Rules Ramble

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October National Announcement

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Howdy Survivors!

There was a significant announcement on the Dystopia Rising LARP National page, but in case you missed it, here’s a synopsis and some stuff to be prepared for.

Here’s the TL;DR:

  • LIT Update: Starting from January 1st, 2024, we're changing how we use LIT. Chapters won't add new items digitally, but LIT remains active, and existing stored items are safe.

  • Online Econ Play: Online events will still feature economic activities like crafting and farming. Instead of digital items, chapters will mail item cards to players.

  • New Ruleset: We're diligently working on a new ruleset, though it's a year away from full implementation. No XP or full Econ reset is planned.

  • Community Involvement: We're committed to transparency and community feedback throughout this process. Let's collaborate to make our game the best it can be.

What does this mean for our Texas player base?

At present, there won't be many immediate changes. The National team has released a statement to give the community a heads-up about upcoming changes that are over a year away from being put into action.

Following the National team's announcement on October 30, we are preparing to settle LIT inventories promptly over the next few months. Stay tuned for future updates!

For online games, the responsibility of mailing out cards in a timely manner will rest with the respective chapters. Online games will not have the ability to introduce new items into LIT. However, you can still utilize and remove items from your inventory as needed.

New DR LIVE Rule Set!

We are actively working on a new ruleset, and it's worth noting that there are no plans for an XP or full Econ reset during this implementation. The ruleset is expected to be rolled out in approximately a year or two, and more information will be shared as development progresses. While the development process appears to allow for feedback, the exact procedures for providing input are yet to be determined.

Our goal throughout is to continue our commitment to transparency and radical trust in the community. We are committed to maintaining open and frequent communication throughout this entire process to address any concerns y’all may have. For now, we are completely focused on our upcoming events: Emergence (Nov 10-12) and The Red Death, our Premiere event (Dec 8-10).  The Dystopia Rising: Texas Storytelling team has put in extensive effort to craft exciting and captivating stories, and we're thrilled to continue delivering them to you.

Behemoth Parasites

Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our November live event EMERGENCE! This is our next ST led overarc of the season, led by Maenad Wilder. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering the full reveal of our disease, BEHEMOTH PARASITES, and looking at a CVC challenge called Symbiotic Parasites!

  • TICKETS FOR OUR November EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! get ready for a creepy crawly good time!

  • We are running our first ever BUNDLE deal for event tickets! If you purchase your Standard Casting tickets for both the November and December events at once, you’ll get a great discount AND access to the unique new Blueprints we will release in December. Check it out on our Tickets page! You’ll still be able to purchase a Grab Bag for the December when tickets go on sale after the EMERGENCE event!

  • Our Slime Promo is live! We have a new reward when you purchase the extra +2 XP for your ticket in November. If you get the additional XP, we will have a container of home-made SLIME ready for you at check-in! This slime may or may not contain bugs (don’t worry, they are fake!) and is guaranteed to be the perfect way to get into the right headspace for this event!

  • We have a new CAPs offer for GLOWSTICKS! Scoop up some deals during the post-Halloween sales and earn some goodies for your characters! We are offer 3x CAPs for all glowstick purchases, so all you need to do is bring your receipt or email us a copy. We prefer the chunky glowsticks versus the bracelets, but any and all glowsticks are appreciated. The colors we need most are green, purple, orange, and red.

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, by Max Pohlmeier, Lauren Guzaldo, and Maddeax Khole.

Fair warning, this post includes a bit of SPOILERS for the event. If you’d like to keep the mystery of our disease in game, feel free to skip the blog this week.

Behemoth Parasites

Last week we covered some of the Content Warnings for our upcoming event, EMERGENCE, particularly when it comes to disease, bugs, and body horror. 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.

If you’d like to know more, you can start by checking out last week’s blog post below:

With that reminder covered, let’s talk about a new November disease called “Behemoth Parasites”.

One of the primary new mechanics you’ll need to deal with during this next event is a “disease” that is ravaging the population of the San Saba, and it offers some new challenges for your survivors. I use the term “disease” loosely, because unlike other maladies that are viral or blood borne like Bad Brain or Gutscourge, this disease is actually an infestation of internal parasites that invade a host.

It’s important to remember from my first post that this can be a very deadly disease, and it’s very easy to spread.

BEHEMOTH PARASITES can be deadly and your character can die from this disease.

It’s not a bacteria or virus that is spreading amongst the town, but rather actual tiny creatures burrowing in the skin and bodies of the infected, eating them from within. This is a terrifying disease, as it’s more akin to something like mutated tapeworms, fleas, or ticks. If you don’t get medical treatment quickly, you might die a painful and quick death at the hands of the things devouring you from within.

Additionally, this disease spreads VERY easily.

Behemoth Parasites is an insidious and quickly spreading disease, spread by the simplest of transmission vectors - TOUCH. It’s something so ubiquitous and common, and it’s the primary reason this disease has become so dangerous. A simple handshake, hug from a friend, or even life-saving medical procedure while bleeding out may end up spreading the parasites to a new host.

Mechanics: Any touch between you and another strain triggers “Inflict Disease (Parasites)”. This includes touching prompted by mechanical skill use, like Medical or Enhanced Movement.

However, just because this disease spreads via touch doesn’t remove your consideration of your fellow players. Remember, physically touching another player without their consent is prohibited in Dystopia Rising, so make sure you get the enthusiastic consent of the other person before engaging in physical contact.

The Mechanics of Behemoth Parasites

In our tradition of Radical Trust, we are revealing the basics of this disease to our players today. We still have a few surprises in store, so some parts will be kept redacted (like the Treatment Plan) until we get to the game. I’ve included the first page of the disease sheet above, but let’s talk about it in detail.

Transmission Vectors

  • Touching a person who is infected with any stage of Behemoth Parasites. This is Infectious regardless of whether or not you are mechanically prompted to touch.

  • Infected critters, zed, raiders, and Strains. These creatures will normally deliver this disease via the “Inflict Disease” skill call.

Let’s cover some questions you probably have about this part:

  • First, the goal is to involve any significant skin-to-skin contact as a transmission vector. We aren’t going to put a real limit on exactly how many seconds of touching that it takes to transmit the disease, as we want to leave that part to YOU, the player. Simply brushing up against someone probably isn’t enough to transmit it, but we want you to buy into the danger. If you think it makes sense that you could have contracted the disease, you probably did!

    • This is largely going to be ran on the honor system. We trust you to decide when you got infected by the parasite.

  • ** AS A REMINDER TOUCHING ANYONE REQUIRES VERBAL CONSENT **

    • If you do not get consent and must still use a skill or ability that would normally require touch, you are still considered to have been infected, even if a touch did not actually occur. You can still heal your friend and get infected even if they don’t want to involve touch into your medical role play.

Skill Use that requires Touch

In the Dystopia Rising Rulebook, there’s a few skills that might require touch to use on another player. Again, we leave the specifics of if this is enough contact to transfer the disease to you, but here’s a few examples from the book to consider:

  • Unarmed Combat. Any attack onto an infected target could be dangerous. A punch is still contact!

  • Interfere. You could Interfere someone else’s touch, if you need to save a friend from infection. The rules state you can take a negative effect, and Inflict Disease counts.

  • Larceny. Provided you are only trying to steal from the Supply Bag, you’ll probably avoid infection. If you are trying to steal from a pocket, or remove a worn item, you’ll likely make contact. Additionally, using Larceny to remove manacles or bindings will likely involve contact.

  • Medical. This is probably the most likely source of infection from a victim. Any level of Medical use requires prolonged physical contact. The Dr. Ottoman’s Disease Control Kit provides some protection when using this skill to a doctor, but it can be expensive to make.

  • Basic Malicious. This skill states that you need to take at least 10 seconds tying up a victim. That’s plenty of time for the parasite to spread.

  • Enhanced Movement. Using the “rescue” part of this skill to move a fallen ally away from enemies will require physical contact with the person you are saving. Taking 5 steps while holding someone is plenty of time for the critters to spread.

  • Hunting. Interacting with infected game will likely cause infection, as dressing the meat, fish, and shellfish could be enough contact to spread the parasite. It’s possible that even eating food contaminated with the parasites could spread the disease.

  • Proficient Stealth. Using this skill to apply a disguise to another player will be enough contact to spread the parasite, as it takes several minutes to complete.

  • Basic Biogenetics (Basically any Psionic Attack skills). Any psionics delivered via touch will be enough to spread the disease. Packet-delivered Psionic Attacks will not spread the disease, so make sure you pack some extra white packets.

  • Master Faithful Will. Interacting with the corpse of the recently dead requires a Psionic Attack, and probably requires some measure of connection to join them in the Grave Mind. Anyone that tries to follow the recently dead into the Grave Mind will likely get infected with Behemoth Parasites - be warned!

  • Gorger Lineage Advantage. This should be a no-brainer, but eating an infected target like a Raider, Zombie, or a Strain WILL give you the disease. Watch what you eat!

Duration Between Stages

  • Your Stage increases with each new exposure to a source of Behemoth Parasites via Inflict Disease.

  • Untreated, the disease progresses one stage every four (4) Hours.

The primary way to advance this disease it to take a use of “Inflict Disease”, but even if you do nothing the disease still advances quickly. That means that if you get infected early Friday night, you’ll reach Stage 3 by Saturday morning. Yikes!

This also means that if you take three disease-laden swings from an infected Shambler, you could quickly hit Stage 3 in a single combat. Make sure you save Mind points for an Avoid or bring a shield!

Role play Notes

  • You are able to speak and eat as normal, but discomfort is starting to rise in the back of your throat and creeping onto your tongue.  Whenever you ingest food or drink, the discomfort rises to a noticeable pain, but not enough to keep you from performing the action.

  • A scuttling sensation at the back of your throat and the occasional sharp pain followed by a mouthful of blood.

That sounds uncomfortable. While the disease lists some horrifying descriptions of what is happening to your character during each stage, we leave the exact specifics of the role play up to you. If you don’t feel comfortable with extra makeup or prosthetics, that’s completely fine. This part is optional, so you can just keep to the mechanics instead.

Stages of the Disease

Behemoth Parasites is a quick and deadly disease, but it’s pretty simple mechanically. There’s only three different things to consider with this disease, though every stage of the disease has the same Infectious Touch condition.

  • Stage 1 - Infectious touch

    • Any touch between you and another strain triggers “Inflict Disease (Parasites)”. This includes touching prompted by mechanical skill use, like Medical or Enhanced Movement.

  • Stage 2 - internal bleeding

    • Any touch between you and another strain triggers “Inflict Disease (Parasites)”. This includes touching prompted by mechanical skill use, like Medical or Enhanced Movement.

    • Mechanics that heal Stage 1 diseases also cure Stage 2.

    • Reduce your maximum body points to HALF of its normal value, rounded down.

  • Stage 3 - Larval Parasites

    • Any touch between you and another strain triggers “Inflict Disease (Parasites)”. This includes touching prompted by mechanical skill use, like Medical or Enhanced Movement.

    • Reduce your maximum body points to ONE.

    • If not cured within four (4) hours, the individual dies.

While this isn’t TOO complicated, it does present some interesting challenges to avoid spreading it to your friends. You won’t suffer an additional penalty until you reach Stage 2, but each successive level reduces your total Body, rounded down. With less total Body, you’ll be more vulnerable to entering Bleed Out, making you an ideal target to be fed on by infected zombies. This could easily advance your disease if you are not careful. If you hit Stage 3, a single hit will be enough to drop you to Bleed Out!

This disease is very easy to cure until you reach Stage 3, using existing mechanics in our game. The simplest way to deal with the parasites is to eat a crafted Meal that was prepared using the Deep Cholesterol Fry blueprint. There will be other ways to cure this disease with medicine and research, but the easiest way to avoid death via parasites is to get it cured quickly.

Unlike other diseases, this disease stays easily treatable up until the final third stage of the disease. While cures will be plentiful, the bigger strain of Behemoth Parasites will be on Mind points, healing, material resources like herb and produce, and the most dangerous threat of all — the inexorable advancement of time.

Once you have reached the final Stage 3 of the disease, your doctors and healthy meals will no longer be able to cure you, and DEATH may be certain. There will still be some ways to mitigate this timer that you’ll be able to discover in game, but it will be a very dangerous disease. Make sure you save time to say goodbye before the larval parasites erupt and kill you.

resolution & other mechanics

I know I said I would only spoil the front half of the disease sheet, but here’s some of the other frequently asked questions about the disease:

  • Identifiable with Basic Medical skill for 0 Mind points

  • Remission vs. Cure: Cure for Stage 1-2. Stage 3 disease Cure is unknown.

  • Return from the Mortis Cures the Disease:  Yes?

  • Mutant Lineage Advantage Works: Yes. Mutants can not die of Behemoth Parasites, but they can advance to Stage 3 and will stay there indefinitely unless cured.

  • Deathmask Works: No, this is not an airborne disease.

Let’s cover the questions from this side:

  • The disease is easy to recognize and any person with medical training can identify it. However, remember that physical contact with the victim is enough to spread the disease, so unless you have a Disease Kit, you’ll also be infected by checking for the disease.

  • In my other essay on diseases, I mention a thing called “remission”. This disease is pretty simple, and we aren’t using these mechanics here. If you cure the disease, it’s cured. The only exception at game on is Stage 3, which has no known cure. If you manage to discover a remedy, that cure will also work on Stage 3 to complete remove the disease.

  • At the start of game, no one that has died to these parasites have returned from the Grave. While this disease is probably cured by death, you’ll have another challenge to discover in game should you pass beyond death.

  • Lastly, Mutants will get to endure a special hell because of the Parasites. Their unique biology makes them perfect hosts, as they cannot die to a disease. However, that doesn’t stop the Promethean-level pain and anguish as the creatures inside continue to devour your regenerating organs. Plus, allowing the larvae inside you to gestate that long will likely have some unintended consequences…

  • Sorry Helscape Deathmask fans — this item specifically protects versus airborne diseases. You’ll need a Disease Control Kit instead. The Deathmask can stop AOE threat skills that would cause Inflict Disease at Proficient level, but this doesn’t stop the normal transmission of the disease.

All in all, this is an insidious take on disease in the zombie apocalypse, and we hope you have fun trying to avoid a deadly fate at the hands of tiny critters. Let’s talk about the last complication you should be prepared for with Behemoth Parasites — Symbiotic Parasites.

Symbiotic Parasites & the S.E.S.

As a special “hard mode” for November, players that use the Survival Ethos System (SES) will have a special opportunity to earn additional Marks during our event. This is a unique currency that can purchase powerful items from the Survival Ethos Buylist. This is a high risk, high reward option that WILL involve potentially deadly CVC behaviors.

If you accept this challenge, you will get a new Local Plot Card to represent a variation of the Behemoth Parasites that the rest of the town will be enduring. While most people seem horrified at the prospecting of the parasites infesting them, a few rare hosts seem to achieve a balance with the things devouring them from the inside. Some even report that they feel a sense of communion with the parasites and feel compelled to help them survive by finding them new hosts.

If you choose to commune with this swarm intelligence and enter into a symbiotic bond with the parasites, you will need to instead observe the following mechanics:

Symbiotic Parasites (DR:TX Local Plot Card)

You cannot be cured of Behemoth Parasites until this LPC is somehow destroyed. Replace the normal mechanics of Behemoth Parasites with the following. 

“Twelve (12) hours after initial infection you will enter a 1-minute Bleed Out and cannot be stabilized nor regain any body. Any touch, intentional or not, between you and another strain triggers “Inflict Disease (Parasites)” and ADDS three (3) hours onto your disease timer if the target was uninfected. This includes touching prompted by mechanical skill use. Death does not cure this disease, and Mutants can die from this effect.”

Talk about Patient Zero! With this Symbiotic Parasites affliction, you will need to PURPOSEFULLY spread the disease to others in order to survive. Let’s cover some specifics:

  • Spreading the disease in this manner is a CVC action. You will need to get consent from your victims first, or use the Wasteland mechanics to engage with your victim. This is a hostile action and will start your CVC timer, so make sure you can stay in play for the next four hours to allow a response to your CVC action.

  • You can’t be cured. This mechanic can only be lost through plot effects. Because your character has bonded with the parasites, normal disease cures aren’t enough to fix this. However, this version of the disease doesn’t impact your Body totals so cures aren’t as useful.

  • You will need to infect the uninfected. You can’t just touch the same person over and over. You’ll need to help the parasites find new hosts. Bring your friends into the hive!

  • Each spread of the disease adds three (3) hours to your timer. If you do nothing, you will die sometime on Saturday morning. You’ll need to infect at least 8 or more people in order to survive the entire weekend. However, you’ll be basically immune to “Inflict Disease” during the weekend, and if you extend your timer enough you’ll avoid death from the parasites.

  • Expect in-character conflict. This is a purposeful hard mode. Willfully spreading this disease on purpose will likely spark some consequences for your character, and that could include item loss, character punishments, or even death, even if you manage to stave off the disease long enough to survive.

Will you take the challenge? Are you ready to infect your friends? Are you ready to become Patient Zero? Are you mad enough to try to survive the weekend and certain death with the Symbiotic Parasites? Let’s find out together!

Wrap Up

We hope that you are ready for the challenge of EMERGENCE. How can you save your friends when a touch can be deadly? What is underneath the ground, and how can you possibly stop it in time? Why are people not returning from the grave when they die? These are some fun and exciting challenges for your characters in the zombie apocalypse. But don’t worry, it’s not just all diseases, you’ll still need to deal with zombies, Oxkillers, and raiders and more.

Tickets are on sale now, and we have our special Winter Bundle deal running for a limited time.

See you next time Vados, when we talk the specifics of a little thing happening in the background of games called the WAR OF ANTLERS. Stay tuned!

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Emergence

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our November live event EMERGENCE! This is our next ST led overarc of the season, led by Maenad Wilder. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering the premise of our event, some content warnings, and some notes about our upcoming Disease & Death mechanics!

  • TICKETS FOR OUR November EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! get ready for a creepy crawly good time!

  • We are running our first ever BUNDLE deal for event tickets! If you purchase your Standard Casting tickets for both the November and December events at once, you’ll get a great discount AND access to the unique new Blueprints we will release in December. Check it out on our Tickets page! You’ll still be able to purchase a Grab Bag for the December when tickets go on sale after the EMERGENCE event!

  • Our Slime Promo is live! We have a new reward when you purchase the extra +2 XP for your ticket in November. If you get the additional XP, we will have a container of home-made SLIME ready for you at check-in! This slime may or may not contain bugs (don’t worry, they are fake!) and is guaranteed to be the perfect way to get into the right headspace for this event!

  • If you had a great experience at our last event CIRQUE DE DREAD or had some suggestions for how we can improve, we’d love to hear from you! Did you enjoy surviving the nightmare of the Nemesis? Did you earn a shiny circus medallion? Did you have neat memories from the Eclipse? What did you like best? What memories did you make? How was your NPC shift? Did another player impress you?

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, by Max Pohlmeier, Lauren Guzaldo, and Maddeax Khole.

EMERGENCE

Here’s the premise for our next event, Emergence:

Bloody fissures around the mouth. Extreme fragility. Missing organs.

These were the symptoms of four sailors returning from a leviathan hunt on Lake Bravo. So severe was the internal damage, the sailors were unable to produce coherent sound and died before any medical diagnosis could be reached. Doctors attempting an autopsy before processing developed the same symptoms and succumbed to internal bleeding within 12 hours. Despite no indications of green veins amongst the afflicted, none have returned from the Grave.

Drywater was quick to cordon off the port and quarantine all who had come in contact with the afflicted. But right as it appeared the situation was under control, the Torchlight tribe sent for urgent medical aid as a new grotesque monstrosity began attacking their deepest settlement, spreading a plague of touch. Before anything else could be done, a massive earthquake struck Bravado and a horde of shamblers bearing the same scars and fissures poured from a crack in the Earth. Victims, who have since died of the affliction, reported the Earth bulging just before the quake, as if something was pressing against it from beneath.

The situation grows worse by the hour as more vectors of infection are revealed, more people die without returning, and something stirs in the depths of Lake Bravo. The Board has called an emergency meeting to discuss the disease brewing at the heart of its territory but, while bureaucracy turns with rusted wheels, your saloons fall empty, your friends go missing, and your neighborhoods are locked down, left to fend for themselves. When a touch is deadly, how can you save Bravado?

A threat is building under the surface and if left untreated, Bravado, Drywawter, and the Torchlight Clans will be locked away with the key tossed aside.

Sounds like something is spreading a new disease in Bravado…

Inspiration & Tropes

This season in Bravado we have focused on bringing some new elements of Survival Horror to the forefront of the story. In our tradition of Radical Trust, we want to share some of the inspirational bits of media and movie magic that we feel help capture the themes and feelings of our upcoming event. If you are looking for a movie to inspire your role play for this event, here’s a list of our favorites to get ready for EMERGENCE:

  • The Blob (1988)

  • Nope

  • Slither

  • The Strain (TV Series)

  • The Faculty

Basically, if it’s creepy, crawly, and makes your skin crawl, that’s the feeling we are trying to capture. We plan a lot of fun prosthetics, makeup and slime effects to really capture the grotesque and terrifying themes of EMERGENCE! Disease plots also tend to have some elements of loneliness and isolation, as survivors huddle away from the infected and the ranks of the sick begin to outnumber the healthy.

With that in mind, let’s cover a few of the major ingredients we have in mind for this next game…

CONTENT WARNINGS

The themes of Dystopia Rising often touch close to our real world in ways we cannot always avoid. The DR:TX team believes that we can still tell these stories about challenging topics, but we also believe we need to be transparent about our intentions and set proper expectations for our content. 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.

It’s important to watch for descriptions, situations, or events that you might want to avoid. You may find new limits that are unknown to you because the matter never came up. We encourage you to take the necessary steps for your own emotional safety. We want you to be comfortable with the types of horror in our events so you can enjoy the thrill of the zombie apocalypse and the nightmare creatures we introduce into the game space.

It’s one reason we take our OK Check-In system so seriously! We understand that these may not be stories you want to participate in, and that’s okay! Remember, you can always use the OK Check-In system to choose to leave a scene, even CVC!

You can always find a list of our Content Warnings on our website, but let’s talk about some of the specific things you might want to be prepared for during this November event.

body horror & Splatter mods

  • Body Horror, grotesque or disturbing mutations, visceral costumes and props

  • Splatter / Gore modules (forewarning will be provided, but these modules will cover players in liquid or debris that could stain costumes)

One major aspect of EMERGENCE will be the themes of Body Horror. Body horror is an important part of the zombie mythos. For example, while elements of mutilation similar to slasher films and monster movies may be present in body horror, it can differ in the zombie apocalypse. These themes might be generally marked by a loss of conscious control over the body through mutation, disease, or other tropes involving uncontrolled transformation. The genre can invoke intense feelings of physical and psychological disgust, or squick, and play upon anxieties of physical vulnerability, contagion, mutation, transformation, disease, mutilation, or other unnatural or violent distortions of the human body.

We have a lot of neat and disgusting props planned for this event, new creature effects, and special effects that will lean towards the gory and disturbing. We will even have a few SPLATTER MODS, events that could include liquid, slime, and debris that could damage your costumes or leave stains. We will warn you in advance of these situations where we can, but the visceral elements of our props and challenges may be something you want to avoid. Remember, you can always use the “thumbs down” symbol to leave a scene or avoid a mess!

disease

  • Disease, infection, and consequences of diseases

The story of the zombie apocalypse is at its 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 EMERGENCE event, we will be introducing a malady that functions as a new and dangerous Disease in 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.

bugs & insects

  • Mutated and hostile fauna, including spiders, bugs, maggots, worms, snakes, deer, bears, and more.

The last bit is part of our focus on the creepy and crawly. We will have a number of disturbing creatures in this game, and we plan on using bugs, maggots, and worms to represent the larvae of the parasites in the game. We will have some resin and latex props made from casted molds to represent the creatures that are infecting the players during this event. Some of the larger creatures will have headpieces, harnesses, and bigger elements of their costume to emphasize the insect and bugs theme of the story. It will be up to you if you want to use some of these costuming elements to represent the disease on your character, and we want you to be able to engage with the level of squick that you are comfortable with. If the props are too much, you can just stick to mechanics.

If you choose to opt out of these situations with the OK Check In System, don’t worry. There’s still plenty to do during the event, and we will have the usual threats of zombies and raiders, and the continuing story of the San Saba. There’s still a WAR going on, and there will be other mods and challenges during the event outside of the disease. You’ll still be able to complete Liquidation Runs, craft and gather resources, and spend time with your friends. If this is still a bit much for you, don’t worry, we have some more scary stories to share in December.

Death and disease

During our upcoming game, we will be using a brand new in-character disease known as BEHEMOTH PARASITES. This disease has the strong potential to be quick and deadly, especially in the later stages as it can kill your character within TWELVE (12) HOURS. I’ll be going over these specific mechanics in a later blog post in detail, but since death is a possibility I’d like to make sure everyone knows how to avoid this up front.

  • BEHEMOTH PARASITES can be deadly and your character can die from this disease.

There will also be SCs, LCs, and NPCs that will be actively attempting to spread this disease in game. These villains will be trying to purposefully infect your character with this disease as part of our story, so there will be some potential danger of your character contracting this disease during the course of the event simply by playing the game.

I’ve covered some of the basic mechanics of how Disease works in Dystopia Rising in previous posts, and you can read a bit more here about how this will function mechanically during EMERGENCE.

With the basics out of the way, let’s cover some big themes of this disease:

The disease spreads by TOUCH

Behemoth Parasites is an insidious and quickly spreading disease, spread by the simplest of transmission vectors - TOUCH. It’s something so ubiquitous and common, and it’s the primary reason this disease has become so dangerous. A simple handshake, hug from a friend, or even life-saving medical procedure while bleeding out may end up spreading the parasites to a new host.

Mechanics: Any touch between you and another strain triggers “Inflict Disease (Parasites)”. This includes touching prompted by mechanical skill use, like Medical or Enhanced Movement.

However, just because this disease spreads via touch doesn’t remove your consideration of your fellow players. Remember, physically touching another player without their consent is prohibited in Dystopia Rising, so make sure you get the enthusiastic consent of the other person before engaging in physical contact.

Parasites, not an Infection

I’ve used the term “disease” for this upcoming mechanic, but this effect is actually brought about by internal parasites infesting a host. It’s not a bacteria or virus that is spreading amongst the town, but rather actual tiny creatures burrowing in the skin and bodies of the infected, eating them from within. This is a terrifying disease, as it’s more akin to something like mutated tapeworms, fleas, or ticks. If you don’t get medical treatment quickly, you might die a painful and quick death at the hands of the things devouring you from within.

Functionally though, this condition will be treated as a mechanical disease within our DR:TX event. Stuff that interacts with diseases will work against it, and items that help prevent the spread of the disease will still work to contain the infection.

Easy to Cure, Easy to Advance

This disease is very easy to cure, using existing mechanics in our game. The simplest way to deal with the parasites is to eat a crafted Meal that was prepared using the Deep Cholesterol Fry blueprint. There will be other ways to cure this disease with medicine and research, but the easiest way to avoid death via parasites is to get it cured quickly.

Unlike other diseases, this disease stays easily treatable up until the final third stage of the disease. While cures will be plentiful, the bigger strain of Behemoth Parasites will be on Mind points, healing, material resources like herb and produce, and the most dangerous threat of all — the inexorable advancement of time.

If untreated, after 12 hours your character will DIE. This is a three stage disease, and each stage advances after about 4 hours. If you do nothing, your character will meet their untimely end, lose an Infection, and enter the next step our story line after 12 hours.

However, since it’s so very transmissible, it’ll be easy to advance your character to the last stages of the disease. Anytime a ‘Inflict Disease’ mechanic is called, your disease will advanced to the next step. This means you can quickly end up at Stage 3, with a 4 hour timer until you die a bloody death at the tiny mouths of the parasites. Since it’s easy to be reinfected by the parasites, it’ll be important to discover some way to permanently cure the disease before its too late.

death is not the end

While the Behemoth Parasites can be very deadly, remember that Infection means your character can return again and again from death. Death is not the end for survivors in the apocalypse, and in fact it unlocks a new and fascinating side of the game - the Grave Mind Scene. Your character will get a personal scene with a Storyteller, and get a chance to experience the mysteries of the Mortis Amaranthine and the sinister Grave Mind, while getting new opportunities for story, character development, and deep role play opportunities.

However, one of the great mysteries of this event is what exactly is happening to the infected townsfolk when they die. According to the early reports, those that die have not yet returned from the Grave Mind. If your character dies during this event, you will experience a new challenge BEYOND DEATH.

This new experience is sure to provoke some interesting stories and we have a bunch more surprises that await you. Mae and our Gravemind STs have some fun stuff planned, and we can’t wait to show you the horrific fate that awaits your character should they let the parasites devour them alive!

Next week, I’ll reveal the full rules for this BEHEMOTH PARASITES disease so stay tuned!

Wrap Up

We hope that you are ready for the challenge of EMERGENCE. How can you save your friends when a touch can be deadly? What is underneath the ground, and how can you possibly stop it in time? Why are people not returning from the grave when they die? These are some fun and exciting challenges for your characters in the zombie apocalypse. But don’t worry, it’s not just all diseases, you’ll still need to deal with zombies, Oxkillers, and raiders and more.

Tickets are on sale now, and we have our special Winter Bundle deal running for a limited time.

See you next Vados, when we talk the specifics of our new disease, Behemoth Parasites!

Rules You Should Know - October

Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our October live event CIRQUE DE DREAD! This is our first ST led overarc of the season, led by Matt Hoadley, Ash Sexton, and Luka Drystan. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering some last-minute Rules You Should Know, featuring some Threat Skills that might be useful to prepare for, as well as some other Local Rules updates!

  • TICKET SALES ARE CLOSED ONLINE, BUT YOU CAN STILL GET A TICKET AT THE GATE!

  • Amber wrote about a bunch of Logistical Announcements in her last blog post. Did you get a chance to check out the announcements? Read about it HERE!

  • We’ve updated our New Player Corner with a lot of great resources for new and returning players alike. Thanks to DR: Michigan and DR: New York for paving the way with excellent similar content!

  • We’ve updated the SES Buy List, and we’ve allowed it to use your San Saba Society Memberships instead of requiring involvement with the Red Ledger. Check out what your Marks can earn you if you sign up for the Survival Ethos System last month!

  • You might have missed it, but we updated our Local CAPS list last season. There are some brand new shiny rewards if you bought some items from our Wish List, or if you help our game with extra NPC shifts or spend time as a Guide. Check it out!

Let’s get started!

Rules You Should Know

We only have a few days left before our October event, CIRQUE DE DREAD. We are excited to spook you with our bloody raider carnival, creepy Nemesis in the night, and a whole lot more. While you are searching for your very own CIRCUS MEDALLION, let’s not forgot a few things that might be handy to remember this weekend.

Check-In Mod!

This weekend, there will be a Check-In module to complete when you show up to play, as part of “Entering Town”. This is a specific type of mod that might ask you to roll a dice with our Logistics folks when you pick up your character sheet to determine what happens next.

All you need to tell us is this: How did your character get to Bravado this weekend?

Your answer might involve some roleplay opportunities, some starting mechanics for your character, or some neat plot-themed choices. Remember, if you are a Nomad, you can use your Lineage Advantage to avoid these types of mods, and there are some items that can let you avoid them as well.

Otherwise, step right up and join the show!

New Threat Skills

If you check the website, you’ll find that I update stuff online pretty much all the time. I’m constantly tinkering with my Blueprint Checklist, or updating for Local Rules and Local Threats. Eagle eye readers might have caught these already, but let’s make sure everyone is on the same page.

Here’s the brand new Threat Skill that we’ve mentioned in other blog posts:

“STEP RIGHT UP!” (COMPULSION)

Effect. Various NPCs may call this unique Compulsion mechanic. The NPC will call “COMPULSION: STEP RIGHT UP AND JOIN THE SHOW!” When you hear this phrase, your character will be compelled to participate in the dangerous and deadly carnival events held by Colonel Rictus's Flying Circus. Proceed to the NPC that made the call and follow their instructions for the next TEN (10) minutes. This ability can be resisted with Mental Endurance.

That’s not entirely new, since I’ve mentioned in my last few blog posts, but let’s cover a returning favorite, inspired by some of our friends in the DR Network, but especially relevant for Halloween fun:

Slaughter:

This overwhelming strike is the pinnacle of what can be done in a single blow by a [REDACTED]. The creature will call “50 Body, Reduce Bleed Out to 1 Minute!”. This does not reduce the Bleed Out timer below 1 minute, even if used multiple times.

Ouch. Better save some mind to AVOID that strike. If you don’t, you’ll probably be knocked into Bleed Out, with a shortened Bleed Out timer as well!

  • This is a Strike, so it can (and should) be Avoided, and it still needs to actually connect. A parry or Shield will block this attack just fine. It deals Body damage, so that skips right past your Armor. Don’t rely on that Striker’s Coat helping much against a Slaughter.

  • This is a rare ability, so you’ll only see this attack a few specific threats. So, if something looks really big and scary, it might have this ability. Lesser raiders and thugs won’t be able to swing this hard.

  • Abilities that change Bleed Out timers already exist in the world through the common Threat skill “Cannibalism”. However, don’t forget that Proficient Faithful Will actually EXTENDS your Bleed Out timer to 10 minutes and prevents this from being changed. That means that this ability will stop that part of a Slaughter call, but not the damage itself.

Now that the power attack is out of the way, let’s cover one more thing to watch out for, though this has been in play for a bit in the network-wide Threat Guides.

Tireless Tracker

The [REDACTED] can call: “No Escape” in response to the use of “Never Here”, negating it.

The “No Escape” call was added to the last update to the DR Corebook on page 104, and it is the counter to the powerful skill use in Master Stealth. Normally, folks can escape from a deadly threat pretty easily with this Skill, but this is a reactive threat ability that certain threats can call to stop their prey from escaping.

  • If you use your last Resolve to declare “Never Here” and it gets countered in this way, you do not gain a Fracture for using your last Resolve like normal, but you still spend the Resolve (DR Corebook, p. 132).

  • Unlike other No Escape items that might block Master Stealth for several minutes, this is a one and done ability. It doesn’t prevent you from using it again, provided you survive the surprise of the first attempt failing and you still have Resolve remaining.

Lastly, while you may be familiar with these next Threat Skills, let’s remind everyone a bit about what to watch out for with this common ability, Cannibalism:

Cannibalism

If a target Lineage is unconscious, subdued, or in bleed out, this [REDACTED] can begin 30 seconds of brutal cannibalistic roleplay. While roleplaying ripping out pieces of meat and consuming the target Lineage, the target must roleplay being in incredible pain. If uninterrupted for the full 30 seconds of the roleplay, the Extra calls “Cannibalism: reduce bleed out time to 1 minute”. If the target is already under 1 minute left in bleed out, their timer does not go up or decrease. Multiple uses of Cannibalism by one or more [REDACTED] will not reduce the count further than one minute.

Carnivals are my favorite place for fun snacks, like popcorn, corny dogs, fingers… I mean, cotton candy. Many of the threats this weekend will have various ways to consume their prey, so when something starts to gnaw on you while you are in Bleed Out, we want you to be prepared.

Devour

This delivery modifier causes the [REDACTED] 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 or Mind.

The “big brother” to Cannibalism lets certain [REDACTED] literally eat you alive without having to wait for a pesky thing like knocking you into Bleed Out first. Those arms and eyeballs are looking mighty tasty …

rules updates

The last bit here is a few updates to some things on the website, particularly pertaining to some of our recurring mechanics.

  • The bonuses from Player Led Faction ZOMs cannot be stacked, and you cannot be a member of multiple player-led Factions. You gotta show some loyalty to your crew, and only pick one!

  • If you are interested in your player-led crew getting some neat abilities of their own, let us know! You can still complete the ZOM: An Air of Legitimacy outside of the Stakeholder’s Meeting, but it might take you a bit more work to complete.

We’ve also updated a few other pages:

  • We released some cool Local Blueprints last season, but all of these prints had listed “Season 4” on them. While it’s on my list of things to still update, for now, if you have one of these Green-sheet Local Blueprints, you can assume that it applies for Season 5 too. I’ll have some more information on these print updates soon!

There are a few new Local Items of note:

  • SAN SABA WAR SUPPLIES

  • Local Plot Item. War Supplies are an item card that represents the food, water, medical supplies, and ammunition the San Saba Militia needs to prosecute their war against the Oxkiller Alliance. This item can be used with the War of Antlers plot kit, and is crafted with the “Bullets & Beans” Zone of Mechanics posted at the General Store. The new General of the Militia, Hargrave Moss-Iverspit, will likely be interested in these items!

  • RRC LIQUIDATION VOUCHER

  • Local Plot Item. When a character successfully completes a Liquidation Run during Season 5, they will earn a voucher from the Railroad Conglomerate. This item may be exchanged at the Post Office for crafted gear, or saved and turned in with other vouchers for larger rewards. You can only complete TWO Liquidation Runs during the same event for these rewards. These Liquidation Runs will continue through the season!

  • MAP OF WAKING

  • Local Plot Item. Single Use. A character with this item may use Master Stealth normally within a Liquidation Run, ignoring the global “NO ESCAPE” mechanic within. This does not prevent a “No Escape” call inflicted by a skill, threat, or item while within.

Did you find any other Easter Eggs I put on the website?

Wrap Up

That’s it for today Vados! Colonel Rictus’ Flying Circus is coming to town soon, and I want to make sure I can be first in line for the fun and festivities! We hope you survive your Friday the 13th, avoid looking at the sun during the Eclipse, and survive the Nemesis nightmare of CIRQUE DE DREAD!

Remember, you can still get tickets at the door, so don’t miss out on the bloody good time!

See you soon Vados!

Circus Medallions

Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our October live event CIRQUE DE DREAD! This is our first ST led overarc of the season, led by Matt Hoadley, Ash Sexton, and Luka Drystan. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering the strange Entry Medallions of Colonel Rictus’ Flying Circus, and about about the dreaded Nemesis Cult.

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

COMPULSION MECHANICS recap

I covered these mechanics during my first blog post, but in case you missed out here’s a quick summary about how this core mechanic works. As with all of our Local DR:TX Rules, you can find these on our webpage under Local Rules & Skills.

COMPULSION

Effect. When an NPC calls “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.

As a reminder, the primary use of this Compulsion mechanic will be a call you will hear during this event that is circus themed:

“COMPULSION: STEP RIGHT UP AND JOIN THE SHOW!”

When you hear this phrase, your character will be compelled to participate in the dangerous and deadly carnival events held by Colonel Rictus's Flying Circus, for the next TEN (10) minutes. Proceed to the NPC that made the call, and follow their instructions. You’ll generally need to follow their instructions unless you spend Mind points to resist or use an item.

I covered how to resist these effects in the blog post on Cirque de Dread, and a bit about how Roleplay Burdens work, but now it’s time to discuss the curious Medallions of the Flying Circus. You can see our first mention of the Medallions in the teaser we posted the first week, and in the poster below.

Carnival Medallions

There are many stories of the traveling circus that travels from settlement to settlement across the wastes, but they all have similar elements. Before the settlement was wiped out by hordes of Raiders, the twisted carnival games of Colonel Rictus arrived in town first.

Each of these games will have ways to “win”, if you consider simply surviving a deadly contest a victory, but some of them will offer a different sort of reward - a Circus Medallion. The prizes that the raiders offer from their macabre games aren’t things most people would find interesting, but these Medallions seem to be a different story. In fact, several stories mention the destruction of the town happened because of the residents fighting amongst themselves over the medallions offered by Colonel Rictus.

The medallions are pretty decently sized, about 6 inches across and they are gold in color. you can see what they look like in the picture to the below. It should be pretty obvious what you’ve earned once you get a circus medallion.

So, you’ve done it. You earned a Medallion, but what was the cost? Let’s talk about what happens if you are unluck… I mean, lucky enough to earn one of these incredibly valuable prizes!

The Medallions have a couple of unique effects during our October event.

circus Medallion Mechanics:

  • The owner of the Medallion cannot resist “Step Right Up” calls with Mental Endurance.

  • You cannot attack or attempt to hurt Colonel Rictus.

  • When you hear a “Step Right Up” call, you must REPEAT the call as an AOE. Call “Area of Effect, Step Right Up and Join the Show!”. This is an additional instance of the effect and can be resisted.

  • Prized Possession (Roleplay Burden): The Medallion is precious to you. You may not hide this medallion and it must be prominently displayed at all times. You cannot willingly part with this Medallion and if it forcibly removed from you or lost, gain a Fracture.

  • NOTE: You must own a Medallion to participate in the FINALE.

The real danger of the Medallion owners is the dangerous effect they have during the raider carnival games. If an NPC makes the call, you must repeat the call, becoming a second effect to resist. If there are multiple Medallions in an area, it can be exhausting to escape the effects of the Carnival Barkers. This is an insidious effect, so if your friends acquire one of the Medallions, you’ll need to be careful when you protect them from the carnival games, as you’ll be forced to join along.

While the Medallions can be claimed by someone else, remember that CVC rules apply — You still need to use the “C” symbol to ask consent, unless your opponent is in the Wasteland!

Lastly, let’s cover the true star of the show: Colonel Rictus and the Nemesis Cult!

The Nemesis

While the stories of devastation in the wake of the Flying Circus travel from town to town, the other recurring element of the tales are the murderous cultists that follow in Colonel Rictus’ employ. The masked killers are ruthless and predatory, and seem to blend in well with the throngs of Raiders held in sway by the Ringmaster of the Flying Circus. They are the deadly and terrible NEMESIS.

With Friday the 13th coming up during our October event, you might already be familiar with the deadly followers of the Telling Visionaries known as The Nemesis. You can find a mention of them on p. 81 in the Corebook, but I’ve included the relevant passages here to save you the trouble:

The Nemesis are often seen as a dangerous cult within the Telling Visionaries. However, their entire goal is to create heroes among the people of the world - by pushing them to rise to the task. Members don the clothes and faces of villains as they attempt to inspire people to be better. Unfortunately, there’s often a lot of collateral damage. The Nemesis are seen as heretics by other followers of the Telling Visionaries, since many members of the Nemesis are not only extremists but also devote themselves to acts of violence in the name of their faith. - DR Corebook, p. 81

The old tabletop books published during the 2.0 days have a bit more, and you can find some useful information on the Telling Visionary faith, including the Nemesis cult in the book “Echoes of Celluoid Dreams”. While the book is not really canon any longer, the information inside has certainly inspired some of this arc. You can still get a copy on DriveThruRPG, here.

Perhaps the most famous, and most antithetical religious sect within the Telling Visionaries, the Nemesis embrace villainy in all of it’s forms. While certainly couched in the genre of horror, you’ll find adherents of Captain Hook rubbing shoulders with Mean Girls and Schrutes among the Kreugers, Voorhees, and Draculas. The sect is supported by a bit of the founder’s writing that describes the "Beast of the Late Late Show”, a horror-movie monster that terrorizes humanity before the end of the Broadcast day. - Echoes of Celluoid Dreams, p. 26

The Nemesis have been repeated villains throughout the Dystopia Rising network, no matter which game you go to. They are cultists of fear, bent on spreading their particular twisted interpretation of their faith in a misguided attempt to cause terror and mayhem.

It’s a classic trope, of the movie villain like Jason Voorhees, the white masked Psycho Mike, Leatherface from the Chainsaw Massacre, or even Samara from the Ring. And October is their favorite month to prowl, just in time for This is Halloween, the annual tradition of the Telling Visionary faith. We’ve had a number of these killers in our DR:TX games, from Eyeless Jack and his father Grandfather Nichols, to the classics like Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Pumpkin Sam.

With Friday the 13th happening in game, we can’t miss out on the chance to run screaming from a chainsaw killer in the woods, saying “nope” to a band of creepy masked figures in the treeline, and herding together without really protecting ourselves, tripping on level and stable ground, and attempting to hide in obvious and dangerous locations, in classic horror movie tropes. We hope you will buy into the fear, and embrace the story we have in store for you.

Let’s cover some basics as it applies to the story of Cirque de Dread:

The themes of the Nemesis

The Nemesis Cult is an important villain of the weekend, and they are here to enforce a few themes during our event, particularly of SURVIVAL HORROR. There will be several of these villains in play over the course of the weekend, and we still have a few surprises as well as some returning threats.

The Nemesis are villains to survive, not to simply kill. You survive an encounter with a Nemesis by “playing along”. They are here to cause fear and terror, and if you stand in their way you will likely meet a brutal death. The surest way to anger a Nemesis is not reacting to their presence and trying to steal their spotlight. In addition, the Nemesis have strange defenses, powerful brews, and a few unique mechanics they might use against you. They are not simply enemies to hit a bunch of times, as they keep coming back, again and again until stopped, like the psycho killers of their TV stories. Each will have a particular way they need to be dealt with. It’s up to you if you want to go down that dangerous path, or simple decide to focus on survival for this brief time the Nemesis stalk the night. Choose wisely!

The Nemesis are zealots, and they are wrong. The Nemesis are insane, deadly zealots that want to spread fear and terror in the world on purpose. They believe that by becoming something so powerfully evil that they create good in the world instead. When a protagonist rises up to challenge them, that bit of heroism will outshine their evil deeds and inspire others to be better. In their twisted world view, they think of themselves as heroes doing a necessary and dirty job. They are branded as heretics by the TVs, and actively opposed in almost every civilized place in the wastelands. They are not allies, and helping the Nemesis will be a sure way to involve your character in deadly CVC from other players.

The Nemesis tend to adhere to some very stringent rules known as a “script”. The Nemesis almost never hunts other members of the Telling Visionaries — it’s a waste of their time to do so. Their own faith simply already knows what the Nemesis is there to teach, and they are evangelists through fear. They each pick a “script”, acting out what they believe to be the motivations of the classic killers from the Signal, and narrowing the focus of their “performance” in the field. Nemesis tend to think of themselves as professional actors, trying to bring the characters they portray to life by being true to the motivations and actions of that killer. Each often have a few types of victims they will not let escape, and if you can figure out what “script” in game they are following you might be able to avoid their attention.

Your character is probably not familiar with the “scripts” of the Nemesis. Movies don’t exist in the wasteland. Just because you’ve seen a horror movie in real life and recognize that mask doesn’t mean these killers will follow an entirely predictable pattern in game. However, the stories of movies and TV shows from before the fall of man have been passed down as oral traditions by the Telling Visionaries, and they have mutated and changed through the generations, just like the Survivors themselves. Your character has not seen a movie at all, and all you have is urban legends and spooky stories told by some lunatic at the bar. Sometimes, a Nemesis will blend several scripts together to achieve their perfect character, and this means they can be a bit unexpected at times. Each of the killers during this event has a story to tell, information to share, and maybe you can uncover the truth of their scripts by surviving encounters with the Nemesis.

The Nemesis are working with Colonel Rictus. Survivors of other settlements have reported that the Ringmaster himself is a villainous Nemesis, but for some reason he seems to attract other members of this murderous faith. Why they are working with the Ringmaster is unknown, but it may be related to the curious way that the Ringmaster is always followed by hordes of deadly Thrill Kill raiders. Regardless of their reasoning, if you see one of the Nemesis in town, you should assume they are an enemy and are simply “part of the show”…

Nemesis Rules

October is our annual Halloween game and is a time of high-stakes danger, visceral horror, and we strive to make the things that go bump in the night very, very, very real. In the tradition of classic Zombie films, the true horror of the apocalypse is not really the zombies themselves, but rather the depths of depravity that your fellow humans will descend into in order to survive.

The single most dangerous enemy you can ever encounter in Dystopia rising is another Survivor.

Unlike most Zed or Raiders, Survivors are a unique danger because they are intelligent, capable of using equipment and gizmos, and have motivations entirely different than you normally encounter from the common monsters. For this event, we will be featuring several unique “lineage” threats - threats that have a Strain and Lineage much like any other player in the game.

During the upcoming Carnival Games, the villains known as the Nemesis Cult will be in our town of Bravado. These crazed killers will be dangerous threats in addition to zombies and raiders, and you’ll need to be prepared for a deadly encounter. In our focus on radical trust, we’d like to share a few of the mechanics and systems we will be using this weekend to represent these threats.

Mechanics of the NEMESIS

The first thing to know about the Nemesis is that while they are dangerous threats, each of the Nemesis (like any other threat in our game) will honor our “OK Check-In” system for choosing to opt-out of a scene. We want this experience to be one of intense horror and danger, but our Nemesis just play the bad guys on TV - not in real life.

Named Nemesis are always portrayed by Storytellers and Guides and are generally “killing blow active”, which means they can use deadly force against characters in the game.

However, unlike most NPC Threats, we’ve put a few “guard rails” in place on these characters while they are in play in a narrative sense:

  • First, all Nemesis have an agenda and a personality. They are sentient individuals, with their own backstories, motivations, and reasons for why they earned their reputation as a villain. At first glance, a Nemesis may be indistinguishable from another character, despite their horrific costumes. The cult is not just an excuse for wanton murder and mayhem: the Nemesis are in Bravado for a reason - to cause FEAR.

  • Each Nemesis has a primary objective to complete their “script”. If they fulfill these goals, they will stop their rampage, satisfied in their goal of creating fear and terror. This means that not every encounter with a Nemesis has to end in bloodshed - if you can identify and understand their goals you may be able to escape their notice or even survive!

  • In fact, EVERY Nemesis has a specific type of character they will avoid killing, based on their story and motivations. If you can find out this weakness, you may be able to avoid an untimely demise at the hands of a particular Nemesis. This doesn’t mean they won’t torture, maim, or injure you so tread lightly. And just because you might be safe from one Nemesis doesn’t mean they won’t have friends that don’t have a similar restriction. Likewise, they often have a type of victim they will purposefully seek out, according to the twisted scripts they follow.

Mechanically speaking, each Nemesis was built following certain guidelines:

  • Each Nemesis has a monster sheet. They will have a set amount of Body, Armor, Skills, and abilities, but they will have distinct stats. They will be tough, but not immortal. However, unless a Nemesis is satisfied with their performance, they will keep coming back again and again till stopped, so simply hitting them several times with a boffer isn’t always the best way to deal with them.

  • Nemesis will have at least one “Nemesis Ability”. This will be a special Local Plot Card that enables a particular mechanical trick. Many will be resistant to damage like the immortal monsters they portray, or they might be capable of escaping from a fight into the shadows, or they might be able to act in other unpredictable ways according to their role. These will be fairly simple mechanics, but they won’t always be a thing a player can do.

  • For all intents and purposes, they must interact with the world in the same manner as other THREATS.

  • Each of the Nemesis has access to a limited amount of Crafted Equipment. Honestly, this is probably the single biggest reason that Nemesis can be unique threats as they can use those nifty gizmos, weapon augments, and brews against you. If they are killed or captured, these powerful items can be looted or stolen (though they will have shortened expiration dates).

This weekend promises to be a dangerous and challenging time, but our goal is to create a unique threat that is a bit different from a zombie or raider. Each Nemesis has a different story to tell, and we can’t wait to hear about your favorite encounters with these psychotic sociopaths! Let us know what you think!

The Freddy Five are ready for the show!

wrap up

We have a few weeks left until game, and are so excited to show up the fearsome sights of the carnival, and Colonel Rictus’ Flying Circus. Matt and his team have cooked up some great events, some neat props, and some terrifying new villains. We can’t wait to go bump in the night, and help your characters tell the story of survival against all odds.

Tickets are on sale until friday, but you’ll still be able to purchase them on site. Save yourself a wait in line, and buy them today!

See you soon Vados!