Queens Grave, Queen's Grace

At Bravado’s Perimeter, During the Final Battle Against the Archon Threat

Holy Mother Queen Jasper, Bearer of the Antlered Crown, advances on the oncoming horde of undead with all the gravity of a small star, and the killer density of a subway bombing.

Her arms are two, thick cords of sinew and meat that heft twin blades; too thick to be daggers and too ugly to cut cleanly through the slimy, forgiving skull of yet another aggressing corpse. This one, like a thousand others, discorporates into chunky biomass around her cudgel-knives. She blinks the bleak viscera out of her eyes and spits. 

Queen Jasper has rarely felt so alive. 

The pressing mob of wailing zombies, innumerable and immutable in their path, do not ram into the line of her soldiers so much as seep into the cracks between them. Like horrible estuaries the shamblers make space in the shoreline of her vanguard and expand, like winter’s first freeze, isolating her soldiers and suffocating them under cracked tooth and filthy nails. 

And so, she makes space too. Wherever she can Jasper shucks zed like corn and reduces them to their constituent halves with all the efficacy of a rabid farmhand. The Eastern front is hers; all of that flat, tilled acreage, recently evacuated and nearly impossible to hold for its geography and size. 

She has left the more cursory cardinals to the RRC and the Reckoners. 

Someone else, she thinks, would have gotten this part wrong.

Behind her, and behind the six-man-deep wall of Antler Soldiers that flank her on either side, the terrible Monolith looms just over the horizon. A hellstone of osseum and calcified biomass that, the blind and horrible typhoon of death that is thinning out here, relentlessly seeks to destroy. 

She knows, as she bends another nameless undead over her knee and shatters whatever turgid structure serves it for a spine, that her pace here is unsustainable. The Holy Mother can feel the edges to her illness behind the bright and brilliant wall of amphetamines and her own cocktail of adrenaline and dopamine. Beyond that bright halo of wellness, she foresees unconsciousness. 

But the flank must hold, she reflects, even as she crushes the meaty neck of a butcher-dead and a wave of nausea seizes her by the brain and renders the world a runny watercolor of pain and confusion. 

“Not now.” She pleads to the nameless thing that turns the seasons, and doubles over. “A bit longer.”  For a jittering, horrible instant black creeps into the edges of her vision and she loses a few seconds of time. A soldier dies to her left in a mess of incisors and gutstrings, and the Holy Mother pulls herself back from the brink of unknowing by sheer force of will. The vessels behind her eyes burst with the effort and red blooms in her vision. 

She kills a hundred more undead in less than ten minutes. By the end, she is shaking like a leaf in late autumn and the distant sound of the Monolith’s horrible, Archon-ending claxon is indistinguishable from her own pounding heartbeat. 

And then, all at once, it stops. The noise stops, the zed stop - and for a brief and terrifying instant, Queen Jasper believes she feels her heart stop too. 

But it doesn’t, it shudders again, and blackness rolls over her all at once. 

Distantly she hears someone yell her name. And the ground rushes up to meet her. 

---

Two Weeks Later, In the San Saba Boardroom, at the Flying City of Waking PrimE

Jasper’s eyes flutter open to reveal the bright and vaulted boardroom at the top of Eureka Tower. The familiar, flat drone of the Chairman’s voice has lulled her to sleep, again. 

“The situation of the San Saba is one of reclamation…” She hears the Chairman continue, before she loses the thread of his point. He is, she thinks, a terminally boring young man. 

It is becoming harder and harder to stay awake, the Holy Mother reflects, peering down into her lap and at the rich layers of her skirts. Fringe and taffeta swaddle thin legs, inches smaller than they were at the fall of the Monolith. Thick, green varicose veins spider out from the backs of her thighs and calves; morbid renditions of the late life characteristics her mother had lived long enough to achieve naturally. 

“The Penitentiary prefers a well-kept State and, in the interest of Order and Justice, vote ‘Nay’.” Warden Tabitha St. Mercy intones, her expression hidden by her mask but implied by the way she crossed her arms when she said it.

Queen Jasper does not expect she will be able to do the same in her lifetime. 

“The Grave Council cannot, at this time and during this period of reclamation and upheaval, provide the necessary personnel to staff a new Morgue. We must, in good conscience, vote Na-”

“That’s why I’m proposing it,” another, rougher voice cuts in - interrupting Takheeta Firstborn and drawing Jasper’s attention back to the present. 

The rawboned figure of Sinker Swim, the Junkerpunk’s Grand Admiral and temporary board representative, leans onto the marble tabletop with both hands. “I agree that the San Saba is undergoing a facelift right now.” They continue, shark-sharp teeth cutting off the ends of their words as if they are eating them, “I. Get That. I want my people to participate, too. Drywater would be a tradehub for my folks on land. I want the Board to approve a relief and settlement package for the Junkerpunks. We have more than earned the right to our own town, and we will continue to impress. But you must give us the tools to succeed here…”

Somewhere, in the echoing annuls of her memory, Queen Jasper can remember making the same argument for her own people at the zenith of the Hiway War. After their homeland was firebombed into carbon dust and after her father was killed to weaken their leadership, she remembered the demoralizing, exhausting, lonely years that would follow after. Without aid, they never found their homeland - and only with the events of Essex did the Tribes Disparate stumble into one. Holy Mother Queen Jasper raps her tiny silver gavel on the marble tabletop and opens her mouth to speak. 

“The Tribes Disparate cast their vote in support of the Drywater Settlement Package.” The Holy Mother declares in a voice too sure and too stately to match her emaciated countenance. She continues with all the authority of her experience and station; “The search for one’s homeland should be a short journey, not a crusade waged against your neighbors.” 

Felicity Redfield, the RRC snake with hair like red-hot copper filament, raises her own hand in, stunningly, support. Her lapdog, the Semper-Scientist, raises his fist an instant after hers. 

“The RRC'' Felicity begins archly, “Sees the benefit of a sister-settlement and offers the land to the West of New Bravado but East of Barogue, in terms to be discussed upon the resolution of this meeting, to this Settlement project.” Her eyes flicker towards the Chairman, then back to Sinker Swim whose mouth is open in a small, surprised ‘O’. 

The Boardroom is quiet for a moment before the Chairman speaks. His voice is resigned, almost wistful. “Then the formal state of the vote is 4/6, in favor of the Drywater Settlement Package. Motion Approved.”

Jasper smiles inwardly. Sinker Swim appears stunned that they got this far. Felicity maintains the look of a satisfied cat while her pet scientist shuffles his notes around, again.  

“Congratulations.” Takheeta Firstborn, Mystagogue of the Grave Council offers from Sinker’s left side. And for once, Jasper thinks she might mean it. 

“Concerning the Baroguean Exhumation…” The Chairman continues, as though something of monument had not just occurred.  

Jasper sighs, and peers out the wraparound windows at a clear, clean sky. 

---

Later, in Jasper’s Quarters at Eureka Tower

Someone knocks. Jasper can smell the thick and saline scent of a Saltwise on the other side of the metal door. She invites the Admiral in after the Antler soldier stationed at her door dutifully frisks them.

“Grand Admiral Swim.” Queen Jasper greets them, spinning in the leather chair which surely cost an unfathomable amount, to meet Sinker Swim’s suspicious stare. “I would stand, but - I won’t today. My bones grow old quickly, and they ache when I am in the high altitudes of Waking Prime.” 

Sinker waves a scaly, dismissive hand and takes a seat on another unreasonably expensive chair. “What are you trying to get out of supporting me in there? What do I owe you?” They asked, their tone abrupt and frank. 

“To remember that I was the first to support you, when it gained me nothing.” Queen Jasper replied, suddenly very tired. “I have been giving some thought to my legacy, recently. You have probably noticed I am…” 

“Falling apart at the joints?” Sinker supplied helpfully, “Greenveined so hard you’ll be sprouting roots soon?” 

“Dying.” Jasper agreed with a solemn smile that did not betray the grief in her chest.  “And I would like to be remembered as a leader who made homes, not war. As my final year concludes, in the winter of my life, I would be known as a peacemaker.” 

The Grand Admiral’s expression softens and their posture eases. “Well that’s… great then. Though, we really don’t need your pity.” 

“Good, because I’m not giving it to you.” Jasper rasps, then coughs up a meaty wad of phlegm and blood. “I’m giving you resources, which is what I wished I had when I was you.”

She coughs again, and feels the edges of another episode. “Now get out. I’ve got letters to write.” 

It is maybe 10 seconds after Sinker vacated her apartments that the Holy Mother Queen Jasper vomits up nearly eight ounces of black bile, studded with bits of coagulated psion crystal, onto her desktop and various correspondences. 

“Again?” a familiar voice asks from the shadow of her bedroom doorway.  

Felicity’s pet scientist steps back into the room. Janus Stewart jots something down on the clipboard he holds in the crook of his elbow. 

Jasper croaks pathetically as The Scientist removes a thick, ugly syringe from the pocket of his lab coat. 

“Just a few more months.” He promises. 

And plunges the needle into her solar plexus. 

The Anatomy of a Damage Call, Part 1

Howdy Vados!

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

The Basics

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

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

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

The Damage Call

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

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

Let’s look at an EXTREME example:

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

There are SIX major mechanical parts of a Damage Call:

• Delivery Modifier

• Skill Name or Keyword

• Delivery Method

• Damage Amount

• Damage Modifier (or Augment)

• Damage Affix (or Effect!)

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

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

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

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

Parts of a Damage Call

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

Delivery Modifier

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

Skill Name or keyword

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

Delivery Method

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

Damage Amount

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

Damage Modifier (or Augment)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Damage Affix (or Effect)

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

---

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

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

Story Recap: The Long Night

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

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

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

THE MONOLITH

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

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

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

ARCHON ASSAULT

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

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

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

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

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

THE LONG NIGHT & LONGWALKERS

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

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

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

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

THE END OF THE MONOLITH

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

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

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

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

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

The Aftermath

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

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

Chasing Plot (Part 2)

Time to once again visit the topic of Plot Chasing!

In this post I will focus more on what it means to chase plot in a collaborative storytelling environment, by providing even more Hot Tips(™). 

So you’ve developed your goals, and you’re doggedly pursuing them. You know how to spot plot from a mile away, and you’re ready to put your character through grievous bodily or emotional harm to get it… but what’s next?

What’s next… is to involve yourself with your pals!

Join a Crew or Faith, and Form Relationships

Playing the lone wolf in LARP is hard mode. It's a valid playstyle, but it comes with drawbacks. One of the biggest, in this writer's opinion, is that you have fewer avenues for plot. Crews share plot more naturally than individuals (because you're already under a common playstyle banner) and it gives you something/someone to care about. Having a faith means that you have faith members who you can roleplay with. And that’s like an ‘in’ for faith related plot. If Final Knight plot gets sent out... the Final Knight players are more than likely going to grab the other Final Knights. If you find yourself struggling to feel involved in story, join up. 

If a crew, faith, or faction isn’t really your speed though, not all is lost. I highly encourage this kind of roleplay, but I also know that some people just want to play that loner. More than just joining up is investing in other people’s stories. If you care about other characters and their goals, and you form those relationships, you’ll be more likely to get hit up when they have a Cool Thing happening. You can achieve this without a faith or crew on your sheet, but it will take more footwork, so just know that going in. Because the more you invest in other characters, the more they’ll care about your story in return.

Be Present, and Be the Champion of your fun.

Be present! Instead of sitting in one place for most of the event, go looking for trouble. When the Shit Goes Down™, there often isn't time to go round up people all over town. If you want to be involved, be present at the places it seems like plot things are happening. The library, if there is a flurry of research. The med tent, if there is a flurry of disease curing, the Depot, if there's a Big Meeting… etc.  If you see a group of people engaged in something, go up and ask to join in. Be Proactive! The majority of the time, people will be amenable to including you. And if you know that a big thing is happening but you can’t make it (maybe you’re on NPC, or maybe you just REALLY need to sit and eat this damn sandwich because god knows you’ve had NO calories today…) ask a friend to go in your stead (this is where those relationships come in)! 

Everyone will miss out on some content in game. You can't be all places at all times. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is real. And sometimes being involved is a 'right place, right time' situation and you can’t plan for that, but hopefully these tips can help you be in the right place more often.

Everyone has off games. Sometimes you get out of 'rhythm' with the game and always seem to be in the WRONG place at the wrong time. It happens to everyone. It's frustrating, but try to shake it off and know that's not going to happen every game. 

You WILL miss a mod related to the plot you want to chase. It’s inevitable.  That's okay. But if you're proactive, you can stay updated on the outcome and hit the next one. If you want to be updated on the status of a plot during game.. go ask the characters who seem in the know. Don't wait for someone to come to you. Take the initiative to get updates/stay involved. Be the champion of your own fun.

Share The Wealth

The more you involve other people, the more plot you will find yourself in. The more you invest in OTHER people's stories, the more they'll invest in yours. When you do find yourself in a position to involve others. Do it. This doesn't mean you have to give away every plot cookie you get. Every player is allowed a spotlight from time to time, but LARP is collaborative, and if you are known as someone who frequently involves others, that will flow both ways. 

Sometimes, this requires some steering. For example, If you play a character that is very protective of others, you’ll need to find a way to rationalize allowing others to take on some danger (read: plot). But we are people before we are our characters, and it's more important to involve people than it is to play our character concept to the letter. Allow for some flexibility. People are complicated, and often contradictory. It’s okay if your character is too.

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I also want to address a less positive thing under this point: Plot Gatekeeping. It happens. It’s probably what caused you to get a little skeptical of me when I said you could just ask to be involved. Because let’s face it.. Sometimes that doesn’t work. As much as we try to avoid and discourage it, Plot Gatekeeping comes up occasionally in every LARP. Gatekeeping can happen for many reasons, and not all of them are malicious. It can happen due to fear of losing out on a plot you’ve worked hard on, stress of the pressure of the event/story (we’re not at our best, and chose the easy and fast option instead of the inclusive option), perceived responsibility for the direction of the game, fear of someone dropping the ball on an important plot piece (“If I don’t do this, it won’t get done”), etc. EVERY player needs to take time to self reflect to make sure they’re not falling victim to these mindsets/actions, because they’re not inherently malicious and can creep up unexpectedly in your play even if you have the best of intentions. 

With all that in mind, I want to encourage everyone reading this to do the following:

• SHARE. And not just the small things. Share the important things. Even if you CAN open the box without help, doesn’t mean you have to. If it takes five skills to do a thing, and you have all five…. Use One and then do the work to find other people for the rest. It’s one thing to grab people for skills you don’t have, but it’s way more inclusive to go find people to help with ones you DO have. If you make a real effort, and come up dry.. That’s Fine! Be a big damn hero and pop that box by your lonesome..  But make the effort first to include more folks in the cool thing before you resort to One-Person-Army tactics.

• Do it together- if there is a task on the sheet you really want to do, but there is someone who also wants it... Tag team it! Just because a ZoM says it only needs One techno savant to rewire the radio tower doesn’t mean you can’t use two (or one and an intern!) and work together in roleplay to do the thing. No ST alive will be upset if you guys OVERspend mind on a ZOM ;P

• If a part of a plot thing doesn’t happen, remind yourself it’s just a game. Sometimes these things feel SO important in the moment, because we are very immersed and they are very important to our characters, so we hesitate to pass it off to someone we might not know well. But in the grand scheme of things, if the plot thing falls through, staff will adjust, and it will be fine. If you struggle with this (hell, I do! Hello, Anxiety), pass it off but ask to help on it. Let that person take point, but help them out and support them in getting it done. Be their Gofer, rather than asking them to be yours. 

• If you’re on a mod and you had a big hero moment, take a step back and let someone else do the next cool thing. It doesn’t matter if your character CAN do it, or even if they WOULD do it. Or even if they’re the most logical choice to do it. Involving others in this beautiful collaborative storytelling art we all love means steering. And steering often means making a less optimal choice for the sake of including someone else.  

You aren’t expected to involve every single character in every single plot, but when you have a chance to involve someone else in a meaningful way, do it. Even committing to go a LITTLE bit out of your way can make a big difference. 

• For those who feel they’re on the other side of the gate: Don’t give up. If you ask to be involved in a plot and it doesn't work, or you feel otherwise blocked from it, find someone else involved, and try again. Sometimes it may not be a gatekeeping issue, sometimes it’s just that you need to try to interface in a different way. Not every plot can be accessed the same. Or utilize one of the other tactics above to try to make your own In, if you feel pushed out. If you’re still struggling then you can always talk to staff about what you can do to be involved more.

I also encourage you to not assume malice on the part of the other players. I know it can be rough when you feel pushed out of a space, but the vast majority of the people playing don’t want to intentionally harm other people’s fun. Give grace where you can, everyone makes mistakes sometimes. 

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Ask OOG

Previously I mentioned asking in character.. But you can also ask out of character! If you want your character involved in a plot, go ask the people who seem to know what's going on to point you in the right direction. No player is obligated to include everyone in everything, but if you ask, you'll often find it easier to get involved because they will often steer to involve you when you are present (see point above) or give you an idea of how they got their foot into it, so you can do the same. You can also reach out to staff, as mentioned above, for some tips. 

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Finally, its always good to know that not every plot is written for every type of character. I will, by default, not ask a character whose concept is to uphold the law to go with me on a crime plot. If it's a stealth mod, I'm not going to ask the loudest guy in town to sneak in (you know who you are). If your character is known to have loose lips, some more secretive plots probably won’t be pitched your way. And this is okay. There are a ton of plots out there, and just like these aren’t focused on some character concepts, others will be all about law and order, getting the word out, and brazenly and loudly sacking the enemy encampment. It’s just about finding the right ones for your character concept, and diving in head first.  

I know that there is some nuance to this that I didn’t touch on. There are exceptions to some of my points and examples. But overall, these things will help you get more involved in plot in game. If you have any questions, or want to talk about it further, hit me up. I love talking plot. 

Happy Hunting. 

Pre-Game Rules Ramble

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

Website Updates & BUY LISTS

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

Collectors rejoice!

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

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

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

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

Armor in Dystopia Rising

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

Basic Armor Rules

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

armor Coverage

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

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

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

“Reliable” and Reactions on Armor Breaks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Longwalkers & Rimebound

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

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

• Rimebound Dead

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

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

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

• Longwalkers

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

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

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

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

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