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.
With the Overgrowth agitated and threatening to overrun the town, RANGER pointing fingers at the Financial Institutions, and Machonis Company circling into the area to profit on rumors of a new disease, travelers and locals flooded into Barker for a large trade meet. Find out what exactly went down (or didn't) during our August Premiere Event.
Our Premiere Event, “The Root of All Evil,” is fast approaching, and we’d like to provide a rundown of what to expect. Here you’ll find some of the story that’s set up the event, the major plots and themes players will get to engage with, relevant local mechanics, and details on the Wildwood Fever that much of the weekend’s narrative revolves around.
We hope you enjoyed our October event, In The Flesh! For those of you who missed it or want a little catch up or better perspective on the big picture, here's a rundown of important story beats that occurred over the weekend to fill you in in advance of our November event, Apocalypse, in just two weeks!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dystopia Rising: Colorado is excited to introduce our August Premiere event: Apotheosis. Here is a high-level overview of three main mechanics you may encounter or opt into during the event. Each mechanic interacts uniquely with differing play styles and we can't wait to see how they cater to a wide range of experiences.
We are thrilled to present our June event, "BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE!" Get ready for an action-packed weekend with a glimpse into the highlights, scheduled activities, and ongoing engagements below.
This weekend follows the shocking revelations from last month that have sent shockwaves through Barker Meadow, revealing the history of the Profane Wolves, All-Faiths, Children of Constantine, Dark Sky Natural Ones, and more. The Archive Heist has triggered a massive social and cultural response, while some strive to conceal or downplay its impact on the town's atmosphere. How will you react as things fall apart around you? What else can be unveiled about the town's history, such as the Synthetic Morgue linked to the Profane Wolves and the town's past relationship with the Taleholders and their sinister leader, Graverobber Flesher Calonyction? And how will your characters handle these new revelations?
Kicking off with a major highlight: the opening scene. We've prepared a special "coming into town" module for this game. To avoid this module, Trailblazing and the Nomad Lineage ability can still be utilized; however, we recommend joining the main module as we have some exciting plans in store! For those skipping that module, there will be two alternative options available. Additionally, new players are welcome and encouraged to participate in one of these alternative modules for an introduction to Barker Meadow Reservoir.
The opening scene commences shortly after our opening announcements. Instead of our usual soft lay-on, we'll have a brief intermission for out-of-game discussions and preparations as our fearless Guides set up the scene at the Amphitheater for the primary module. For more information on your options during the opening scene, please refer to the infographic here:
Let's delve into the main highlights of the weekend.
First, you'll get to immerse yourself in the town's history and explore the outcomes of the significant narrative choices made last month concerning Barker Meadow. I invite you this month to ponder over your character's life here, their emotions regarding their residence, and what changes they might wish to bring to the town, as actions now will have an impact down the line. Additionally, reflect on what your character knows or believes about Barker Meadow, and what secrets they might want to uncover or share with others. Numerous details were revealed during the last gathering - will the Barkers step up to not only piece together the information but also devise a plan based on it?
Second, the Taleholders' presence is increasingly felt in our story and within the Barker Meadow area. Invited by the Graces, select members have become citizens and established an outpost, which was engulfed in a suspicious fire that nearly damaged the All-Faiths Chapel and caused harm to the town. The Taleholders have been bringing Cracked Crystal and Blood Sap trade through town while skillfully masking their perpetual scheming. Growing bolder, they have turned their focus to Barker Meadow after the Wood's Finale as the setting of their Tale.
Third, the Nuclear Family faces a Trial by the Profane Wolves; their faith is under attack as they are challenged by these baneful creatures. They have performed rituals to expedite their Trial, pushing the Wolves into a chaotic state referred to as "Frayed Wolves" by locals. In this state, they attack various faiths indiscriminately – even within their pack – while exhibiting unusual behavior as their typical hunting cycle goes haywire. Mayor Cassady Jaunt, who also leads the All-Faiths, went through the Morgue last month due to The Ghost – a notorious serial killer haunting Barker Meadow. He will be in town at 4:30pm on Saturday to conduct an All-Faiths ritual aimed at setting things right, aiming at collaborating with the Nuclear Family and the entire town to realign the Trials.
Next, we'd like to make you aware of major scheduled events this weekend.
An important rite of this time of year is the changeover of the Seasons and the Spring Speaker, Cassiopeia, will be in town Friday night to mark the turning of Spring to Summer. Uncovered documents say that Cassiopeia is one of the Dark Sky Natural Ones, who were thought to be wiped out by the Children Of Constantine – radical Fallows – years ago. She surely knows important information about the history of the town, but will she be willing to share it, what with the dark past of Barker Meadow bubbling to the surface?
Our Master Sailing Action Request module will take place around 10am Saturday: Sailors have been working with the Park Service to deal with a wrecked ship in the waterway, snarled with hostile plants, where the rotting cargo is attracting problems. The snarl is blocking the waterway and impacting travel along the river. Ready for some of Lorado's unique sailing action up in the mountains?
As mentioned, the All-Faiths will be looking to end the Nuclear Family Trial at 4:30pm, so prepare for the ritual, which will definitely involve fighting some Profane Wolves! What's a Trial change-over without a good Wolf fight?
Speaking of Profane Wolves, at 10pm Saturday will be our Master Hunting Action Request module, which is to hunt the Profane Wolves dwelling at their Synthetic Morgue, also known by denizens of Barker as the Wolf Morgue, created by Flesher Calonyction, the birthplace of the Sin-Eaters and Profane Wolves both. What might be discovered there?
Finally, we have a special sign-up module on Sunday. The Doc Ottoman's Collective is gathering a group to survey the Quarantine Zone that used to be Dedstop. This is a Threat Level: Midnight mod, with potential infection loss, disease and Morticide tags. You can sign up here!
Beyond specific events, some things take place over the weekend or at the pace that characters work on them. This month, our weekend engagements include researching The Workers and how to fight this incoming threat, Information Gathering about Grave Matters (as well as a certain Family Audit for those 'in the know'), and finally building the Inverted Cairns that characters have cooked up as a plan against The Workers.
We can't wait to see you at the event, thanks for reading and get your tickets here!:
Our May event, GHOSTS OF THE PAST, was full of revelations, twists and turns. The following is a Story Recap for anyone who would like to catch up, look back, or fill in their understanding of the story of the event.
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:
* The Nuclear Family, under Trial of faith, tried to change over the Trialed faith of the Profane Wolves through frequent rituals (with milk and cookies!), the fallout potentially changing Barker forever.
* The Everliving Wood visited Barker Meadow via Useless Eyes Pinback, who shared crucial information before dying in a burst of psionics sustained in her Infection from battling Taleholders in strange warfare in the Wood. Daring Barkers uncovered secrets about The Workers at the Amphitheater investigating an Unfinished Cracked Crystal Cairn made by The Workers as it disintegrated in dangerous fashion.
* Missing Sainthood members were rescued from the BIZ cult, but not without a challenging battle and a tragic loss of one of their rescuers to the Grave.
* Assassins killed Packrat, later revealed to be the Children of Constantine, radical Fallow Hopes seeking revenge on Barker Meadow. As friends Morgue-sat for Packrat, Mayor Cassady Jaunt stumbled out, having been targeted by a serial killer known as The Ghost who had been haunting the town in its shadows.
* Hutch from the 7x7 Red Stars led town trap-disarmers on a mission to expose Barker's secrets by declassifying records from the archives, leading to numerous shocking revelations.
* Onda Tal-Servi of the Seventh Scourge Final Knights attacked the town but was eventually defeated and killed by his family, in a battle that tragically felled Grail.
* A mysterious representative from Standards & Practices reminded the Telling Visionaries of Barker Meadow's significance in Lorado's Programming, vexing the local TVs and leading to great debate as well as promising tremendous ratings for their schemes going forward.
* Nightjar Calonyction, a descendant of the dangerous Flesher Calonyction, Graverobber of the Taleholders, collaborated with heroes to uncover the truth about Flesher's past actions. The shocking revelations in their Videbit Mortis on Flesher, including Flesher's creation of a Synthetic Morgue in Barker Meadow and the Sin Eaters’ origin at the hands of Flesher at that Morgue, left them with more questions than answers and the looming sense that "All this has happened before, all this will happen again."
* A mysterious Full Dead using Undead under his telepathic control assaulted the Saloon, going after A. Walker of the Postal Service in the process, but was stopped by those inside in an intense fight. While being killed, the Full Dead revealed themselves as “Tape Four” of The Hobbes who have been vexing Barker Meadow with their maddening Fixations.
* The Panoptic Order, a group of elusive Visionary storytellers, helped narrate the history of Barker Meadow through a captivating shadow play. They revealed that the Profane Wolves were created to fight terrifying forces of Fallen Angel undead in Barker Meadow long ago, and were later used by faiths against their rivals in Barker Meadow.
* After tormenting the town for months, a Grave-born imposter pretending to be a local named Percy was captured and experimented on by her associates. However, upon discovering important information about its nature, the Stranger In Our House escaped and vanished.
* Cassandra Joanna Birch from the Fisken Cosmia Darwins of The Boulder, returned to Barker Meadow in search of the history of the local Dark Sky Darwins. As she shared details about one of their members, Barker’s Spring Speaker named Cassiopeia and her connection to past tragedies, events took an unexpected turn when the Profane Wolves began attacking the Darwins.
* Sunflower of The Mutual Aides brought news that Hutch had been arrested for stealing from the archives. The town responded by establishing a fund to help bail him out and began making plans for his escape.
* Henry Aspen from Bear Claw joined Marx in a hunt against the Profane Wolves. They managed to collect samples from the young Wolves in their den, only to be met with chaos when the Wolves suddenly attacked the Darwins, Nuclear Family, and Final Knights all at once!
* The town also researched The Workers throughout the trade, discovering that the psionic maelstrom emanating from these creatures renders them invulnerable except to those who have immuned themselves to psionics. Finding out The Workers are coming to Barker Meadow, they resolved to pursue synthesizing and reversing the effects of the Cracked Crystal Cairns, to fight off the impending threat of The Workers.
* Realizing something was very wrong with the Wolves, the town decided to accept help from the local Nuclear Family, the Bakers. They provided a powerful Benediction to aid in battling the Wolves.
* As the trade came to an end, the history of Barker Meadow is now splayed before its residents, and many choices have to be made about how to move forward from the ghosts of its past.
We are looking forward to our event this weekend, and we know our players are excited for it as well, especially the chance to rescue the kidnapped Sainthood from Barker Meadow!
In the interest of transparency and to help you plan, this blog post will detail what we'll be doing with the module to rescue Jay, Ashe Danvers and Tarth:
The mod is scheduled to start gearing up at 10:00pm on Friday night, we will send an NPC hook to everyone at the Saloon to signal the mod is starting.
In this split-hook mod, players will divide into two evenly matched teams. While one team is going on the mod, the other will be helping NPC for that mod. Then, both groups will switch roles. This is to help us ensure an appropriate level of challenge for all participants.
To maintain balance and fairness, teams will be chosen at the start of the mod on Friday night, as we gather up at NPC camp. Players are encouraged to discuss and rearrange themselves to their best abilities, keeping in mind build and skill levels.
As you prepare for the mod, you'll be ushered through NPC camp to collect the necessary costuming for your time as an NPC. There's no need to change entirely out of your PC gear; simply throw on one or two pieces over the top. And since we're dealing with strain antagonists, there's no extra makeup required.
Please note that due to the setup of this mod, the left-hand trail branching from the field across the river will not be accessible to PCs Friday night. This area will remain off-limits (the in-universe reason: river flooding) until midnight. We don't anticipate this causing any problems, as it's not typically a well-trodden region by PCs.
To sweeten the deal even further for anyone looking to help make this mod special, we're offering extra local CAPs for anyone interested in volunteering as an NPC on Friday night. If saving the kidnapped Sainthood isn't your main priority, this is an excellent opportunity to warm up with some combat while earning valuable CAPs.
For any questions or concerns about this exciting mod, please reach out via our Discord server – it's the best way to connect with the right people. We’ll also reiterate a basic version of this post during opening announcements for those who haven't been following social media closely and address any issues as they arise. With a good amount of time on our story schedule dedicated to the mod, we'll have plenty of time to explain and respond to concerns.
Keep the conversation going on our Facebook and Discord, and get your tickets for our May event GHOSTS OF THE PAST here!
Our April event, VEILED INTENTIONS, was bustling with activity and intrigue. Here is a recap for anyone who would like a reminder, more perspective on things you may not have been able to engage with at game, or if you missed out on attending and would like to simply catch up.
MAJOR EVENTS OF THE WEEKEND
* The Angler returned, wearing a mysterious piece of Blue Sun technology that protected it from — among other things — the Psionic Sunlight often used to fight it.
* Mel Churchland, former member of the Hobbes collective - the psionic hivemind research team behind the Fixations that have been plaguing Barker Meadow since last summer - arrived in town, seeking help in taking down the Thought Bender that had been masterminding the collective.
* Flesher Caloyniction, the Taleholders' Graverobber, enacts the first stage of his Great Work, afflicting the citizens of the Vail with a mysterious condition. Tremendous effort on the part of the town allowed the Vail to treat their own Graverobber, and for doctors in Barker Meadow to work on a long, grueling surgery to treat four Veil citizens, chosen by drawing lots. The remaining citizens succumbed to the condition, becoming zed without sinking, and began attacking the Barkers, killing seven.
* Efforts from several local graveheads, working with Dispute/Descent of the Young and Doomed Kings and Queens Court and the All-Faiths, helped to repair damage done to the Morgue over the past few months.
* The Doctor Ottoman's collective delivered information they helped to gather regarding the Morticide pollution disaster caused by the bombing of Dedstop at the end of the Masterson War. Research efforts by the town help to develop treatment for those who have been exposed to the pollutant, and how to begin a large-scale cleanup to put an end to the disaster.
* Final Knights of the Seventh Scourge arrived in town, threatening Barkers with their 'forced conversion' tactics and seeking information on local survivors who have been a thorn in their side for too long.
* Local Red Star cells the 7x7 Cacophany Collective and The Mutual Aides, tired of the lack of movement by the All Faith's Council, worked together with the town to force the Profane Wolves to change over from Faithless, ending their six months-long Trial, and beginning the Trial of the Nuclear Family.
* A trade kerfuffle between Rawhide affiliates and Bear Claw regarding a Taleholder shipment of goods threatens conflict between Financial Institutions or other complications going forward.
* A disturbance in the mine, apparently caused by a Whisperkin Raider nest, resulted in the collapse of a mine tunnel. What will this do to the economy and social landscape of Barker Meadow, as more threats in the mines appear each day, in a town based around mining?
* Ephraim Butcher came to town with his Wardens, the new regional law enforcement, and started asking questions as the trade wrapped up.
More happened behind the scenes, in the shadows, and between the characters of Lorado, but along with the details of the last event, we encourage you to ask around to others about what might have happened. Keep the conversation going on our Facebook and Discord, and get your tickets for our May event GHOSTS OF THE PAST here!
Welcome to the first of our pre-event blog posts this season, for our April 21st event, VEILED INTENTIONS. In this post, we'll discuss some themes for the weekend, important story elements to know, and recent updates to gameplay mechanics.
The main themes for this weekend are Grief, Revenge, and Creeping Horror.
At our last event, Barker Meadow Reservoir experienced its first permanent death of a Leading Character when Mira was killed by mysterious assassins and later rose as one of the vicious Undead. While some plan memorials and tributes for the fallen, others seek revenge. The primary suspects are the Taleholders, a society from the Everliving Wood that has taken a malevolent interest in Barker Meadow's citizens and stories. How will your characters react to a tragic loss and the opportunity for vengeance?
Additionally, this weekend features an underlying dread and race against time. A terrible affliction has befallen the nearby Lorado Village of The Vail, impacting all its citizens. They turn to Barker for help – but what are the consequences if they cannot be saved? This storyline explores what happens during your attempts, with a dread fate approaching.
Two vital story elements to be aware of are the Vail Half-Dead and The Taleholders' machinations.
The Vail Half-Dead is a bizarre and grisly phenomenon with an unknown cause that is progressively worsening the afflicted villagers' condition. The nature of their ailment is something players will need to investigate in-game. Remember: sometimes character development occurs not through success or failure but through how they tackle formidable challenges.
Meanwhile, the Taleholders have become more prominent following our February online event, Tales of the Wood. These scheming Seasons and Visions from the Everliving Wood have ill intentions toward Barker Meadow due to past interference with their plans. With the return of their Graverobber, Flesher Calonyction, they are plotting a dark and significant plan involving the Gravemind. Be prepared to learn more about The Workers, mysterious entities connected to the Gravemind who affect the minds of those nearby. We recommend seeking more information in-game and engaging with this plotline as it ramps up this season!
Lastly, be aware of some mechanics changes.
First, Information Gathering is available due to several prominent town Sainthood members being kidnapped. Players must take some time on Casting Shift for their Leading Character to investigate "out of town." More details can be found on our Local Custom Mechanics page.
Second, we’ve got some additions to our buylists, including Trade, Criminal, and the Minor Favor Buylists with our local Financial Institutions! Check with Public Works for more details.
We look forward to seeing you in-game at our next event! Tickets for Veiled Intentions can be found here.
