The Fall of Waking Prime

It’s Jonathan here with our next weekly blog post for the upcoming event, VOX POPULI! This is the leadup for our May DR:TX event written by Heather Halstead, Overarc ST for our Season Closer, and Operational Storyteller for Season 5. Today we will talk a bit about the BIG CHOICES you will be able to make during our season closer as your characters can decide the final fate of the sky-city of Waking Prime. Your choices will matter and will determine the future of the San Saba!

We have a lot in store for the finale of Season 4!

• We have a special LIVE Q&A planned on our DR:TX Discord server on Thursday, April 20th at 7:00 PM CST. Join us in this voice chat on Thursday to hear from Heather and Jonathan about the next episode; Vox Populi, and answer your questions about SURVIVING THE WAKE, our big siege-style fight at the end of the event.

• Our next event will feature options to use the ZIPLINE and the POOL at Camp Kachina! Make sure to pack those swimsuits! Tickets will go on sale soon for the Zipline Passes!

• Our Feedback Form is still up for our last event!  Did something really amazing, exciting, or tragic happen at game? Was there a person who helped make your time better and welcomed you to the community? Perhaps nominate them for a Community Achievement! Tell us what you loved about game so we can make more of the content that you love and enjoy.  Conversely, if there is something you did not enjoy, or something which needs to be addressed, we would really like to hear about that too. 

• We’ve added some new ways to spend your hard-earned CAPS from the last event. Check out the new items you can purchase with your Community Action Points!

TICKETS FOR VOX POPULI are on sale now! don’t miss OUT ON YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A BIG DECISION!!!

THIS POST WILL DISCUSS A FEW LIGHT STORY SPOILERS FOR OUR NEXT EVENT, SO WE HOPE YOU ENJOY WHAT WE HAVE IN STORE!

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team.

I’m sure all those Resonant Raiders showing up in Bravado had nothing to do with what’s happening to Waking…

The Best of Bad options

This is a bit of a repeat from Heather’s post last week, but it bears repeating:

A central theme in any zombie post-apocalypse, to Dystopia Rising, and to our setting in Texas is “the best of bad options.”

You will rarely find a solution to a problem that is perfect. Complication drives story. Our world is deeply flawed, and that is what makes these stories exciting and impactful. At Dystopia Rising: Texas we want to encourage you to explore roleplay about making difficult choices and then living with the consequences of those actions. What does that look like for your character? How do you grow from that? Or how does your sense of personal ethics slowly degrade in a world that constantly asks the worst of you? Can you feel like a hero while knowing saving those people meant dooming others?

Like we mentioned last week, we’ve spent the last two months gathering all your ideas for the Fate of Waking. Both in research, letters, form submissions, and interactions with NPCs, we are creating a story to let you enact some of these plans.

But there is no “perfect” solution. 

While there’s a bit more granularity in the decisions and events that will occur during the game, each of the decisions you make during VOX POPULI will lead to one of three possible “endings” to the crisis facing Waking Prime.

• Emergency Land Waking near an established settlement

• With the right choices, you may be able to “land” Waking in a (mostly) controlled fashion somewhere in the San Saba.

• This choice will still cause immense chaos, ecological damage, and will greatly impact the power and numbers of the people or faction that location represents.  The proximity to Waking will tie that area or faction deeply to the politics of the Board and will reshape them in significant ways for Season 5.

• The Board will be unhappy, but not actively antagonistic to the town’s choice. 

• Keep Waking in the air, no matter the cost

• Great sacrifices may have to be made to achieve this, but it will be possible to keep the floating skyship-city in the air, despite the failure of the Capacity Engine.

• Waking will continue to leak pollution and runoff on the area it sits over, causing ecological damage wherever it passes, but the Board’s Seat of Power will be maintained. No faction or location will be specifically removed or heavily reduced.

• This Choice represents the Status Quo, and allows the San Saba Board to continue business as usual.

• Shoot Waking from the Sky

• The Rook has a plan to end the threat of Waking once and for all and intends to remove the Board’s seat of power with extreme violence.

• A skyship of this magnitude will crash land with the force of a high yield bomb and will annihilate the faction and the area for miles in every direction, resulting in untold lives lost and ecological devastation that the area has not experienced since the Hiway War. The area the destroyed skyship-city crashes into will be decimated, and the faction and Waking will be largely wiped out.

• The LCs will have to choose where the husk of the destroyed city falls, and which faction is impacted by the destruction.

• This is an open act of aggression against the Board and will have long-term consequences for the story and Bravado heading into Season 5.

The time for new ideas is over.

There will be no Option D.

choice points and you!

The choice on where Waking will land (or crashes), will be decided by your actions at a new mechanic location inside the Depot called THE CRISIS CENTER. We will dig into this aspect of the event in a later blog post, but we want to practice Radical Transparency with some of the BIG CHOICES you will be able to make during our season closer.

The FALL of Waking is a CHOICE of physics and gravity, and hard choices.

During this event, your LCs will have a chance to decide what exactly happens to the flying skyship-city of Waking Prime, the current capital of the San Saba Territories. The doomed city is falling from the sky slowly, but inevitability. Through your actions like sacrificing parts of the city to gain elevation, shifting ballast to change the direction it is falling, or creating a burst of engine speed to hasten its demise, you will be able to impact the trajectory, destination, and the elevation of the city throughout the event.

While most of the choices you make at the Crisis Center will apply to one of the three resolutions above (Controlled Landing, Stay in the Sky, or Crash Landing) there will be a few planned Choice Point Events that will determine major decisions in the eventual destination of Waking. With the help of your allies and certain away mods, you will be able to take charge of how the fall of Waking resolves.

We are sharing WHEN these choice points will be made in advance, so that LCs who want to be a part of that choice can be present.  This will help you plan around player events and NPC shifts to make sure you can participate in the “voice of the people”.

Here are the three times to plan for:

• Friday @ 12:30 AM

• Saturday @ 11:30 AM

• Saturday @ 6:30 PM

During these times, Waking will be in an area or situation where a choice on a new trajectory can be made. Moving a flying city as large as Waking is largely a matter of momentum and speed. A slight change in the course can dramatically alter it’s final destination, but the mass of the ship is not easy to move. It’s not some Road Royal race car that can turn on a dime, it’s a monstrous behemoth that is on a collision course with Widow’s Peak.

Let’s talk a bit how this will work…

STEERING THE FALL OF WAKING

During these three Choice Point Events, you will have some agency in deciding where the city of Waking goes next. During each choice, you will get to make some limited choices by “steering” the skyship-city through your actions.

Waking can be moved by firing all the engines in the appropriate district, or performing a similar action that changes the trajectory of the city. Wherever this occurs, there will be a chance that some portions of the city will collapse, and will no longer be accessible. In addition to a tremendous loss of life, you will not be able to evacuate valuable technology, refugees, and resources from that portion of the falling skyship.

During a Choice Point, you will have a few choices to make:

• The LCs will choose to move Waking either to the Left (West), Center, or Right (East) or to have it hold position. 

• The choice point will be made based on the majority vote of those PRESENT AT THE TIME, and this challenge will be TIMED.

• If a consensus or a majority is not reached by the end of the timed event, Waking will automatically move forward one step on its current trajectory.

Momentum means that a gargantuan airship is descending forward whether you make a decision or not. If you don’t take action to change the fate of the city, it will reach it’s eventual destination of Widow’s Peak. With a massive sandstorm rolling in from the Dune Sea, wind currents mean that some of the obvious easy choices for safely landing Waking Prime are no longer an option.

Heather has prepared a slightly [REDACTED] map of the remaining choice points below:

The options above represent a pyramid of choice, loosely based off our map of the San Saba Territories.

• To illustrate, let’s assume Waking is the Red Dot, approximately where it will be at the start of the event as the fall begins.

• At each choice point, it can move ONE SPACE to any circle that is connected to with lines. 

• Waking can only move forward on the pyramid map and cannot go backwards. Sorry!

• So for Choice 1, Waking can either move to the Left, towards Widow’s Peak, or to the Center, to line up with Bravado and Essex. 

It is important to note that if the City isn’t moved in a certain way, it will eliminate some options as Landing (or Crash) sites. 

As you make decisions (or fail to make one), the momentum and mass of the city will limit your future options for a choice. For example:

• In order to land (or crash) the city on top of Killhouse:

  • Choice 1 would need to move it Right towards the center line.

  • Choice 2 could either Hold Position, or move it Right.

  • Choice 3 would need to be either move to Right, or Hold Position. 

A couple of different choices here will drastically limit your options.

• If you moved the city to the Left on your first decision at Choice 1, there is no possible set of choices that will allow you to land on top of Killhouse.

• Even if you managed to get the skyship to take a hard right at each remaining choice, you won’t be able to steer the ship sharply enough to reach Killhouse. There is no multi-track drifting on this trolley problem, sorry!

• Your early decisions will be the MOST impactful on the eventual destination of Killhouse, so these will be the crucial events to attend if you want to have a say in the fall of Waking.

Your LCs will need to be strategic in where they move Waking and at what point.

Don’t worry if this is a bit confusing!

We will have an NPC there to guide this and help further explain the mechanic during each choice point, and we have a neat Discord Q&A planned with Heather and Jonathan on Thursday, April 20th at 7:00 pm if you have any other questions that might come up.

Wrap Up

That’s it for today Vados! The time to start politicking starts now! What decision will you make in the fate of the San Saba? Can your vote at the Choice Point be swayed by Brass or favors? Will you vote to shoot down the city, or help maintain the status quo? Will you be able to steer the finale towards an enemy or a friend?

Waking’s fate is in your hands. And the San Saba will never look the same. TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

Pre-register and get your choice of NPC shift to maximize your experience!  

See you soon Vados!

Vox Populi

Can you conquer a four hour battle for survival? 

Locked in together, defending the only building safe from the toxic Wake blanketing Bravado from the Falling City. Join us in May for an epic battle to send you off into the Burning Season with only the best stories to tell!

PLOT TWIST! It’s HEATHER here with our first weekly blog post for the upcoming event, VOX POPULI! Don’t worry. Jonathan will return soon to a blog post near you.

This is the leadup for our May DR:TX event written by yours truly, Heather Halstead, Overarc ST for our Season Closer, and Operational Storyteller for Season 5. Today we will talk a bit about some story teasers, content warnings, some core mechanics and concepts for the event, and a reminder of some of the benefits of pre-registration! We have a lot in store for the finale of Season 4!

• Our Feedback Form is up for our last event!  Did something really amazing, exciting, or tragic happen at game? Was there a person who helped make your time better and welcomed you to the community? Perhaps nominate them for a Community Achievement! Tell us what you loved about game so we can make more of the content that you love and enjoy.  Conversely, if there is something you did not enjoy, or something which needs to be addressed, we would really like to hear about that too. 

• We’ve added some new ways to spend your hard-earned CAPS from the last event. Check out the new items you can purchase with your Community Action Points!

TICKETS FOR VOX POPULI are on sale now! don’t miss OUT!!!

THIS POST WILL DISCUSS A FEW LIGHT STORY SPOILERS FOR OUR NEXT EVENT, SO WE HOPE YOU ENJOY WHAT WE HAVE IN STORE!

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team.

Let’s talk a little bit about the story of the next event that your ST Senate is so hyped about:

The Premise for “VOX POPULI”

Waking is falling. Not even the Board can deny the truth now - the land is coated in the Capital’s toxic runoff, and debris falls regularly from the sky in a deadly rain. Strange, new zed spill from its twisted underbelly in scores. Something MUST be done. And in the midst of the chaos caused by the impending disaster, many agendas are at play. 

Most prominently, The Rook screams her fury at the falling city from the rooftops. She will not stand by and wait for her people to be dragged out of their homes and murdered, or worse. The fear of someone’s brief attempt to remake the Resonant Choir has settled deeply into the hearts of the aberrants of the San Saba, and her support has ballooned rapidly. But she is hardly the only person in the wastes with motivation, drive, and a plan. 

People are desperate. The citizens of Waking seek escape. The people of the San Saba, already ravaged by drought, now suffer from Waking’s pollution, and an influx of the city’s people they don’t have resources to feed. Waking’s trajectory has it aimed at Widow's Peak, and the Lovelaces may suffer yet another catastrophic violence upon their people. Even the elite are in a state of panic as the City falls.

Amid the desperation and despair, such an imminent disaster means refugees. It means evacuation efforts and resource management. It means opportunities. It means destruction. And ultimately, the fate of the Capital of the San Saba, and City in the Sky, lies in the hands of the people of Bravado. The town that has been called small, backwater, uncivilized, now holds all the power to shape the future of the entire region. 

And the San Saba Board knows it.

The Rook’s burgeoning support is made manifest in the device she has created. A massive weapon capable of one, single shot. A weapon constructed of recovered Juggernaut artillery, generational trauma, and pure fury that could, if pointed in the right direction, blow Waking Prime from the sky for good. And she’s handing the trigger to Bravado. 

Sounds like it’s time to really let the Board know how you feel…

POLITICAL CHOICES AND CVC

The plot of the weekend will be highly reactive to player choices. We want to give you the chance to make a big impact of what the landscape of the San Saba looks like for Season 5 and beyond. The ultimate choice on what happens to Waking will fall to you, the players. 

But big choices for our setting means people will have differing opinions, and that can provoke conflict.

If you get involved with the story of The Big Choices™®©, be prepared for that conflict.

That might look like in characters issuing threats, yelling, and other big emotions. It might include implied or actual CVC violence, or in-character consequences if you choose against the popular opinion. If this sort of role-play doesn’t sound fun for you, that’s okay! There will be plenty of other ways to interact with story of the falling city that are less likely to engage in this type of CVC. But the large choice points might be something for you to avoid.

Remember, we always have the OK Check in System to calibrate an intense scene in the moment to either ramp it down, or up, if that’s your jam, and you can check our Conflict Warning lists on our website. Conflict drives story, and CVC can be a great way to have memorable and intense scenes with your fellow players, but we want everyone going in to understand CVC is possible in this scenario. 

Jonathan has written excellent posts about CVC, how to keep it fun, and how to get the most out of the experience. Check them out!

• Introduction to CVC

• Steering & the 10 Foot Rule

So… what do these big choices look like? Well, we can tell you that it will greatly affect the off-screen existences of large groups of NPCs, and the land they live in, forever altering our setting in very real ways.

Choice points of this magnitude will be made by groups of LCs, not individuals. Some will be timed to represent the very chaotic nature of the ongoing crisis situation Waking finds itself in. Failing to make a call in the moment will lead to repercussions. 

Okay but what ARE the choices?

A central theme in any zombie post-apocalypse, to Dystopia Rising, and to our setting in Texas is “the best of bad options.” You will rarely find a solution to a problem that is perfect. Complication drives story. Our world is deeply flawed, and that is what makes these stories exciting and impactful. At Dystopia Rising: Texas we want to encourage you to explore roleplay about making difficult choices and then living with the consequences of those actions. What does that look like for your character? How do you grow from that? Or how does your sense of personal ethics slowly degrade in a world that constantly asks the worst of you? Can you feel like a hero while knowing saving those people meant dooming others?

In that vein, we’ve spent the last two months gathering all your ideas for the Fate of Waking. Both in research, letters, form submissions, and interactions with NPCs. Through this, we are creating a story to let you enact some of these plans. But there is no “perfect” solution.  And many of your ideas will have consequences you did not foresee. But the choices boil down to three:

• Emergency Land Waking near an established settlement

• With the right choices, you may be able to “land” Waking in a (mostly) controlled fashion somewhere in the San Saba.

• This choice will still cause immense chaos, ecological damage, and will greatly impact the power and numbers of the people or faction that location represents.  The proximity to Waking will tie that area or faction deeply to the politics of the Board and will reshape them in significant ways for Season 5.

• The Board will be unhappy, but not actively antagonistic to the town’s choice. 

• Keep Waking in the air, no matter the cost

• Great sacrifices may have to be made to achieve this, but it will be possible to keep the floating skyship-city in the air, despite the failure of the Capacity Engine.

• Waking will continue to leak pollution and runoff on the area it sits over, causing ecological damage wherever it passes, but the Board’s Seat of Power will be maintained. No faction or location will be specifically removed or heavily reduced.

• This Choice represents the Status Quo, and allows the San Saba Board to continue business as usual.

• Shoot Waking from the Sky

• The Rook has a plan to end the threat of Waking once and for all and intends to remove the Board’s seat of power with extreme violence.

• A skyship of this magnitude will crash land with the force of a high yield bomb and will annihilate the faction and the area for miles in every direction, resulting in untold lives lost and ecological devastation that the area has not experienced since the Hiway War. The area the destroyed skyship-city crashes into will be decimated, and the faction and Waking will be largely wiped out.

• The LCs will have to choose where the husk of the destroyed city falls, and which faction is impacted by the destruction.

• This is an open act of aggression against the Board and will have long-term consequences for the story and Bravado heading into Season 5.

The time for new ideas is over.

There will be no Option D.

Now, we go with the options before us, make the best of bad choices, and figure out how to live with ourselves in the Aftermath. 

These are merely some of the ramifications of these choices. But in the interest of transparency, we want to give you the broad strokes so that you understand the potential outcomes you might be angling for. Further, less wide sweeping repercussions will be discoverable in game.

SURVIVING THE WAKE

One of the major set pieces of this event will be a four hour long assault on the Depot we have dubbed Surviving the Wake. From 10pm - 2am Saturday Night, the town of Bravado is rendered unlivable as Waking, no matter the choice that was made, passes over, raining down smog, radioactive waste, zed, and other calamities. 

During this time, you will not be able to leave the Depot unless specifically instructed (or to use the restroom).

This fight will be long, hard, and completely exhilarating. A protracted fight with Zombies, including some old returning 2.0 favorites that the ST Senate decided we just couldn’t live without anymore.  But this means you should plan for that in advance. Get those brews brewed, meals cooked and herbs farmed before 10pm Saturday night.

What about the Post Office?

Expect to have limited or no access to the PO from 10pm - 2am. There will be an option for LCs to secure limited PO access during the assault depending on your choices, but you should assume you will have no access to farming, crafting, or econ during this time. Plan ahead, and make sure you have all the supplies you will need to survive.

What If I die?

Death happens! And is an extremely important part of our setting. But it can be a bummer to die early on in a long fight and feel like you missed out on the rest of the experience. We will have mechanics in play that will keep the fight interactive for anyone who might take an early, untimely death. Hell, dying might even provide some assistance you can bring back with you.

What if I’m not a fighter?

That’s okay! A huge assault has need for many roles, including for non-com LCs. Equipment repair, healing, building reinforcement, and there will be small strike team missions running during the conflict for things like supply runs, distractions, stealth missions, and rescue operations. There will be plenty to do while the phalanx holds the door.

Opportunity for Extra NPC time

We will also be taking a LIMITED number of NPC volunteers for additional time during the assault for perks. Our goal is to fill out a shift to give NPCs time to breathe while maintaining a constant pressure. We do not want to have most of the town on the NPC side of the conflict, so these extra hours will be limited.

THE CRISIS CENTER

This will be the key set piece in choosing the Fate of Waking. 

Waking’s fall represents a huge humanitarian crisis, and in order to assist in the efforts, the Railroad Conglomerate, spearheaded by Felicity Redfield, has set up a CRISIS CENTER in the Depot to manage the many, MANY moving pieces of such an operation. 

The Crisis Center will have active and passive content. You will be able to select actions from the Crisis Center to complete in order to move the needle on the Fate of Waking. Sometimes, this might be requesting specific, pre-written mods to be performed with a group. Sometimes, this might mean interacting with passive content such as completing a ZOM or building a piece of needed equipment.

Sometimes, it might mean making very hard choices on who escapes, and who doesn’t.

Not all of these actions will be altruistic. Some actions will represent taking advantage of the crisis, rather than assisting with it. Every catastrophe has its opportunists.

The goal of the Crisis Center is to have a very low threshold of entry. Anyone can complete an Action from the Center-  interact with the plot and have things to do that MATTER. But the Center will also provide large benefits to digging deeper into the mechanics to be strategic with your choices. We will get more into the mechanics of this Center in later blog posts.

Artwork by Beau Lee

THE STAKEHOLDERS MEETING

The Law of San Saba will be written, revised, and unwritten by a majority vote of The Board.

Suggestions for new Laws or amendments to the Charter will be presented to the assembled Stakeholders of the San Saba each year during the annual Stakeholder’s Meeting, for a period of consideration no shorter than 3 days.

Amidst of this calamity, politics continue to roll ever upward, ever onward, yes?

The annual Stakeholders Meeting is how laws of the San Saba, and the San Saba Charter itself, can be changed. Have a pesky law you don’t like? Vote to change it. Want a new law established? Petition the Board. 

Currently, there is an open seat on The Board due to the untimely destruction of The Scientist by the Archons. Surely that won’t be an important chess piece in anyone’s political machinations.

Several laws will be suggested by the San Saba Board for a general vote of the stakeholders of the San Saba. These laws will offer various changes to the Charter or Laws as we progress the story into Season 5. But these are not the only changes to the laws that can enter play.

How do I petition to add or change a law?

If you want to submit your own change to the Law or the Charter of the Board, you can put the wording of your change in front of The Board for immediate review, via an application.

• You must have a Trustee (someone with Master Society Membership), 100 Brass, and the signatures of 50 different LCs. So start planning now!

• This effort does not guarantee the change will be enacted. The Board will review all petitions and vote during the Burning Season. 

• The sooner you can submit your proposed change, the sooner we can include it into the politics of the weekend. You can submit your intended change early, via a Personal Plot Request.

Your Society Membership Matters

The Board will be suggesting several new laws for vote by Society Members, and you will have a direct voice in how these votes resolve. Each attending character may cast a ballot, and you receive a number of votes equal to your level of Society Membership with a San Saba Faction.

• Basic Membership (Contractor):  1 vote

• Proficient Membership (Stakeholder): 2 votes

• Master Membership (Trustee): 5 votes.  

Remember, if you don’t currently have a Society Membership, you can earn one quickly with a San Saba Work Order. If you have multiple faction contracts, you must Pick ONE faction to vote under. The faction you choose to represent for your vote will also impact how powerful that Board member’s voice is in future politics of the San Saba Board.

an Air of Legitimacy

The final action you can take during the Stakeholder’s meeting is to formally recognize your in-game player group as a political power in the San Saba. This is the way that we recognize player factions by the San Saba Board, and it can even allow you to vote as your player group on the ballots instead of representing a San Saba faction.

Any LC-led faction that completes a series of tasks on a Zone of Mechanics can earn the support of the San Saba Board. These tasks will require you to politic with the Board members, spend Brass and resources, and earn your way into the halls of power. If you succeed, you will gain a unique Player-Led Faction Bonus and custom ZOM for next season for your player group.  These Player abilities can offer powerful activated abilities for your faction each game, and you might have seen some of these abilities in play over this season!

Currently recognized groups (the Road Royals, Shields of the Lonestar, and Ramguard) must re-up their applications at this time as well to maintain their Board recognition.

ZIP LINE MOD AND POOL CONTENT!

We’ve covered a lot today, but we have a few more cool events to share:

Anyone ever zip lined off a falling airship before? Soon, we will be releasing more details on a special Zip Line Mod for this event. Because use of the zip line incurs an extra cost, we will be selling a ticket add on soon for using the zip line.

And don’t worry. This mod will not be restricted to those who want to do the zip line and purchase that pass. There will be content for those who would like to go on the mod but don’t want to, or can’t, ride the zip line. Details to come! Stay Tuned!

Lastly, we will once again have access to the Camp Kachina Swimming Pool for our May event! Make sure to pack your swimsuit for some summer fun by the pool!

Waking’s fate is in your hands. And the San Saba will never look the same. TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

Pre-register and get your choice of NPC shift to maximize your experience!

 See you soon Vados!

Hells of the San Saba: Rules You Should Know

It’s Jonathan here with our last weekly blog post for the upcoming event, HELLS OF THE SAN SABA! This is final post in the leadup for our April DR:TX event written by our Overarc STs, Ash Sexton, Ren Lewis and Andrew Harper. Today we will talk about about some Rules You Should Know, including a reminder about Water Rations, the danger of Sinkholes, and some Threat Skills of Note like Psionic Vampire, Fear, and Raider Rage!

• Did you hear? We are running a Returning Player Campaign through the end of the season. If you have friends that have been away from DR for a bit, not only can you earn some CAPs for inviting them back, but they can also get a head start with some free items and benefits for coming back home to Bravado.

• Blueprints were updated a few weeks ago, and another round of updates hit shortly after. I’ve catalogued most of these changes on my Blueprint Checklist, but I have written a blog post on the topic as well.

  • TL;DR: You need to replace the cards for your Murder Inc gear immediately, but you can update the blueprints and other item cards through the Post Office in game when convenient. You probably didn’t have any of the items that were removed from play.

• DR National updated their main website with some neat graphics, but more importantly posted about the next stage of the LIT 1.0 to 2.0 Conversion. This won’t have much impact on you if you only attend live events, but if you do online play you should check out the blog post they just released: Dystopia Rising News

  • TL;DR: Any herbs, brews, meals, and other single-use consumables without expiration dates will be expired as of July 1st.

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team.

Let’s get into the main topic, Rules You Should Know!

Water Rations, art by Shan Lind.

Water shortages & YOU!

I covered these full mechanics of our new Illustrated Item Cards, WATER RATIONS, in our first post, Welcome to the Hells of the San Saba. I’ve also added these mechanics to the Temporary Local Mechanics, found on our website. The theme of this even is on RESOURCE SCARCITY, so this is a big part of the challenge of the weekend.

Let’s sum up the basics once more:

New Item Cards: WATER RATIONS

• These Illustrated Item Cards will be given out at check in and will be used throughout the event as a resource for clean, potable water. These are Local Plot Cards and may be traded, bought, lost, or stolen.

• You can get three Water Rations during check-in or choose to take less if you like a challenge.

New Roleplay Burdens - Parched & Dehydrated

• You must drink at least one carded Brew or Water Ration each 12s.

• If you don’t stay hydrated, you become PARCHED. While Parched you don’t refresh your Mind points at the 12s. Any Brew or Water Ration fixes this condition but doesn’t restore your lost Mind points.

• If you go another 12s without any water, you become DEHYDRATED. Once at this stage, only Water Rations will fix your condition. While Dehydrated you must spend BODY as well as Mind points to activate a Skill. Ouch!

• If you stay Dehydrated at the next 12s, you die. Try to drink some water, okay?

• You can GAIN the Parched or Dehydrated keyword immediately through certain actions this weekend, but it will be telegraphed in advance if this is possible during a mod or Zone of Mechanics.

How do you get more Water Rations?

• NPCs and certain mods will offer Water Rations as rewards throughout the weekend.

• Players with Foraging, Trailblazing, and Hunting will be able to gather new Water Ration cards from the Post Office.

• You can purchase these from other players, and trade them for Brass, favors, or in exchange for goods and services.

Drought Burdened Crafting

• Any use of Agricultural must spend 1 Water Ration per trip to the Post Office for Agricultural (up to 60 minutes/30 mind).

• Any use of Culinary recipes require 1 Water Ration in addition to the normal resources.

We will cover this once again during Opening Announcements, but the basic cycle of this mechanic is pretty simple — Drink water rations regularly, or else you take a penalty. If you need to do certain crafting, you’ll need to spend Water Rations to perform the skill.

Remember, you can Opt Out of potential death at any time by consuming at least one Water Ration!

Sinkholes

The drought has caused a bit of instability in the San Saba. The ground is as cracked and parched as your characters, and the environmental stress has aggravated the SINKHOLE problem that was created during the IMPRINT BY DESIGN event.

During this event, you will periodically encounter a SINKHOLE, marked with a yellow Zone of Mechanics instructions. Here’s how it will work:

• While within 10 feet of a Red Glowstick (or otherwise marked area) if there are more than 10 Individuals (LC’s, NPC’s, etc.) gathered in this area, the ground beneath begins to crumble underfoot, and all Individuals in the area are affected.

• Any Individual may call “SINKHOLE, AOE TAKEDOWN 10 SECONDS” every 30 seconds until the number of Individuals is reduced to 5 Individuals or Less.

  • This AoE call may be countered by Balance.

• Any Individual may use Basic Enhanced Movement, Proficient Telekinetics, or Master Malicious to traverse through this area unharmed, regardless of the number of Individuals within the space.

Hope you don’t run into anything dangerous while having to deal with a Sinkhole!

Headhunter Raiders

Threat Skills of Note - Raider Clans

Most of the threats you will encounter this weekend will be various types of RAIDERS. Raiders are generally former Strains that succumbed to the deadly disease known as BAD BRAIN. Once the disease rewrites their brain, they lose whatever spark of humanity that they had left and become killing machines bent on feeding and killing. Over time, these infected Strains evolve and mutate into something worse, and band together with others like them into loose tribes and clans.

This means that most of the Threat Skills will be pretty basic during THE HELLS OF THE SAN SABA. You might see some variations of player skills like Break, Mangle, Takedown, or Choking Blow used by Raiders, and many can swing for higher amounts of damage with a single swing. But most of their skills are ones that you might have as a player, save for the few we will cover below.

The real danger of Raiders is that they are intelligent foes, if a bit single-minded.

Raiders are clever and cunning, but they are still terrible, deadly foes to all Strains across the Wasteland. They can use equipment, operate doors, set ambushes, and sometimes even perform first aid to keep their prey from bleeding to death. Very few people can hope to talk or reason with a Raider, save for perhaps the Tainted Strain. They are capable of using basic tools and strategy, but are still predatory creatures driven by the basic instinct to hunt, kill, and feed on the flesh of their victims. Raiders tend to not play nice with each other, and often follow the biggest and meanest of their kind on raids into survivor settlements.

Let’s cover some of the unique skills possessed by most Raiders.

RAIDER RAGE (Basic Anger Mutation)

• Allows a Raider to call “Raider Rage” to heal their Body to full and fix all limbs instantly. This skill cannot be called while in bleed out, and instead is used mid fight. This berserker rage makes even a common raider into a tough, deadly foe.

RAIDER RUSH (Proficient Anger Mutation)

• Allows a Raider to call “Raider Rush” to become immune to all paralysis, knock out, or mangle effects for 5 minutes. When struck with these effects call “No Effect, Raider Rush.” At the end of the 5 minutes these effect calls are dropped as if they had been canceled. Skill cannot be initially used as a counter or during bleed out.

RAIDER FRENZY (Master Anger Mutation)

• Allows a Raider to call “Raider Frenzy” to become immune to all Anomaly skills for 5 minutes. When struck with anomaly skills call “No effect, Raider Frenzy.” At the end of the 5 minutes these effect calls are dropped as if they had been canceled. Skill cannot be used as an initial counter or during bleed out.

Infectious (Bad Brain)

• All Raiders are infected with the Bad Brain disease (p. 206, DR Corebook). This means if you do something silly like devour a Raider corpse or drink their blood, you’ll probably contract the disease. Even working on some medical procedures on a Raider is ill-advised without the appropriate protection!

Raiders of all types will generally have access to some variation of these abilities. One thing to remember is that ALL of these Raider abilities (Rage, Rush, Frenzy) have to be used while the Raider is still standing. Once they hit Bleed Out, they can’t use these abilities to heal or gain a buff.

An additional Threat Skill worth mentioning is an oldie, but a goldie…

fear (p. 103)

• Many Raiders this weekend will use varieties of the FEAR ability from the DR Corebook. (p. 103). When called, they will declare “Fear, Cannot attack me for 5 minutes!”.

• The Fear effect is broken if you are attacked by another foe, if a threat uses an ability on you, or you are forced to attack by some other effect. As long as the threat avoids hitting you, you are locked out of combat by this effect.

• You don’t have to leave the battlefield, and you can still fight other enemies that did not use Fear on you. There are few resistances to this ability other than some brews and equipment.

• Fear can be a surprisingly deadly ability when used well. If you are in a small group and the Raiders prevent you from attacking, you may not be able to save your friend and have to watch while they are eaten and killed!

Lastly, most Raiders carry equipment that can be LOOTED!

Raiders represent a solid source of items as they tend to collect bits and pieces from their victims, and their weapons can be broken down for valuable scrap. Let’s talk a bit about how this works:

• Raiders will have SALVAGE CARDS, which can be gathered by any player by searching the corpse over 30 seconds. You do not need to have a particular skill to collect these cards as loot. However, these cards have all the rules to use them printed on the card and are marked with a type of Raider Equipment on the front.

• In order to turn these cards into useful resources like Scrap and Herb, you must have the appropriate Salvaging skill listed on the card. You can spend the Mind points listed on the card and turn in the Salvage Card to the Post Office to receive your prize.

• Salvage Cards are still an item card, and can be traded, bought, or stolen like any other Scrap but cannot be used in blueprints without first converting them to scrap. If you don’t have Salvaging, this item may not be very useful, and you might need to trade these to another character or find someone to help you convert the salvaging card.

Resonant Raiders and You!

One last enemy is one we talked about during my blog post on The Resonant, remnants of the sin and decadence of the people of Barogue. To wrap this blog post up, let’s talk about a few important Threat Skills you should know about before facing these mysterious psionic Raiders. These skills have been up on our website for some time, on our Local Threat Skills page, but I’ll summarize a bit here.

Resonant can feed on the emotional turmoil and aberrant energies of lineages as they are dying. This potent ability is represented by the skill call of Psionic Cannibalism. For all intents and purposes, this is treated as a use of the Cannibalism skill and has the same effects.

Psionic Cannibalism

• This skill is resisted by Basic Mental Endurance but remember — you CAN use this skill to defend while in Bleed Out. In fact, it’s one of very few skills that you can use while bleeding!

• If uninterrupted for the full 30 seconds of the roleplay, the Resonant calls “Psionic Cannibalism: Reduce Bleed Out to 1 minute”. Roleplay for this should still be loud and dramatic but the Resonant will roleplay getting close to the target in order to bask and soak in their energies with cries of glee and hunger. The Resonant feasts on the mental energies of the victim instead of physically tearing apart and consuming the target. It is still an agonizing process to the target and they should be encouraged to roleplay appropriately if needed.

Some powerful members of a Resonant Raider clan can even take this emotion leeching ability to the next level and turn it into a potent weapon. Many dangerous creatures can react to the unnatural Anomaly skills of psions with a power called “Anomaly Response”, and the Resonant Raiders are no different.

anomaly response (Basic)

• Whenever you use an Anomaly skill within eyesight of most Resonant Raiders, they will leech some power off of these skills and gain a buff.

• The Resonant will generally call some variation of “Anomaly Response!” and gain an Upsurge effect. This can range from gaining Body, gaining Armor, or worse. If a Resonant Raider notices you are using an Anomaly skill, they can call these reactions. Watch out!

Psionic Vampire (anomaly Response)

• When an Anomaly skill is used within Line of Sight of the Resonant, it can drain the psionic potential from the target. The creature will call “Anomaly Response: Psionic Vampire! Line of Sight, 10 Mind damage, no Anomaly Skill use for 1 Minute!”

• This skill cannot be resisted. Luckily, most Resonant can only complete this attack a few times before exhaustion, and they can only make this attack once per minute on the same target.

• Mind damage causes you to lose Mind points instead of Body. If you cannot lose Mind because you are at 0, this damage has no effect.

• When targeted with this ability, the psion cannot use Anomaly skills for the duration and loses some of their precious Mind points. It might be a good idea to stop using psionic powers near the Resonant so it cannot feed on your psionic energy.

Lastly, some survivors of the Resonant reported that in the presence of some of the raiders, their blood turned to ice and they were frozen in place, fear overwhelming every part of their being. This assault on the senses temporarily blinds and stuns the victims while the Resonant drink in their fear and terror. This ability is represented by the following Threat abilities:

Psionic Assault

• Resisted by Basic Mental Endurance. The Resonant will call “Psionic Assault: Line of Sight, Blinding, Stun, 10 body!”.

• The victim of this power is overwhelmed and left helpless to the fear inducing powers of the Resonant. The only recourse to survive this attack is to steel your nerves and resist the effect entirely. If you use Mental Endurance, you can resist the entire attack!

The final ability of Resonant Raiders is one that is only experienced by those lucky enough to actually kill one of the creatures. In their dying gasps, the agonizing mental energies of the dying Resonant creates a painful void of emotion and psionic energy.

Last Laugh

• Resisted by Basic Mental Endurance. After 10 seconds of maniacal laughter while in Bleed Out, call “Psionic: Last Laugh, Area of Effect 10 Mind damage!”. Instant kill mechanics such as Murder or Double Tap can deny the use of Last Laugh.

wrap up

That’s it for today, Vados! Will your characters have what it takes to survive the calamity of drought, Raiders, sinkholes, and more during THE HELLS OF THE SAN SABA? Are you a survivor that can manage the Water Rations for their crew, or will you rely on force or trickery to obtain the much-needed water you need? Let’s find out together this weekend!

TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR! SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND AT CAMP KACHINA!

See you soon, Vados!

Collection Day & the Grave Tax

It’s Jonathan here with our next weekly blog post for the upcoming event, HELLS OF THE SAN SABA! This is leadup for our April DR:TX event written by our Overarc STs, Ash Sexton, Ren Lewis and Andrew Harper. Today we will talk a bit about one of the major world events that happens during April, Collection Day, and the role this “holiday” plays for the Grave Council. We will also cover the details on the GRAVE TAX, and what you can expect from this event if you owe a debt to the Grave Council.

• Did you hear? We are running a Returning Player Campaign through the end of the season. If you have friends that have been away from DR for a bit, not only can you earn some CAPs for inviting them back, but they can also get a head start with some free items and benefits for coming back home to Bravado.

• Blueprints were updated a few weeks ago, and another round of updates hit shortly after. I’ve catalogued most of these changes on my Blueprint Checklist, but I have written a blog post on the topic as well.

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team.

Let’s talk a little bit about the “holiday” that occurs during our next event…

In life there are only two things assured to us, Death and Taxes. The Grave Tax is inevitable, it is necessary, and paying it yearly is as regular as a bowel movement. There is nothing glamorous or terrifying about the Grave Tax, so long as yours is paid on time and in full. Otherwise, the Reckoners; blackclad taxmen who specialize in wetwork, will provide the only alternative known to Taxes; that being Death.

Collection Day

A Grave Council “holiday” of sorts, Collection Day is when the Grave Taxes come due, once a year, normally in the oldcestor month of April.  The forces of accountants and taxmen take to the towns and cities of the Lonestar to upkeep the ledgers of life and death, collect interest on the debts they are owed, and keep tabs on those who would irritate the balance of power in the Wastes. During this time, the fees for Groundskeepers can skyrocket in price, and people across the land strive to avoid an untimely death that could increase their debt, or else the Reckoners could attempt to “close your account” for good.

During the Collection Day “festivities”, the fee for deaths normally doubles in price.  As the bulk of the Grave Council is concerned with upkeep on the ledgers and collection of debts, distractions to manage the morgues have an additional opportunity cost assessed.  

If the debt is deferred, the Grave Council normally applies interest to the debt until it is paid.  This is at a negligible rate but accounts for the cost of maintaining the morgues of the Lone Star.  At Collection Day, a debtor must pay at least a portion of their interest to the Grave Council or risk being held in breach of contract.

• During Collection Day (which normally occurs in April), Tax Collectors & Reckoners will be available to provide a balance of a person’s account and to offer alternative methods of paying the interest.

• This debt can be accessed by interacting with Grave Council characters or through mechanics at the Post Office

Why do we have a Collection day?

Collection Day was a local tradition we introduced to DR:TX back at the start of 3.0. Shan & Aesa introduced the various factions of the San Saba, one of them being the GRAVE COUNCIL. This faction was envisioned to handle two major things in the Dystopia Rising game — how we handle Death scenes from an “in-character” perspective, and how we could create a threat of punishment for breaking the contracts and laws of the region.

One phrase that kept coming up in our design docs and brainstorm sessions was the familiar quote about death and taxes. We loved the idea of creepy taxmen coming to collect what is owed around the same time the rest of us are forced to pay our tax debts to the government. From there, Collection Day was kind of… inevitable.

We missed our first attempt at running Collection Day due to the pandemic closing down live events, but we revisited this “holiday” last year amid some turbulent times for the Grave Council faction. During that event, COLLECTION DAY, the leader of the Grave Council, Takheeta Firstborn, gave her life to cure a sickness that plagued the morgues of the San Saba.

We have three major themes of this holiday, from a Storyteller perspective:

• Death has Consequences - In a world where survivors can return from death again and again, crimes like murder can run rampant unless some threat of punishment is enforced.  The Grave Tax is a method to prevent the needless deaths of shareholders, merchants, and Vados, and is assessed as a financial burden upon death.  Unnecessary death is frowned upon and punished more heavily.

• Death Comes for All, Pauper or Prince - The Grave Council does not care for the status placed upon a person in the times within the Mortis Amaranthine. They pursue their due from every being that walks the San Saba wastes, no matter their station. The Groundskeepers treat the death of a Pureblood from an ivory tower the same as they treat the death of a wandering Rover.

• Story, not Punishment - The purpose of the Grave Tax is not to punish players for dying or to create an undue financial burden.  The Grave Tax provides a concrete way to involve yourself in the greater story of the Lone Star, interact with several powerful factions, and seek out assistance and roleplay with other characters in the game.  It is tied with the enforcement of law in the game and can be opted out if the player wishes to avoid a negative play experience.

Collection Day is still an “opt in” holiday, as we have many options to bypass our system of Grave Taxes if this is not a story you want to tell. I’ll cover the details of the Grave Tax in a moment, but let’s talk about how Collection Day has changed for this year…

The latin in this Grave Council faction symbol translates to “Death and Taxes”. Aesa even included our symbol for Brass Notes into the forehead of the skull.

the story of collection day DURING A DROUGHT

This year, our story takes us back to familiar territory, with a bit of a twist. You see, for years, the Grave Tax and Collection Day were just an assumed burden. Ever since the Hiway War, the morgues of the San Saba have been sick, and the very act of retrieving a person from the Grave Mind intact was fraught with risk and peril. Very few questioned the Grave Tax or the role the Grave Council played in maintaining the Morgues of the region.

Until last year.

Last year, Takheeta Firstborn, the High Mystagogue of the Grave Council and leader of the faction, gave her life in service of the Great Work — to cure the ailing morgues once and for all. Using a Barogian artifact called the CANTANKEROUS MATRIX, she was able to conduct a ritual to cleanse the morgues of the Plague of the Unfinished and finally restoring the damage done by years of war and misuse of the Grave Mind.

In her zeal, the process to heal the morgues worked a little TOO well, and for a time, every morgue in the region was sealed with a scabrous tissue that prevented those that died from returning. The Grave Council worked diligently to correct the mistake, but it took another sacrifice, of a young man named Eight to stabilize the morgues and finish the work that Takheeta Firstborn had started. Their imprint joined with Takheeta’s to form a new balance to the cycle of death and rebirth, a Gravemind Shard called the Eightfold Mother.

Since the formation of the EIGHTFOLD MOTHER and the curing of the Plague of the Unfinished, the region has experienced a stability not seen since before the Hiway War. This has dramatically eased the burden on the Groundskeepers and the Grave Council but has created unrest at the same time. With the threat of the Plague gone, the job has become somewhat mundane.

There are those that suggest that Grave Council has not earned their due this year, that perhaps the tradition of Collection Day and the Grave Tax are a misuse of funds and maybe a relic of the past. The beleaguered new leader of the Grave Council, Reckoner-General Rampart has argued that the Council still performs needed tasks, but this seems more and more like a political response as the days pass. A sickness spreading through the Groundskeepers has yet to find a cure, despite the supposed expertise of the Grave Council on matters relating to the Mortis Amarathine.

With the added stress of clean water being in short supply, increased raider activity targeting psions in the area, including those psions that make up the various Graverobbers and Groundskeepers of the faction, it seems as though a tipping point is being reached. How will the Grave Council weather this new storm during their “holiday” of Collection Day? Can the faction survive if they cannot collect the Grave Tax that funds their very operation?

So, with that context in mind, let’s look at some of the mechanics of the Grave Tax itself…

The Grave Tax

The Grave Tax is one of the enforced laws of San Saba Territories and a tradition of the Grave Council that helps cover the maintenance of the Morgues of the Lone Star.  This is a fee, normally paid in Brass notes, that a Groundskeeper is paid to retrieve someone from the Mortis Amaranthine and is tracked and collected by the agents of the Grave Council.  As part of an agreement with the newly formed Railroad Conglomerate, the Board has delegated authority over every Morgue within the San Saba Territories and the Lone Star to the Grave Council and enshrined the Grave Tax into law of the San Saba Board:

“None shall interfere with the Delivery of the Post, Nor the Collection of the Grave Tax.”

Implementing the Grave Tax

When a character dies in Bravado, this fee is assessed by the Groundskeepers (or STs) that run your death scene.  Depending on the nature of the death, the fee can be classified into one of several categories or brackets:

Class 1: Accidental or Unpreventable Death (25 Brass)

• Death by Zed, Raider, or a Creature of the Wastes

• Death from the Environment, or Natural Disasters

• This is the standard and most common fee assessed for passage through the Mortis Amaranthine or a Sunless Garden.

• If the death cannot be clearly identified as a Class 2 or 3 death, this is the minimum fee for the Grave Tax.

Class 2: Preventable Death (50 Brass)

• Death that could have been avoided in some way.  Foolhardy, silly mistakes are normally classified in this manner.  Needlessly feeding the Gravemind is a threat to the delicate balance of the Mortis Amaranthine.

• Duels, Crimes of Passion, Violations of the Laws.  If an action of the deceased could have been avoided by upholding the laws and contracts of the San Saba, this level of fine is normally assessed.

• If a Law Dog is responsible for killing a target during apprehension, this is the normal fee assessed to the Law Dog instead of the deceased.

Class 3: Intentional Death, or Murder (100+ Brass)

• Purposefully feeding the Gravemind is the most grievous crime. This can include collateral damage and actions that lead to the death of others in addition to themselves, particularly in ways that can be proven by the recently deceased or other witnesses. This is the starting amount of a fee for this type of death but can escalate accordingly to the severity.  

• If a Law Dog can investigate and identify that the deceased was murdered by another, this fee is instead assessed to the Killer of the person that died.  Depending on the egregiousness of the murder, this fee will often be increased substantially.

• A member of the Law Dogs known as a Hell Hound is almost never assessed a fee for Murder, provided the death occurs in the course of their duties.  Abuse of this privilege can cost the Hell Hound their title and protection of the Board.

• Sanctioned targets of the Red Ledger do not incur a Grave Tax on the striker. 

As you can see, the key person in charge of deciding this amount is the Groundskeeper. Let’s talk about the role they play…

The Role of the Groundskeepers and Graverobbers

The Groundskeepers of the Grave Council are responsible for the common task of helping guide an unfortunate soul through the Mortis Amaranthine and provide the support necessary to complete the transition in one piece.  The Groundskeepers interview the dead and assess the correct level of tax based on the manner of death and provide a friendly face for those that have undergone the trauma of the Mortis Amaranthine. Originally, the Council earned the right to charge a Grave Tax by promising a rebirth free of the Curse of the Unfinished, a wasting plague that infects those that return to the living without help, but this mandate has grown murky in recent months.  There are rumors that since the Curse of the Unfinished is no longer be the threat it once was that there is no need for Groundskeepers any longer.

The Sanctioned Graverobbers of the Council operate in a contrasting role to the Groundskeepers as fixers and specialists that deal with outbreaks of disease and issues with the Morgues of the Lone Star.  While they are also equally capable of the more rote tasks of the Groundskeeper if needed, their abilities are kept in reserve for the rite of Pallor Mortis and assessing outside threats to the Gravemind.

The recently deceased has several choices, after a Grave Tax is assessed by the Groundskeeper: 

• Pay the debt, in full, immediately or by the end of the weekend event.  

• If not paid to the Groundskeeper at the Morgue, the fee can be submitted to the Depot, through an Ops Guide.

• Defer the payment until Collection Day

• If the Tax is not paid by the end of the event, it is automatically deferred to Collection Day and is added to the Grave Ledger.

• Using this method will offer the players a chance to have a scene later in the season during the Collection Day event.

• Ask for Forbearance, or assistance, from the Pauper’s Fund

• If the player wants to opt out of the Grave Tax, the fee is said to have been simply paid by the Fund so that a negative play experience does not happen.

• If the player cannot afford the debt or does not want to defer until Collection Day, they can seek an alternate method of payment by taking a debt to the Widows instead.

• Forbearance is not granted for deaths that occur on No Quarter mods, during CvC, or deaths that occur in the Wasteland.

• Use a Grave Council Voucher to pay the debt

• This offers a way that another player can pay the debt or earn an advantage for their influence in the faction for themselves.

• Certain San Saba Socials can mark a period of time where the Grave Tax is not charged, provided a Stakeholder spent the money to post it at the Post Office.

The Pauper’s Fund

The Widows of the Lone Star maintain an account called the Pauper’s Fund with the Grave Council that helps alleviate the debt of the unfortunate or those that cannot afford to pay.  This fund pays the Grave Taxes of those that ask for assistance and is collected by the various charitable works of the Widows.

• The Grave Tax is meant as a way to create a cool story behind each death, not a burden or punishment.  The Pauper’s Fund can be used in the cases where a player wishes to opt out of this mechanic, within reason.  

• Class 3 deaths cannot normally be paid from the Pauper’s Fund (as the player chose to be flagged for CvC).  There are rumors of powerful favors or vouchers from the Widows or other factions that might be an exception to this rule.

• Using the Pauper’s Fund will normally require a “Widow’s Favor” completed on behalf of the Widows in exchange for their assistance, instead of a Brass payment.  Widow Clauthia normally hears requests to clear a debt to the Widows during her afternoon tea. 

• Requests to pay off the debt should be submitted as Action Requests in between events.

You can find a list of our current Groundskeepers on our Staff Listing on our website.

wrap up

That’s it for today folks! I’ll be back next week with our traditional Rules You Should Know on the Wednesday before our event, THE HELLS OF THE SAN SABA. We hope you will join us for this event, where we hope to test the limits of your character’s endurance and skill with water shortages, crazed psionic raiders, and the most threatening foe of all — taxes and bureacracy!

See you soon Vados!

March Blueprint Update

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. This week, I have a special edition concerning the new March Blueprint Update, particularly discussing some of the notable changes and errata. I’ll also try to cover how we will be handling this change with DR:TX.

Blueprints are one of my favorite things about our game. I love the Blueprint collecting mini game within Dystopia Rising (as you may know), and any time there is an update there’s a lot of theory crafting and planning before that next event to prepare for the changes. The March Update is one of the more significant updates to the Blueprint system in 3.0 since the Augment releases last year.

You can check out a complete list of changes in the Blueprint Changelog. I’ve also catalogued some of the updates in my Blueprint Checklist that I maintain on our DR:TX website, and once these new prints are finally added to the database, you’ll be able to check the individual items for yourself on the Character Database.

This is a long post, and if you don’t care about Blueprints you might find some of this boring. I’m always happy to chat about this aspect of DR anytime, so I’d love to hear your feedback.

The former design of the Seasonal Blueprints. You’ll notice each was marked as a “2021 Season Print”.

A summary of the Changes

Let’s cover the basics of what changed in the March Update. A total of 36 blueprints were updated during this change.

• Seasonal Blueprints no longer exist. This was a category of temporary blueprints released before the pandemic that were supposed to expire after 6 months, but that expiration kept getting extended for the next several years. This is a big change that has been a long time coming, so it’s no surprise to see these changes.

• Six blueprints were removed from play. I’ll go into more detail on each below, but most of these were either online prints, items that used problematic mechanics, or ones that were rarely used.

  • Grave Diver’s Remedy

  • High Adventure Beyond Compare

  • High Roller’s Unfair Advantage

  • Imprint Harvested Avonturr Map

  • Smoke and Mirrors Parlor

  • Temple Room Checker

• The remaining Seasonal Blueprints are now normal blueprints instead. The prints formerly-known-as Seasonal Blueprints were mostly changed to full National Blueprints or “Open Use” Blueprints like the majority of blueprints in the game.

• Most of these Blueprints were edited and changed. While all have a new template and layout, a few got new material costs, some have edited abilities, and some have simply been cleaned up to be easier to understand. Many of these changes were simply updating formatting, fixing typos, and correcting a lot of rules disputes.

• All “Cheat” Mechanics are gone. As the person who wrote most of these prints, these were beset by a lot of problems and were way too wordy. These will need a big reworking if they are ever to be reintroduced, but these were a product of a time before Keywords. For now, enjoy your poker games and games of chance free from (mechanical) cheating!

• Most of the Murder Inc. Blueprints were updated. These prints were first released during the Dead Water event with the introduction of the shadowy assassin guild. These were updated for some mechanics changes, material costs, and now most require the Society Membership in Murder Inc. to use and craft.

A lot of these items are still very popular or iconic items that many, many players have built in game. While most of the major changes have been listed on the Blueprint Changelog, I’d instead like to talk about how we will be handling this change within DR:TX.

How will DR:TX handle this change?

We will be taking the same stance as our friends at DR:NY to handle this change over. Here’s how you can prepare for this change to item cards and blueprints:

• Destroy your “Removed From Play” Blueprints & Items. If you have an item card or blueprint that has been removed from play, go ahead and discard it. You probably didn’t have any of these items anyways. You can find a list in this blog post, or in our Blueprint Checklist.

• Any existing Item Cards that were changed stay in play until they expire, but may not be extended. If you have an item card made from a seasonal blueprint, you can continue to use it as a "Legacy” item until the card expires. You may not extend the expiration date in any way — once it’s gone, it’s gone. Most of these items had short life spans, so these items will be out of play by time we start Season 5.

• All Murder Inc. items must be replaced with a new card. If you have an item card made from a Murder Inc. blueprint, you must have the item re-carded before you can use it. You cannot use old versions of the card. Please turn in your old item card to the Post Office at a DR:TX event and we will issue a corrected version.

• The Post Office can reprint updated Blueprints. Simply turn in your old blueprints at the Post Office during a DR:TX event, and we’ll replace them with new ones. As a courtesy, please limit yourself to five such blueprints at a time if there is a line.

Pretty simple! Please be courteous of our Post Office guides, as this is a big change to implement in play and it might lead to some delays.

Jonathan’s Unofficial Commentary

DIRECTOR’S NOTE: The following part is just my interpretation of the changes to some of these prints, and should be taken as nothing more than hot takes and opinions. I’ve love to hear your opinions and hot takes too!

The original Seasonal Blueprints were first introduced at the National Event “Dr. Ottoman’s Lab”. These were the first Augment prints, and introduced a number of very powerful and very needed updates to some key aspects of play (particularly HEALING!). The original intention for many of these blueprints was to be temporary items as a way of play-testing new blueprints, but they were meant to phase out within 6 months. The pandemic changed all that, both delaying the planned expiration and introducing new online-only Seasonal prints.

These Seasonal prints also introduced two new National resource items, Mortis Fern and Imprint Crystals. The ability to get these items was limited to National events and Premiere games, so many of these items were very difficult to craft unless you traveled to big events, if you could even find a way to harvest these items. Some of the other blueprints had extremely expensive materials and it limited their use to characters with lots of scrap and currency. Overall, something had to change.

The March Update to these prints not only removes these National scrap and herb from play, deletes a few problematic or unnecessary prints from play, but it balances out several very powerful meta-defining items.

This has been a change in the works for a while, and most of these changes were to be expected. Many of these Seasonal Blueprints were simply TOO GOOD. As new Augments were released, many of these items were still superior choices to new blueprints and this change levels the playing field a bit. Some of the changes are just common sense updates to wording, changes to material costs and such, but a few were significantly reduced in power.

I’ve included some of my notes on the blueprint changes below. I’ve tried to clarify some of the changes that were not clearly reflected in the Blueprint Changelog or in the Item Database unless you are ADHD like me and compared the differences. Enjoy!

SEASONAL BLUEPRINT UPDATEs

NOTE: The notes in Italics are from the national Blueprint Changelog. The normal text portions are my comments and notes.

• Abyssal Stitch Procedure

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • Outside of minor formatting issues, the big unlisted change here is that it no longer requires any Necroinfluencer to use, just Resolve. If you enjoyed using this procedure, you’ll appreciate the savings.

• Blue Hue Goo

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • This print didn’t really change much. The wording on the effect is much clearer now and should prevent a lot of the confusion with this item. It’s a subtle change, but much appreciated.

• Brain Disorientah

  • Brain Disorientah is now a trap that cannot be augmented.

  • Previously, this item was a Gizmo that needed Exotic Weapons to use. Changing it to a trap just makes sense to me — it always felt like a trap item. The new version is a bit cheaper, as it no longer needs a Fuel System to build, but stays mostly the same. Because it’s a trap, it will take a bit longer to set up, but it’s a Container Trap so you can keep it as a portable bomb. The ability to shut down “Never Here” simply by opening a box means this item can dramatically affect big bad guys as well. Storytellers and CvC-inclined folks need to be aware of this change and consider it for mods and CvC fights. Be careful of anyone lugging around a big box into a fight!

• Crystodyne Regalia

  • Crystodyne Regalia now restores 10 Mind and may only be used on a Target once every 30 minutes.

  • This was a pretty big change, but closes an exploit that some folks were abusing. The 30 minute cool-down fixes that issue pretty nicely. Some of the unlisted changes - the Mind cost to make this went down to 15, from 30. This is a nice change, as it makes it easier for a new player to build. The damage you take from the feedback increased to 5 (from 2), and the PFA ability changed slightly. To self heal a mangled limb on yourself you can now either spend Resolve or 20 mind. The heal on another player stayed the same. It also no longer requires a Psionic Crystal to make a copy.

• Crystal Candy Nucleation

  • Crystal Candy Nucleation now removes the Target’s ability to use Anomaly skills until the next 12s or 4 hours, whichever is longer and may only be Targeted once per 12s.

  • In addition to the change above, the effects changed in a small, but significant way. If you don’t spend a Resolve to stay alive, the procedure now inflicts 20 Body on the target instead, but it is no longer a Killing Blow. This means you are less likely to accidentally kill a patient, especially since you can’t harvest Candy from them over and over. The added penalty of losing access to all of your Anomaly skills means you probably won’t be using this on a friend to make cheap crystal candy.

• Dead and Luvin’ It Lenses

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • This was a weird pseudo-augment before, and it is now officially an Armor Augment. It no longer requires Imprint Crystals to make, and there’s a slight change to the wording of the ability to let it work on ANY target. This is an important change, as it can now target Archons (who have their own sub-type that is not Lineage, Undead, etc.).

• The Dead Man’s Hand

  • The Dead Man’s Hand the basic ability was removed from play and the PFA ability became the basic ability.

  • This was formerly a Cheat item, but the PFA was my favorite part. It is now officially an Augment and the material cost on this item significantly decreased. It only needs one Basic Culinary Crafting Component (a Simple Adhesive) to make versus three. The Mind cost to craft decreased to 5 mind, and it now requires Proficient Larceny to use. This is a great improvement overall for an iconic item, and I’m really happy about this change.

• Doc Ottoman’s Disease Control Kit

  • Dr. Ottoman Disease Kit had its proficient mechanics updated.

  • There are a few slight wording changes here, but the main change is listed above. This mechanic now deals only with understanding the Vectors of the disease. This is a significant change as it leaves the “ask a question about the disease” function to the basic research mechanic in the Disease section in the DR Corebook. The previous version was probably TOO fast at uncovering facts about a disease and this change should allow some more time for disease plots to unravel. I don’t think many people will really build this anymore unless it’s needed for a plot.

  • While the overall cost remained the same, this no longer requires a Proficient Artisan Crafting Component to make. This means that a brand-new character with Basic Artisan can fully construct these items. All of the Doctor’s items now require Lore Medical to duplicate the blueprints.

• Doc Ottoman’s Doctor’s Kit

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • While the overall cost remained the same, this no longer requires a Proficient Artisan Crafting Component to make. This means that a brand-new character with Basic Artisan can fully construct these items. All of the Doctor’s items now require Lore Medical to duplicate the blueprints.

• Doc Ottoman’s Sawbones Kit

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • While the overall cost remained the same, this no longer requires a Proficient Artisan Crafting Component to make. This means that a brand-new character with Basic Artisan can fully construct these items. All of the Doctor’s items now require Lore Medical to duplicate the blueprints.

• Essex Entertainer’s Kit

  • Essex Entertainer’s Kit reworded for clarity and brevity.

  • No longer requires Lore Faith to copy, and the text is much improved. It is no longer a Container though, and can’t be trapped. Solid changes here, and it’s much more clear how it interacts with the Dive Bar, instead of that effect being listed on the Room Augment.

• Focus Overload Crystal

  • Focus Overload Crystal has had the fracture removed and no longer Targets anyone other than the user and Raiders/Undead Targets.

  • Only minor changes here, but most of this is simply changed wording. The part above about fractures was on the original print, but it’s much more clear how it works. The biggest impact you’ll see is that it improves the blast radius to an Area of Effect range instead of the 3 Steps in the Master Pyro skill. Slightly more expensive to craft and still a nasty tool to use against Full Dead.

• Mechanical Crafting Area

  • Clarified that the proficient ability only works for the person activating.

  • This was updated on 3/22 based on a National clarification on Discord, but changes how the Proficient ability functions pretty severely. The Proficient ability was confusing and many players assumed it was not limited to just one target. Now, it is clear that a person can spend Resolve to speed up crafting for just themselves, and not everyone at the Crafting Area. I’ll definitely miss the previous edition, as I liked the interpretation that let you buff a crowd of crafters rather than make one person a super repair bot.

• OOPH Bullet Plates

  • OOPH Bullet Plates now only blocks base damage from firearms and exotic firearms.

  • This is a painful change for one of my favorite Augments, but it means it’s no longer immune to a skilled Marksman with better attacks and it resolves most of the rules questions about Line of Sight attacks. The Augment is slightly cheaper to make, but it’s overall power is much closer to the other Shield Augments. I don’t know if I’ll rebuild one of these for the future, but it still should be very useful versus NPCs with Firearms.

• Queen’s Cup

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • This no longer requires Imprint Crystals to make! Hooray! This buff item gives an alternative to the AA Mess Kit for regaining Mind points, and now more clearly allows you to double Hallucinogen brews as well as Recovery brews. Great change here and I think you’ll see more folks using these in the future.

• Shredzilla Grind Gears

  • Shredzilla Grindgears can now be used with any melee standard and only works on the Proficient Activation.

  • Another painful change. Now the difference between this and the Superior Weapon Balancing is only the speed of the damage being dealt, and not the efficiency. You can deal 15 damage in three swings for 5 mind, versus 25 damage over 5 flurries with the other augment. While it got considerably cheaper to make, I think you’ll see folks choosing other Augments than this one in the future.

• Street Noble’s Cap

  • Street Nobles Cap is 5 Mind, 5 damage, No Avoid.

  • This is a little cheaper to make, but it’s a big step down from the previous version. Previously, this did “5 Damage, No Avoid” for 10 Mind, but had no other restrictions. The new version now has limits the effect to once per minute instead. This is now on par with other similar effects, and no longer a superior Brawling tool.

• Striker’s Coat

  • Striker’s Coat’s basic ability makes the wearer immune to the murder call.

  • This is a dramatic change, though it may seem subtle at first. The protection from ALL Killing Blows is gone, replaced by immunity to Murder. This means that a counted out Killing Blow will still kill you and brings a use back to Proficient Faithful Spirit for the former protective effect. The Striker’s Coat is still very good, but no longer the best Armor choice, in my opinion. If you expect to run into a lot of Murder effects this will be amazing, but if CvC and criminal activity isn’t your normal experience you might find other armors to be a better investment for scrap.

• The Dive Bar

  • The Dive Bar can now be placed away from the Shipyard.

  • This is a positive change for game sites that don’t have immediate access to water. Previously, you’d have to build both Room Augments and it would need to be “near water”. This is now a full Room Augment by itself, and no longer requires a second expensive item to use. I love this change, and I think you will see this Augment used in a lot more low places, where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases...

• The Royal Flush

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • This item now has a big disadvantage that isn’t listed in the changelog. When you use the Killing Blow effect, you now add a “Self: No Escape for 10 minutes”. Ouch. This means you’ll need to stick around after causing that guaranteed Infection loss and you might end up with consequences of your own. It’s slightly cheaper to build though, and now requires Master Projectile to use.

• The Moulen Rude

  • The Moulen Rude the No Escape call is now only 10 minutes.

  • The materials to make this changed slightly, but the big change is the No Escape call went down from 1 Hour to only 10 minutes. It is still a very powerful poison, but a much needed change in my mind. The previous effect was probably a little too good.

Next, we will cover the changes to the Murder Inc. items first released during the Dead Waters event ran by DR: Connecticut…

Murder Inc Blueprints

Most of these blueprints gained Murder Incorporated Society Membership requirements to use, per the national changelog. The material costs changed on a few, but most had a significant change to how it functions in game. We will be replacing all of these items in game, so make sure to get these cards replaced as soon as you can at our next event.

• Al Buquerue’s Left Turn

  • Al Buquerue’s Left Turn now [only] does damage to non-living Targets.

  • This is a big change to how this item previously worked. Now, the Body damage can only be dealt to non-Living targets, so it’s far less useful in CvC or against non-zombie foes. “Non-Living” target is also a weird exclusion, as it is not as clear as using the Undead keyword instead. According to National, this new type of target will be added to the Lexicon soon. This item remains the only MI item you can use without the membership and no longer needs Criminal Influence to use, just Exotic Weapons.

• Brain Shudder Blade

  • Brain Shudder Blade, the PFA added No Avoid to the call.

  • The main change here is the requirement to have a MI Society Membership to use this item. This remains either the best Melee Small in the game or the worst, depending on how much of your site is covered by the Wasteland. The buff to the PFA ability is very nice, but it’s still very expensive to use since it requires Festering Crystals.

• Little Drop of Poison

  • Little Drop of Poison now requires Silenced Knell Society membership to make.

  • The main change here is the requirement to have a MI Society Membership to use this item. This change also means each of the three factions of Murder Inc. each have a unique item that only they can build, so it’s a nice fix for a sub-faction that was missed in the first release. This remains one of the best poisons, particularly with the PFA.

• Living Autopsy Procedure

  • Lore: Medical, Lore: Mortis Amaranthine/Infection, and Lore: Raider [uses] have been updated.

  • This procedure mainly seemed to move away from learning hard out of game facts to learning more in-game versions on the same topics, in addition to requiring MI membership to use. Lore Raider now lets you know how long someone has had Bad Brain as well as if they are infected, but still cures 1 level. Lore Medical no longer lets you know how much mind and Resolve they have left, but rather the last time they had a medical procedure in the past 6 months. Lore Mortis no longer tells you how much Infection they have left, but rather when the last time they gained or lost Infection was. Overall, I like the change to this procedure as an ST, as it helps tell a better story with a plot or villain than telling you concrete out of game information. Since it still uses a Festering Crystal, it’s still very expensive to use.

• Miss Anthrope’s Blade

  • Miss Anthrope’s Blade basic ability After using Double Tap makes your next Double Tap free. The proficient ability allows the mangled limb to only be healed by Medical.

  • The main change here is the requirement to have a MI Society Membership to use this item, but Basic and Proficient levels have significant changes. Previously, the Basic level had things around an augmented Double tap, but it’s much more clear how this ability works. All around a good change, in my mind. The proficient level changed the Mangle ability from being “unfixable” to “medical only”. This is a strange new phrase for the ability that hasn’t been in play before this, but it’s kind of nice that you can seek out a doctor to help you with the limb if you don’t want to wait an hour. These changes prevent a lot of rules clarifications, but don’t really change the utility of this weapon for me. If you have Florentine and MI membership and love the Wasteland, this is a solid choice.

• Murder Dive Procedure

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • No changes at all. This already needed MI membership to use, so it didn’t need to be updated with the other MI Prints. There’s a slight cosmetic change to the print appearance, but nothing mechanical. This would be a low priority to replace a copy of the print for me, unless you are a completionist like me that needs to have a shiny new copy with the updated change date.

• That Cursed Pitchfork

  • That Cursed Pitchfork’s proficient ability now produces 5 basic or uncommon herb and they are considered wild for their expiration date.

  • This item now requires MI membership to use like the rest, but the Proficient ability produces much less total herb than before. Previously, this would create a named item “Bloodroot” that would count as 10 basic/uncommon herb. This new version produces 5 less total herb, but it makes the actual herb instead of an item you have to expend all at once. There were very few prints that needed 10 basic in one print, and since it was a giant stack, you might get 3-5 herb of use from the item while the rest went to waste. Great change on this one, as it reduces brand new custom gizmo/items created by prints and just makes the process more efficient overall.

• The Big Hate

  • The Big Hate’s basic ability now does 5 Aberrant Bane instead of 10. No Defend was added to the PFA.

  • The changelog covers all the major changes here, and this is only usable by MI membership now like the rest. It’s a minor change overall, and the PFA ability is slightly better and maybe worth risking a Festering Crystal for a single shot since it comes with evasion for common NPC defenses. Just be careful to make sure your target can’t use the Avoid skill.

• The Hunter’s Secret

  • The Hunter’s Secret no longer makes long-pig, just Meat.

  • This item also needs MI membership to use now, and had a slight change to the Basic ability. If you make a Face Trophy from a target, they no longer come back with an extra Fracture after dying. Like the Pitchfork change above, this change really just reduces making new ‘counts as’ items rather than just giving you the raw produce. Solid change, and I like reducing the item card bloat. Now, if only there was a better use for Meat…

    • One note I’ve submitted as feedback - the Long Pig item formerly made by this item is also referenced on the Room Augment “A Collection of Heads”. I’d expect an update to this print soon as well.

• The Many Faced Mask

  • No updates listed in the Changelog.

  • The only change here is the need for MI membership to use. This is a great change, as it was previously an amazing Disguise item that could be used by non-MI folks. This might prevent some weird false attacks where MI was blamed for a kill they don’t want to claim credit for. It’s still a very neat item, and well worth the investment of scrap.

Now, let’s cover the Blueprints that are no more…

REMOVED BLUEPRINTS

These blueprints were removed from play during the removal of the Seasonal Blueprint Update in March 2023. These items no longer exist and any remaining item cards or blueprints should be discarded.

Losing six blueprints from play seems like it would have a greater effect, but the reality is that most of these blueprints were not used. A few only had specific uses in online games, which led to weird rules clarifications when someone tried to use it in a live game, and others involved the dreaded Cheat mechanic. I don’t think anyone will miss these blueprints, but I’ve included a bit of my unofficial commentary below.

• Grave Diver's Remedy

  • This item was introduced during the Green House online National event, and cured a specific disease that was only used during that event called “Grave Diver’s Disease”. As far as I’m aware, no other event was using this disease, and this is an item that no longer had a use outside of filling a spot on a list of blueprints.

• High Adventure Beyond Compare

  • This item improved your combat abilities in a online mod space, but was one of two “Online Only” blueprints. It also required “Mortis Fern” to make, and since this was limited to National and Premiere games, it was very expensive if not impossible to regularly craft.

• High Roller’s Unfair Advantage

  • This was one of the few Cheat items. It was originally envisioned as a one-item Cheat item like loaded dice, but since we had to include all the mechanics for the Cheat ability on the card, it was WAY too wordy. I’m sorry for any Guide that had to write one of these. Had the rules been something simple like “Spend 5 mind, call Cheat!”, it would have been better. I think the concept was nice, but it was a product of a time before National created the Lexicon for additional rules in game. I do hope these items eventually see a return, but it’ll need a Keyword or something similar to make it work.

• Imprint Harvested Avonturr Map

  • This was probably one of the few items that I saw in game from the listed of removed blueprints. This item was one of the items that needed an Imprint Crystal, but I think the main reason it went away is that it needed a specific type of Action Request. Many games only have an online system for a few types of Action Requests, so this item needed advanced notice to use and the game would have to write a special mod just for you. Since it was an item that could expire, this could lead to some weird interactions. I’m a little sad to see this one go, but I hope we see more delve-focused items in the future that don’t need as much work from the local games.

• Smoke and Mirrors Parlor

  • This was one of the Cheat items, but the original vision was an ‘anti-Cheat’ item to balance out the others similar to an item in 2.0. Like the rest, the wording was too much, and this item created some negative experiences rather than telling a better story. Players would build this item specifically to suppress the use of Cheat items, or require any games of chance to take place within one. I’m personally glad to see this one go, and hope that the next incarnation of this item tries to focus on better ways to interact with this concept.

• Temple Room Checker

  • This was the second Online-Only blueprint, but it was a surprisingly effective item to deal with foes that could escape easily. Had this been an item usable in a live game, I think you would have seen many people build these as portable bombs to clear a room. This function is now solidly covered by the new updates to the Brain Disorientah, and the confusion of online-only items is probably the main reason this goes away.

wrap up

That’s it for today! Hope you enjoyed my rambling about Blueprints as much as I did while writing this. Jeff and the National team should have the full text of these changes up on the Item Database soon, but it may take a bit. I hope you appreciate the work I put into this review! If you have any questions on these changes, hit me up at the next event or check with me on Facebook.

See you soon Vados!