about the terrible DISEASE that will be spreading through the town of Bravado during our National Event.

So, let’s talk about the Necrophage disease.

We COULD hide the rules for Necrophage until you get to game. We could play coy about the disease and what it does to you. We could hand you a piece of paper with the mechanics when you first get infected, and let it be a big surprise.

But what if we don’t?

In our DR:TX spirit of RADICAL TRANSPARENCY, today we will be revealing the entirety of the player facing rules for the nefarious disease created by Grandfather Nichols and his allies.

This material will also be printed on disease packets that will available at Ops, the Post Office, and from enemies that infect you with the disease. In this manner, you’ll have easy access to the rules at your fingertips, similar to a Blueprint or Item Card. Since it will be in the world like this, it’ll be only a short time before these rules are spoiled in game. Pretty much as soon as we open pre-reg packets to be picked up, you’ll would have had access to this info.

So we have decided to spoil it for you first!

We believe that by giving you ALL of the tools to choose your level of engagement with this mechanic, we can help you have a better experience, show enthusiastic consent, and be able to choose the type of game you want to play.

The complete rules for Bad Brain have been in the game since the Dystopia Rising rule book was first published at the start of 3.0, all starting on page 190. Knowing what that disease can do hasn’t stopped games from telling stories about Bad Brain over the past three years, and we are confident that this reveal today won’t impact your fun either.

Now, let’s get to the juicy details!

This post will include SPOILERS for pyroclasm, so if you want to avoid learning too much about what’s going to happen to you during this next event, STOP here. i’ll have more pyroclasm content next week.

you’ve been warned!

Felicity Redfield says “Seriously, watch out for Spoilers.”

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[SPOILERS BELOW]

Disease Mechanics in Dystopia Rising

I’ve covered a LOT about disease mechanics in Dystopia Rising in previous posts. It’s an incredibly dense topic from the rule book, spread over several chapters, so I’ve included my summary below. You certainly don’t have to read these, as I’m going to talk about the mechanics of the specific disease you will be facing during the National Event. BUT — in case you are a crazy person like me I’ve already done some of the heavy lifting in my previous posts:

• Part One: Introduction to Disease Mechanics

• Part Two: Introduction to Disease Mechanics

Let’s cover some key concepts about this new Disease.

I’ve chosen to [REDACT] a few key mechanics here and there (generally related to CURING the disease), as they are part of the ultimate resolution of this plot kit. We do have SOME surprises left for you at the game, but we definitely want you familiar with the main rules in advance.

This is information that will be the player facing Disease Packet, but there is still a LOT more information that can be uncovered via dedicated Research, from the origins of the disease, the treatment plan, pages and pages of lore about the villain’s plan, and neat kinetic props.

opting in to the danger

WARNING: The Necrophage is a VERY deadly disease.

Necrophage has a serious chance to threaten your Infection, and can progress almost as quickly as you let it. A cunning player might be able to avoid the disease triggers the entire event, but another player might advance several stages in a single fight!

Necrophage can be character deadly and your character can permanently die from this disease.

Players will be able to OPT IN to this disease and come in with Necrophage (Stage One) at the start of the game if they want. When you get your ticket for Pyroclasm, you’ll have an option to join this plot in ADVANCE with the questionnaire attached to the ticket. If you are buying a ticket at the door, you can simply choose to write Necrophage (Stage One) on your sheet at check-in and get a disease pamphlet.

Even if you don’t want to Opt In right away, you will still have multiple opportunities throughout the course of the game to be infected by the Necrophage.

We did this Opt In to a disease or negative effect successfully with our BLOOD FEAST event, and we want those folks that like to embrace the danger a chance to get an early start!

Opting Out of Necrophage

Let’s talk about HOW you can choose NOT to interact with this mechanic. I covered this last week, but I want to make sure I cover it again.

You can easily Opt Out of this plot before game starts. ANY character can simply choose to gain “Natural Immunity” and OPT OUT by simply ignoring the direct disease mechanics.

The below rules will be available for ALL players during our event. If you decide the mechanics of Necrophage aren’t for you, then that’s completely okay. If you signed up for the OPT IN mechanics during pre-reg, and change your mind, that’s okay too.

Natural Immunity (OPT OUT MECHANIC):  

If you would like to OPT-OUT of this National Disease Plotkit, you may write NATURAL IMMUNITY on your character(s) sheet before Game-on and if exposed to a situation where you would contract it at any level, you may call “No effect, Natural Immunity”. This immunity cannot be applied to any character, other than your own, through any in-game mechanic.

This Natural Immunity status will be used during Research Challenges in order to develop a Treatment Plan and permanent cure for this disease.

It’s definitely not required to participate in this specific part of the plot. You’ll have plenty of other zombies and monsters to deal with, blueprints to craft, and player events to attend during the event.

Learning more about the disease

One of the primary ways to interact with Necrophage during this event is to learn more about the deadly disease and it’s origins.

First, we will be using some various kinetic methods of interacting with the RESEARCH around the disease that is plaguing Bravado, instead of the normal disease research mechanics in the book. It’ll still use the basic framework so you can use your cool Medical gizmos and such, but we are going to streamline a bit of these mechanics for easier game play, and distribution during a busy game.

There will be multiple stages of RESEARCH, and it will need many people in order to organize an effort to stop this disease. All you Grave Heads and Research nerds will have plenty of conspiracies to sift through…

Secondly, there are still different stages of interacting and attempting to cure this dangerous disease. You will still be able to use Innoculation techniques, use your Doctor Ottoman’s Disease Control Kits, develop new Treatment Plans, and research a permanent Cure, but these will primarily occur during the game as a series of RESEARCH CHALLENGES. These are kind of like Zone of Mechanics, but targeted around learning more about a topic.

These specific disease management rules will also be posted in the Medical Zone in the Meadows, so you won’t have to memorize these rules either!

• Inoculations - This is a temporary measure designed to offer a bit of protection to the NEXT exposure to the disease. It only works ONCE per twelve hours and it can be overwhelmed if you continue to be exposed to a source of the disease, but it can provide some temporary protection. These rules will be posted in the Medical Tent.

• Dr. Ottoman’s Disease Kits - This is an expensive Blueprint item that enables you to protect a person from a disease until the next 12s, even protecting from multiple exposures. It also improves your ability to research the disease and can protect a doctor from contracting a contagious disease from an infectious patient. These rules will be posted in the Medical Tent.

• The Treatment Plan - This is a trial and error attempt to cure the disease. You have to guess what exactly is involved in curing the disease and if you complete at least the minimum amount of work, you’ll be able to send the disease into REMISSION temporarily. This will be resolved as a RESEARCH CHALLENGE.

• The Cure & Remission - Resolving a dangerous disease is part of the resolution of the plot of the weekend. Once you understand a cure, you can begin treating your patients and putting them into a state of Remission. As you understand more about the nefarious plans of Grandfather Nichols and his army of psychopaths, you’ll develop new ways to treat and ideally STOP this disease from continuing it’s spread. This will be resolved as a RESEARCH CHALLENGE.

• Mutant Strain Advantage & Helscape Deathmasks - Mutants can still RESIST the Necrophage by spending a Resolve, but once you catch it it will progress like normal. One of the ways to be exposed to Necrophage is through an aerosol agent, so some equipment can protect you as well. Make sure you save that Resolve to avoid contracting the disease in the first place! These rules will be posted in the Medical Tent.

Next, let’s cover how the disease spreads.

How Do I get Necrophage in game?

The primary way that Necrophage is spread is via the INFLICT DISEASE threat ability. This call can also be spread by environmental causes as well, but that will generally be communicated by an NPC or Zone of Mechanics. This is the information on the ability directly from the National DR webpage.

INFLICT (DISEASE, STAGE)

Countered by Avoid. The undead, raiders, and critters of the wasteland rarely wash their hands. Some of them also have other ways of spreading their diseases to others. Unless otherwise noted for a threat, this ability is delivered by a Strike and the call of “Inflict Disease Stage X”, and causes the target to develop a specific disease at a specific stage. Many threats will wait until an enemy is in bleedout before targeting them with this ability.

Past the obvious Opt In from the pre-registration tickets, there will be THREE primary ways the INFLICT DISEASE call is used. The mad genius of Grandfather Nichols has developed a weaponized version of his plague that can be deployed strategically and with precision. This is no longer the outbreak disease he used previously, but something with a bit more… intent.

INFLICT DISEASE - Direct Injections

The first method (and PRIMARY method) to be infected with the Necrophage is to be PURPOSEFULLY injected with a [Necrophage Catalyst], a brew of Nichol’s devising:

Local Plot Item: Necrophage Catalyst

Single Use. Injectable-Brew. Must be given to a helpless or willing target. Inflict Disease (Necrophage: Stage 1) upon injection. Leaves an obvious scar that cannot be healed until the disease is cured.  This effect can be resisted by the Master effects of the Dr. Ottoman’s Disease Control Kit, temporary Inoculation, Natural Immunity, or the Mutant Strain advantage.

Throughout the weekend, there will be various bad guys trying to hurt you, knock you into Bleed Out, and purposefully INFECT you with the Necrophage once you are helpless. This means that most defenses won’t work while you are in Bleed Out, like Interfere, since it’s an injectable and not a Strike. This is a big part of the threats during the weekend, and we’ve provided you with many tools to protect yourself. But, the only sure way to avoid this will be to either run away from threats or to be Naturally Immune.

Once you have been infected, the disease is mostly harmless. It stays in a LATENT stage until exposed to an activating agent, the inky black clouds of Grandfather Nichols’ revenge made manifest. We’ll cover more about this below.

INFLICT DISEASE - AEROSAL DISPERSAL

The second way to be exposed to Necrophage is via a [Necrophage Delivery Canister]. These items will be accompanied with a black smoke bomb deployed nearby for an obvious effect, but an NPC will make the mechanics call directly.

Local Plot Item: Necrophage Delivery Canister

Single Use. Aerosol.  Spend 5 Mind and 10 seconds placing the smoke canister.  After this 10 second count, call “BY THE SOUND OF MY VOICE, ALL NECROPHAGE INFECTED: ADVANCE TO STAGE TWO.”  This effect can be resisted by items or abilities that protect from aerosol or gas attacks, like the Helscape Death Mask.

A couple of things to note on this item:

• First, this is a Sound of My Voice call, so it cannot be Avoided. Remember, this range is about a 50 foot radius, so if you are close enough to see and hear the NPC, you are probably in range.

• Secondly, this call only targets Necrophage Infected, so if you aren’t already infected, this call has no effect on you.

• The last note here is that this doesn’t mention Inoculation or Disease Kits, as once you have been infected, these items no longer protect you once infected.

This will be the PRIMARY way the disease is advanced into Stage Two. If you avoid the black smoke of the canisters, you might be able to stay at Stage One for a while.

INFLICT DISEASE - ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES

The last one I’ll be a bit more mysterious about, because the cause is considered an environmental effect. If you stay too long in certain areas, or too long around [REDACTED], you’ll pick up the disease. This might also appear on Zone of Mechanics, but it’ll be a little obvious about what’s about to happen. Just know that the easiest way to avoid this type of transmission is simply not be there.

Additionally, most diseases are INFECTIOUS, so if you work on a patient without suitable protection, you might risk contracting the disease yourself. It also means if you are a Gorger and decide to literally EAT an infected person, you’ll probably contract the disease as well. But really, if you aren’t being that picky about what you eat, you only really have yourself to blame.

So that covers HOW you can gain Necrophage, so let’s look at what happens once you’ve contracted this deadly disease.

Turbo Six only has the Burning Season to blame for how many item cards they lost…

NECROPHAGE DISEASE MECHANICS

Again, I’ve chosen to [REDACT] a few key mechanics here, as they are part of the ultimate resolution of this plot kit. We do have SOME surprises left for you at the game, but we definitely want you familiar with the main rules in advance.

Necrophage Summary

I’ll attempt to condense some more lengthy rules into a brief description below.

There are only three Stages to this disease.

Once infected at Stage One, you remain there until you are exposed to an activating agent of some kind.

• At this stage, you only have one major effect. You cannot attack the architect of the disease, Grandfather Nichols, unless you spend Resolve.

Once you hit Stage Two, you gain the major abilities of the Necrophage.

• You gain a powerful damage resistance, but completely lose the ability to spend Mind points on anything but a small selection of Skills. You also can no longer resist COMPULSION effects with Mental Endurance.

• You can heal yourself when complete a Killing Blow on a Lineage target. That means that other survivors and Lifers can heal you when you kill them, but not raiders or zed.

• When you hit BLEED OUT, you activate the key ability of Necrophage — Personal Morgue. This powerful ability heals you and makes you immune to ALL effects for a short time, but costs you one Resolve. When you’ve spent your last Resolve in this way, you immediately progress to Stage Three.

• This means you effectively can hit Bleed Out a number of times equal to your Resolve. There’s only a few ways to gain Resolve in game, so this means you need to be careful in combat. You are VERY tough, but it comes with a BIG price.

Once you hit Stage Three, you keep most of the abilities of Stage Two with a few changes.

• Your damage resistance now extends to Stun effects and Mangles. You’ve become a perfect soldier. That just so happens to be very vulnerable to psionic commands from some bad people.

• Your Personal Morgue now spends Infection. That means once you’ve been knocked into Bleed Out, each time you’ll take a step closer to final death and lose one Infection. Once you you run out, you DIE.

• The last and most threatening power is the Abyssal Discharge. This is a HUGE explosion that happens when you die OR when you choose to activate it. If you reach this point, your character is dead. D-E-A-D. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. This is a very damaging ability but when this happens, it means the threat is down for good.

One last important note. When you spend Infection in this way, you don’t actually pass through the Mortis Amaranthine. That means that most abilities that stop the loss of Infection don’t work at all. If you spend Infection from Personal Morgue, it’s GONE. So, this is a SERIOUS cost to the abilities of the disease. Your character is an immensely powerful, perfectly loyal soldier, but becomes a ticking timebomb.

Kinda like a PYROCLASM, if you will.

That’s it in a nutshell. It seems like a lot, but most of the actual serious effects revolve around a trigger that happens when you hit Bleed Out. If you don’t hit Bleed Out, the disease does not advance.

I don’t know why, but this photo makes me think — “Pyroclasm”. Weird.

Let’s cover the actual mechanics you’ll see on the Disease Pamphlets during this event:

---

Stage One (Latent):  

• Roleplay Notes: The infected victim has no obvious signs of illness and does not feel anything wrong with them other than mild pain at the site of injection.  This disease is difficult to detect until you specifically know what you are looking for.

• Makeup & Costuming:  The site of the injection commonly forms a wound in the shape of an “X”.  Use a mascara pen or a paint pen to replicate this effect.

Disease Mechanics (Stage One): 

• The disease is inert in this stage, and offers no advantages.

• Investigation of the carrier will not show disease infection unless checked by someone with Lore: Mortis Amaranthine, Basic Medical, and a “Dr. Ottoman’s Disease Control Kit”.  To detect disease, they must specifically ask “Do you have Necrophage?” instead of asking for Fractures, Body, drug effects, or other diseases as per Basic Medical.  

• May not attack Grandfather Nichols without first spending 1 Resolve. If you spend Resolve, you can overcome the effect for 5 minutes, as some strange Compulsion fights against your attempts to harm the architect of the disease.

Advancement:  If exposed to a source of “INFLICT DISEASE (NECROPHAGE)” via a deployed [Necrophage Canister], extended contact with [REDACTED], or other source, the victim progresses to Stage One.

Treatment: [REDACTED]. If the disease progresses past this stage, this potential cure is no longer effective. 

Stage Two (Active): 

• Roleplay Notes: The infected victim is feverish and experiences intense pangs of rage that cannot be satiated except by giving into the base urge to destroy and to kill. They are increasingly focused on death, seeking out ways to inflict pain on others.  The need to kill is crippling, as their body twists in on itself and begins to devour its own biomass to compensate for the incredible expenditure of energy that is required simply to keep the body alive.  

• Makeup & Costuming:  The site of the injection commonly forms a wound in the shape of an “X”.  Use a mascara pen or a paint pen to replicate this effect. Thick, purplish veins pulse from their clavicle to their jawline, engorged with the mutagen. Makeup will be available at Ops.

Disease Mechanics (Stage Two): 

• Character gains Incurable, Personal Morgue, Primordial Siphon, Amaranthine Armor, Single Minded and Compelled traits

• Incurable: Once infected, this disease cannot be reduced below Stage Two until a cure is discovered.

• Personal Morgue: The Character has become their own ardent crucible, and can reknit their flesh, rekindle themselves and return from death without passing through the Gravemind. 

  • When the character enters Bleed Out for any reason they must declare “Necrophage: Personal Morgue” and then suffer an unavoidable “AGONY, 10 Seconds”.  The infected clutches their head in pain as their body transforms and rebuilds.

  • Once the Agony is completed, the character regains all Body, all Mind points, and removes all current effects. The character, for the next 5 minutes, is invulnerable to all damage and effects (positive and negative), except for abilities provided by this disease.  Call “No Effect, Personal Morgue”.   

  • At the end of this 5 minutes, the character loses 1 Resolve.   If the character would spend their last Resolve in this way, they immediately progress to Stage Three.

• Primordial Siphon: The character can now fuel and heal themselves by absorbing the biomass of other strains. Upon inflicting a Killing Blow to a Lineage target, the character may declare “Primordial Siphon: Devour 50 Body” to heal themselves by 50 body as they absorb part of the dying’s imprint.

• Amaranthine Armor (Melee & Ranged): Reduce all melee AND ranged damage to 1.  Non-standard damage does not break this reduction, but Bane (Necrophage) does.  Call “Reduced” upon taking normal or non-standard damage.

• Single Minded: While infected with Necrophage, you may NOT activate or use Mind on any Skills except for Combat Skills, Awareness, Enhanced Movement, Malicious, or Mental Endurance. 

• Compelled:  The disease creates a perfect, unyielding soldier.  If an NPC calls “Compulsion” you must follow the commands given to the best of your ability.  You cannot resist this effect by any means.  May not attack Grandfather Nichols for any reason.

Advancement:  If the LC uses Personal Morgue and loses their last Resolve, the disease progresses to Stage Three. 

Stage Three (Pyroclasm): 

• NOTE: THIS STAGE IS CHARACTER DEADLY!

• Roleplay Notes: The urge to kill is overwhelming and the need consumes your every waking thought.  It is difficult to concentrate on anything but watching the light fade from the eyes of your victims. Those infected cannot help but attempt to kill any living creature in Bleed Out, whether they are friend or foe. The disease has completely overtaken their body and they are driven by their indescribable need for biomass, death, and their Compulsions. The mutagen has altered the strain so fundamentally that it has begun to consume itself for its own biomass. They will soon die a painful, agonizing death. The afflicted cannot kill fast enough to compensate for the growing bomb in thier skull.  When they finally die, it will be in a pillar of psionic fire of their own making. 

• Makeup & Costuming:  The site of the injection commonly forms a wound in the shape of an “X”.  Use a mascara pen or a paint pen to replicate this effect. Thick, purplish veins pulse from their clavicle to their jawline, engorged with the mutagen. The purplish veins stretch down the infected’s arms and legs, pooling in bruises near joints and major arteries.  The color of an old bruise, the purplish veins of those so changed by the Necrophage glow in the dim light of evening and, as if to reflect the white heat of their own illness outward, are alarmingly hot to the touch.  Makeup will be available at Ops.

Disease Mechanics (Stage Three): 

Same Mechanics as Stage Two but add:

• Focused: Immune to Mangle and Stun effects. Call “No Effect, Focused!”

• Perfected Personal Morgue: THIS REPLACES THE PREVIOUS PERSONAL MORGUE ABILITY. The Character has become their own ardent crucible, and can reknit their flesh, rekindle themselves and return from death without passing through the Gravemind. 

  • When the character enters Bleed Out for any reason they must declare “Necrophage: Personal Morgue” and then suffer “AGONY, 10 Seconds”.  The infected clutches their head in pain as their body transforms and rebuilds.

  • Once the Agony is completed, the character regains all Body all Mind points, and removes all current effects. The character, for the next 5 minutes, is invulnerable to all damage and effects (positive and negative), except for abilities provided by this disease.  Call “No Effect, Personal Morgue”.   

  • At the end of this 5 minutes, the character loses 1 INFECTION. If the character would spend their last Infection in this way, they immediately use Abyssal Discharge and die a final death.

• Abyssal Discharge: Single Use. At any time OR upon losing their last Infection with Personal Morgue, the character may call “By the Sound of my Voice, Abyssal Discharge, 500 Body.” Following this call the character has 1 minute during which their body is torn apart from the inside out, consumed by their own inner Mortis until all that remains is a desiccated corpse. After 1 minute, the character is reduced to 0 Infection and is permanently dead.  They cannot be returned to life by any means and the Mutant strain advantage to avoid death from disease does not apply.

Advancement:  Once the character dies, the character does not become a Zombie, and instead [REDACTED].

SORRY, BUT THIS LAST ONE YOU’LL NEED TO FIND OUT ABOUT IN GAME!

So that’s a LOT we’ve covered today folks. I’ll be available on Discord or Facebook as always if you have questions or see a weird loophole, or you can send emails to info@dystopiarisingtx.com, but I hope that you’ll try to experience the challenges of the Necrophage.

Next week, we will take about some unique challenges of a National Event, and what to expect as you face the PYROCLASM!

Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect:

• Pyroclasm: National Event Expectations - National Events have a LOT more players involved, and that means some different logistics than a normal game, for things like the Post Office, sleeping arrangements, LIT inventory, NPC shifts, and such. I’ll try to cover some realistic expectations about what to expect at a National Event, so you can be ready to hit the ground running.

• Pyroclasm: What’s Different in DR:TX? - We have a lot of travelers coming out to our first live game in a while. Let’s talk about some culture expectations of our game, some major differences between our game and what you might see at your local events, and some resources to help you understand the differences.

• Pyroclasm: Rules You Should Know - The week before game I will release a series of specific rules that might come up during the PYROCLASM event. We will talk about some common rules that might be important, new Zones of Mechanics, new Plot Items, and new Threat Skills you should save some Mind points to Avoid!

See you next time Vados!

EDITS & FAQ:

• Clarified the 5 minute timer for attacking Nichols at Stage One.

• Clarified that the death from disease on Stage Three overrides the Mutant advantage.

Welcome to Pyroclasm!

It’s Jonathan here again with another Rules Ramble! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic that will be important in an upcoming game, explain some new mechanic or system for DR:TX, or discuss a particular rule from the DR Corebook. In each ramble, I’ll focus on explaining that topic in more detail than the book alone can provide and help provide one place to reference all the various errata or rulings that might be relevant. Sometimes I’ll even drop a few Story Teasers or provide a summary of the last game in a Game Recap.

This week, we are starting with our four-week countdown to our first combined virtual AND in-person NATIONAL EVENT of 3.0, covering some details on what you get for attending this event, new Blueprints that will be released, and our Content List for this event, as you get ready to experience …

THE NECROPHAGE

What is it?

THE NECROPHAGE is the First Virtual + Live Dystopia Rising Crossover Event — a joint production of DR: Texas and DR: Connecticut. We will be running TWO linked games, one online with our friends at DR:CT - STORMWALL, that starts the story of Grandfather Nichols and the creation of the Necrophage virus, and then we will finish that story in person, at Camp Kachina, for our first LIVE National Event of 3.0 - PYROCLASM. The events that occur in the virtual game will directly effect the resolution of our live event!

This is an exciting opportunity to invite folks to a game as BIG as Texas, and show our friends across the network some good old San Saba hospitality. We get to tell a BIGGER story, use BIGGER bad guys, and help you experience a BIGGER event!

Let’s talk a little about what to expect…

The Story:

Something wicked this way comes...

Grandfather Nichols and the evil forces of Killhouse Prison’s extended network of murderers, candymen, maniacs and machinators, have come home to roost in the Lonestar at last.  From the necrotic swamps of the Wailing Shores, the mad Nemesis doctor brings with him The Necrophage, a powerful mutagenic disease that turns anyone who breathes it into pliant supersoldiers and eventually, living bombs.  Nichols seeks to destroy the system that betrayed him twice, by immolating the San Saba Territories with the very brains of the people who committed each layer of badly broken faith. 

Nichols sieges Killhouse Prison; lair to the most foul and murderous personalities in the Lonestar Wastes, recruiting an army from within. The Necrophage spreads out before him like a black carpet, but in his way is the township of New Bravado, where the Oxline pulls into station. When Nichols steps off the train, with his newly Necrophage-infused soldiers in tow, it will be with the intention to complete the genocide of the San Saba people, a feat denied to him one year ago. With the successful test of his mutagen on Bravado, Nichols will be able to market The Necrophage to tyrants and warmongers across the Greater Wastes as a tool to create armies from enemies. 

As the Necrophage creeps across the Blastlands, rendering common strains into vicious and merciless killers, it must be to be the will of the Survivors that rise up to meet the ardent monsters who stride across the San Saba unshackled. Left unchecked, The Necrophage will first infect everyone in the San Saba and then beyond.  In an act of ironic Indulgence, the Survivors must team up with the new Warden of Killhouse Prison one last time to cleanse the waste of criminal filth once contained within, and thereafter choose the ultimate fate of the unlawful in the San Saba. 

A cell, or a coffin.

wHERE cAN I BUY TICKETS?

Pre-Registration: What do I get?

Once you’ve bought your ticket (or if you are still on the fence), let’s talk about what you get.

If you can, we hope you can get your tickets early and help our team with some advanced ideas of how many players to prepare for, what kinds of NPC shifts we can expect to have for big fights, and help craft our plans for cabins and tenting. Pre-registration helps us with all of these things and more, but it even offers some nice advantages for you as well..

Save time on site!

While you can still purchase a ticket for PYROCLASM on site, it’s a National Event so there could be a bit more traffic to get checked in when there are many more players on site. The BEST advantage to getting a ticket early is that we will have your Character Sheet pre-printed and ready to go so you can save time in line. Spend that time claiming a bunk, setting up your tent, plot out your item builds for the weekend, grabbing dinner with your friends from all over the country, or just use it to take your time getting into that neat upgrade to your costume.

Opt in to the story

In the pre-registration questionnaire, you will have your FIRST opportunity to OPT IN to the Necrophage plot kit in person. You can choose to try out a terrible fate for your character, and get opted in for a deadly and harrowing experience. I’ll cover a bit more about this below in our Content List. This is a guaranteed way to get a jump start into the action at the National Event, but it is still OPTIONAL — there will be other ways to OPT OUT of the disease plot at the event as well! Do you have what it takes to survive THE NECROPHAGE?

mechanics and items:

I know, I know. Let’s get to the good stuff, why you are really attending a National Event:

• EXTRA XP — National Events allow you to purchase up to TEN (10) more Experience Points for each of your characters. This is a huge leap forward, allowing you to buy that next Skill a few months early, or even pay the points for a new Infection or a PFA Action Request.

• SELF TEACH — You gain the ability to Self Teach ANY Skill (Non PFA) that you are able to learn, on each of your characters that are checked in. If you have an Advanced Membership, you can Self Teach a Skill for each of your three characters! This is a trick that normally costs 50-300 CAPS to get a teacher, so this is a great value. Have you been struggling to find a player that has that particular Skill you want? Look no further!

• ONE MYSTERIOUS ORE — Your Primary Character will earn ONE (1) Mysterious Ore, a brand new DR:TX Local Plot Item printed on a neat illustrated item card. These new items will be crucial during our National Event, and are a new collectible item that will surely be a prize for folks that like to collect currency and other unique items in game. There will be other ways to earn these in game, but this is one guaranteed way to get your hands on this new item.

• ONE FESTERING CRYSTAL — Your Primary Character will earn ONE (1) Festering Crystal, a National Event Resource available at National and Premiere Events in limited quantities. This item can be used to activate certain powerful Murder Incorporated blueprint items, as well as being used in several new injectable brews called Byproducts.

• NARRATIVE CROSSOVER — If you have purchased a ticket to the Virtual DR:CT event the previous week, there will be a direct narrative crossover between the characters, places, and plots of these two events. While it won’t be necessary to attend both games to enjoy the plots of PYROCLASM, there will certainly be more context to certain events happening in game if you attend both events.

An example of what Mysterious Ore looks like!

Festering Crystals

New Blueprints!

Oh yeah. My favorite part.

We have at least FIVE new Blueprints coming your way, featuring some of the San Saba favorites you might have seen as Local Plot Cards in previous seasons. We’ve got a fan favorite item that was MUCH requested by folks all over, as well as some unique items with a bit of Texas flair. These will be new NATIONAL BLUEPRINTS available throughout the network after our event, but attending in person to our PYROCLASM event will be the FIRST opportunity to get one of these new items. We will be previewing these items over the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

If you are like me, you gotta catch ‘em all! Don’t miss out on a chance to keep your collection of blue paper up to date!

Content LIST

Based on feedback from our last game, we’d like to make sure we are providing some advanced notice about themes and elements in the upcoming National Event to allow you to to decide whether or not a DR:TX event will be something you enjoy. In our tradition of radical trust, we want to also trust in each player that attends our game to know their own limits and be able to choose to avoid topics and situations that make them uncomfortable.

We’ve had up a Content List on our website for a while now, but I’d like to bring your attention to some of the common elements of a DR event, while also focusing on two major things to expect in this upcoming game, PYROCLASM.

This concept is in the DR Corebook, on page 13:

A content list is Dystopia Rising’s use of a technique known as innehållsförteckning, or “ingredients list”, which was first created by Nordic game designer Karin Edman. A content list is a series of focuses that are expected to be regularly occurring at a local branch. It is not the same as a content warning in that a content list provides a wide array of information about the nature of an event’s intended design and not just items that the writers of an event may see as “warning worthy”. Since it is impossible to know what might be triggering for all potential participants, we have decided it is better to provide a listing of content (or ingredients) that participants can use to make educated decisions regarding their participation at an event.

Past the Content List, there are two major elements of the next game that need to be specifically mentioned, and I’d like to talk about them in turn.

Content List: infectious Disease & Weaponizing Diseases

The story of the zombie apocalypse is at it’s heart a story of disease. Zombie stories involve pandemics, viruses, and the deadly consequences of what that disease turns survivors into. You could argue that “fear of disease” is the key trope to any story that involves zombies and the undead. During our PYROCLASM event, we will be using a new dangerous Disease into the world of Dystopia Rising.

Given the state of the global pandemic and the impact Covid-19 has had on us all, we understand that this topic isn't for everyone. Each of our lives have been impacted by this crisis and each person is dealing with this trauma in different ways. Our goal is not to minimize the impact of this disease nor it’s effect on our community, and given that we have staff members who have lost a family member to Covid-19, we empathize with anyone that has suffered loss during this pandemic.

Last season, DR:TX explored this concept in depth during our game BLOOD FEAST. During this event, we released a terrible disease known as Gutscourge, and introduced the villainous Grandfather Nichols for the first time in a live game. I included a similar warning about this topic back then and it’s worth repeating for this event.

During our upcoming National Event, we will be using a brand new in-character disease known as NECROPHAGE. This disease has the strong potential to be character deadly, especially in it’s later stages as it can remove Infection itself from your character. I’ll be going over these specific mechanics in a later blog post in detail called The Anatomy of a Disease Plot Kit, but since it’s a possibility I’d like to make sure everyone knows how to avoid this up front.

• Necrophage can be character deadly and your character can permanently die from this disease.

There will also be SCs and NPCs that will be actively attempting to spread and weaponize this disease in game. These villains will be trying to purposefully infect your character with this disease as part of their dastardly plan, so there will be some potential danger of your character contracting this disease during the course of the event. There will also be some chance of contracting the disease through environmental exposure like Zone of Mechanics or particular unique props.

Contracting Necrophage may NOT be for you, so this disease is unique in the fact that you can OPT OUT at any time. You may not want to risk Infection, or maybe your story of your character isn’t finished yet.

With our Natural Immunity rules, you can simply declare yourself IMMUNE to this disease at the start of the game, and you will be mechanically safe from the effects of the disease for the entire game, even if Grandfather Nichols himself tries to infect you. This won’t necessarily protect you from a Killing Blow from a bad guy or raider, or a being devoured and Cannibalized by a pack of zombies, but I can promise that you contracting a disease won’t be the reason your character dies.

It IS still a survival horror game, after all.

Natural Immunity (OPT OUT MECHANIC):  

If you would like to OPT-OUT of this National Disease Plotkit, you may write NATURAL IMMUNITY on your character(s) sheet before Game-on and if exposed to a situation where you would contract it at any level, you may call “No effect, Natural Immunity”. This immunity cannot be applied to any character, other than your own, through any in-game mechanic.

This Natural Immunity status will be used during Research Challenges in order to develop a Treatment Plan and permanent cure for this disease.

I’ve wrote a lot of information about this disease and some of our philosophies on approaching this topic on our National Event Website several weeks ago, and you can find a link to explore more here:

• Disease in Dystopia Rising

• Necrophage Mechanics

Content List: Loss of Control & Compulsion

One of the curious side effects of the Necrophage disease is one that Grandfather Nichols has worked to weaponize with his allies in the Wailing Shores. During this event, victims of the Necrophage virus will be extremely vulnerable to a local DR:TX mechanic called COMPULSION.

This mechanic will be in play on limited NPC threats portrayed by STs and Gamerunners, but it offers a powerful way to cause a Loss of Control to your character. Many horror stories involve this concept, where you are powerless to stop a monster that is itself a metaphor for the relentless advance of time, death, or war.

Here’s the mechanics to expect:

Compulsion

Effect. When an NPC calls “Psionic: Compulsion, All <KEYWORD>, [Insert Command]”, the affected target must follow the next single command until the task is completed or nullified (such as being compelled to defend someone who then dies). The target must complete the command to the best of their ability. When the target enters Bleed Out, the effect immediately ends. Characters under the effects of Compulsion remember the actions they take, but are not in control of them. This ability is normally resisted by Mental Endurance, but some effects may prevent this resistance.

You can already do similar things to this Skill on zombies and raiders with Telepathy, but this Threat Skill allows them to use a similar ability on YOU. That last line is important, though, because one effect that prevents this resistance is being inflicted with an advanced stage of NECROPHAGE.

Characters with Stage 2 or beyond of Necrophage will NOT be able to spend Mind points to resist these Compulsions. This means that if your character is infected with this disease, it could put you into situations where your character is no longer in control of their actions. This is a unique form of mind control that might allow the bad guys to COMPEL you to help them. The bad guys might order you to defend them, hurt your friends, abandon your crew, or do other terrible things that your character might not normally do.

If you were playing in 2.0, you may remember similar abilities that monsters could use to turn you into a Body Puppet, and it can be a great challenge and intense scene when one of your friends suddenly turns on you and it’s not just the monster that’s after you in that combat.

However, you have TWO ways to avoid this mechanic in game.

First, you can decide that your character has a particular quirk that makes you completely immune to the Necrophage virus. If your character is Naturally Immune (see above) to the Necrophage, then you will be able to resist these effects as per a normal psionic attack. You might need to save some Mind points for a use of Mental Endurance, but you can avoid some of the terrible commands like “kill and eat your friends”, for instance. There will even be other items in game that can help you resist this ability if you don’t have the Mental Endurance Skill too.

Secondly, you can choose to use the OK Check-In System to opt out of a scene entirely by using the “thumbs down” gesture and exiting the area.

SIMPLY PUT: The COMPULSION mechanic DOES NOT override the OK Check-In system.

Our ultimate goal with THE NECROPHAGE is to tell a story about villains spreading a dangerous disease on purpose, recruiting others by force and compulsion to help their cause, and causing significant damage to the San Saba and your characters unless YOU can stop them from their evil machinations. We want you to consider a world where DEATH is finally the end, where you need to come to grips with not coming back when you die, and the consequences that erupt when the very cycle of Infection you’ve come to understand is under threat.

It’s a high risk, high reward type story, and we hope you are as excited as we are.

If you have already purchased a ticket for this event and would like a refund based on this information, please email info@dystopiarisingtx.com.

where can I find out more about the event?

We’ve had a lot of resources up already for the Necrophage events, and our friends at DR:CT have been hard at work with an ARG event through Discord, cool new videos, and a lot of interactive content already. Over the next few weeks, we will provide even more details about this event, but for now we have a few resources to use:

• Necrophage: The Storm Wall — Most Improbable

• Interlude — Dystopia Rising Presents

• Dramatis Personae — Dystopia Rising Presents

• Necrophage Mechanics — Dystopia Rising Presents

• FAQ - Pyroclasm — Dystopia Rising Presents

Upcoming Blogs:

Over the next few weeks, I will be focusing on topics related to our upcoming National Event. Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect:

• Pyroclasm: National Event Expectations - National Events have a LOT more players involved, and that means some different logistics than a normal game, for things like the Post Office, sleeping arrangements, LIT inventory, NPC shifts, and such. I’ll try to cover some realistic expectations about what to expect at a National Event, so you can be ready to hit the ground running.

• Pyroclasm: Anatomy of a Disease Plot Kit - The story of Pyroclasm involves a new and dangerous disease known as The Necrophage. I’ll discuss some expectations for this disease, how you can avoid it, how you can opt in, and some ideas of what to expect if medical research and science is your idea of a good time.

• Pyroclasm: What’s Different in DR:TX? - We have a lot of travelers coming out to our first live game in a while. Let’s talk about some culture expectations of our game, some major differences between our game and what you might see at your local events, and some resources to help you understand the differences.

• Pyroclasm: Rules You Should Know - The week before game I will release a series of specific rules that might come up during the PYROCLASM event. We will talk about some common rules that might be important, new Zones of Mechanics, new Plot Items, and new Threat Skills you should save some Mind points to Avoid!

It’s an exciting time for DR:TX, so make sure you get your tickets to THE NECROPHAGE: PYROCLASM today! See you soon travelers to the San Saba and Vados alike!

Variant Crystal Candy Errata

Hey everyone, it’s Jonathan with a last minute update for VALLEY OF FEAR.

I previously released some mechanics for the Variant Crystal Candies on Wednesday, and we need to release a kind of ‘Day One’ patch. I’m very sorry for the confusion, but some very clever players pointed out some unfortunate loops in the mechanics that needed to be corrected.

Here is the NEW Crystal Candy Saturation rules!

This will be posted as a ZOM at the General Store and Depot, and another copy will be in the Post Office and at Ops. We will cover these mechanics during our Opening Announcements as well.

CRYSTAL CANDY SATURATION

• Variant Crystal Candy items carry the [ADDICTIVE] keyword and have the following effects:

  • Gain a ROLEPLAY BURDEN for the duration of the event:

    • You must consume an additional [ADDICTIVE] item each 12’s. 

    • Failing to fulfill a ROLEPLAY BURDEN inflicts a Fracture on your character.

• Gain a benefit such as restoring Mind or Body, but ONLY if you possess no Fractures. Each variety of Variant Crystal Candy has a different effect, so read your item card carefully.

• If this is your third [ADDICTIVE] item this 12’s you gain the [SATURATED] keyword.

• [SATURATED] characters must then make a choice each time they take a Variant Crystal Candy.

  • Indulge: Gain a 1-hour benefit and become [SUPERSATURATED]                                            - OR -

  • Backlash: Experience a serious downside and lose [SATURATED]

• Free skill uses granted by [SATURATED] mechanics may be activated even if the character does not usually possess the skill, and without paying that skill’s usual associated costs.

This has been updated on the website as well, on our Local Rules and Skills page.

See you soon Vados!

Valley of Fear - Rules You Should Know

It’s Jonathan here again with another Wednesday Rules Ramble! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic that will be important in an upcoming game, explain some new mechanic or system for DR:TX, or discuss a particular rule from the DR Corebook. In each ramble, I’ll focus on explaining that topic in more detail than the book alone can provide and help provide one place to reference all the various errata or rulings that might be relevant. Sometimes I’ll even drop a few Story Teasers or provide a summary of the last game in a Game Recap.

This week, we are going to discuss Rules You Should Know for the upcoming game this weekend, including new Illustrated Item Cards, Mysterious Ore, Variant Crystal Candy, new Roleplay Burdens, Clue Cards, and more!

Tickets are still on sale at the door for VALLEY OF FEAR! See you this weekend!

We had an amazing comic by Beau Lee and Aesa Garcia drop on Monday with a story update for this weekend, so check it out if you haven’t already!

You can also submit official Feedback about our events through our Feedback Form.

Rules you SHould know

TL;DR This is a bit of a long post, and it contains SPOILERS. Reader beware.

This weekend also has a new experiment for DR:TX - new ILLUSTRATED ITEM CARDS! We will be premiering SIX types of new Item Cards that are variations of the Local Plot Item cards. These card will be printed with the rules for the item on one side, and a custom illustrated back designed by Shan, one of our Directors. These cards will be very obvious and will stand out when you find them in play.

Let’s talk about these item cards first, and then we’ll cover a few quick new rules at the end.

Mysterious ore

This first one we are going to be a little coy about. It’s Mysterious Ore, after all. It’s literally in the name.

This weekend will be the first game where you can acquire this new type of limited currency in DR:TX. There will be a finite amount of these items in play, so they will have some value by scarcity alone. Mysterious Ore has no specific function by itself, and is the only Illustrated Item Card this weekend without rules on the card. But it WILL have a use at some point this season.

People that attend our NECROPHAGE National Event will have even more opportunities to gather Mysterious Ore as well. In fact, every person that pre-regs for PYROCLASM will get one of these items at Check-In! We’ll have more on this in our lead up to The Necrophage: Pyroclasm next week.

The primary way to find Mysterious ore this weekend is by helping out the game with some extra NPC time.

Guides, STs, and Players alike can participate in a new Zone of Mechanics that will be in the world somewhere. I’ve even included an image of the ZOM: A Vein of Mysterious Ore below. This ZOM will require you to go out of character and spend additional time as an NPC while you are “mining” inside the Morgue, and can even get you an additional FULL MIND REFRESH for completing an additional four hours of NPC time. September is always a bit lighter game for attendance due to the lingering summer heat, so the extra help will be appreciated and rewarded!

Mining in the Mortis Amaranthine sounds like a lovely idea though. I’m sure nothing bad will happen.

Probably.

In the words of a few new local characters in Bravado “ROCK AND STONE! It’s time for some DIGGY DIGGY HOLE!”

clue cards

Hmm.

These items are pretty self explanatory, but this is an important part of Ted LeBeau’s over arc story for VALLEY OF FEAR. Each DR: Texas game will often have some things we call “plot scaffolding” during the weekend. Sometimes, it might be a series of Research Challenges that need to be completed, or a series of Resource Sinks that require you to turn in herb or scrap, or sometimes you might just have a Monster of the Week to track down and kill (like Grandfather Nichols, or a Raider Queen!). This Plot Scaffolding is how the main plot is resolved, and it’s often a key mechanic of the weekend.

VALLEY OF FEAR is no different, and this takes the form of the CLUE CARD. These items will be found in certain situations and will be useful for understanding more about the nature of the weekend story. The new Warden of Killhouse is definitely up to something, but it’s up to you to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes…

There are two ways to use a Clue Card:

First, you can simply tear up the card and get a free use of one of three Skills — Avoid, Balance, or Basic Awareness. But, by collecting TEN of the Clue Cards, you can turn them into the Post Office for a piece of the puzzle — information about the mysterious Adam Moriarty, the Spider of Killhouse.

These items will be found throughout the weekend, and will have a bit of flavor text to describe the clue itself, but these might be in the pocket of some zombie you just killed, discovered while Foraging out in the woods, or even traded as a source of information with an NPC. Since it’s a Local Plot Item, you can even trade (or sell) it to others, if you so choose.

variant Crystal Candy

One of the big parts of this weekend’s game VALLEY OF FEAR is dealing with the new Law against Crystal Candy in the San Saba, and the backlash against a criminal underworld that is not only continuing to sell the drug, but releasing even worse versions of it. Like we first revealed in our Welcome to Season 4 blog post back in August, a new dangerous and addictive type of Crystal Candy has been flooding the wasteland.

There are three elements of this Crystal Candy plot during VALLEY OF FEAR you need to be aware of: Variant Crystal Candy, Roleplay Burdens, and Crystal Candy Saturation.

Variant Crystal Candy

There are FOUR types of new Crystal Candy items in play this weekend (Red, Green, Blue, and Silver), and they will be on unique, illustrated item cards. There will be no mistaking that the item you have is one of these Local Plot Cards, so it should be able to directly avoid them if you want.

The new drug trade of the San Saba has led to new and more addictive variants of the Crystal Candy commonly found on the Criminal Influence list. These Variant Crystal Candy cards will be printed on separate item cards with an illustrated back. If you encounter one of these items, they will have different mechanics than the common Crystal Candy gizmo. These items interact with the Addiction and Crystal Candy Saturation local rules.

Here’s the plain text of the one the Variant rules on the back so you have an idea of what to expect:

Each of the four variants has two basic mechanics:

• The normal function of the item is a more powerful healing effect than the normal Crystal Candy, but comes with the Roleplay Burden (Addiction). However, unlike normal Crystal Candy these items do NOT cost a Resolve, but they have NO effect once you have a Fracture. That means if the Roleplay Burden is not met, these items quickly become worthless.

• Each Variant Crystal Candy has a SATURATED effect that can be used once you have consumed three of the new Candies in a single 12s. These are powerful abilities that you must use within the next HOUR, or else a negative effect occurs.

Upon consuming a third Addictive Crystal Candy within the last 12s, you will become SATURATED. If you become Saturated more than once per 12s, become SUPERSATURATED. We will cover a bit more of this below.

Roleplay burdens

This is a new Fracture-like effect that will be in play this season, and the Addiction mechanic is the first of these uses. This is simply a mechanic that simply makes you need to do a particular role play activity or else it becomes a full-fledged Fracture.

ROLEPLAY BURDEN

• Keyword. A character can have one Roleplay Burden at a time. A Roleplay Burden must be fulfilled once per 12s, or else it will turn into a Fracture. Roleplay Burdens can be soothed or cured as if they were a Fracture, but does not count as a Fracture for preventing use of certain Skills. Players can opt-out of a particular RP behavior at any time, but must fulfill any required mechanical cost or effects. Roleplay Burdens expire at the end of an event, unless the player chooses to keep them longer.

  There are several types of Roleplay Burdens:

  • ADDICTION: When you consume an item with the Addictive keyword, you gain this Roleplay Burden. You must consume an item with the Addictive keyword once per 12s. If you do not meet this requirement, you gain a Fracture. This is normally found on Variant Crystal Candy cards.

At it’s heart, it’s a pretty flexible rule that can be adapted to a number of different stories, like hunger, fear, disease, or even faith. A possible Roleplay Burden for Starvation could include needing to eat a Meal every 12s, for instance.

You can opt out of any role play involved with roleplay burdens, and no NPCs will ever force someone to use an item that causes this behavior, or require a character to take this condition without consent.

Addictive items will require consent to use on another, just like using an Injection that costs Resolve on someone (DR Corebook, p. 169, 181). Using an item that causes a mechanical effect like this is a CvC action if attempted on an unwilling target. You can also use the OK Check In system to simply decline interaction with this CvC, the Addiction mechanic, or any scene you are uncomfortable with as always.

CRYSTAL CANDY SATURATION

Crystal Candy is bad. Past the horrific way it is harvested from a person, taking too much of it can cause strange side effects. It’s almost like cannibalism in a way, and can have similar effects on a person once ingested. This weekend, this takes effect as Crystal Candy Saturation. Here are the basic mechanics for this new condition:

• Crystal Candy Saturation

• Effect. Upon consuming a third Addictive Crystal Candy within the last 12s, an LC will become SATURATED. While Saturated, you gain the ability to use the Affix abilities of Variant Crystal Candy cards.

• If you become Saturated more than once per 12s, you become SUPERSATURATED.  While Supersaturated, you do not refresh Mind at the 12s, and cannot regain Mind points by any means except by using any variation of Crystal Candy. This effect lasts until the end of the event.

• In summary: When you take a THIRD Variant Crystal Candy, you become Saturated. When you use the Affix ability for the SECOND time in a twelves. If you do NOT use the Affix ability and take the penalty instead, you do not become Saturated.

Crystal Candy can be deceptively useful, but has a significant cost to being used. If you use too much too fast, you can make yourself unable to regain Mind points at all during the weekend.

You might even see a few common Threats like zombies and raiders this weekend that develop strange new psionic potential spreads from the wastewater and pollution left behind from the Crystal Candy manufacturing. A HELPFUL TIP —- Remember, every Psionic power except for Master Pyrokinetics (p.138) can be resisted with Basic Mental Endurance (p. 126)!

other rules of note

The last few rules of note are gonna be short and sweet. If you hear these calls this weekend, it will be VERY obvious what is happening. Sorry not sorry.

DEVOUR

Skill Call. This delivery modifier causes the attacker to be healed for an equal of Body as the attack deals. For instance, a creature might call “Devour 50 Body!”, which will deal 50 Body as the attack and heal them for 50 Body. This call can drain Body, Mind, Resolve, or Infection.

This Threat Skill might be seen in different variations during this season, but ALL of them are bad. Not only does it deal damage to a target, it can absorbs and drain the very health (or even Infection) from a target. Yikes! That seems like an attack to save an Avoid for!

PUrple Headbands

If you encounter an NPC wearing a PURPLE headband or light, this represents an encounter that is “UNSEEN”.

These characters are part of some space that is not your own, like a dream or a hallucination, or someone “out of phase”. They are not out of character but in a state that can only be observed or interacted with in specific conditions. It is possible for some characters to be able to see this condition, while their friends cannot.

Your LC cannot see the Unseen in-character or interact with them unless given specific instruction from the Unseen character or Guide. The Guide or NPC will place their hand on their head and inform your LC that you can interact with that character. Once given this instruction, you can see and interact with the NPC until you cannot physically see them anymore or they leave the scene. You will not be able to see them again if they reappear unless you are specifically told otherwise.

Certain ZOMs, item cards, and Skill calls can also reveal the Unseen.

The Unseen, huh? Just know that when you see a PURPLE headband or headlight this weekend, that.. person?… thing?.. isn’t quite THERE. Ignore them until something tells you otherwise. Just imagine it’s a Hunter using Stealth and you don’t have Basic Awareness.

New Death Procedures

This last new rule is kind of amazing, if I do say so myself. This is from the new DEATH LOG that will be used this weekend. We have a majestic bell in the center of Camp Kachina that we use to start and finish the game, but during the game it has another use entirely:

RING YOUR OWN BELL

If you should DIE during an event at DR:TX, a newly deceased character should walk to the Crossroads and ring the their own Death Bell three times and then report to Logistics, known in-character as the Grave Council Annex.

That’s right.

You finally get to ring the bell at Kachina yourself. It’s fun, I promise, and there’s nothing more chilling than the discordant three rings in the middle of the night telling you that someone just DIED. This bell will let our talented team of Groundskeepers know to meet you at Logistics to run your personalized death scene, and also lets folks with Faith skills, Necrokinetics and Death Brews know they have a chance to interact with a Gravemind scene.

If you are really excited about this rule, let me know at game and I’ll make sure a certain… eyeless… friend helps make that request a reality…

Medical and Safety Resources

One last reminder:

In previous years we had a few medical-trained folks marked out for assisting in emergencies. This year, we made it a dedicated team under Sadie Hawkins. Folks on that list are available resources for non-emergency/non-professional assistance. The Med Room in Kiva (back room past the the Post Office) will have a revamped and restocked medical supply box. These supplies are available for everyone, though, note we don’t have any consumable medications in there.

Mental and Emotional health are also included in our Medical and Safety resources. The Med Room can also be used as a safe decompression space if you need to step out of character and take time re-center or process something. Several of our medical staff are also mental health professionals, and can be tapped to help provide assistance if you need it.

If you do require assistance, and don’t know how to find someone to help, tap any Guide or Gamerunner and we will help you with finding that resource, or contact emergency services if needed.

wrap up

That’s the last from me this week folks! We will have a few opening announcements to cover at the start of the game, but these are the main things to be aware of before you show up.

I still gotta pack and get my own stuff ready for the game, so I hope I see everyone there this weekend. It’s been a LONG summer, and I’m ready to kill some zombies!