As we head towards the end of our live season of events, one prominent plot during this upcoming event will focus on faith – the zeal, corruption and true belief that makes up Barker Meadow Reservoir. Learn all about the Unholy Passengers, those long-dreaded parasites of faith, and the mechanics and story around them.
Local Custom Mechanic: Lights Out
As part of our two-part June and July plot, we'll be running a custom mechanic called Lights Out. Here's how it works:
A guide will enter a building and call “By This Zone: Lights Out.” All characters not immune to blinding will be under the effects of Blinding and Stun until the guide specifies otherwise, calling “Lights Up.” All players affected by Lights Out will be asked to cover their eyes until tapped by a guide or NPC.
Any character that is not blinded does not have to cover their eyes during this time, and does not take the effects of the Stun. They are considered to have needed cover for Stealth, and can move to intercept NPCs as long as the NPC is not under the effects of Basic Enhanced Movement or Stealth.
If an NPC is intercepted, play will briefly pause while the combat is moved to an open space. Any players that are needed to be moved for safety will be informed by the guide. Once a combat space is cleared, play will resume.
Why would something kill the lights to a building? To snatch helpless victims, of course!
There will be times during our June and July events where NPCs may attempt to abduct your character. If you wish to opt out of being kidnapped, inform a Logistics Guide to receive an opt-out wristband.
If your character is abducted, your kidnapper will attempt to take you to a certain checkpoint. If you are rescued or use the Larceny skill to slip your binds before this checkpoint, you're free! Otherwise, you and the NPC will go back to Ops, where you will be presented with 3 options:
If you have Basic Larceny and the mind to do so, but chose not to slip your binds while being taken, you may escape and return to town without drawing enemy attention.
If you don’t have Larceny and are OK with your kidnapped character being "offscreen" until one of the rescue missions run the next day, you may NPC for CAPs or play a different character during this time.
If you don't have Larceny and don’t want to be offscreen until the next morning, a guide will spin up an escape scenario for you, and you can find out how you managed to escape and what state you find yourself in as you make your way back to town.
We hope to create a tense game with a sense of danger lurking in the dark. Will you find a way to hold back the darkness?
The Wardens' Brewing Conflict with Murder Incorporated: A Primer
There is an underlying plot element starting to heat up that aims to put some PCs and the Wardens in direct conflict with Murder Incorporated. Here’s how we will address the way this plot, involvement in it, and opt outs will work at Dystopia Rising: Colorado, as this conflict has the potential to generate bleed for players. The information in this post regarding Murder Inc. should be considered Out Of Game information, should not be taken as In Game knowledge, and is provided solely to give OOG context and background to those looking to get involved in this plot line.
Important updates and our first live-in-person event of 2024!
Survivors!
Join us at YMCA Camp Tumbleson Lake in Ward, Colorado on May 31st, 2024 for our first live-in-person event of the season! Tickets are on sale now, but please scroll through here FIRST for some very important updates:
New Site!
As previously announced, we are going to be at Camp Tumbleson Lake this year. YMCA of Northern Colorado recently purchased this 100+ year-old campsite from the Boy Scouts of Colorado and are currently in the process of making renovations and new construction, so availability of amenities will fluctuate as the season progresses. In June and July it will be used for day-camp, but the plan is that it will be used for overnight camp in 2025, so they will be adding tent pads and renovating existing buildings to accommodate larger volumes of campers and volunteers.
Want to check out the site? Join us for the Work Day and get XP!
If you want a hands-on preview of the site, you should join us for the Epic Day of Service volunteer day on May 18th. You’ll get to meet up with players and other volunteers, and in doing so earn 10 XP, thanks a special offer from the Dystopia Rising Network! Get all the information from our previous blog post about it.
Kitchen being renovated
While the campsite has a sufficiently-sized dining hall, its kitchen was old and too small to handle overnight camping attendees, so it’s undergoing renovations and refurbishing with new equipment. Since we don’t currently know the state of the kitchen, we will be delaying food service sales until closer to the event, when we’ll either have access to the new kitchen or choose a more rustic option.
You might need a new COVID-19 vaccine
CDC has updated their guidance and vaccinations prior to September of 2023 are no longer sufficient for protection against the current strains of COVID-19. This was made very apparent when several of our players tested positive after the October 2023 event! For the safety of all, we have updated our COVID-19 policy and you can see those updates on our local expectations page.
Price changes
On October 1st, 2023, the Dystopia Rising Network changed prices of tickets across all chapters. The current nationwide price structure is as follow:
No Casting: $120 (was $105)
Minimum Casting (2 hours NPC): $105 (was $85)
Standard Casting (4 hours NPC): $85 (was $65)
Maximum Casting (6 hours NPC): $45 (no change)
10-Hour Play (2 hours NPC): $35 (no change)
New Players: first event free (was $35)
Extra XP: $15 for 1, $30 for 2 (no change)
Non-Attending/Buyback for local players: as Standard Casting
But wait! We’re going to make a few changes here
We have analyzed our business model, past attendance, site costs and have come up with some amendments to Network Pricing to start the 2024 season, some which may be familiar to our players.
If you pre-register for a Standard Casting ticket via this website, you will have three options:
Get a pre-registration discount of $10 - that’s right, it’ll only be $75 instead of $85 for the standard ticket.
Oh what the heck: if you pre-register and choose the Pay at Door option for the Standard ticket, we’ll give you the $75 price as well! We accept cash and cards with a chip or tap function at the door.
Support our chapter a little more with the full-price High Altitude Ticket! It’s the Standard Casting option at the normal DR Network price of $85 and we’ll give you an unique, personalized Event Chit as well! Check out our past blog post about Event Chits, under “Dishes Network Update”, for details about Event Chits!
We will have a limited number of Max Casting tickets, as this ticket actually costs us money to offer (e.g. it does not generate enough revenue to cover the site and royalty costs). However, we will continue to have an unlimited number of Casting Champion tickets (Max Casting plus 2 Extra XP) for $75, the same price as before.
We will presently not be offering the No Casting or Casting Only options, but we will have a limited number of Sunday Minimum Casting tickets for $105 each. For this one, you will do the Sunday morning casting shift, after breakfast and before lay-off/closing announcements.
Our Star Line program will continue to be available! This will be at the Network-standard $85 price for a donated Standard Ticket, and we will continue to offer 1-for-$1 on CAPs and a special Chit for all benefactors as well.
Note that Buybacks for prior events are sold at the Standard Casting price for when they were originally offered. So Buybacks of live events for 2019-2023 will still only be $65, and Buybacks of events going forward will be $85.
Wait! Not so fast!
Before you buy your ticket, you may want to double check your emails because if you’re a local player, it’s highly likely you purchased a ticket for the November 2023 which ended up getting cancelled due to site complications. If that’s the case, you’re going to want to see the Cancelled Event Reconciliation option. We will honor any tickets that were sold for that event for the upcoming events, or you can pick a different option, but please use that ticket to get registered or make a decision about the ticket you’re still due.
Phew! That was a lot
You can get your tickets on this website now. Also make sure to check on the Dystopia Rising Database to register your ticket and secure your Casting shift. And join us on our Discord to chat with members and get hyped for the first live-in-person DR:CO event of 2024!
A Primer on the Barker Meadow Necropolis
As our February virtual event quickly approaches, we wanted to put together this little guide to let you know what you're heading into. Before the Wycked White settled in at the end of last season, Barker Meadow warped into a Necropolis - a place where the Grave holds powerful sway. Much (but not all!) of the weekend’s content will focus on interacting with, understanding and fixing the distorted Necropolis. Let’s talk about how we got here, where things are now and how the Necropolis might be dealt with.
How Did We Get Here?
Back before the early arrival of the Wycked White, the Barkers used Cracked Psionic Crystal Weapons of Mortis Destruction to defeat Flesher Calonyction. The ancient Graverobber had used strange Grave science to convert himself into a mass of Infection with the intent to overtake the local Gravemind. These weapon - the Cracked Crystal Projectile Shell and Cracked Crystal Coating - were understood to have terrible effects on the surrounding land.
The Cracked Crystal Projectile Shell works by draining off Infectious mass and energy when it impacts a target, which then causes a backlash when that mass and energy interacts with the psionic crystals inside the shell. This causes necrosystemic and ecological damage where the shells land, weakening the bacterial biosphere that forms a barrier between the Mortis Amaranthine and the world “topside” while pulling the Mortis layer closer to the surface.
The Cracked Crystal Coating sinks into the soil and stimulates the growth of Cracked Crystal clusters. Since these clusters are typically an immune response meant to strengthen damaged or weakened Morgues, these clusters forming outside of conditions they are typically found in caused distorted Grave phenomena as they absorbed and concentrated Infectious material.
Where Are We Now?
This Necropolis is a region of unchecked Mortis expansion and growth, like a damaged organ replicating cancerous cells and spreading them to areas far beyond where they are meant to be. The Barker Meadow Reservoir Necropolis blurs the line that Strains understand to exist between the Mortis Amaranthine and the world they live in. Masses of Infection cause high concentrations of DMT - leading to psycho-reactant landscapes - while memories churned from deep in the Mortis spur it to fabricate corrupted structures and artifacts to recreate the past.
Although the freezing temperatures of the Wycked White have slowed the spread of decay, the winter will not hold forever. If allowed to continue in this manner after the thaw, this Necropolis will continue to build on itself. The end result will be the creation of a localized necrosphere deep in the Overgrowth.
So, How Do We Stop This?
The Necropolis must be pushed back - both physically and psychologically in the minds of the people that live here. This will require the excavation and removal of the Cracked Crystal clusters, as well as the treatment of the land to repair the biosphere. The Mortis layer will then have to somehow be pushed back and repaired, while the tumorous Grave masses will need to be surgically, radioactively or chemically removed to prevent the Mortis from resurfacing. Finally, something must be done to lay the Necropolis to rest in the minds of Barker Meadow Reservoir - something to convince the entire town to accept the paradigm that the Necropolis is no more. What that is exactly? Well…
Continue the conversation on our main Facebook group, our private Facebook hype group, in our Discord server, and on Instagram. And we’ll see you in the “Wycked Wonderland” that is the Necropolis in Barker Meadow Reservoir.
Last-Minute Details You Should Know Going Into This Weekend's Event
With our October event, In The Flesh, barreling down on us like the apocalyptic plans of the Taleholders, all of us at Dystopia Rising: Colorado wanted to make some quick announcements. These will encompass the final fight with the Taleholders and, given we've told you there will be a Worker(s) on the field, the status of some of the tools we've seeded for fighting those horrible Grave monstrosities!
Pre-Game Briefing: Taleholder Finale
In advance of the climactic battle with The Taleholders at our October event, In the Flesh, we would like to provide information to set expectations and make sure everyone has an awesome time wrapping up this story. In this blog post, we're going to go over what's happening before the fight, during the fight, and how it could all end.
Info Gathering Results: The Taleholders’ Finale
At our September event, several intrepid Survivors from Barker Meadow sought information on the Taleholders’ Finale – the final, apocalyptic stage of the Great Work of their Graverobber, Flesher Calonyction. To help you prepare for the Finale and the battle to stop it, we present the Info Gathering results they received.
Apotheosis August Premiere Event: Plot Threads Highlight
We are thrilled to present Dystopia Rising: Colorado's August Premiere event, APOTHEOSIS, taking place on August 17th through the 20th. Here you can get some quick insights into key plots and challenges that both locals and visiting Survivors will face during the event, as well as a quick taste of some themes we’re looking to highlight during the event.
A New Tree for 2023: Updates to the Overgrowth Pinemaw
With the resurgence of last November’s apex Overgrowth threat right around the corner, we want to tell you all about some of the changes we’ve made to refine and balance the Pinemaw into the challenge we always dreamed it to be: it will still pose a deadly threat, but our hope is that these changes will bring it from being just a hard fight to a hard and fun fight!
Memetic Fixations: Need to Know
Our July event, POWDER KEG, introduces a new threat to Lorado: Memetic Fixations. These are more potent and easily spread versions of the original Fixations that have plagued the residents of Barker Meadow. Memetic Fixations are intense, destructive, and maladaptive intrusive thoughts that characters must confront throughout the event. Their effects will be more specific, brutal, and swiftly resolved than before. Possible vectors now will include the terrifying potential of it spreading through discussions with the Fixated about the individual's mental state or the phenomenon itself, sprawling out through Lorado as a virulent idea.
The Premiere Event and the Mayoral Race: An Update
As we approach the July game, the mayoral race is in full swing. As such, we would like to dispel any potential confusion regarding the mayoral election before it has a chance to pop up.
In game, characters believe that the election will go off as planned in August, but the election itself will be moved to our September Event: Taking Care of Business.
Why are we doing this?
After a lot of discussion, the story team decided that it would be best to not hold the election over our August Premiere Event: Apotheosis, as we anticipate an influx of travelers that game, and do not want that to somehow sway the vote in a manner that could be frustrating to local players.
So should my character stop campaigning for a month?
Keep campaigning! In character, there is no reason to suspect the election will be pushed. The in-game state of emergency that will cause the election to be pushed back will not be recognized until the August event.
I have opinions about this!
We want to hear them! Our post-game feedback forms are a great place to give feedback about decisions made by the story and guide teams. You can also submit feedback using the Contact Us, Event Feedback, or Rules Call Feedback forms, all of which are located under the Contact Us section of our website at any time. Your feedback helps us to create the game you want to play, and lets us know when we're on the right track.
Don't You Want to Be Wanted?
With the inauguration of The Wardens, lawbreakers all across Lorado are seeing their golden age of chaos drawing to an end. But formidable though they are, there are only so many Wardens to go around, and far too many slick lowlifes and dastardly outlaws dot the Western Wastes for the most tenacious law dogs to attend to them all; thus, the honored tradition of cash bounties returns - and the target: you!
Powder Keg Pre-Game Briefing: Encountering The Workers
CvC and You
Hey everyone, we realized recently that we talk a lot about consent for physical RP (which is important), but not a lot about consent for conflict and CvC! Consent and clear communication are key to making sure that everyone is having fun when character conflict comes up, so let's talk about it - and always remember the acronym FRIES when it comes to consent!
People often have different definitions of what constitutes conflict, and what requires a check in. If you aren’t sure if someone will be bothered by the way you are engaging with them, it is always best to ask. Just because it would be fine (or even fun) for you to be approached in a certain way doesn’t mean it is the same for everyone else. Once you have developed enough of a relationship with someone to understand their fun (often by having a number of these kinds of conversations with them over time) checking in beforehand isn’t always needed, but it doesn’t hurt! If you don’t know someone well enough to be certain, it is ALWAYS safer to check in before engaging.
Not everyone wants to engage in RP that involves conflict or CvC, and that’s ok! Some people want to engage with it sometimes, but not all the time. Some people want it most of the time, but are occasionally having a bad day and might not want it right then. Because of this it’s very important to check with your fellow players before these types of play occur, as well as after. It is also important to note that it is primarily the responsibility of the aggressor to make sure that their target is doing alright afterwards. If the conflict between two characters or groups is mutually hostile, then it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that everyone else is ok. Situations that are going to involve extended conflict should include regular check-ins.
It is also important to note that choosing not to consent to CvC or conflict RP does not mean that a player or character is free to do anything they want without consequences. If someone approaches you to have a conversation about future conflict and you don’t want it, that’s fine! However, there should also be a conversation about WHY they approached you about the conflict to begin with. Maybe they just thought it would be fun for both of you and were mistaken, in which case the two of you can simply move on without issue - but it’s also possible that they are trying to respond to something in your RP that makes them feel like conflict between the characters is the next appropriate step.
A common example is when Character A is (often, but not always, due to a Fracture) behaving in ways that put themselves or others in danger, and Character B decides that the best way to prevent that is to knock out, mangle, or otherwise incapacitate Character A for their own safety.
Being mangled or unconscious for long periods of time is often not fun on an OOG level, so when Player A may reasonably choose not to consent to this - however there should still be a discussion about what is fun for Player B. If Player B does not want to spend excessive time, resources, or emotional labor trying to wrangle Character A, they should bring it up in the conversation! The fun of BOTH players is important here, and it’s important that they work together to make sure that they are both having fun - asking for consent for conflict isn’t simply a one-sided conversation in which the target gets to say yes or no and that’s the end of it, especially if there are OOG reasons why the aggressor is trying to initiate in this way.
There are many ways that the above example could be resolved - maybe Player A helps Player B come up with a way to keep their character occupied until the Fracture (if that is the cause) can be resolved. Maybe Player B agrees to pretend not to notice that Character A has snuck off so that it isn’t their responsibility anymore. Player B could agree to let Character A do as they please, but with the condition that they will not help get them out of danger that they end up in.
Another example is social or political conflict. The election for Mayor of Barker Meadow is coming up, and people will be campaigning against each other! If you intend on running a smear campaign against another candidate, you should check in with the other player about it first!
Situations like these are most often easily handled in the moment (with check-ins afterwards) between the players in question and do not require the presence of a Guide, but if you intend to engage in CvC that is intended to result in loss of infection you should always make sure to bring a Guide. Even in the Wasteland, it is HIGHLY recommended that you bring a Guide if you intend to kill a player character! Speaking of the Wasteland - just because you don’t need consent for CvC in the Wasteland, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the fun of your fellow players before doing so. The Wasteland isn’t intended to circumvent good communication and post-conflict check-ins (again, we ALWAYS recommend that you check-in after conflict), but is instead meant to be a place where conflict and CvC can happen spontaneously for people who find that to be fun!
On a related topic, sometimes people don’t want to check in because they don’t want to interrupt the flow of a scene. While this is understandable, it is worth remembering that check-ins with someone who is doing well and having fun should be very quick and non-intrusive and if someone is NOT having fun then it is absolutely worth breaking the scene in order to check in. Players are always more important than the scene or roleplay, and making sure that everyone is alright and having a good time should take priority over preserving maximum immersion.
Most character conflict can be fun if both parties communicate about their intentions, check-in after the fact, and respect each other's boundaries. The vast majority of hurt feelings are the result of assumptions being made by one or more people. Having a clear conversation about what you want out of interactions with another player or character can help prevent a lot of issues before they happen. In the event that you and another player are having a hard time coming to an agreement about how to engage in conflict together, it is possible that you are simply not a good fit for this sort of play together and it would be best to avoid it.
If you have any questions or are having difficulty resolving a conflict situation, please feel free to reach out to a staff member for help. Our priority is making sure that everyone is safe and is having fun.
Article by Sarah K.