Dragged to Hell

Howdy Vados!

It’s HEATHER here with another DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our December live event THE RED DEATH!  This is our next Premiere Event game, led by Heather Halstead and Jonathan Loyd.  Each week, we’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering the Dragged to Hell and Caught Alone mechanics, and the function of The Red Death itself, plus a sneak peak at our vision for a unique Finale Mod — something I’m extremely excited about, that we’ve never attempted before.

One last reminder to help us decorate our spaces for the Winter Lights Festival with RED tealights. The more lights, the better! Decorate your space! You can also simply use a red paper bag to place normal tea lights into to change the color to red. Please be sure to get tea lights with RED FLAMES, not just red exteriors!

TL;DR

It’s going to feel like I’m cover A LOT of custom mechanics in this post, but I want to assure you, it’s not that complicated. Here is the TL;DR - the bare bones you need to know for game:

  • Death is Weird this event! If you die, get back up with 1 body, and report to Ops within 15 minutes.

  • Night time will be extra dangerous, and you should watch for ZOMs on crafting stations.

  • Nightmare Bane does BANE damage (DOUBLE damage!) to YOU if you have Nightmares.

  • If you’re walking alone in the dark, report to Ops for a quick dice roll and a spooky encounter.

  • The Finale Mod will involve very little combat, but extreme amounts of Tension. 

That’s it!

Everything else will be explained in the moment, or are things the ST senate is inflicting upon you, rather than rules you need to remember. But if you want more details, keep reading! Especially the bit at the bottom concerning the finale mod. 

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

DR:TX UPDATES

Let’s cover a few things of note that have happened over the last few weeks:

  • Read our Event Premise and Content Warnings in the first blog post for this event, THE RED DEATH. You can learn how to Opt into The Dead Return in last weeks blog! This covers a lot of the stuff you should know before you buy a ticket, as well as an explanation of the story of the weekend.

  • LIT Cashout! For the next couple of weeks, you can purchase a $0 Ticket to have your LIT inventory cashed out and ready for pickup at the December Premier Event.  This $0 ticket acts as your place in line, so just snag your ticket, and we’ll ensure your supplies are waiting for you when you check in on Friday, December 8th. This opportunity is only for players with Texas as their home chapter and will be handled first come first served.  We will have 30 of these tickets open for this next event, and additional opportunities for the cash out if you miss out, don’t worry!

DRAGGED TO HELL

During this event, we will have a very special death mechanic in play.

As the Undying Prince grows nearer, and reality warps and shifts around the town of Bravado, death is somehow closer and more perverse. Those who die, whether by murder, a slow bleed, or a slit throat are… standing back up. Going about their day, rejoining the fray. It seems like death has no hold here. 

Until it most assuredly does. Whispers of those ‘lucky’ folks who narrowly avoided death being hunted down by creatures made of nothing but shadow, and being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the blackness floating over the flames of red camp fires.

Death will always claim its due. 

What does this mean for us?

For the December event, if you are lucky enough to die by any means, you will stand back up as though nothing occurred, at one (1) Body. You may continue fighting, talking, etc, as long as you report to, in character, to the Grave Annex within 15 minutes (come to Ops).

Once in Ops, the storyteller on duty will mark the infection loss in the death log and on your sheet, remove 1 Resolve, and give you 1 level of the Nightmares keyword. Once that’s done, they’ll give you a big yellow glowstick to wear, and send you back out into the world to role play. 

But of course, there is a catch… 

For the next two hours (beginning at nightfall if the death occurred during the day), or until captured, you will be targeted by Shades. These creatures of shadow will swarm you at any given opportunity, and attempt to “Drag You to Hell”. This will only be by physical touch if that is consented to by all parties, otherwise the default is boffers. You can attempt to evade them, but they are persistent, and lethal. Once consumed by the Shades, they, and you, disappear, and you may ring the bell and proceed to Ops for your Grave Mind scene. 

Even if you evade the Shades, death is inevitable. If you have not been dragged away within two hours of the death, or two hours after nightfall, you will drop dead where you stand and must ring the bell, and report to Ops for your gravemind scene as usual. But if this happens, your Nightmare-ish Grave Mind scene may involve a potential bargain that can be struck…

…if you’re willing to accept HIS terms. 

CAUGHT ALONE

A mechanic from last year that we’re bringing back this year! This is based on the Alone in the Dark mechanic originally created by Phil Grau from DR:VA, tweaked a bit for our own Texas flavor. The nights before the Long Night are dangerous, and even more so now, with the Red Death sweeping the land.

If at any time, you find yourself Alone if the Dark, or if an ST spots you Alone in the Dark, you must consider yourself CAUGHT ALONE, and report to Ops to roll for a consequence.

Some results of being Caught Alone are positive, some are strange and disturbing, some are dangerous, but nothing will take your infection just from a die roll. Once you’ve arrived at Ops, you will roll a D20, and be given your outcome.

You don’t have to be caught by an ST to be Caught Alone, though. It can be whenever you realize you’ve wandered from others and are alone in the dark, whether you were just left alone when all your friends vanished into the night, or if you are just looking for something to spice up the evening in Bravado.

Stick together, Vados. It’s spooky out there. 

THE RED DEATH

As the miasma of red settled over the town, strange things begin to occur. Reality warps and bends. Things seem.. Wrong.

Insubstantial.

Formless and unknowable. 

When the sun goes down, and all light has left the sky, a siren will sound and all the lights in town will turn RED. In these moments, combat will be more dangerous, and even simple shamblers will be fraught with nightmarish characteristics.

Every creature type will have additional stats during the night-time hours to show the way the Red Death is warping the world as we see it. And of course.. the Nightmares themselves will haunt the night. These creatures, the beings of mist and shadow, will be especially dangerous, and will have a new ability - Nightmare Bane. This will count as Bane damage for any LC with ANY level of Nightmares.

This bane will NOT be on the modified zombie/raider/strain threats, only on the ‘big kid’ Nightmare creatures. The ones that hunted down you or your friends last game, or screeched about the opening of a door. Or the Ones that used to look like Longwalkers...

In addition to increased danger of the red hued darkness, crafting will be more difficult as well.

When the haze of the Red Death settles over the town, every place seems oddly separate from reality, and requires you to force your will upon it to make it solid and workable. During the night time hours, please look for ZOMs about these effects on all crafting stations - they will need to be “activated” for a period of time, and how difficult this activation is will depend on the LCs level of Nightmare:

  • No level of Nightmares — 1 Resolve

  • Nightmares (1) — 30 Mind

  • Nightmares (2) — 20 Mind

  • Nightmares (3) — 10 Mind

The more warped your reality is, the easier it is to bend them to your will and force that imprint to ‘exist’. ANY LC will be able to activate a crafting station for use for a period of time, even if they do not have an appropriate skill to use that station. It does NOT have to be the LC actually using the station. Make sure you get that important crafting done in the comforting light of day!

THE CLEANSING RITUAL - FINALE MOD

Every game has a cadence, and we’re all very familiar with the idea that the main plot typically resolves in some way, usually in the form of a big FIGHT Saturday evening.

For this event, I wanted to try something different. Despite how dangerous the nights will be during this event (and TRUST ME, we have FIGHTS planned.), the Finale Mod itself will be largely a non-combat mod. While there will be a small group of LCs tasked to fight, the main crux of the mod will require the majority of the town to participate in a RITUAL that will preclude you from combat. 

The design of this mod is still very dangerous for every character involved, and my goal is to invoke the same level of fear, tension, and adrenaline that a final fight provides, but in a setting that is focused less on combat, and more on non-violent actions. Some problems can’t be solved with violence, and I want us to try to highlight this, and also give our less combat oriented characters a chance to feel like they are the focus of the finale, instead of ancillary to it.

To be clear, you don’t have to be a non combat character to participate in this, but even if you are a combat character, your role in this fight will probably not be combat oriented. 

I ask everyone lean into this, and try something new, and see how it goes. Hopefully, it will be a memorable experience and a kick ass story. I’ve been dying to put this idea into motion for months, and I’m so very excited to bring it to life for you all in a few weeks!

WRAP UP

We hope that you are ready for the challenge of THE RED DEATH.  How can you stop the machinations of the Prince Undying?  Can you survive a world where death itself is changed and the night is blanketed in red?  Will you escape the Nightmare Walkers or worse?   We have some some fun and exciting challenges planned for your characters in the nightmarish zombie apocalypse.  But don’t worry, it’s not just all about the RED DEATH, you’ll still need to deal with (nightmare) zombies, (nightmare) Oxkillers, (nightmare) raiders and more!

TICKETS ARE ON SALE UNTIL FRIDAY!!!

See you next time Vados, when we talk about Rules You Should Know before the event and our other last minute announcements for the event!  But for now, let’s take a sneak peek at the second of the two new National blueprints released during our upcoming Premiere Event!

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The Dead Return

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our December live event THE RED DEATH! This is our next Premiere Event game, led by Heather Halstead and Jonathan Loyd. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering a way to involve characters from your backstory that died into the story of the RED DEATH, when the dead return to life as nightmares and death hang over Bravado…

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

DR:TX Updates

Let’s cover a few things of note that have happened over the last few weeks:

  • Read our Event Premise and Content Warnings in the first blog post for this event, THE RED DEATH. This covers a lot of the stuff you should know before you buy a ticket, as well as an explanation of the story of the weekend.

  • Grab Bag sales end this week! You have until 3:00 PM on Wednesday, November 22nd to purchase one to get your cool “I’d Rather Be in Bravado” t-shirt plus some other goodies, for only $25. If you are traveling, don’t miss out on a souvenir of your trip to Texas! You only have few hours left when this post goes live to participate!

  • LIT Cashout! For the next couple of weeks, you can purchase a $0 Ticket to have your LIT inventory cashed out and ready for pickup at the December Premier Event. This $0 ticket acts as your place in line, so just snag your ticket, and we’ll ensure your supplies are waiting for you when you check in on Friday, December 8th. This opportunity is only for players with Texas as their home chapter and will be handled first come first served. We will have 30 tickets open for this next event, and additional opportunities for the cash out if you miss out, don’t worry!

  • San Saba Socials are updated! Due to a bank error in your favor, a certain San Saba Social was very, very generous when drunken farming last event. Fortunately for our Post Office workers, this error has been corrected for future events. We’ve also had a few reports of a few of these missing from the computer, so I’ve also made sure that each of the eight San Saba Socials can be posted now with updated versions of the ZOMs ready to print for the Post Office.

  • Radiation Sickness has been updated! Given a recent Errata update on the National website, we’ve updated the rules for instances of Radiation Sickness going forward to follow the National version. I’ve included a link on our Local Diseases page if you want to read up about the new dangers of the Waking Exclusion Zone.

The Dead Return

Throughout the San Saba, as the threat of the Red Death spreads across the wastes, a curious phenomena begins to occur in tandem with the strange nightmarish creatures. Similar to events of the past towns in the Lone Star, with the legends of Boot Hill and trapped memories of the past, where the Prince Undying walks leaves behinds the echoes of the long past dead, returned to walk among the living for a moment more.

During our next event, we have a special opportunity for your dead loved ones to return to the game for a short roleplay event on Saturday. If you have an NPC in your background that died long ago and you’d like to inflict some emotional damage on your character, you are in luck!

We have a few requirements to participate, but they are pretty simple:

The requirements:

  • The NPC should be dead and gone.

  • NPCs only, no former LCs.

  • You may submit multiple characters, but remember that we cannot guarantee every request will show up in play.

  • This role-play is about conflict and guilt, and may not have a happy ending. Be aware that this is potentially intense role-play you are opting into.  This is a chance to cause some emotional damage to your suffer puppets, and we hope you are excited!

  • This is open to traveling players!

In order to properly portray your dead loved ones, we’d like to get as close as we can to your imagination of this character. We’ve put together some questions for you to answer in the application above that will help us coach our NPCs on how to play that character, and I’ve included a few examples from a past character of mine, Doc Creed.

Questions for players with returning loved ones:

  • Do you have anyone in your backstory who is permed that you'd like to see again in the play space?

    • “Doc Creed’s wife Rebecca was lost to a zombie horde many years ago, but he’s always held himself to blame for her death and carries a deep regret for not being there with her in the end.”

  • Describe important details about this character as best you can (name, nicknames, age, relationship, strain, faction, etc).  Keep the details specific, but concise.  We will be limited to our NPCs on shift to represent this person.

    • “Rebecca was a Pure Blood in her early 30s, and they had a single child together named Hope. Rebecca was the mayor’s daughter of a small town called Three Rivers, and they met through their shared faith in the Nuclear Family. She was an important anchor for Creed, and helped him control his Accensorite excesses.”

  • Did they have something recognizable about them we can telegraph with our NPC (a hat, a flower, a certain dress?)  This is a great way for us to help you recognize who that NPC is supposed to be.

    • “Rebecca always wore a flower in her hair, picked from the garden outside. She knew how much Creed liked the garden, and always wore it for him.”

  • Describe their personality, and a few tips for accurately portraying this character.  How would you coach an NPC to play this character?

    • “Rebecca was kind, forgiving, and cared for their daughter while Creed was away, but she maintained and protected her home with a quiet dignity and faith. She was fond of reminding Creed to enjoy the quiet peaceful moments that made life worth living, and helped him stay grounded when his zeal would overtake his common sense.”

  • What conflicts were unresolved with this character? Is there something your LC still feels guilty about involving them?

    • “Doc Creed left his family to help a psion being persecuted by the town escape. He felt that his faith demanded he do the neighborly thing and thought nothing of leaving to help. While he was away, both Rebecca and Hope were lost when a massive stampede of zed leveled his town. He feels he failed his family by leaving them behind, and feels he should have died with them rather than be stuck in this wasteland without them.”

  • Describe your LC's relationship with that character in a short phrase.

    • “Doc Creed loved his wife and daughter dearly, but never spent enough time with them as his medical duties took him far from home to care for the other townsfolk instead of being the father he should have been.”

  • What are things you do NOT want touched on with this NPC?

    • This is a great place to include anything you don’t want to role play with our NPCs. Help us maintain your boundaries!

What will this look like in game?

The Dead Return events will happen throughout the weekend, but will be primarily focused during the day on Saturday. These echoes of dead loved ones will be an important aspect of surviving the Red Death and will be part of the overarc and are designed as short vignettes and mini-events in the game. We expect the normal scene with a dead echo to last about 30 minutes or so.

We also ask for your buy-in and grace, knowing that someone on shift will be playing this NPC, that it might not be exactly the image you have in your head. We will be coaching our NPCs based on your answers to the questions in the survey, and while we will strive to be true to your vision of this NPC, but we will be casting these roles depending on the available NPCs for that shift. The broader the strokes in your specifics on the NPC means that it will be more likely to see that character enter play as one of these dead echoes.

We encourage you to say "yes, and.." to the role play, and lean into the idea that your memory might seem.. not quite right. They may not look exactly like what you imagined, but that’s okay! Play along, and even buy into the strangeness. This is not an exact imprint of that loved one or a someone walking their last dance before returning to the Grave Mind, but rather it is an echo of a memory.. And echoes are never quite the same. These echoes may be CLOSE to what you remember, but something about the whole affair is slightly sinister, or even a bit of a nightmare…

A disclaimer:

We cannot guarantee every dead person will show up in the play space, even if you fill out the application above.

We will strive to fill as many requests as possible for this special event from your character’s backstory, but it’s likely we will miss some folks. Please be patient and kind with our STs and staff members as they attempt to bring this vision to life.

If you are interested in participating in “The Dead Return” fill out this Google form as soon as you can so we can make sure we have a plan for how best to torment you with your lost loved ones.

Wrap Up

We hope that you are ready for the challenge of THE RED DEATH. How can you stop the machinations of the Prince Undying? Can you survive a world where death itself is changed and the night is blanketed in red? Will you escape the Nightmare Walkers or worse? We have some some fun and exciting challenges planned for your characters in the nightmarish zombie apocalypse. But don’t worry, it’s not just all about the RED DEATH, you’ll still need to deal with (nightmare) zombies, (nightmare) Oxkillers, (nightmare) raiders and more!

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW, AND WE HAVE OUR SPECIAL grab bag RUNNING FOR A LIMITED TIMe, until 3pm wednesday, November 22nd

See you next time Vados, when we talk about the Red Death, a mysterious event that takes over the town at night, and more about our other signature mechanics for the event! But for now, let’s take a sneak peek at one of the two new National blueprints released during our upcoming Premiere Event!

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The Red Death

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Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our December live event THE RED DEATH! This is our next Premiere Event game, led by Heather Halstead and Jonathan Loyd. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering the premise of our event, some content warnings, and some teasers about our upcoming key mechanics!

  • TICKETS FOR OUR DECEMBER EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! GET READY for a macabre twist on the winter lights festival!

  • LIT Cashout! For the next couple of weeks, you can purchase a $0 Ticket to have your LIT inventory cashed out and ready for pickup at the December Premier Event. This $0 ticket acts as your place in line, so just snag your ticket, and we’ll ensure your supplies are waiting for you when you check in on Friday, December 8th. This opportunity is only for players with Texas as their home chapter and will be handled first come first served. We will have 30 tickets open for this next event, and additional opportunities for the cash out if you miss out, don’t worry!

  • If you had a great experience at our last event EMERGENCE or had some suggestions for how we can improve, we’d love to hear from you! Did you enjoy surviving the threat of the Behemoth Parasites? Did you contract “the wiggles”? Did you experience the body horror of the DIGESTION PITS? What did you like best? What memories did you make? How was your NPC shift? Did another player impress you?

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

PREMIERE EVENT TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

First off, THE RED DEATH is a DR:TX PREMIERE EVENT.

Premiere Events are special events run by chapters to give their players the Special Event feel in their own chapter and telling their own stories. These are heightened events meant to be used with unique mechanics, one of a kind plot items, and an opportunity to push the limits of the game to give the community something really big to experience. These events are perfect opportunities to involve National level plots, mechanics, and items, and are a way to “blow the roof off the joint and make people’s heads spin.”

WHAT DO THEY OFFER?

  • MORE XP — Premiere Events off more bonus XP options! You can purchase up to FIVE (5) additional experience points for each of your characters during a Premiere Event. This is awesome for saving up for that point of Infection or a new PFA.

  • NATIONAL CONTENT— National items like Festering Crystals, ABCs, ARKs, and other National-level currency can be distributed during these events. Premiere events give out less of these items than a National game, but they will still be available through mods and events.

  • BIGGER PLOTS, BIGGER THREATS — In general you can expect a more intense threat than a normal DR:TX event during a Premiere game, including our very own breed of mysterious threat - the LONGWALKERS and NIGHTMARES.

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

  • These events can also be held over 4-days, but we’ve elected to keep our Premiere Events to our normal 3-day duration, both to save our own sanity and not stretch our team thin.

These events can be held once per season, and December is our chosen month! We have a lot of travelers planning on attending this event, so we hope to have a killer experience to share with y’all.

New grab Bag!

For our featured Premiere Event, we have an extra special treat this year for the holidays — a return of a classic t-shirt you might have seen a few of the 2.0 veterans wear, updated for a new generation. In addition, you can some other cool goodies for both you AND your character!

OUR GRAB BAG THIS MONTH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING FOR $25!

  • Entered into a raffle for a Free Ticket to “The Red Death” ($85 value)

  • Custom pen, sticker, mini-hand sanitizer

  • Free “I’d Rather Be In Bravado” t-shirt

  • San Saba Sundry (of your choice!)

  • Copper Chit: 1 Free Blueprint (redeemable at the Post Office)

  • Festering Crystal

The T-shirt will be available in M, L, XL, and 2XL, and this is your chance to take part in a Texas tradition that dates back to our very first seasons of play!

Now that you understand what a Premiere Event is, let’s talk a little bit about the story of the next event…

The Premise of “The Red Death”

It began in Widow’s Peak, just as the first candles of Winter Lights lit cozy windows. Strange, alien sirens wailed across the Peak, and lantern flames turned red.  Animals began barking at shadows.  And as the lights shifted, the night became deadly.

The Longwalkers, creatures of myth and imprint made reality that haunt the San Saba during the Long Night have changed, transformed into something from our deepest nightmares.  Fleeing Lovelace survivors speak of a terrible malevolence within the once predictable threats.  No longer are they content to haunt the Long Night, but they move from the shadows into a new nightmare made reality.

Now that the ancient Obelisk in Lake Bravo is silent, a new song rises across the San Saba, an echo of the music of the spheres heard months ago.  Changes roll across the Territories, as the red masque of death spreads from the Peak.  The shadows begin to lengthen in Essex, in Waking, and the Clutch, the shadowy figures within marching towards a new destination.

These new monstrous Nightmare Walkers are called by this siren song back to Bravado, to answer the call of their new master, the Prince Undying, the mad architect of Barogue.  His influence spreads across the wastes, warping reality, afflicting zed, creature and raider alike.

And yet the darkness is not only full of terrors. Reports of the long dead rising to bid their loved ones welcome during the Winter Lights spread just as quickly as the crimson mist. But as the truth of the world bends and folds around itself, what is real and what is a symptom of a creeping madness?

If you missed out on our summer online event, we wrote a few bits of backstory about some of the villains and enemies you might face this month:

Sounds like an ancient threat is returning…

Inspiration & Tropes

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

  • The Masque of the Red Death

  • Silent Hill

  • Drag Me To Hell

  • Stranger Things

  • Ghost

The traditions of Bravado are no longer sacred, they have become profane.  The Nightmare spreads across the region as the Prince Undying turns his sights to our town, but this influence spreads to the creatures as well, twisting zed and Longwalkers alike into Nightmarish versions of themselves. The town must find a way to shore up the boundary between the nightmare Realm and this one and push back the Prince’s influence from their land and minds.

You’ll find elements of this story in Silent Hill, where the world changes as the strange sirens begin to wail, as shadowy ghosts like in the finale of Ghost try to drag you screaming into hell, and as the entire world is turned upside down into a bizarre mirror of reality as the Red Death descends upon the town, like in Stranger Things. We will have a movie night over the next few weeks, sharing some of our inspiration for this next event, but this is a good list of movies to check out to get in the right mood.

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

CONTENT WARNINGS

The themes of Dystopia Rising often touch close to our real world in ways we cannot always avoid. The DR:TX team believes that we can still tell these stories about challenging topics, but we also believe we need to be transparent about our intentions and set proper expectations for our content. In our tradition of radical trust, we want to also trust in each player that attends our game to know their own limits and be able to choose to avoid topics and situations that make them uncomfortable.

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

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

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

Heavy Ritual themes (not linked to any religion)

  • One aspect of the upcoming event is the use of rituals, and ritualistic themes. Dealing with the Nightmare of the Prince Undying has perverted and twisted the Winter Lights traditions of our event into something different, and these themes will come up during our resolution of the event and as part of several in-game rituals and events, including Grave Mind scenes. These are not tied to any specific religion, in-game or out, but we understand the sanctity of the season and how these might connect in unexpected ways.

  • You can also read a bit more about our particular take on holiday traditions, Winter Lights.

Loss of grasp on reality

  • The Nightmares that have descended on Bravado exist in a place not quite the same as our world, as only certain characters with the Keyword “Nightmares” can interact with these threats. Madness, paranoia, and the loss of grasp on reality are important themes included in the Nightmare and this may not be something you can entirely avoid during the event, particularly from roaming threats. These mechanics may include Fractures or other mechanics that simulated this loss of connection to the real world, particularly as night falls.

Loss of mobility, freedom of movement

  • The creatures that hunt you in the darkness as death descends on Bravado will use various manners of abilities that make you helpless or unable to escape their assault as they try to literally “drag you to hell”. The loss of agency as movement is a big part of the horror trope, as folks are “scared stiff” or are unable to move out of fear. These mechanics and situations will be present during this event, but we will always check for consent before touching or moving a helpless target and want to help you buy into the terror of being dragged away screaming by the nightmarish terrors in the night.

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

The Red Death Descends…

We have a few things to prepare for as the Red Death approaches Bravado. This game, you’ll see the return of some classic threats and mechanics, as well as some entirely new changes to reality. I’ll cover the specifics of these in a future blog post, but here’s a sneak peek:

Alone in the Dark

First used by our friends in DR: Virginia, and written by Phil Grau, the Alone in the Dark mechanics provide an interesting challenge for those that try to travel alone across town.

First used by our friends in DR: Virginia, and written by Phil Grau, the Alone in the Dark mechanics provide an interesting challenge for those that try to travel alone across town. We used these last year and Heather has some new and terrifying encounters planned out for what happens if you get caught ALONE IN THE DARK. Hope you brought a buddy to the zombie apocalypse!

The Masque of the Red Death

When darkness falls, Bravado will get LOT more dangerous. Candles will turn red, lights will be disrupted, and strange sirens will begin wailing across the town. While the Red Death lays over the town, DEATH seems both closer and further away as those who die get back up immediately, only to be dragged away by shadowy nightmares at a later time. 

  • Resource gathering will be more challenging at night, and will require the expenditure of RESOLVE, as reality itself seems to bleed away.

  • When a person dies, they Bleed Out and are returned to play immediately.  They stay at 1 Body, lose an Infection, lose a Resolve (with a potential for Fractures), and gain a level of Nightmares. This means they can now interact with the shadowy creatures that will be attempting to draw them deeper into the madness of the Nightmare.

  • Those that die to threats in the darkness will not experience the Grave Mind scene right away, but rather will be pursued by shadowy enemies that will attempt to drag them into hell, where they will face a horrible choice in the darkness.

The Nightmares of the Prince Undying

A few of y’all may have had a terrifying encounter with a giant 15’ threat that lurked in the darkness over the past few events, or other terrifying shades that stalk the night in pursuit of those that have touched the Nightmare. Back during our Barogue online event, THE UNDYING PRINCE, a few folks found a way to stay connected to the mysterious dreams of the Prince Undying. A few more even found a strange Nightmare Altar in the woods (or maybe at the crossroads last game) and made some questionable decisions that drew them further into the Nightmare. I even heard that was a strange rock that seemed to whisper when the shadows drew long…

During the December event, as the pall of the Nightmare grows closer when the Red Death descends upon Bravado, you will find all manners of creatures have become changed. Zed, Raiders, even Murder Goat Deer and Behemoth Polyps have been touched by the Nightmare and have developed strange and terrifying new abilities. Even other Strains have been touched by the Nightmare, leading to some unexpected mutations to Nemesis, Oxkillers, and more. These Nightmares will be particularly deadly to those that are marked by the Nightmare. You can expect not just the world to shift, but the things that go bump in the night to shift into this new reality as well.

Red Lights & Candles

When the Red Death descends upon Bravado, all of the lights in the town will turn RED. While we normally ask our players to bring tea lights to decorate in game spaces and cabins during Winter Lights, but this year we are asking for that same tradition, but with a twist:

  • Please bring RED tea lights (or multicolored versions that can be changed to RED) to decorate your spaces during this event. We will be offering CAPS for donations of these types of lights that you will find our Wish List this month. You can also simply use a red paper bag to place normal tea lights into to change the color to red.

  • Our in-game spaces like the Depot will have the normal lights disabled at night, and replaced with Red Dome Lights or bulbs through the spaces. We ask you to avoid using white lights in your cabins, and instead apply a red filter or gel, or cover it with red automotive lens tape. (In fairness, you should be doing this already, but here’s an extra incentive!)

Candles are an important part of the Winter Lights tradition and will have a few extra uses during this event as all the light turns to the color of blood…

Wrap Up

We hope that you are ready for the challenge of THE RED DEATH. How can you stop the machinations of the Prince Undying? Can you survive a world where death itself is changed and the night is blanketed in red? Will you escape the Nightmare Walkers or worse? We have some some fun and exciting challenges planned for your characters in the nightmarish zombie apocalypse. But don’t worry, it’s not just all about the RED DEATH, you’ll still need to deal with (nightmare) zombies, (nightmare) Oxkillers, (nightmare) raiders and more!

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW, AND WE HAVE OUR SPECIAL grab bag RUNNING FOR A LIMITED TIME.

See you next time Vados, when we talk about how the dead return, and how you can have loved ones from your backstories enter the game, as a twist on the old legends of Boot Hill!

Rules You Should Know - November

Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our November live event EMERGENCE! This is our next ST led overarc of the season, led by Maenad Wilder. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering some last-minute Rules You Should Know, featuring some Threat Skills that might be useful to prepare for, as a mechanic to extend your disease timer - the CONTAINMENT ZONE!

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s get started!

The containment zone

One last major mechanic of note this weekend will be the brand-new CONTAINMENT ZONE. Sometime Friday night, you can expect this custom Zone of Mechanics to enter play at the Depot. Let’s take a look at the specific rules, which are also conveniently posted on our Local Rules page:

Containment zone Mechanics

Once activated, the following mechanics apply to the entirety of the interior cafeteria building, the Terminal Station Depot:

Entering the Containment Zone causes an “Inflict Disease, Behemoth Parasites (Stage 1)”, unless already Infected. If you are already sick, this does not advance your illness to the next stage.

Characters with BASIC MEDICAL may spend 1 Mind for each 10 minutes within the containment zone to safely enter without being infected.

While in the zone, Strains cannot transmit Behemoth Parasites by touch.  Other Inflict Disease mechanics spread by Strike, Ranged Attack, or AOE still work with the Zone.  

Strains with Behemoth Parasites (Stage 3) have their timer paused for the duration they are in the zone.  Strains with the Symbiotic Parasites LPC do not have their timer paused.

This will be a powerful tool for controlling the spread of disease, but it will involve a bit of restriction to some common resources within the play space.

Here’s some points to consider:

  • The primary theme for this role play zone is one of ISOLATION. The goal of these mechanics are to provide a space to perform medical role play to their hearts content, and to enable those that reach Stage 3 to pause their timers while a cure is being researched.

  • There will still be a path to use the kitchen without interacting with this space. The main area impacted will the Depot space itself, not the kitchen, the bathrooms, or the covered sections outside.

  • There will be additional advantages to using your Skills while inside the Containment Zone. While this is normally a convenient Crafting Zone, there will be rewards for players that actively engage with this mechanic within. You’ll have to wait until this area is posted in game to find out more!

Consequences of Radiation

For the last few games, you might have noticed some yellow sheets of paper throughout the camp detailing the impact of the radiation on the local wildlife. The crash of Waking has impacted all the flora and fauna in strange ways, but it’s continuing to get worse as it has still not been properly addressed. This is part of our Temporary Local Mechanics, but I’ve repeated it here.

Beginning this event, the following Consequence has been applied:

  • Meat, Fish, and Shellfish may not be acquired with Hunting or Agricultural until the ZOM: Return to Nature has been completed.

This joins the other two Consequences that are still applied:

  • Scrap acquired with Trade Connections, Salvaging, Foraging, or Trailblazing now has an expiration date of 6 months.

  • Herb and Produce acquired through Agricultural is treated as Wild, with a 3-month Expiration, regardless of how it is made.

This ZOM will be posted at Game On at the entrance to the Waking Exclusion Zone if you’d like to be part of the team that addresses this growing problem.

There will be several Research opportunities to begin to address these Consequences, so stay on the lookout for NPCs and other in play mechanics that will allow you mitigate these penalties.

Rules You Should Know

Let’s cover some of the common Skills and mechanics you might run into this weekend:

Inflict Disease

A single Strike that causes an approved disease to be inflicted at Stage One. If you are already infected with Behemoth Parasites, this advances your disease by one Stage.

This is going to be one of the primary threats this weekend. This ability can be spread in several different ways, from melee Strikes, to Ranged Attacks, and in rare cases, Area of Effects. You’ll see this attack on a variety of threats as the parasites continue to spread. Generally, you’ll be able to use the skill Avoid to prevent the attack but remember you can’t Avoid if you are in BLEED OUT!

Let’s cover something you might see on a particular [REDACTED] threat:

Parasitic Feeding

As per Cannibalism skill on subdued target but does not reduce bleed out timer. Call “Parasitic Feeding” over a target instead of “Cannibalism”. Often Parasitic Feeding is linked with Inflict Disease. If Inflict Disease is taken with Parasitic Feeding, passing of diseases via Parasitic Feeding does not count towards the total uses of Inflict Disease.

This is a nasty ability that will be used on fallen foes to spread the Behemoth Parasites. Unlike Cannibalism, this doesn’t reduce your Bleed Out timer, but instead gives you the disease carried by the host. I’d save an injectable for a quick getaway!

Massive Infectious Strike

The [REDACTED] rears back with a mighty blow to strike down their prey. Call “20 damage, Inflict Disease (Parasites)”.  Can call Overpower versus any Defensive Call or use of Inoculation.

That’s a curious keyword there in that attack. 20 damage is a lot, but that’s what Avoid was made for. Wait, what’s Overpower? Let’s cover this specific Lexicon keyword that was added to the rules last year:

OVERPOWER

If an effect used by this item is defended against with a skill, the user may spend 1 Mind to have it repeat with a call of “Overpower”. If defended against a second time, Overpower may not be used again. This keyword ability cannot be used with PFA abilities.

This is a unique keyword included with most Two-Handed Weapons and represents the overwhelming force of their blows. For creatures, this is equally deadly, as it can punch through defenses and force you to spend for Avoid a second time. These types of massive strikes are virtually unstoppable and will wear you down in a fight!

Additionally, Overpower as part of the Infectious Strike can also be used against Inoculation, a method of preventing the disease from spreading to a new host. If you are only Inoculated, an Overpowered Inflict Disease will also overwhelm your biological defenses, so watch out!

FAQ for Behemoth Parasites

We published the full mechanics for this new disease a few weeks ago, but in the time since that post I’ve received a few questions about the disease:

  • Q: Does using a Freeiron Dry Pack spread the disease to someone that uses Larceny against you?

  • Generally yes. We recommend telling the Guide you involve for the theft about your current infected status, so they can relay that to the would be thief. We aren’t going to be enforcing every single touch that occurs, and this is largely left up to you, like I mentioned in my post on the disease. If it feels like you spent long enough in contact to get infected, you did!

  • Q: How does Inoculation work versus the Parasites?

  • This effect works against Parasites, provided the doctor takes proper precautions. This effect to temporarily render someone immune to a disease until the next 12s requires you to touch an infected target, then use that sample to make them immune. If you aren’t in the Containment Zone or using a Doc Ottoman’s Disease Control Kit, all you’ll actually do is spread the disease to yourself and your patient.

  • Q: Can the use of the Master Disease Kit be overwhelmed by the Overpower mechanic?

  • Nope. Overpower will only overwhelm the Basic use of Inoculation.

  • Q: Will this infectious disease have an impact on the War of Antlers plot?

  • Most certainly. You’ll have to found out the specifics at the event!

  • Q: Will a Deep Fried Meal cure Stage 3 Behemoth Parasites?

  • Nope. At game on, there is no cure for this Stage. You’ll have to work with the medics in town to understand the source of this disease and develop a Treatment Plan for this disease.

Keep your distance from the infected!

Wrap Up

That’s it for today Vados! The weather will be cool and chilly, the perfect temperatures to pick up a BUG or two if you aren’t careful. The threat of the Behemoth Parasites seems to be spreading quickly, and it’s up to you to keep it CONTAINED. Hope you saved some Mind to avoid that use of Inflict Disease!

Remember, you can still get tickets at the door, so don’t miss out on THE SQUICKS aND SQUIRMS!

See you soon Vados!

The War of Antlers

Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our November live event EMERGENCE! This is our next ST led overarc of the season, led by Maenad Wilder. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering a side mechanic you might have noticed on Sunday mornings called The War of Antlers!

  • TICKETS FOR OUR NOVEMBER EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! GET READY FOR A CREEPY CRAWLY GOOD TIME!

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

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

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

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

This blog post concerns a mostly OPTIONAL mechanic for this season.

If this seems like something you don’t want to be a part of, or you don’t want to learn a whole new system of rules, that’s fine. Feel free to skip this blog post, but I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty of the actual rules. This is meant only as a high-level overview of the War of Antlers. If you’d like to know more about the actual rules, send us an email at info@dystopiarisingtx.com, or reach out to our in-character General in game.

Content warnings - War

The themes of Dystopia Rising often touch close to our real world in ways we cannot always avoid. The DR:TX team believes that we can still tell these stories about challenging topics, but we also believe we need to be transparent about our intentions and set proper expectations for our content. In our tradition of radical trust, we want to also trust in each player that attends our game to know their own limits and be able to choose to avoid topics and situations that make them uncomfortable.

Our season-long story of THE WAR OF ANTLERS will touch on war, conflict between nations, war crimes, violence and all the terrors and horrors that war brings. While this is all taking place mostly “off-camera” in our setting and this is simply a fantasy world we play our zombie game in, we understand that this distinction may not be always clear cut. With some recent world events in the news like the terrible violence overseas, we also understand this topic might not be for everyone right now.

With this in mind, it’s one reason we take our OK Check-In System so seriously! We understand that these may not be stories you want to participate in, and that’s okay! We encourage you to take the necessary steps for your own emotional safety. Remember, you can always use the OK Check-In System to choose to leave a scene, even CVC, and even war plots.

However given the scope of this story, this may not be a topic you can always entirely avoid at DR:TX events this season, especially if you get involved with these War of Antlers mechanics. Some elements of the war plot will bleed into the regular game, even if you choose not to participate in this specific plot. You might have refugees coming into to town asking for help, wounded from battles that need healing, or even in-game consequences that effect the play space as the war progresses.

We will strive to be mindful of our players and respect your decision to leave a scene. Don’t worry, there will still be plenty of zombies and raiders to survive later if this doesn’t spark joy.

the War of Antlers

The war between the Oxkiller Alliance and the San Saba Territories has erupted into full-scale conflict.  The forces of the enemy Oxkillers have superior numbers, training, and are well supported from their new territory in the north, and will need to be opposed by the new forces of the San Saba Militia and its new General, Hargrave Moss-Iverspiit.  The LCs will need to decide a battleplan, gather supplies and reinforcements for their armies, and make hard decisions with limited resources.  The LCs will use dice to determine the outcome of battles but have several ways to mitigate the randomness and improve their odds of success.  The resolution of the war and the difficulties of the enemies at the end of the season will be determined by how successfully the war is prosecuted during the previous events of the season.

Theme - The Fog of War

The War of Antlers is a delicate dance of moving pieces, personalities, and a bit of luck.  Drama is driven by the unexpected, and one of the major themes of the conflicts to come is the “Fog of War”.  There are no satellite images or drone spies, limited long range communication, and no ways to really detect enemy troop movements or strengths without getting physical reports and intelligence gathered by people.  Players will not have access to all information during each stage of the war, and will need to react to danger and actions of the enemy in real time during the event, and trust to chance to help their troops survive in the battles that follow between the games.

Theme - Small Skirmishes, Not Battalions

For the War of Antlers, the scale of the battle is much more reduced than wars of the past.  In the zombie apocalypse, a powerful “army” will never be the massive force of before the fall, with forces of soldiers, artillery, support forces, troop transports, and more.  There simply aren’t enough survivors left.  While each individual survivor can be a powerful hero in their own right, gathering too many people in one place attracts the undead, raiders, and worse.  Battles are conducted between dozens and hundreds of soldiers, not thousands.  This war is prosecuted on a scale of technology similar to the Civil War, or the Revolutionary War, and involves much smaller armies than would have been found in the time before the fall.  When we say “army”, just keep in mind that the scale is much smaller.

Theme - Collaborative Storytelling

The War of the Antlers relies on the players to engage with the concept and take some calculated risks.  If the LCs have a cool idea for a new Combat Unit, or a neat way to earn the support of a powerful faction, we will strive to tell a better story together by saying “yes, and…”.   While there is some element of RNG to the combat system below, the goal is to provide many ways to mitigate this risk and tell a story together rather than simply rolling dice and determining a number.  Your decisions will matter, and your ideas are important.

rules Overview

Each month, the LCs will represent the leadership of the San Saba Militia, completing Zone of Mechanics, Work Orders, and Research in order to support the forces of the San Saba.  By the end of the event they will have to make a decision of where to deploy their forces during the time between games, and make battlefield decisions during the event for conflicts that occur during the game.

The Role of the General

The General will be the primary architect of strategy and decisions during the War of Antlers, but can involve other players as much as they prefer.  If the General decides to appoint a War Council, other LCs can be allowed to complete the War Report and make decisions for the Militia.  LCs can risk their items, health, and Infection to lead units into Battles as Commanders, or can complete ZOMs and Challenges during the game to earn advantages for the General and the Militia.  While this is very much a side plot run during Season 5, there will be other avenues for LCs to be involved in this story.  Risking your character during this plot kit is an “opt in” behavior, and should be considered before you accept this challenge.

There are a few major steps the General and his allies will face during the War of Antlers that the LCs will need to resolve each event:

  • War Report - At the start of the game, the General will receive a War Report.  This will be a new in-character form similar to a Skill Challenge and will outline the decisions they will need to make as the General of the Militia.  This will outline the resources available to spend during the event in the form of War Supplies, the intelligence gathered by spies of upcoming conflicts and Battles, the available Troop Allotment and list of forces available to command in the field, and a list of Strategic Actions you can take during the event to change the outcome of the battles to come.  Lastly, the General will need to decide where to commit their forces and deploy them to the Battle Plan in preparation for the final conflict.

  • The General will resolve this Challenge on Sunday morning at the Depot, with either Jonathan or Heather, so they will have the entire game to plan with their allies and prepare for the Battles to come.

  • War Table - This will be a Room Augment in the game that will serve as a place to receive field reports, learn about new Work Orders and Challenges, and will be the home of your various mechanics sheets to consult during the event.  This area will have the Map Board, a visual representation of your forces in the field. This Room Augment was placed in the Depot during our October event.

  • War Supplies - This is a new Local Plot Card that represents a quantity of valuable supplies for your troops, like water, food, medical supplies, and ammunition.  The General will receive a certain amount of these each game as the passive income of the San Saba, but you will have the opportunity to spend in-game resources and complete events to acquire more.  You will never have enough supplies to do everything, so you will need to make some careful decisions about how you use these resources.

    • You can acquire new War Supplies through the permanent work order ZOM “Bullets & Beans”.  This will allow any LC to collect items in game to construct a new War Supplies item.  This will be the primary way the General can acquire additional War Supplies, and this ZOM can be found at the War Table.

    • You can also obtain these items from NPCs by politicking and making deals, and completing other War Supply Orders that are encountered in game by the end of the event.

    • These are in-game ITEM CARDS, and can be lost, traded, stolen, or destroyed, and have a value of about 50 Brass.  You must have War Supplies ready to spend when asked, and if you do not have the item cards close by, you will not be able to use them.

  • Combat Roll - At the end of the event, you will make several rolls of a d20 to represent the success of your forces in the Battle known as a Combat Roll.  This d20 roll will need to roll UNDER or EQUAL TO the Unit’s Combat Value (CV), a numerical score that determines how strong they are in the field.  If a unit has a Combat Value of 10, you will need to roll a 10 or less on the d20 in order to achieve a Success.  If you acquire enough Successes to complete the Battle, you will be victorious!  You will roll additional dice for each Unit deployed to the Battle Plan, so bigger armies will be more likely to win a fight.  You might also have an Enemy Difficulty of the fight that ADDS to your roll, making it harder to roll under your Combat Value.

The War Report

The War Report is an in-character item that is delivered at the start of the event and will have several basic decisions that the General and his allies will need to manage during the event:

  • Troop Upkeep - During this step, the LCs will need to reinforce their units, repair and rearm troops, and maintain the supply lines for their forces in the field.  Each Unit will require an expenditure of War Supplies each event, so larger armies will require more War Supplies to maintain.  You will know the amount of your basic Upkeep at the start of the event via the War Report, but will not be required to pay for the Upkeep until the final resolution on Sunday.  If you fail to reserve enough War Supplies to provide needed resources to your troops it can have disastrous consequences in a Battle.  Don’t overspend your resources if you can!

  • Troop Allotment - This will list out your available forces in the San Saba Militia, let you know the Combat Value (CV) of your troops, and let you evaluate the risk of deploying certain forces to the battlefront.  Each Troop will have a number of Keywords that can change a battle in their favor if deployed wisely.  The Combat Value of the troops can be increased by winning a conflict, completing a Zone of Mechanics or NPC action, upgrading the Unit with additional gear and equipment through a Strategic Action, or by spending War Supplies for the next Battle.

  • Strategic Actions - The General can choose a limited number of actions to influence the upcoming battles.  You will have THREE (3) actions you can take each month, and you can purchase a single additional action with 10 War Supplies (for up to FOUR (4) total actions).  You will be able to perform Reconnaissance on enemy troop strengths through spying and reconnaissance, Upgrade your troops with gear and new weapons, Recruit new Units into the Militia from the population of the San Saba, Resupply damaged and Routed Units that need help, or ask for War Support from your allies.  You can even choose the same action more than once, but with limited total actions you’ll need to choose wisely.

  • NOTE: Since there will be five or more different Strategic Actions you can take each month, you will NEVER be able to do everything.  

  • Battle Plan - The General will need to deploy his reinforcements and shift troops on the battlelines to achieve victory.  However, the San Saba is vastly outnumbered by the Oxkiller Alliance forces so the General will need to be careful about overcommitting to a lost cause and pick their Battles wisely.  Other LCs can even be chosen to Command a Unit in the Battle, earning a powerful bonus by risking their personal equipment, Body & Mind, and even Infection to lead the fight.  You will be able to spend additional War Supplies to temporarily Bolster your forces, but this will be a one-time bonus for the next fight only.  You can also gain powerful bonuses if you commit your forces early but will have less flexibility to react to situations that occur during the game.

  • Skirmish - During each event, the General will be required to respond in real time to conflicts happening over the weekend.  This attack could occur at any time during the event, day or night, and the General will have a limited window of 1 hour to respond.  If they do not act quickly or the NPC cannot find them, the Militia will be at a disadvantage on the upcoming Battles step.  This is functionally a Skill Challenge that can either be passed or failed.  This might require you spend War Supplies, commit one of your Units to a fight that you had planned on saving for a Battle later, make a hard decision, or win a Combat Roll.  You can complete Research during the event to have a heads up about what to expect from the Skirmish.

  • Battles - The final step of the War will occur between events and take place “off camera”.  This is an approximation of several different fights that happen over the weeks between games and will impact the challenges the General will face during the next event.  There is a planned cadence of Battles, with roughly two happening between each event.  You will complete the Combat Rolls for these Battles on Sunday, so you will have time during the event to plan your strategy. 

The Troops of the Militia

The combat forces of the San Saba Militia were drawn from the populace of the San Saba at the order of the Board last season. Over the summer, they’ve mustered a decent force to oppose the mighty Oxkiller Alliance, but they are still heavily outnumbered. Here’s a look at the forces that were available to the Militia at the start of the October event:

  • The Essex Protectorate - Funded by the Widows of the Lone Star, the Essex Protectorate is the elite defenders of Essex mobilized for war.

  • Fallow Hope Militia - Funded by Prudence Penitentiary, the zealous forces of the Fallow Hope make up one of the stronger units within the Militia.

  • Reckoner Legion Gamma - Funded by the Grave Council, the Reckoners are elite psionic shocktroopers that can employ psitech against their enemies.

  • The Red Ledger Battalion - The strongest force within the Militia is a mercenary unit of the Red Ledger, sent to the front by Gustav Glasseyes. As long as the pay is right, they will be a valuable force to bolster the lines.

  • The JaCintos Defense Force - Funded by the San Saba Republic and led into battle by Colonel Sabbath JaCinto, the Defense Force is a well-trained combat core of the Militia.

  • Torchlight Tyrants - Funded by the San Saba Republic, the Torchlights are one of the few remaining combat forces available to the Republic, gathered from the Lascarian and Tainted clans of their house.

  • The Veiled - Made up of the skilled operators of the Widows of the Lone Star, this unit of scouts are experts at reconnaissance and stealthy maneuvers.

  • San Saba Militia Unit 101 - Fresh recruits from the San Saba Republic. Newly recruited units are especially vulnerable if they lose a fight until they gain valuable combat experience.

  • San Saba Militia Unit 102 - Fresh recruits from the San Saba Republic.

  • San Saba Militia Unit 103 - Fresh recruits from the Railroad Conglomerate.

  • San Saba Militia Unit 104 - Fresh recruits from the Junkerpunks.

  • The Diamondbacks - Funded by the Junkerpunks, the Diamondbacks are the mounted cavalry of the faction, piloting powerful DJ vehicles into combat.

Each combat unit can be deployed to a battle, and can be led into the fray by a Commander, an LC or NPC that offers a powerful advantage on the final dice roll, but can even lose their own Infection if the unit is destroyed during the battle. Talk about high risk, high reward!

Updates from the front!

Now that you understand a bit about the War of the Antlers basics, let’s cover what happened during our last event, based on the decisions of the players at the War Table and their fearless leader, General Hargrave.

  • At the start of the event, the Militia was presented with three different Battlefronts to defend: a Conflict at the Sweetwater Camp, an Assault on New Barogue, and the Battle of Roy’s Rest. While each fight was important to the cause, the General chose to forsake the defense of Barogue, instead deploying his entire forces to Sweetwater and Roy’s Rest.

  • The General used his limited Strategic Actions to scout the upcoming Skirmish and understand a bit more of the battlefields to come on Sunday. They also recruited two new combat units based on generous donations from the Road Royals and Ramguard.

  • A Skirmish at New Barogue occurred late at night on Saturday, as they discovered the Oxkillers were using the Barogian language to hide their orders. The General declined to answer the ambush, leaving the remaining forces at Barogue defenseless and keeping his forces fresh for the fights to come.

  • Due to the decision to not deploy any forces at the Assault on New Barogue, the remaining defenders of the RRC settlement in the shadow of the titan city were destroyed by the invading Oxkiller Alliance. This area is now firmly in the hands of the Oxkillers and has denied the RRC crucial resources in the months to come, and cost the Militia valuable War Supplies from their monthly income.

  • The Battle of Roy’s Rest was won in a total victory, thanks to a heavy deployment of forces including the Essex Protectorate, the Road Royals, the Ramguard, and the fresh recruits of Unit 101, 102, 103, and 104. Thanks to their efforts, they drove back the Oxkillers from the eastern front and protected the Clutch from an enemy advance. However, the Protectorate and Unit 104 suffered heavy casualties.

  • The Conflict at Sweetwater was won a minor victory, thanks to the remaining Militia forces including the JaCintos, the Reckoner Legion, the Fallow Hope Militia, and the Red Ledger mercenaries. Thanks to their efforts, valuable scrap yards were defended, enabling the Militia to deploy new Cavalry units in the months to come, including the newly recruited Road Royals. However, the JaCinto Defense Force suffered significant casualties in the fight.

There’s clearly a lot more to these rules you can learn about in game, but that’s a glimpse of what’s in store for our brave heroes in the Militia over this season, as well as what they’ve achieved so far. I’ve mentioned a few key locations here that you might not have heard of, so let’s put these locations in context to our hometown.

Let’s look about a really exciting new resource I’ve been working on, the WAR MAP!

The new Map of the San Saba

You’ve probably seen a few of the maps we’ve included online before this, but those have been focused on a general overview and not a detailed breakdown of the region. Back in 2.0, a map very similar to this one was printed in the book, Embers of the Irradiated West. That book is very much worth the purchase and is still available on DriveThru RPG and has a lot of the background details that you might hear about in game. You might even see some illustrations of some old familiar Bravo faces inside!

This map above is an new and updated version of that old map, drawn by yours truly, but it is heavily inspired by the original image in the book. The same basic “Texas in the Zombie Apocalypse” layout is there, with most of the cities and locations originally described in the tabletop book still in the same basic places. I’ve tried to achieve the same basic style of the former 2.0 map, as it was part of the book I especially loved. I hope this new map helps you better understand the world of our game, and inspires countless stories to come.

I’ve updated this new map for some new locations, some changes in the setting in 3.0, with a focus on a few major locations of interest during the War of Antlers. If you don’t see a certain player-created area on this map, that’s okay! If an area is listed on the map, it could end up as a target of the Oxkiller Alliance during the war, so we haven’t included every single location that exists in the world. There are many other places out in the San Saba that are still there, safe in the story of your background submissions and character histories.

WRAP UP

We have a few weeks left until our event EMERGENCE, and we are so excited to show you the danger of our new BEHEMOTH PARASITES. Mae and our team have cooked up some great events, some neat props, and some terrifying new villains. We can’t wait to challenge you with a new disease, and help your characters tell the story of survival against all odds.

Next week, I’ll cover some Rules You Should Know, including a useful tool you’ll be able to unlock during the event called the Containment Zone. Stay tuned for more!

TICKETS ARE ON SALE UNTIL FRIDAY, BUT YOU’LL STILL BE ABLE TO PURCHASE THEM ON SITE. SAVE YOURSELF A WAIT IN LINE, AND BUY THEM TODAY!

See you soon Vados!