DR: TX Season 5 Team Announcements!

Thank You!

First off, WOW!

The Gamerunning team was blown away by the interest from our community to serve on our Season 5 team! Some of the application areas were extremely competitive and we deliberated on these selections with open minds and open hearts!

In the end, we ultimately selected people by focusing on two specific criteria. The first criteria was picking the person we think fits the role best, and we did this by reading your applications and observing your interaction and dedication to our community. If we reached out to you for a role you didn’t initially apply for, it’s not because we don’t like you. It’s because we believe that your strengths in serving our game would be better fit in a different capacity. If you want to know more about the details of each role, you can find those written up here.

The second criteria was choosing applicants we felt would best represent DR:TX team values going into Season 5. The Gamerunners and previous teams have worked hard to establish our brand, including these values:

• Radical Trust/Radical Honesty - This is the philosophy that we have adopted the hardest and it is the foundation that lends itself to a successful and cohesive team. It bleeds into every aspect of decision making on both the storytelling side and the player side of the game. Assume that everyone in the game is acting in good faith. That’s it. Trust your people.

• Be authentic - be someone who does what they say they will do - life happens, but own your words and take responsibility for your actions.

• Collaboration- we believe the collabortive cycle is the backbone of the game that we run. It’s the way we communcation with one another. It’s the way be build stories together. to serve on our team you have to be willing to partner with your team and players willingly and enthusiastically! This also means the ability to hear and accept critical feedback and adjust to it!

• Positive life/hobby Balance- it’s a well known that fact that members of a larp team are often donating their time, effort, and labor with very little pay out for them. You should not volunteer your time to the point that you no longer enjoy volunteering or the game as a whole. We expect that each member of our team maintains a positive hobby/life balance when they volunteer. we love and will honor boundaries, so we appriciate team members that know how to set them!

With these values in mind; we selected the team that we feel will meet them above and beyond our expectations.

Don’t worry; if you didn’t get selected for the Season 5 team or you were offered a different role but are still interested in the role you originally applied for— we will have many shadowing opportunities this season. Look for a blog about how our Shadowing Program will function later this summer.

If you have any questions about our decisions or would like feedback on your application, please reach out to Jonathan, Amber, or email info@dystopiarisingtx.com and we will be happy to talk to you!

We will begin on-boarding our team over the next week! If we need something specific from you, either Amber or Ren will reach out to obtain it. IMPORTANT: The Storytelling Senate will have its first on-boarding meeting June 21, 2023 at 7pm in the Bravado After Party Discord. Please be prepared to attend this meeting if you are selected.

But for now, onto the news you have all been waiting for - the DR:TX Season 5 Team.

(If you would like your name displayed differently to be public facing, please email info@dystopiarisingtx.com or message Amber directly and we will gladly change it for you!)

gamerunners

Shan Lindley- Regional Director

Jonathan Loyd- Storytelling Director

Amber Cleek- Logistics Director

Heather Halstead- Operational Storyteller

Ren Lewis- Storytelling Admin Assistant

Joscelyn Benoit- Logistics Admin Assistant/Onsite Coordinator

Kiara Everlen- Marketing Lead

general storytellers

Kalen Lewis
Mae Wilder
Stephanie Patrick-Muñoz
Luka Drystan
Matt Hoadley
Karin Stephanofsky
Andrew Harper
Brett Moulton

Specialized Storyteller: Criminal

Chase Lira

Specialized Storyteller: gravemind

Ash Sexton
Noah Goodman

New player Storyteller/guides

Barbara Vold
Joel Vold

rules guides

John Crown
Beau Lee
Cory Maughmer
Matthew Stasio
Avery Clark
Nick Hiser
Jo Brown
Casie Spivey
Weston Harper

coord guides

Stephanie Sakovich
Ian Workman
Momo Morlan
Shawn Kneupper
Kieran Turner
Kat Drinjak
LJ Graves
Calie Spivey

setup/truck team

Clint Preston [Team Lead]
Liz Harvey
Jefferson White
Jason Dumas

settings/Props team

Amber Cleek [Team Lead]
Ren Lewis [Team Lead]
Riva Amyett
Poe Popek
Matt Hoadley
Kat Drinjak

photography team

Kiara Everlen [Team Lead]
Max Pohlmeier
Jason Dumas

Medical/emotional support team

Amber Cleek [Team Lead]
Joscelyn Benoit [Team Lead]
Barbara Vold
Riva Amyett

We anticipate offering a second round of applications for Coord Guides, Setup/Truck Team, and Safety/Medical Guide later in the summer. If you were hesitant to apply the first go-around, this will be your chance to jump in!

Congratulations to the DR:TX Season 5 team! The Gamerunners are excited to work with you all, and even more excited about the Season 5 game we will build together!

Camp Kachina Clean Up Day

It’s Jonathan here with a few Summer updates coming your way!

You might have seen a few of these announcements already in your email inbox, thanks to our very talented Marketing Admin Kiara, but we will repeat a few of them here just in case!

• I’ve made a few website updates, and you’ll see a few more over the summer. The Blueprint Checklist has been updated for two new prints, as well as a edited Augment print.

• I’ve written a bunch on the topic of the economy, and you can see a new page on our site, Turbo’s Guide to Econ. I had fun writing this one, so check it out!

Pictures in this post were taken by Max during our season finale. They’ll be publicly available on our Flickr on Wed May 31. Keep an eye on our social media for the drop! You can visit Flickr now to see the first batch of pics by Lainey Weiss.

Camp Kachina Clean Up Day

Fri Jun 2 - Sat Jun 3

Camp Kachina is our Bravado home, and from time to time this community pitches in to help keep the camp looking nice and functioning not just for us, but for the Girl Scout troops that also call Kachina home.

This time, we’re offering up to 10 XP for folks who come out Friday and Saturday. You can be onsite as early at 2:00 pm Friday, but we won’t really start filming until 4:00 pm. Afterwards, we’ll have a potluck and hang out. Definitely bring your kit (s), some food to share, and maybe your favorite board game or some smores!

On Saturday, we’ll start the day with some coffee and tackle some necessary projects the Camp needs done. Bring some clothes to paint in and your close toed shoes. We’ll break for lunch around 1pm (don’t worry, we got this one!) and end the day around 5:00 pm.

Showing up on Friday for filming nets you 2XP, and you can earn 1XP per hour on Saturday for a max of 10XP.

That’s a PFA, most skills, body, mind, etc. If you’re looking for an edge over the summer but can’t attend a National game, this is it.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What time are we starting THE CLEAN UP EVENT?

Kachina will be open at 2:00 PM on Friday, but the fun starts at 4:00 PM, as we use the last bit of daylight to take some videos for promotional use for the game. Bring your character kit, and you can be the star! We have a planned potluck that evening, or you can get food in nearby Belton. I’ll bring a few board games if folks are interested, and maybe a Commander deck or two.

Saturday, we will start at 9:00 AM after some morning coffee and go until either 5:00 PM or until our chore list is complete! Lunch will be provided by DR:TX, so don’t worry!

Q: Does this extra XP apply to all of my characters if I have an Advanced Membership?

No. This is a special set of XP provided to you for the Clean Up Day event. It doesn’t stack with your Advanced Membership, so only one character will get this perk. Sorry!

Q: Can we stay on site on Saturday night?

Unfortunately no. The Girl Scouts will be starting their orientation for summer camp the next day, so we need to be off site after the work day is completed Saturday afternoon.

Q: What Cabins will be open?

We plan on using Wikiup for this event. This is a climate-controlled cabin, so we will have access to the air conditioning. Whew!

Q: What tasks will wE be completing on Saturday?

It’s a LOT of painting, so bring old clothes that you are fine with getting covered in paint. We will be working on:

• Painting the benches around the fire circle to the new Girl Scout green color

• Painting the additional picnic tables around Kiva the new green color

• Painting the porch of Kiva to match the color of the building.

• Rock removal from the grassy area around the flag circle

• Dutch oven clean up

• Replace ropes at the Yuma Tent areas

Some optional tasks we will try if folks can bring some tools with them:

• Limb removal and cutting firewood for the summer. If you can bring a saw, we would appreciate it!

• Making cleat boards for sailing instruction. This task needs basic drills.

• Helping move/set up bunk beds (no tools needed!)

We will have some additional projects to work on just in case, but the Girl Scouts are excited to have the extra support for their upcoming summer season.

Q: Will you be able to answer questions about Season 5 plots?

Nope! We still have to finish up our stories, but we have some VERY cool plans for Season 5, don’t worry!

SUMMER DR:TX ONLINE EVENT! - AUGUST 4-6

• We announced this at the closing announcements of VOX POPULI — We will be running our first DR:TX ONLINE event since Dead Man’s Hand!

• Mark your calendars and join us as we explore the mysteries of BAROGUE, THE LOST CITY! What lies beneath the sands, and how has Barogue changed since we visited during the THE LOST CITY?

• This event will include CRAFTING! Get a head start on your Burning Season econ projects for September!

• This will be our first event of the Season 5 storyline before we start live games again in September. Don’t miss out on the introduction to our story for the season!

SToryteller applications Still open til 6/5/23!

• We still have our applications open for Storytellers and Guides for Season 5! We are looking for new and experienced players alike to join our team, and we’d love to have you apply!

  • If you’ve ever considered joining the team, please take a look at the application and apply! You can apply for multiple roles, so don’t be shy!

  • If you applied this season, please consider resubmitting your application. We had a small issue with the original form, so some responses weren’t recorded. We aren’t ignoring your application; chances are we didn’t receive it.

  • Apllications will now close on Monday, June 5.

Summer Break!

It’s Jonathan here with a bit of a BREAK from the usual Wednesday blog posts and Rules Rambles! A Summer Break, if you will!

We just wrapped up VOX POPULI, our season closer event ran by Heather Halstead, and it was awesome. However, with the end of Season 4, we get a bit of a hard-earned break before we start back again for Season 5. We have a LOT to write and get ready over the summer, but it also means the cadence of my blog posts will change a bit, so let’s cover the details today!

From this point forward, I’m going to plan on releasing bi-monthly blog posts over the summer. The Admin team doesn’t get much of a break from the prep for Season 5, so I’m going to give myself a treat and have two less blog posts to complete in my long Summer to-do list.

Don’t worry, we will still have some regular content coming your way, just not as frequently as you see during the live game season!

Our photos for this post were taken from our VOX POPULI event by our talented Photo Team.

Save the Date!

We have a few important events happening over the Summer involving DR:TX:

• SEASON 5 TEAM APPLICATIONS - May 29

  • Applications are due by May 29th!

  • Each year, we hire new Storytellers, Coord Guides, Rules Guides, and our entire support team of Medics, Settings & Props, Truck Team, and Photographers.

  • We are looking for new AND experienced folks to apply!

  • APPLY TODAY!

  • If you apply as a Storyteller, make sure you plan on being available for on July 14-16 for our Storyteller Retreat!

• CAMP CLEAN UP WEEKEND - June 2-3

  • Earn CAPS for your attendance and get a chance to hang out with your friends out-of-character at Camp Kachina while doing a good deed for the Girl Scouts!

  • Each year, we help out the Girl Scouts prepare Camp Kachina for new visitors by helping the rangers with tasks around the site. This will include some manual labor, so come prepared!

  • Friday, June 2nd - Filming, Hangouts, Community Potlucks

  • Saturday, June 3rd - Camp Work Project, DR:TX will provide Lunch!

• SUMMER DR:TX ONLINE EVENT! - August 4-6

  • We announced this at the closing announcements of VOX POPULI — We will be running our first DR:TX ONLINE event since Dead Man’s Hand!

  • Mark your calendars and join us as we explore the mysteries of BAROGUE, THE LOST CITY! What lies beneath the sands, and how has Barogue changed since we visited during the THE LOST CITY?

  • This event will include CRAFTING! Get a head start on your Burning Season econ projects for September!

  • This will be our first event of the Season 5 storyline before we start live games again in September. Don’t miss out on the introduction to our story for the season!

• SEASON 5 LIVE EVENT - September 15-17

  • Episode 1, September 15-17

  • The end of the long Summer at last! Our live games begin in September!

QUICK RECAP - VOX POPULI

We had some BIG choices and some BIG consequences during this event! I’ll recap the basics of the big events here in case you missed the last game, but these are some things to be thinking about over the summer.

Thank you so much to Heather, our entire DR:TX staff, and all the players and NPCs that helped make this one of the best events we’ve ever run!

The Fall of Waking

We held three votes over the course of the event to determine WHERE the city of Waking would end up in the descent. We had a handy map of the San Saba Territories to guide their choices during these STEERING EVENTS. Each time this happened, there was a vote to Steer West, Steer East, or they could Slow the Descent once, and once only. Each time they made a popular vote with the folks present in the Depot, and the results changed which Factions would be impacted by the fall of Waking.

• During the Friday night vote, it was almost a tie! The final vote was to Steer West towards Widow’s peak, removing KILLHOUSE as an option for the landing.

• During the Saturday morning vote, the town voted to Slow the Descent by a solid majority, keeping Waking mostly in place, and removing ESSEX and THE CLUTCH as options. A LOT of favors were promised by the Board to keep Essex out of the line of fire, though many of the town wanted to land Waking into the Clutch.

• A crucial confrontation during the Widow’s Tea that afternoon changed many minds before the final vote, and revealed some powerful secrets for the first time, including the true identity of THE CHAIR!

• During the final Saturday evening vote, the town voted in with a small majority to Steer East, and remove WIDOW’S PEAK as an option for the landing.

  • Fun Fact: the town made this final choice even though they didn’t know what the final result of the Crisis Center would be. Over half of the town was willing to risk Infection loss and destruction of ALL of their items to make this choice. Talk about bravado!

• The final destination of Waking ended up over BRAVADO, much to our Storyteller’s surprise.

This was a close vote every time, and player actions made a BIG difference in protecting the various factions of the San Saba. Players that supported Killhouse made a big play on Friday night to remove Killhouse as an option right away, and it was their early moves that had a huge impact on the final resolution.

The Crisis Center

We had a massive board with over 85 different tasks to complete to determine HOW the landing of Waking would happen, either in a CRASH, a mostly “controlled” LANDING, or if against all odds they could keep it in the sky by completing REPAIRS! Players could complete a task, with the color of the task determining which result it would support. Some of the tasks even counted for more points than others, so a determined group of players could have a BIG impact on the final decision.

• Waking was EMERGENCY LANDED near Bravado.

• The final tally was:

  • 27 points towards Destroyed. This was the leader up until Saturday afternoon when it was clear that Bravado was very much still an option.

  • 75 points towards Landed. This was the final winning tally, with almost every single supporting task on the Crisis Center board completed.

  • 41 points towards Repaired. A last-minute push on Saturday made folks worry about the final results, as this jumped almost 30 points in a few hours.

• These tasks involved all manners of activities, from convincing NPCS to sign a contract to accept refugees, performing CVC actions on other players, spending vast amounts of scrap and metal to craft new Airships, stealing (or protecting) air lifted supplies, and even requesting chances to board Waking and rescue (or liberate) valuable supplies and citizens.

The Groundskeeper Gauntlet

Saturday afternoon, a Gauntlet was held for several of the Groundskeepers in Bravado for breach of contract with the Grave Council. Each of the Groundskeepers was found guilty by the Justices of Sin and stripped of their titles and ability to perform Graverobber duties for 1 year. At the end, General Rampart declared that the town of Bravado was under AUDIT and QUARANTINE and removed the assistance of the Grave Council from Bravado. This means Bravado might be on their own from Grave Mind related crises in the future! Players worked to help the Groundskeepers find new employment and appealed for mercy on their behalf during the Gauntlet but were unable to sway the leader of the Reckoners.

The Stakeholder’s Meeting

In the midst of the chaos of Waking falling, most of the San Saba Board was in town on Saturday to make deals and listen to the people during the Stakeholder’s Meeting. The town got to see Boss Debs, Reckoner General Rampart, Tabitha St. Mercy, Felicity Redfield, Grand Admiral Sinker Swim, and The Chair’s Representative, a mysterious well-dressed man in a striped suit that spoke with the voice of the Chair himself. Even Clauthia Lovelace was seen in town for the Widow’s Tea, meaning players had a chance to interact in person with many of the most powerful NPCs in the setting.

Players could research where the Board stood on these votes, and politic with those NPCs during their appearance in town. Characters with higher levels of Society Membership had more influence on the votes than those that were simply Contractors, and some important deals were struck.

• There were three votes for consideration during the Stakeholder’s Meeting, and all PASSED.

  • The proposal to form a San Saba Militia narrowly PASSED, providing the Board an option to increase their military to fight threats abroad and internal. One can hope they intend to use this new martial might to focus on their enemies, and not pesky rebellions from a tiny town on the Oxline. This vote resolved based on player decisions.

  • The proposal to allow the Board to choose new members PASSED, reducing the power of several Board members through the stalemate. This vote was heavily favored to pass by the Board and would only fail with significant opposition from the players. The town had a narrow majority vote against this law but did not acquire enough “nay” votes to change the Board’s decision.

  • The proposal to separate the Justices of Sin was PASSED by an overwhelming majority of votes. Tabitha St. Mercy loses a key part of her power, and the Justices will introduce new faithful members for Gauntlets next season. This vote resolved based on player decisions.

• Four player-led groups were recognized by the San Saba Board, via The Air of Legitimacy ZOM. These groups will receive a custom Zone of Mechanics for their group for Season 5.

  • Ramguard, The Shields of the Lonestar, the Blood & Bone, and the Road Royals completed the required ZOM in time.

  • This ZOM will be available once more for other player-led factions to complete in Season 5 if you missed out!

• TWO new laws were suggested by Trustees, along with 50 signatures from players (and a modest application fee, of course)

  • These new laws will be voted on by the Board over the summer, and we will reveal the outcome of these votes during our summer Storyteller prep. We always strive to include these proposals into our story, unless they create an unfun experience for other players.

  • The results of these new laws will be one of our settings reveals we cover before the next season, so stay tuned!

  • Player Proposed Law #1: A new proposal to separate the Law Dog Union from their Board Contract and make them an independent entity. This could have big impacts on the Law Dogs in Season 5!

  • Player Proposed Law #2: An amendment to require the new head of the new San Saba Militia to be chosen by the people in a popular vote, instead of being chosen by the Chair. This means that we will likely start out Season 5 with a vote on who should lead the new San Saba military force!

The Siege of the Depot

As the flying city of Waking begin it’s final descent, clouds of radioactive smog, debris, and hordes of undead poured from the city onto Bravado. The town took shelter inside the Terminal Station Depot and weathered the rad storm against the waves of zombies and environmental challenges.

• Thousands of Zombies poured into the Depot and crashed onto the shield wall. Countless brews were consumed, and the doctors were kept busy. Countless Quick Events were survived, several Siege Challenges were completed, and multiple successful Away Missions were finished during the course of the 4 hours. Our NPCs kept up the pressure for FOUR almost non-stop hours of combat, and it was intense!

• For the Away Missions, players literally had to break through a Drywall sheet to escape the Depot, and had to defend the new hole in the defenses from the incoming zed, and some of the Siege Challenges had players drawing our intricate ritual markings around a grave protrusion, propping up massive pieces of the building that fell on them, and racing against the clock and the deadly radiation outside to repair leaks in the windows.

• Four characters permed and their zed were seen either during the siege or shortly before and after. Rumble, Tim, Ryssa, and Varis all met their final ends during VOX POPULI.

• New Zed were seen and defeated including some classic threats like Bone Heads, Hates, 13th Story Ghasts, Golgos, Mercies, and Mortis Champions. Now that Waking has landed nearby, you can be sure to face these threats during Season 5!

The Voice of Killhouse

Somehow, the Voice of Killhouse, a mysterious Grave Mind connection with Prudence Penitentiary made at the start of the season was finally silenced. You might have encountered a mysterious voice during a Grave Dive or a death during this season, and the source of this problem was finally resolved. The exact details are a mystery, but something happened Saturday night after the siege that helped settle the morgue under Prudence Penitentiary and silence the voice under the Prison for good. This plotline wrapped up thanks to player actions, and the decision not to crash land Waking into Killhouse.

The potential Consequences of the fall of waking

Each of the potential landing sites for Waking could be Researched during the game for an idea about the potential consequences of this important choice. Here’s the information we revealed about the FINAL DESTINATION within Bravado:

• The Railroad Conglomerate will be heavily impacted by the damaging landing, seriously impacting their political and financial standing.

• The Junkerpunks will be impacted by the landing, as Drywater is harmed. This will have a minor impact on their political and financial standing.

• It’s feasible that Lake Bravado will assist in lowering casualty rates, at the expense of polluting the water supply. 

• Radiation levels will rise and be an issue in the coming year.

• The Waking Morgue could become an issue with Bravado’s own Morgue System and might envelope it without extensive intervention.

• Ecological impacts will affect surrounding water sources and farmland.

• There will be mass casualties in the surrounding areas of farmland and in the town.

• After everything settles, Bravado and Drywater will have access to what’s left of Waking Prime, which will represent a large political and material gain for the area, but also put the seat of the San Saba Board in their backyard. 

Now, not all of this will come to pass (and there could be some other unrevealed consequences as well!). There were several actions completed by the players to lessen and reduce the damage done by the fall of Waking, particularly with insulating the Bravado Morgue (and the Eightfold Mother) from damage. We will have some more details over the summer, as many of these specifics haven’t been written yet!

Once we’ve selected our new Storytelling Senate for Season 5, we will be hard at work on incorporating your choices into our Season 5 plots!

Wrap Up

That’s it for today, Vados! Short and sweet, but still full of useful content!

Summer Break is a great time to update your costumes, take a well needed break from DR, craft a new boffer, or just spend time with the people behind the characters you enjoy so much. Plan a board game day, or meetup with some of your new friends you met playing, and stay tuned for some awesome summer content!

I’ll leave you with some of my favorite pics from the first round of photos by the very talented Lainey Weiss that will be uploaded to our Flickr page soon! See you soon Vados!

Surviving the Wake

It’s Jonathan here with our last weekly blog post for the upcoming event, VOX POPULI! This is the leadup for our May DR:TX event written by Heather Halstead, Overarc ST for our Season Closer, and Operational Storyteller for Season 5. Today we will talk a bit about the SURVIVING THE WAKE and the dangers you will face during the FOUR HOUR SIEGE of the Depot, as well as some common Rules You Should Know during a big fight. We will also talk about our new Quick Events and Environment Dangers, some Threat Skills of Note, and some strange and unusual new undead you might face over the weekend.

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

• Our next event will feature options to use the ZIPLINE and the POOL at Camp Kachina! Make sure to pack those swimsuits! If the weather turns against us, we still have some plans to handle our Zipline event!

• We will have a real-life WEDDING happening at our event, at 12:30pm at the Depot! We are so excited to see two of our players, Karen and Farrell, choose our game for this special event.

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

TICKETS FOR VOX POPULI ARE still available at the door! DON’T MISS OUT ON YOUR CHANCE TO survive the fall of waking!!!

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

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

SURVIVING THE WAKE

One of the major set pieces of the VOX POPULI event will be a four-hour long assault on the Depot we have dubbed Surviving the Wake. From 10:00 PM - 2:00 AM SATURDAY NIGHT, the town of Bravado will be rendered unlivable as Waking, no matter the choice that was made, passes over, raining down smog, radioactive waste, zed, and other calamities. 

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

This fight will be long, hard, and completely exhilarating.

You will have a protracted fight with Zombies, including some old returning 2.0 favorites that the ST Senate decided we just couldn’t live without anymore.  But this means you should plan for that in advance.

What about the Post Office?

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

Get those brews brewed, meals cooked and herbs farmed before 10pm Saturday night!

What If I die?

Death happens! And it is an extremely important part of our setting. But it can be a bummer to die early on in a long fight and feel like you missed out on the rest of the experience. We will have mechanics in play that will keep the fight interactive for anyone who might take an early, untimely death. If you die during the siege of the Depot, you will be returned to play pretty quickly in a “relapse” with no memory of your death along with some assistance in the form of some valuable named scrap that might be useful in the fight. After the fight is over, you will collapse dead once more and proceed to your Grave Mind scene as normal.

what about my cool room augments inside the Depot?

Shortly before the siege of the Depot starts, we will work with you to move your various crafting stations, room augments, and similar in-game items to the side and against the walls. We want to have some places for you to rest in between waves, so if that room augment isn’t taking up exactly a 10x10 space, that’s ok. You can still use the Artisan and Culinary crafting areas in the Depot, provided you have opened up access to the Post Office. Even if that doesn’t happen, you’ll still be able to use the workbench to repair armor and similar other activities that don’t require the Post Office.

What if I’m not a fighter?

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

Opportunity for Extra NPC time

We will also be taking a LIMITED number of NPC volunteers for additional time during the assault for perks. Our goal is to fill out a shift to give NPCs time to breathe while maintaining a constant pressure. We do not want to have most of the town on the NPC side of the conflict, so these extra hours will be limited, but if you’d rather weather the siege as a Zombie we have you covered!

How dangerous will this event be?

In order to answer this question, we want to discuss the philosophy of the dangers you’ll face during Surviving the Wake.

As you read below, you’ll notice that most of these abilities are effects that don’t leave a permanent effect. Instead of things like Mangle, we’ve chosen abilities like Stun or Nail. We’ve purposefully emphasized abilities that only temporarily inconvenience you, or provide minor damage for these challenges, but I think you’ll still find these tend to create some good, stressful scenes during a fight.

Heather and I want you to be able to participate in the fight, not sit in some corner nursing a Mangled Limb for an hour. While death is still a possibility, particularly if you make certain choices about where Waking lands, the goal is not to simply murder your characters over and over again.

The goal of a siege is ATTRITION.

It’s not one swing that gets you.

It’s the Shambler that connects once or twice during a particularly heavy push on the doors. It’s the slow and steady damage from radiation that wears you down over hours. It’s the dwindling Mind points as you Avoid a particularly nasty attack, or you Call the Phalanx once more. It’s running low on those Uncle Todd’s after you pick up your friend from a fight again.

The siege is designed to push your characters to the limit, and dig into those amazing moments of triumph, heartache, victory, and horror that can occur when you are out of options.

This fight will be long, hard, and completely exhilarating.

This is the big culmination of our whole season, and we hope that you will trust us, provide us grace if we make a mistake, and buy in. We want you to have a good time as you participate in the first event of this sort in DR:TX.

We can’t wait to see how you SURVIVE THE WAKE!

opting out of “surviving the wake”

While we hope you will take part of this unique siege event, let’s cover what happens if you need a break from our four-hour siege.

using the BREAKOUT Room

One of the important lessons learned from our friends in DR New Jersey during a similar siege event was the need for a place to go to take a break during an event like this, on an out of character level. The stress of a big fight can wear you do, and it’s nice to have a place to retreat. For this reason, we will have a Breakout Room setup nearby. This is one of the calibration and safety tools we’ve planned for the siege.

During this siege, you will be able to drop out of character and step next door to Wikiup to the Breakout Room. We will reserve the back door of the Depot for leaving the building out of character, and no monsters will use this door to the enter the building. If you find the noise, chaos, and stress of the fight getting to you, this area will allow you to find a quiet place away from the siege to chill out, cool down, relax, and give yourself a moment to catch your breath.

This area will be completely out of character!

We will have water and chairs set up here, and you can take as long of a break as you need to get back into the action. The building is air conditioned and will be a great place to cool off. Once you are ready, you will be able to use the back door of the Depot to reenter the play space and jump back into the fray.

What if I need to use the bathroom or need a snack?

If you find that nature calls, you can always step briefly out of character and use the nearby Shower House bathrooms. Just hurry back, so you don’t miss the next fight! The kitchen will still be available for access to the refrigerator, and we will have a water station set up inside the Depot.

wHAT IF i WANT TO OPT OUT completely?

We hope that you will participate in our SURVIVING THE WAKE siege event, as either your characters or an NPC, and do your best to survive the threats we throw at you. But, if you are tired or simply not in the right space to handle the stress of the siege, that’s okay.

During the siege, you can “opt out” of this even by going out of character and get to bed early. Find a Guide outside to mark your character sheet, and you can leave at any time. Easy. Get some rest, and we will see you in the morning for the resolution of the event and our Sunday morning shambles. You can return to play bright and early Sunday at 8:00 a.m.

A few notes about this option:

• First, this opt out is completely “out of character”. You can’t farm, do other activities, or anything of the sorts. The town of Bravado will be blanketed in radioactive storms and will be incredibly deadly if you are not sheltering inside the Depot. If you are “off camera” for this fight, we will assume your character took cover somewhere else or fled the immediate vicinity with the other refugees.

• The Post Office and Ops will be closed. We will be setting up a temporary Siege HQ near the Depot to speed up our attacks, and we will have all hands on deck for the siege. The siege is our focus for the entirety of the 10PM-2AM shift. If you are expecting the usual entertainment of Dystopia Rising, you’ll need to attend the siege. If you need a staff member for anything out of character, this is where we will be. Our med room in Kiva will still be open, of course, but this is our primary focus for the last shift on Saturday night.

• Opting out of this fight doesn’t exclude you from town-wide consequences. If the folks at the Crisis Center decide to crash the hulk of Waking Prime into the town of Bravado, you’ll still die a fiery death like the rest. There’s no way to get far enough away to avoid the devastation if that happens. I hope you make sure not to let those crazy people crash a city-sized airship onto your home!

If you decide to take this option to opt out, don’t worry. There’s no shame in missing out, but we want to make sure you have the option to participate. We will have many other stories to tell over the weekend as you decide the final fate of Waking.

Rules you should know

Now, it’s the week of game so no blog post would be complete without covering some Rules You Should Know. In this “Surviving the Wake” edition, let’s talk about some common skills you might see during the fight, and some common confusions that come up regarding these abilities.

call the phalanx

This isn’t really a Skill at all, but rather this is a Profession Focus Achievement (PFA) ability of the OOPH Barrier shield. However, this is a very common skill used during a big fight, especially with how our Vados love the shield walls. I think one reason why this item gets confused is that there isn’t much actually written for the rules on shield walls. If I was King of DR, I’d love to introduce a Phalanx keyword or something similar, but for now let’s stick with the rules we have from the Blueprint:

Phalanx Doyen: Spend 1 Resolve and form a shield line with 4 to 9 others to call "PHALANX!". All members are immune to effects that would target or effect multiple players except by Guide call. Lasts 15 minutes but ends for any member that moves out of arm's reach of one other.

That’s not much to go from, but let’s break this down to the basics:

• You need at least 5 people to form a Shield Wall. It says ‘4-9 others’ in the text, implying that these are in addition to the user with the PFA. This also means the most people that can participate in a Phalanx Doyen shield wall is 10 (you, plus 9 others).

• The effect lasts for 15 minutes and costs 1 Resolve. This is an eternity in a common fight in DR, but for the siege of the Depot, you’ll need to space this out if you want to succeed. Since it costs a Resolve and needs a fairly rare Shield PFA, you’ll want to save these uses for the big threats that assault the Depot.

• You must stay in arm’s reach of each other. If you leave this range, the effect breaks for you alone. However, if you fall out of formation you can risk losing the entire thing! But, as long as you stay in place, the effect continues. This means even if you are Stunned, Nailed, or Blinded you can keep your place in the line, provided the shield wall doesn’t move away from you.

• You must have a Shield to stay in the shield wall. This seems obvious, but I’ll state it here. If your shield gets broken, the effect ends. One big thing to prepare for in a Phalanx is enemies trying to use the skill “Break Shield”. Make sure you save some Mind points to keep your essential equipment intact! A powerful way to be in a great shield wall is for folks other than the Phalanx Doyen to have Daline Bucklers as their shield. These items can become immune to Breaks for a short time, helping you keep in formation.

• You are immune to effects that ‘target or effect multiple players”. Some common examples of attacks that trigger this is anything called by a monster with the “Area of Effect” ability, Skills like “Scattershot”, and even powerful psionic attacks like “Master Pyrokinetics”. If the attack targets multiple people, you are immune (with one exception below).

• You can call “PHALANX!” in response to any multi-target effect. You can add “No Effect!” if the NPC is confused, but we will be coaching our Zombies during the siege to watch out for these calls.

• The one exception to immunity is an effect delivered by a Guide call. This is an important distinction, especially for some of the rules we’ll mention below in this blog post. These will commonly be By My Voice or Area of Effect calls made by a Guide in a green headband. Basically, if it’s not a monster making the call, you can’t use the Phalanx to protect yourself. I’ll list out the particular attacks below that you’ll need to be ready for.

• The big weakness of the Phalanx is the skill “Knock Back”. The big effects that will hurt a shield wall called by a Phalanx Doyen are single target effects that make a member move out of arm’s reach. As long as this Threat Skill isn’t called as part of an AOE or Scattershot, it means you will be knocked out of the shield wall unless you use the skill Balance! Make sure you save some Mind points to stay in formation!

One last thing to remember is that Shields CAN block melee strikes, thrown weapons, and blue packets from bows (p. 33), but CANNOT block white packets from Psionic Attacks (p. 105), red packets from a firearm, or projectiles from a Nerf gun (p. 33). Make sure if you see a zombie throwing a white packet to use Basic Mental Endurance instead!

Master Malicious a.k.a. “Death Stalk” (p. 131)

We’ve had a few recent encounters with this Skill that have left folks confused, so I want to address some of the bigger mistakes I see used with this ability. This is a core skill in the Malicious tree that is in the main DR Corebook, on page 131. I’ve included the relevant bits below:

“This skill can be used if the user currently has a Fracture (subdued or active). After spending 1 Resolve and pointing at a Target while saying “Death Stalk”, an individual using [this] skill may ignore 20 seconds worth of strikes and effects while stalking toward the Target. They cannot deviate from walking toward the Target and cannot attack or swing at others while walking toward the Target, and the Target must be no more than 15 paces away. One they reach their Target, they must strike the Target and then will begin taking damage and skill effects as per normal.”

Let’s break down the important parts:

• This is one of only a few skills that need Resolve that can be used while Fractured. Even Scattershot can’t be used while fractured, but you can still Death Stalk!

• You declare a target, call “Death Stalk” and walk menacingly towards them. While nothing suggests this can’t be a brisk pace, the skill specifically mentions walking. This skill is based on an old skill from 2.0 that prevented you from running, so this is a common interpretation of the skill, but it does not mention running either.

• You can ignore 20 seconds of strikes and effects, or take 15 paces, whichever happens first. For this short moment, you are an unstoppable juggernaut, with bullets and swords alike glancing off your angry advance. Because you have to use it on a Target within 15 paces, once you reach them the effect ends.

• You end the skill use with a strike against your Target, but you can’t strike anyone until you reach the Target. While you are protected from others strikes, they also gain a measure of protection from you! Don’t wade into the fray, keep your eyes on the prize!

• You cannot deviate from walking towards the target. This is NOT an “out of character” teleport ability, and this is probably the single biggest confusion on Master Malicious. There was an ability back in 2.0 that worked differently that this, but this power specifically is in character. If you cannot reach the Target because of an obstruction like a door, wall, another LC, or something like a tightly packed shield wall, this effect fails after 20 seconds. Period. Make sure you have a clear path before you spend the Resolve!

Downsurge

This last ability will come up during the STRIKE TEAM EVENTS, a special type of mod ran during the siege event that includes leaving the safety of the Depot. This is a key mechanic added via the DR National website on the Lexicon. This is similar to an Upsurge, but is always a negative effect:

Countered by Basic Mental Endurance. Downsurge modifiers work as Upsurge (DR: LARP Evolved, page 109) modifiers do, but are always detrimental. They hold a separate ‘slot’ than Upsurge – that is to say, each character can have both one Upsurge and one Downsurge effect active at any given time. A new Downsurge effect called will override the current one if not resisted.

These will be negative effects that last one hour, and will stick with you regardless of how many Upsurges you use. Watch out!

Dangers of being Outside

One of the reasons your characters will be taking shelter inside the Terminal Station Depot during the siege event is that it is SAFER INSIDE…

During the SURVIVING THE WAKE siege event, being outside of the Depot will be CHARACTER DEADLY. There are three major effects you’ll need to worry about, but some of these only really apply for the folks that will inevitably end up defending the door from the invading zombies. Don’t worry if you can’t remember all of these, as it will be posted on the door nearby for anyone to read at the start of the Siege.

Choking Air

The choking smog outside makes it difficult to speak or even breathe.  A Guide will periodically call “By My Voice, Choking Blow, 5 Minutes!” during the siege of the Depot.  

This is an airborne effect, delivered by a Guide call, and cannot be resisted with “Call the Phalanx”. An LC with a Helscape Death Mask (Basic) may spend 5 Mind to call "Deathmask, No Effect!'' against a single instance of this event.

This effect might make coordination difficult inside. It’s hard to call for a healer if your lungs are full of radioactive smog, after all. Plus, all those neat Faith skills that need you to be able to shout supporting prayers for your friends aren’t so useful while you are coughing and choking.

During breaches into the Depot, this effect will be periodically called by a Guide nearby. Remember, effects called by a Guide like this cannot be ignored by the safety of a shield wall! If you are lucky enough to own a Helscape Death Mask, this will be one of the few protections from the deadly choking air during the siege.

However, choking clouds of smog won’t be the only danger outside.

Rad Storms

Standing at the Depot Door or within 10’ of any entrance exposes the LC to a toxic level of ambient radiation from the waste and fumes of Waking Prime.  A Guide will periodically call “Area of Effect, 1 Rad Damage, Mutants Immune!” near the doors during the siege of the Depot.

Rad damage inflicts both 1 Body and 1 Mind damage.

This is an airborne effect, delivered by a Guide call, and cannot be resisted with “Call the Phalanx”.  Mutants are immune to this call, due to their Strain resistance. An LC with a Helscape Death Mask (Basic) may spend 5 Mind to call "Deathmask, No Effect!'' against a single instance of this event.

Rad Storms will be one of the most common calls during the Surviving the Wake siege event. Radiation is insidious, and even the meager protections you erect in the Depot won’t stop all of the radiation from affecting you inside. There will probably be at least one door open, and for those folks holding shields and guns at the entrance, you won’t be able to avoid being exposed to this radiation, even with a Phalanx ready.

It doesn’t seem like much, but one point of damage will add up over time. Because Rad Damage impacts both Body and Mind, losing 1 point of Mind might mean you can’t use a handy Avoid any more. You will find yourself needing to cycle folks out off the front line for periodic healing and mind refreshes.

Thankfully, the Lineage advantage of the Mutants (Remnants, Retrograde, and Tainted) offers some decent protection from minor exposure like this. For characters of these Strains, you’ll notice that most of the radiation calls will include the phrase “Mutants Immune!”. If you hear this phrase, you’ll be strong enough to resist these effects. However, your mutated blood only protects so far — larger doses of Radiation will still require you to spend Resolve to ignore, and even a Retrograde won’t survive long outside.

Lethal Exposure

Any prolonged or repeated exposure outside (past the boundaries of the doors of the Cafeteria) for more than 1 minute is LETHAL, regardless of any gas mask or Strain resistance.  At the end of this time, you immediately DIE and lose an Infection unless you have specific protection as part of a STRIKE TEAM EVENT.

When the flying city of Waking crash lands nearby, or flies overhead, the only safety will be found INSIDE. Even a short period of time outside will be enough to kill even the hardiest survivor, no matter the Strain. Your Helscape Death Mask won’t protect you if there is no clean air to filter out. If you stay outside for too long, you will immediately die. Period.

There’s only one way to stay outside for a protracted period of time in character and that will be through our STRIKE TEAM EVENTS. Throughout the siege, there will be opportunities for small groups of survivors to brave the dangers of the outdoors on much needed supply runs, stealth missions, and reconnaissance. These small missions will have some special temporary protection from LETHAL EXPOSURE, but only for the small group of people on the mission.

However, these events will be timed.

If you don’t get back to safety in time, you could die in the choking clouds of radiation across Bravado, despite your temporary protection. Plus, each character will only be able to attend ONE of these Strive Team Events. Repeated exposure to the irradiated clouds will be deadly, especially if you try it more than once during the siege. The Infection in your bodies can only handle so many Rads!

Quick Events

One last complication to the fighting will be experienced in the form of Quick Reaction Events, a new concept for DR:TX that you see continue into Season 5. These were inspired by some clever skill uses in DR: Oklahoma (Fore!!), and by our very own Reaction Events during the Submarine mods written by Ed Sampson.

What is a Quick Event?

During the siege, you will occasionally hear a Guide start a Quick Event:

• The Guide will describe the effect with a exclamation - “Shockwave!” This is largely flavor and is meant to help you understand in-game what effect is happening. We don’t have a Hollywood budget, so sound effects will have to do.

• The Guide will call the keyword, then start a slow 3-count. - “Hit the Deck, 3, 2, 1!” When you hear this countdown, it will be a clear sign to do something!

• You will have only a brief time to REACT to the event. If you perform an obvious behavior to protect yourself, you will avoid the damage or negative effect. This might be something like taking cover, covering your mouth, looking away from an explosion, or falling to the ground.

• If you do not react in time, the Guide will call a “Failed Reaction”. This call will be alongside a temporarily inconvenience, like Blinding, Agony, or Stun. This is an unavoidable effect, and no use of Avoid, Balance, Mental Endurance, or even a Phalanx will stop this.

• A few of the events cannot be avoided at all. There are two effects that cannot be avoided by reacting to the event and will simply be a thing you need to deal with.

In practice, these attacks will be pretty intuitive. After you’ve seen it in action a few times, you’ll understand what you need to do to protect yourself, and you can simply listen for the Guide to call or point to you for the effects. The first time you experience these Quick Events, you’ll even have a longer count to help you realize what is about to happen.

What if you are a little less mobile?

Don’t worry! The goal of these events is not to punish people that may have a lack of mobility or be a bit slower. I know I’m not the fastest person out there, but what we are looking for is EFFORT.

If you do something that a reasonable person could interpret as reacting to the event, the effect won’t hurt you.

This is largely a self-applied attack, so if you feel you avoided the attack our Guides will believe you! We want to have a fun, kinetic event to break up the monotony of a fight and to add a bit of tension to the siege, and this is not meant to force a strenuous physical activity.

What kinds of Quick Events Should I expect?

In our DR:TX tradition of Radical Trust, here’s the list of the effects you can expect to see during the fight. This will also be posted in the Depot, and we will have several NPCs to help telegraph these behaviors when they happen.

Pay attention, and you’ll survive the fall of Waking unscathed!

• Shockwave! HIT THE DECK!

• A Guide will call “Hit the Deck, 3, 2, 1!”.  If you do not obviously react and take cover, sit down, and/or fall to the ground (if able), you suffer an unavoidable “Failed Reaction: Stun, 10 seconds!” as you are disoriented by the collision of a shock wave.

• Take a Deep Breath! GAS LEAK!

  A Guide will call “Gas Leak, 3, 2, 1!”.  If you do not obviously react and cover your mouth, you raise a scarf or face covering, you are wearing a Helscape Death Mask, or make some obvious attempt to hold your breath, you suffer an unavoidable “Failed Reaction: Choking Blow, 1 minute” from poisonous gasses quickly filling the Depot.

• Watch Out! FALLING DEBRIS!

  A Guide will call “Falling Debris, 3, 2, 1!”.  If you do not obviously dive for cover, move from your current position, or take obvious attempts to dodge the debris, you suffer an unavoidable “Failed Reaction: 5 Body, Nail, 1 Minute!”. You may not move from your place for 1 minute following this damage, as you are pinned by falling debris.

• Geiger Spike! RAD STORM INCOMING!

  A Guide will call “Rad Storm Incoming, 3, 2, 1”.  A Guide will call “By My Voice, 1 Rad Damage, Mutants Immune!”. This call inflicts both 1 Body damage and 1 Mind damage, unless you are of the Mutant Strain as the deadly radiation seeps into the building. This cannot be resisted by the “Call the Phalanx” ability. You can’t react to avoid this event.

• Power Surge! LIGHTS OUT!

  A Guide will call “Lights Out, 3, 2, 1!”.  The lights of the Depot will be extinguished, and LCs AND Threats may use Stealth effects indoors for the next 5 minutes.  You may use Awareness to counter Stealth effects as normal. You can’t react to avoid this event.

• The Undead Wail! PSIONIC RUPTURE!

  A Guide will call “Psionic Rupture, 3, 2, 1!”.  If you do not obviously cover your ears, muffle your sense of hearing, or make some effort to meditate or mentally protect yourself, you suffer an unavoidable “Failed Reaction: Agony, 10 seconds!” as the haunting screams of the Mortis Amaranthine overcome your senses.

• Flash! Bang! BLINDING LIGHT!

  A Guide will call “Blinding Light, 3, 2, 1!”.  If you do not obviously cover your eyes, avert your vision from the windows and doors, or make some effort to protect your eyes with goggles, masks, or scarves, you suffer an unavoidable “Failed Reaction: Blinding, 10 seconds!” as the blinding flash of the nearby explosion overwhelms you.

That’s it for the Quick Events. I think these will offer some fun ways to interact with the fight that isn’t swinging a boffer and it will be something that anyone can do during the siege. Remember, it’s all about the effort, so just try your best!

siege challenges & needed materials

During the Surviving the Wake event, zombies won’t be the only challenges you’ll face while defending the Depot. While things like Healing Brews, Mind Restoring Meals, and Injectables will be useful during all of the fighting, that’s not the only resources that will be in demand while you SURVIVE THE WAKE.

During the fight, you will need to resolve several different SIEGE CHALLENGES. These tasks will require a kinetic activity to complete, like putting boards over the windows, or holding your breath to quickly hang a tarp outside. If you don’t complete these tasks within a certain time limit, it will create a bigger issue for the folks inside called a CONSEQUENCE. These Consequences will often aid the zombie hordes besieging the Depot, or make your efforts to defend the Depot a bit harder.

If this happens, you’ll need some materials to repair the damage to your shelter. We’ve kept the materials to items that can be gathered with BASIC skills, so even new players can pitch in to help patch up barricades and fight back the intrusions of the Grave Mind. But, since you won’t be able to leave the Depot during the siege, you’ll need to get your collecting done BEFORE the siege event starts.

Here’s the materials you can expect to use during these Siege Challenges:

• BASIC TRADE CONNECTIONS:

  • Basic Scrap. If you have access to Uncommon and Rare scrap, you’ll be able to complete the tasks with a few less total Scrap instead. Good thing you can Smelt & Weld now!

• BASIC SALVAGING:

  • Machined Components, Synthetic Fibers.

• BASIC FORAGING:

  • Craftable Stone, High Grade Lumber.

• BASIC TRAILBLAZING:

  • Alloy Metal, Conductive Metal. Metals will be used rarely, and never in the same quantities as the materials above, since they are harder to come by.

If you end up running short on critical supplies, there will also be several opportunities for small teams of survivors to venture forth into the choking radioactive wasteland on special missions. However, we want to give you some advanced warning of what you might need, just in case!

If you have some coordination and pay attention during the fight, you might be able to avoid having to spend resources at all!

New Threat Skills of note

One of the more particular side effects of the Waking morgue getting so close to the ground is a strange Grave Mind anomaly. Morgues have begun vomiting strange new Zombies, reminiscent of earlier times before the Hiway War. As such, new and dangerous types of Undead are to be expected throughout the weekend, but particularly during the siege of the Depot.

Some of our veterans of 2.0 may recognize some of these abilities and the Zed they represent, but we’ll save some surprises for the event. For now, let’s look at some of the NEW Threat Skills you might see this weekend:

SIGNATURE ABILITY: Overwhelming Strike

While most undead cannot use weapons, the [REDACTED] can make a single massive strike and call “15 Body, Overpower!”. This strike requires TWO uses of Avoid to ignore and ignores Armor.

Zombies with Melee weapons? Yikes! I hate that! I bet they get some other combat skills as well, depending on what kind of weapons they are equipped with. But, if it’s using weapons, you might be able to find something nice if you can manage to search the corpse in the midst of the melee…

SIGNATURE ABILITY: Triple Jointed

[REDACTED] can access any room by squeezing through impossible spaces. Place your hand on your head, go out of character, and spawn inside the space near a window, door, or small access point.  You may return to play in Whisper Walk, with the stealth symbol.  Do not use more than once per minute.

Zombies that can get into a locked room without using the door? That means no cabin is safe from these monsters, even if you are on the 13th floor! Whisper Walk has been used on some other threats, and it even means they can use Basic Stealth to hide in bright light or plain sight. I hope you have Awareness!

SIGNATURE ABILITY: Body Puppet

White Packet delivered, the [REDACTED] can call “BODY PUPPET: Psionic Compulsion!”  If the target does not resist, give the command to the LC to “Fight the Living for 5 minutes. Bleed Out ends!” This effect ends once the victim has been reduced to Bleed Out, or the [REDACTED] is slain.  This power is resisted by Mental Endurance.  Do not use more than once per minute.

Oh man. A Zombie that turns me against my friends? If I ended up getting someone killed, I’d feel like a complete bone head. Remember, items like the Grave Bell Shard and the skill Mental Endurance can protect you from Compulsion effects. Psionic Zombies are bad enough, and you gotta know that this isn’t the only aberrant trick these zed can bring to the fight…

SIGNATURE ABILITY: Mercy Paralyze

The [REDACTED] can call “Area of Effect, Psionic Stun, 1 Minute”. Functions as a very long stun, allowing the [REDACTED] to feed from the horrified and paralyzed victim at their leisure. Resisted by Balance or Mental Endurance.

Yikes. Imagine being frozen solid and still being aware of the zombies eating you but being unable to scream out for help. Whelp, guess I’m not going outside without a friend this weekend, because I might have to beg for mercy…

SIGNATURE ABILITY: Still as a Statue

While remaining motionless under direct observation, [REDACTED] gain Damage Reduction (Major).  They reduce all Melee or Ranged strikes by 10 to a minimum of 1 damage. Bane does normal damage, not double.

Ok, so all I got to do is keep my eyes on these zombies. Good think I won’t need to avert my eyes from a bright, blinding, explosion during the siege. I remember stories back before the Hiway War about zed that could scream and sap your will, but that’s probably a different type of zed. (There’s really no clever pun for these, the name is just too weird.. It rhymes with Golgos… Nope that doesn’t work either.)

Wrap Up

This was a lot to cover today, but don’t worry — most of these rules will be clearly telegraphed during the fights, and stuff like the Siege Challenges, the Environmental Dangers, and the Quick Events will be printed out and posted clearly at the Crisis Center during the fight.

We can’t wait to ring out the season with an epic fight, unlike anything we’ve ever attempted in DR:TX. Thank you for your buy in, and we can’t wait to push you to your limits during the events of VOX POPULI!

See you in a few days, Vados!

The Stakeholder's Meeting

It’s Jonathan here with our next weekly blog post for the upcoming event, VOX POPULI! This is the leadup for our May DR:TX event written by Heather Halstead, Overarc ST for our Season Closer, and Operational Storyteller for Season 5. Today we will talk a bit about the STAKEHOLDER’S MEETING and how you can impact the government of the San Saba. Your Society Membership will earn you VOTES to determine changes to the Law and the Charter of the San Saba Board, so make your voice heard!

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

• Our next event will feature options to use the ZIPLINE and the POOL at Camp Kachina! Make sure to pack those swimsuits!

• We will have a real-life WEDDING happening at our event, at 12:30pm at the Depot! We are so excited to see two of our players choose our game for this special event.

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

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

TICKETS FOR VOX POPULI ARE ON SALE till friday, may 5th! DON’T MISS OUT ON YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A BIG DECISION!!!

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

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

politics during VOX Populi

Each year during our season finale in May, DR:TX holds an important vote for all of the characters within the San Saba called THE STAKEHOLDER’S MEETING. This is the one planned time each year where we introduce new LAWS and AMENDMENTS to the region, and let the players vote and politic on the changes to the in-game government of the Lone Star. This is your chance to make you voice heard, VOX POPULI-style! (And you get to crash a giant city-sized airship too, but let’s focus on the actual politics for now…)

We started this tradition with our very first Waking online game, THE SHINING CITY. This tradition mimics the annual shareholder meetings of big corporations in the real world and is one way we reinforce the setting of our game through law and order. During this first online game featuring the capital of the San Saba, Waking Prime, the Powers That Be combined two factions into the mighty Railroad Conglomerate (RRC) and formally recognized the SAN SABA BOARD.

Helmed by the mysterious CHAIR, the San Saba Board is made of several powerful NPCs of Note from the area, with many of the powerful Factions of the San Saba represented:

• The Chair

• Felicity Redfield (The Railroad Conglomerate)

• Dr. Janus Stewart (The Railroad Conglomerate)

• Antler-Queen Lucy “Boss” Debs (The San Saba Republic)

• Grand Admiral Sinker Swim (The Junkerpunks)

• Reckoner-General Rampart (The Grave Council)

• Tabitha St. Mercy (Prudence Penitentiary)

We continued this story into the live space for the first-time last season, with our May event, THE CICATRIX. During this event, players voted on several laws, including a harsh new rule against Crystal Candy, awarding the Junkerpunks a seat on the Board, and temporarily removing Tabitha St. Mercy as the Warden of Prudence Penitentiary.

This year’s vote is no less world-defining and there are several ways for your characters to participate.

While we will be introducing new Amendments to the Charter, characters with Master Society Membership can even introduce new player-suggested laws of their own, and player-led crews can gain formal acknowledgment by the San Saba Board.

Let’s talk about how this will work during the May event.

The Stakeholder’s Meeting

Within a faction, those that simply hold a contract and Basic Society Membership are known as Contractors. Those that show particular loyalty to a faction may earn Proficient Society Membership and the Stakeholder title by performing jobs for that faction and proving their loyalty. Those that prove themselves above and beyond the terms of their contracts may eventually gain the perks of the Trustee title and Master Society Membership. The exact names of these ranks within each faction may differ, but the benefits are similar.

So, there are three ranks a player can hold with the San Saba Factions:

• CONTRACTOR (Basic Society Membership)

  • You can earn Basic Membership by completing a Work Order. Any character can earn this rank, even visitors! With this level, you can use the unique SAN SABA SUNDRIES.

• STAKEHOLDER (Proficient Society Membership)

  • You can earn Proficient Membership by paying 100 Brass or performing an Action Request to interact with an NPC member of the faction. This level unlocks powerful SAN SABA SOCIALS.

• TRUSTEE (Master Society Membership)

  • You can Master Membership by paying 500 Brass or performing a favor or task for one of the NPC members of the faction through a Personal Plot Request or in-game actions. This level unlocks awesome new SAN SABA KEYSTONES.

While the San Saba Board is tasked with day-to-day decisions, each year the Stakeholders of the various factions are given a chance to voice their interests in the Stakeholder’s Meeting. During this event, new laws can be considered for addition to the Charter, new factions may seek entry to the Board, and major decisions can be weighed by the populace. 

Only those that hold a Contract may participate but remember any character can earn a Basic Membership simply by completing a SAN SABA WORK ORDER!

The San Saba Charter & Laws of the Territories

The laws of the San Saba Territories are outlined in the Charter. While some of them are the obvious social constructs to keep a polite society, several of them enumerate the authority of the various Factions.

THE LAWS

• The spilling of Blood and Bone is the prerogative of the Wastes, but to steal the Infection of the Body, or the Work of the Hands is forbidden.

• Brass and Contracts are our Sacred Currency. Thems that break a Contract are a Breacher and are subject to the Gauntlet. Anyone not holding a Contract is a Vagrant and has no voice in Company Affairs.

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

• In matters of Law and Order, the Law Dogs, Hell Hounds and Justices of Sin enact the will of the Board as their Voice and their Vigor, empowered to wield Death and Duty in their name.

• The growth, harvesting, trafficking, and consumption of psionic crystals and their byproducts is hereby considered dangerous to San Saba communities and is forbidden.

THE CHARTER

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

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

• The Railroad Conglomerate holds two seats on the board, the Grave Council one seat, the Warden one seat, the Junkerpunks one seat, and the San Saba Republic the final place.

• The Chair does not vote, but holds the power of veto. This veto may only be overwritten by the unanimous decision of the board.

• The Grave Council shall not be barred from any Morgue, nor shall they be impeded in the collection of their Grave Tax.

• The Justices of Prudence Penitentiary shall pass judgement on the guilty and offer them a path to Absolution.

• The Junkerpunks shall not be impeded in their settlement of Drywater, nor in passage on the coasts, lakes, or river passages of the San Saba Territories.

• The Railroad Conglomerate shall not be impeded in expanding their management of the land or the expansion of the Ox Line.

• The San Saba Republic shall be granted freedom of travel and residency throughout the San Saba Territories.

• The Law Dogs shall enforce The Laws in accordance with their contract with the Board.  

• Only the Law Dogs may grant the strikers of the Red Ledger permission to operate within the Territories.

changes to the law for season 5

Traditionally, a suggestion of a law or amendment will be debated by the San Saba Board behind closed doors, with each Board Member voting “yay” or “nay” on the change.  The Chair retains the power of Veto and can stop the admission of a suggestion at this point.  While many minor regulations and authorizations have taken place (such as the Drywater Settlement Package), major changes to Charter are rare.

This year, there are THREE proposed changes, in addition to what players can introduce:

Let’s take a look at the proposed changes to the law this year:

The Formation of a San Saba Militia

NEW ARTICLE OF THE CHARTER: “The San Saba Chair shall finance and appoint leadership of a standing militia to provide support, maintain the peace, quell threats, defend the territory, and repel invasion."

This new law will allow the San Saba Board to prepare for the eventual conflict with the Antler-Oxkiller armies in the north, left behind after the schism of the Tribes Disparate during Season 3. It’s broadly popular, especially after the Red Ledger helped clear out those pesky cultists during our February event, CRISIS OF FAITH.

• YAY: If this vote passes, then next season we will deal with a new military force in the region and a potential ally in the upcoming conflicts of Season 5

• NAY: If this vote fails, the Board will have to rely on the mercenaries of the Red Ledger and outside help for defense in serious conflicts during Season 5

Reassigning Vacant Seats on the Board

NEW ARTICLE OF THE CHARTER: “The Chair holds vacant board votes in proxy should a member be unable to fulfill their role, through death, absence, or censure.  The Chair may call a vote to assign a new Board Member to fill these vacancies.”

Two Board Members have been removed this year and it’s created a bit of havoc for the Board. When Adam Moriarty, the Spider of Killhouse was killed during the riots at Killhouse during our National Event PYROCLASM, the seat normally afforded to Prudence Penitentiary sat vacant for most of the year. This was further aggravated when Dr. Stewart, the Scientist was ripped to pieces by an Archon during the events of THE EMERALD GALA. With a third of the Board missing in action, the Board needs to appoint new members.

Because tradition assumes that an absent member automatically votes “Nay”, the Board has been unable to do much as a result. Fixing this issue is mostly a procedural vote and is heavily favored to pass, but if it passes it will also allow characters to petition to remove certain returning Board members from power…

• YAY: If this vote passes, then new Board members can be chosen for the Factions of the San Saba and new Factions can be represented.

• NAY: If this vote fails, the inaction of the Board will continue and will benefit the more political members of the Board as they can grow their power unchecked.

Separating the Justices of Sin from Prudence Penitentiary

CURRENT CHARTER: The Justices of Prudence Penitentiary shall pass judgment on the guilty and offer them a path to Absolution.

CHARTER AMENDMENT: “The Justices of Sin shall pass judgment on the guilty and offer them a path to Absolution befitting the faith of the breacher.”

The last vote is a bit of a potential change to an existing faction. Previously, the Charter tied the Justices of Sin to the forces of Prudence Penitentiary and kept them under the purview of Tabitha St. Mercy. This Amendment will free them from the control of Killhouse and make them a faction of their own, free from the influence of the Warden of Prudence Penitenitary.

• YAY: If this vote passes, the Justices of Sin will enter new territory for Season 5 as we update our Crime Scenes and Gauntlets for a new sense of justice in the wasteland. The Justices of Sin will embrace new faiths and members as they provide more specific absolution for the guilty based on their faith.

• NAY: If this vote fails, Tabitha St. Mercy will retain the power of the courts in her favor and the Light of Hedon will remain the dominant faith of the Justices of Sin.

• Characters that took advantage of the plot to use the Killhouse Tax Shelter during Collection Day will NOT be able to vote for this amendment, per the terms of their contracts.

Now that we know what new amendments have been introduced by the Faction leadership, let’s talk about how the Vote will actually proceed…

THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

During the Stakeholder’s Meeting, any character with a SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP in one of the eight San Saba Factions (not counting Red Ledger or Murder Inc.) may vote on the new laws and amendments that have been submitted by the Board.  

Those that have committed themselves to the various factions of the San Saba find that their voices have more weight during the annual Stakeholder’s Meeting.  During this time, even the common contractor can have their voice heard by the Board.

Each character may vote ONCE (and once only), and their vote counts according to one of their levels of SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP.  Extras and SCs may also count their votes towards this election.

• Basic Society Membership (1 vote)

• Proficient Society Membership (2 votes)

• Master Society Membership (5 votes)

You may vote on each amendment with either a YAY or NAY vote.  Sufficient votes in favor or against an amendment can sway the opinion of the San Saba Board on the measure.

There are THREE changes to the San Saba Charter suggested during this event, and each will require more or less votes to sway.  RESEARCH can be completed to determine how much effort is required for each law to pass or fail, and where each Board Member stands at the start of the event.

Votes will be tallied Sunday morning before the end of the event, and we will announce the results during the closing announcements.

The Rules

Each character with Society Membership in a San Saba Faction can choose to “vote” towards any of the proposed amendments to the Charter.

• Pick ONE (and only one) of your Society Memberships with a San Saba faction.

• Cast your vote either “yay” or “nay” on the proposition

• Get votes equal to your tier (Basic = 1, Proficient = 2, Master = 5)

• If you are voting as a Player-Led Faction (like the Shields of the Lonestar), you get 1 vote.

• Votes will be tabulated Sunday morning, and will influence the remaining Board votes.

• If a single faction gets 50+ Votes, that Board member will consider changing their vote to follow the “will of the people.”

• There will be ways to sway the election in your favor, using the votes of NPCs you can sway to your cause, bribes, or other illicit means like forgery…

New Business: Introducing your own new laws

The next way to influence the Stakeholder’s Meeting is through a TRUSTEE PETITION.

Characters can submit a new proposal for law or amendment to the charter by having a Trustee (Master Society Membership) enter a request, along with the signatures (aka Player Numbers) of at least 50 Stakeholders or Contractors.  This has to be 50 unique PLAYERS, not characters, and they must enter their proposed text in writing, alongside an application fee.

So if you want to make a big change to the Laws of the San Saba, you’ll need the following:

• A character with Master Society Membership

• The written text of your Amendment

• Application Fee (100 brass)

• 50 Unique signatures, including Society Membership level, character name, and player number.

The Chair still reserves the right of veto for any suggestion that they deem unworthy, so that the ST Senate and Gamerunners can prevent any suggestions that would cause problems for players as a whole. However, we will strive to include any reasonable suggestion into our upcoming plots for Season 5, so this can be a great way to influence the story.

If you’ve been itching to challenge the status quo and change the laws of the San Saba, this is your chance!

The form will be turned in to the Post Office by 11 am Sunday, using the above Zone of Mechanics, “Power of a Petition”. You can pick up a copy of this ZOM at the Post Office after game starts.

Player Led Faction Bonuses

The final way you can interact with the annual Stakeholder’s Meeting, is by formally recognizing your very own player-led faction. While we have several big NPC factions you can interact with, sometimes the most important group is the one you’ve made with your friends. From developing a shared culture, to logos and costume pieces, or just making sure you are all in the same cabin to defend each other when things go bump in the night, these player-led factions can really add a sense of community to the game. So, we’d like to reward your hard work!

Several factions successfully took advantage of this feature last season, including the following:

• Shields of the Lonestar

• Ramguard

• The Road Royals

While those player-led factions will once again have to re-up their membership, new crews and gangs can join the fun for Season 5. By completing the Zone of Mechanics “An Air of Legitimacy” (featured below), you can petition for formal recognition by the powerful factions of the San Saba.

If you complete the challenge of collecting endorsements from powerful NPC heads of the Factions, you can earn the right to be legitimate in the eyes of the San Saba Board. You can obtain these signatures by roleplay, bribes, threats, or whatever means you can acquire the influence to earn their favor. We leave it up to you to convince them of your value to the Board, but you might have to make a few campaign promises…

These NPCs will be in play starting Saturday morning after 9:00 am, so if you want a chance to earn this title, you will have to work your magic to get this completed before the end of the weekend.

In order to make this happen you’ll need:

• At least FIVE (5) active characters in your player-led group

• Application Fee (50 brass)

• At least FOUR (4) of six signatures from the listed NPCs on the ZOM.

• NEW: The three player-led groups that completed this challenge last season will start with a free signature of their choice, making the task much easier to complete!

If you complete this arduous challenge, you will earn the ability to unlock a new faction-specific advantage for Season 5. These will a custom Zone of Mechanics that is flavored to represent your crew’s strengths, with two unique new powers. This ZOM will last the entirety of Season 5 but will require you to spend Brass or Mysterious Ore each game to activate the abilities.

These custom effects will tend to replicate permanent Augment item effects, but we will work with you to make something that feels awesome and thematic. You might have seen a few of these posted at the General Store this season, and if you want a custom ZOM for your player crew this is the way to make it a reality!

The form will be turned in to the Post Office by 11 am Sunday, using the above Zone of Mechanics, “An Air of Legitimacy”. You can pick up a copy of this ZOM at the Post Office after game start.

Wrap Up

That’s it for today Vados! You have a few days left to acquire a ticket for our last event of the season, and we hope you will come out to help make your voice heard during VOX POPULI! Heather and our STs have been working hard to make an epic experience to end the season with, and we want to give you the helm to make some BIG decisions for the future of the setting and how it will impact your characters next season!

Next week, we will cover our last blog post of the season with Rules You Should Know! We have a few strange new Zed threats of note, as well as a reminder of some useful skills to have in an Siege. We will cover some skills and items like calling a Phalanx, using defensive powers, and even a look at some pesky skills like Master Malicious!

Purchase your Ticket before Pre-Reg ends on May 5th! DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE HISTORY!

See you soon Vados!