DR:MI November Event Content Warnings

Hello Mourners and Travelers! Once again we bring you a content warning post, so you’re out-of- game prepared for all of the quiet horror we’re throwing your way during this November trade!

Dystopia Rising is by nature a horror and survival larp, and while we DO love to shock and scare your characters, we’d never want to do any actual mental or physical harm to our playerbase. Please remember it’s always okay to opt out of a scene and walk away, with no penalties or repercussions for you or your character. Player safety is first and foremost. If you have any questions or concerns after reading this blog, let us know!

Below are the elements to expect from this event.

• Hallucinations - The veil is thin this time of year, and thus the Gravemind might effect your character’s mind in strange ways. They may see things that aren't actually there, or even interact with those things.

• Fake Drug Use - With the release of the Local Drug Plot Cards, there will be fake drug use and manufacturing seen at this event. We prohibit the use of all actual drugs and alcohol at our events.

• Loss of Control - In game mechanics may cause your character to lose control of their actions. We will never force someone into an uncomfortable situation, and if at any time you are uncomfortable, please use the eyes-down mechanic or talk to a Guide.

• Torture - NPCs and/or PCs may be subject to fake torture. We will never actually put anyone at risk, and all scenes will be using the OK Check-In system to make sure everyone is having a safe and fun time.

• Parasites - Specifically parasites that host in human bodies and cause harm. This includes elements like eggs, creatures growing within the skin, etc.

• Psychological Horror - You may encounter psychological aspects such as extreme fear, gaslighting, paranoia, grief, and more. We encourage players to take a moment after intense scenes to decompress so that you can keep enjoying your game without extreme bleed.

Please remember you can always OPT OUT of a scene using ‘Eyes Down’ - placing your hand over your brow and looking down to signal you are leaving a scene for any reason, no questions asked. You may also ask a guide on scene to help find you somewhere to decompress. 

We encourage all players to use the OK Check-In system, even when not in an intense scene. 

As a reminder, the OK Check-In system works as below:

• Player 1 holds the OK hand gesture up to Player 2 (reminder- can be a PC or NPC).

• Player 2 has three options:

  • Thumbs up - “All is good, I’m having a great time.” Continue with the scene.

  • Hand flat and moving in an “Eh?” gesture - “I’m not sure.” Deescalate the scene, offer to find somewhere to decompress/find a guide or staff to help.

  • Thumbs down - “I’m not okay/I’m uncomfortable with this scene” - Deescalate the scene, offer to find somewhere to decompress/find a guide or staff to help.

• Based on Player 2’s response, Player 1 should do the following:

  • Thumbs up - Continue with the scene.

  • Hand flat and moving in an “Eh?” gesture - Deescalate the scene, offer to find somewhere to decompress/find a guide or staff to help.

  • Thumbs down - Deescalate the scene, offer to find somewhere to decompress/find a guide or staff to help.

• Players are not expected to be therapists. We just ask that you show kindness to your fellow player and assist them in finding somewhere safe at the bare minimum. If there is an issue you need assistance with, Kendall is our Player Relations manager.

We will do our best to give content warnings before the modules these warnings pertain to. Please let us know at dystopiarisingmi@gmail.com if you have any questions and concerns. 

With all that said, we can’t wait to bring you safe frights on this Silent Night! See you soon!

What Happened Last Time: October 2022 Event Recap

The residents and travelers of Mourning Glory returned for the October trade, only to find the town overrun by Nemeses. From horrifying clowns to killer slashers, the townsfolk had more than enough to deal with. But Rogue’s Gallery didn’t think so, and re-introduced their Death Games. The prizes were items important to the town’s local factions, and thus were very valuable to the right people. Rogue’s Gallery was “kind” though, and gave each participant a ticket that could be exchanged for clues, help, or even a life. 

Friday night started off with a mystery- the kidnapping of Vic Ford! After leading blue bands into town, Vic and Mustang Ford were ambushed on the way home. Vic was Kidnapped, and Mustang led folks out to a Plot Hole- the entrance to a tunnel system used by Rogue’s Gallery. Unfortunately, exploring the tunnels proved too difficult, and the town had to retreat to think of another way to save Vic.

Later there were sightings of some creepy zed- Mannequins. Headless and silent, they only moved when their target looked away. Luckily folks were able to fend them off, but they persisted through the weekend. Then the first Death Games occurred- leading to violent deaths. More explosive deaths were threatened by the emergence of the Bomb Collar, a device created by Rogue Prime himself. The collar could be set off by Nemesi with a detonator, or as some found, by pulling their own collar’s chain.

During Friday night, the locals held a Graverobber meeting to discuss the urgency of the Dead Zones, during which they met Cancer and Canaan, representatives from the Zodiac Collective and the Arbiters of Aeternum respectively.

Saturday the local Darwinists established a radiation sink as a place to dispose of Dominion irradiated material, and doubled as their place of the local Darwin’s place of worship. The Nemesis games ran on, leading to death after death. Some in the town agreed to play along, while others wanted to fight back. A clue about a final confrontation was given, and the town quickly started preparations for this last deadly game.

Meanwhile, a man came into town begging for help. He claimed to have been on the run from a strange horde of zed for days, and was afflicted by a peculiar condition that caused him to drip and vomit black ichor. Unfortunately, when he was brought in for treatment, he suddenly turned into a zed that, while not strong, was extremely difficult to permanently put down. Other similarly affected victims and zed continued to appear and present dangers to the town.

After many games and Nemesis attacks, finally, the Rogue’s Gallery showdown occurred. The town met the group of anarchists on the edge of town, where they gave them a simple choice: unarm the detonators that would set off all the bomb collars, or fight the entire Rogue’s Gallery to save Vic Ford. The town quickly went to work disarming the detonators, but a few came back to bargain with Rogue Prime for Vic’s life. By turning in 10 tickets, the townsfolk was able to save their capitalist friend while sparing the life of those collared. The town was once again peaceful- or as much as a wasteland town could be.

Sunday ruined this peacefulness with the discovery that Daisy the bear was still being attacked viciously by an unknown menace. Said menace was sighted for the first time off in the woods- a creature with many eyes and glowing green claws. The town aims to hunt the creature so Daisy can finally hibernate in peace for the winter.

Now that the Nemeses are gone, what will winter bring?

Tutorial: Flower Crowns for Silent Night

Even though winter is fast approaching, the Cult of the Silent tend to don muted floral crowns in celebration of Silent Night. We wanted to give you a chance to make your own, so you can join the festivities in style!

1. Assemble materials.

You'll need -

• Assorted fake flowers of your choice

• Floral wire (you can use a thinner version or thicker "branch like" wire)

• Floral tape

• Hot glue

• Measuring tape

• Wire cutting tool

2. Gather flowers in bunches.

Separate individual flower stems from larger stems. Arrange stems into little bunches, making sure to evenly distribute different flower colors/types. Set aside several extra flowers as filler for later.

3. Tape bunches together.

Using floral tape, wrap the stems in each bunch together. Try not to bunch all the flowers perfectly at the top to ensure your end product is nicely spaced.

4. Create base crowns.

Measure the circumference around where you'd like the crown to sit on your head. Cut a piece of floral wire slightly larger that what you measured (the flowers will add bulk). Link each end of the wire to one another by bending the tip of each side inward. You'll be left with a circle.

5. Start spiral taping base.

Beginning with the place your floral wire links together, being spiraling taping around the wire. Smooth the tape with your finger as you go.

6. Tape down bunches as you go.

While spiraling the floral wire with your tape, evenly work in your floral bunches. Use the flowers you set aside earlier to fill any gaps. Hot glue may be used to help secure stubborn floral bunches/stems.

7. Time to party the Silent way: quiet and respectfully.

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Thank you to Rachael Crain for creating this tutorial.

A Mourner's Guide to Silent Night

OVERVIEW

Silent Night is a holy day for followers of the Cult of the Silent. It occurs in November, near Autumn’s last dying gasp– one last celebration and send-off before the people of the Lakesea Region bunker down through the harshest months of Wynter. 

True to the nature of the Silent, most traditions associated with the holiday are respectfully low-volume. It is a time to come together, contemplate the losses of the past, and comfort each other about the future. The customary phrase to wish someone well for this season is “Silent be your night.”

THE THIN VEIL

As any creature winds down to rest, some last-ditch restless instincts can kick in. The Mortis Amaranthine is no different in that respect. In response to the decreasing temperature, it reacts in a self-preservation reflex, and an increase in psionic activity occurs. This activity can result in all manner of strange, morgue-like phenomena becoming more frequent in the living world. 

The Silent call this a “thinning of the veil,” and believe it is the Gravemind drawing close to bid this world goodnight. Many see this as an appropriate time to reach out and remember those who have already gone on to the peaceful Nothing that the Silent believe awaits after death.

THE VOICELESS WARDEN

One tradition associated with the holiday is a “Herding of the Echoes” – an attempt to lead as many Echoes as possible to a secure location so that they can be locked safely away during the Great Freeze. Participants in this tradition are given psionic lanterns and noisemakers covered in bells, then sent off to attract and guide as many Echoes as possible back down into the tunnels from which they came.

The Silent also tell their children stories of an especially powerful Echo, known as the Voiceless Warden, who comes out at midnight to make sure that the Herding was successful, and that no further disturbances to Wynter’s Silence remain. Though it is as blind as any Echo, it is said that the mere sight of the Warden is enough to cause severe pain. As such, all Silent spend that midnight period obediently hidden away, to avoid drawing its wrath.

THE GRAVE GUARD

During the Great Freeze, even the Gravemind must slumber to survive. The Silent believe that to accompany and watch over her during those months is a position of great honor– that those who sleep by her side will awaken with special insight once the world thaws.
Each year, a select few are chosen to be part of the “Grave Guard.” Each person is chosen for a different virtue of their character– strength, intelligence, and compassion. These virtues are proven through three corresponding Gauntlet Trials. The victors of these trials, if willing, will undergo a procedure to slow their bodily processes to a near-hibernative state– and then be anointed to the Guard during a final farewell ceremony – a ‘burial’ into the morgue.

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Thank you to Kristen Lambert for writing this post.

A Guide to NPCing at DR:MI

One of our favorite things is bringing our players dangerous, multi-faceted, and overall fun Non-Player Characters (NPCs). And we could not do this without those on their NPC shift! Sometimes, it can be hard to express the expectations of NPCing between mods going out. Thus, we want to bring you a blog post that outlines the best practices for NPCing at Dystopia Rising: Michigan, so that both players and NPCs can have a blast.

General Terms:

• Non-Player Character (NPC)/Extra: At DRMI, we have a saying-- 'NPCs are also people.' Every Lineage you encounter presumably has a name, life, family, motivations, and should present a moral consequence if killed. That said, as NPCs, their role is limited to the scope of engagements written by staff. This means that sometimes, their agency becomes secondary to the need to provide players with an enriching and satisfying experience.

• Player Character (PC)/Lead Character (LC): These characters are used by standard participants for the majority of their engagement with a game. These are characters that players portray with full agency over the character’s decision-making process within the guidelines of community, shared story, and genre. A player’s ability to have 100% agency over their character shifts to a shared agency once a character engages other participants. This is the nature of shared storytelling, where all involved (staff and participants) share the authority over scenes engaging participants within the framework of genre, safe community.

• Guide: A Guide for a Dystopia Rising event is any employee or team member at an event who is able to assist you by answering questions, addressing problems, or making the experience of an event more enjoyable. Between events, branches have employees and owners who will take care of your needs. Regardless of an employee or team member’s level of involvement with the branch, all individuals tasked to help players are called Guides at an event. This ensures that all team members are treated equally and helps remove hierarchical community structures.

• Module/Mod: A scene sent out by the Ops guide, whether a written scene, or a roaming threat.

• Melee Damage: Any damage done by a melee weapon- a Standard, Small, Two-Handed, Unarmed, or Florentine weapon- does base 2 damage.

• Projectile Damage: Any damage done by a projectile weapon- a Firearm, Bow, or Thrown weapon- does base 5 damage.

• Loot: Cards and items PCs may search you for. PCs must take 30 seconds to search, and must ask for permission to physically touch you if they want to. You are allowed to say no, and they will pantomime the action.

• Out-of-Game/Wind: When you are walking to a mod, or respawning, you should put a hand on your head to represent that you are invisible. PCs may also call you the wind, or say it’s windy when you pass by to let others know there is nothing there.

• Rhino Hide: When a NPC or PC takes many more hits than the Body and Armor they have, seemingly giving them a “thick hide”. This is frowned upon, as it is cheating.

General Behavior

• Play for a story, not to win: When you are a threat, such as a Zed or Raider, you are there to give the Player Characters (PCs) something to rally against. Be challenging, give them a fun fight- but if they defeat you, let them. This isn’t to say your NPC can never strike a killing blow, if told to you by a Guide. But we ask you don’t Rhino Hide, overuse skills given to your threat, and generally read the room on how the PCs are feeling.

• Hush, hush: When leaving Ops to NPC, please stay quiet and listen to the directions your Rules Guide gives you. It can be very distracting for a PC to hear someone that is supposed to be “invisible” talking about out-of-game things. If you must communicate, please do so in low, hushed tones. While walking from one place to another, try to stay out of sight or in the shadows. Not only is this less distracting for PCs, but if they don’t notice you in the first place, you could give them quite the surprise!

If your NPC perishes, as some are meant to, use the Out-of-Game symbol and quietly return to your Guide to see what they want you to do. Try to stay out of the way of combat when doing so, for your safety and others!

• Don't use all of your skills on one person: It may be tempting to use all of your NPC’s cool skills on one person to take them down, but we promise it's much more fun if you spread the love. If you’ve used a skill, such as Break, on a PC, use the next skill on another PC nearby. Taking three Breaks in a row can be downer, especially for newer players, and others may want to face the challenge. So turn around and share that horror with the PC behind you too!

• Going down in combat: When four people are on you in combat, it can be hard to know when to go down. The best rule of thumb is: if you’re not sure, it’s okay to go down early. Otherwise, there are tricks to help you count damage taken! First off, count upward- two, four, six, eight, etc. If counting in twos is difficult while in the moment, halve the damage you can take and count in ones. So 30 Body halved is 15- now just count up by one for every melee strike, and round up to 3 when shot. Still tough to remember? Why not break it down into strikes you can take. If you have 30 Body, you can get hit 15 times by a melee weapon, or 6 times by a Projectile. Just count as the strikes come. 

Once you’ve taken the appropriate amount of damage, you are in Bleed Out. Safely move out of combat, so that you don’t get tripped on or injured, but wait until PCs perform a Killing Blow to die. Growl and yell at them until they Killing Blow your NPC- you’re only in Bleed Out and can still give them a show. When they finally end your NPCs short existence, give them a cool death. They just worked their butts off to kill your NPC! 

Finally, don’t forget to let PCs loot you. Even if you don’t have loot, they can take the opportunity to check your NPC out and search. They must ask for permission for physical contact if they want to touch you- and you have every right to say no. Otherwise, they may just pantomime searching for 30 seconds to see if you have anything on you- or ask the Guide some questions if you’re particularly interesting. 

• Not full speed ahead: If you are assigned a threat that runs, such as a Burster Zed, we ask that you don’t full sprint at PCs. You should run at them at a safe speed, still screaming and being terrifying, and before you get to them, pull off to the right or left. This is for safety, so you don’t end up running directly into them and injuring yourself or the PC. The last thing we want is real world injuries to happen and for someone’s game to end early.

• Pronouns and you: When referencing an NPC, even if they are a Zed, Raider, or Critter, you should never use “it” or “its”. We ask that you use they/them as a neutral pronoun. Not only do we have LGBTQ+ players that have been called it or its as a negative term, using they/them pronouns reminds us that our NPCs are actual people, and we should always show respect and be kind to other players.

Zed Roleplay

• Zed intelligence: Zed have one thing on their mind: food. Zed don’t use tactics or move intelligently, and most shamble slowly unless otherwise stated. There are exceptions to these rules, such as Predatory Zed- but even they are just opportunistic, efficient hunters, looking for their next meal. Zed’s power comes in the amount of waves in which they hit survivors, slowly wearing them down. While they are ravenous, dangerous killing machines, they should not tactfully zipping in and out of combat.

• Zed Brawlers: When fighting, Zed use their hands, which are represented by Brawler boffers. These boffers are not weapons themselves, but extensions of the hands- just like for PCs using the Unarmed skill. So when the boffers are hit, the Zed NPC takes damage as if they were hit on the body unless otherwise noted. This is important to note, as PCs may try to hit Zed brawlers to do damage. Please pay attention to this and count that damage- your Zed probably doesn’t have iron hands.

• Zed don't block: When playing a Zed, you most likely will be swinging as if you don’t have a brain- because Zed really don’t. Thus, Zed also don’t have combat tactics like blocking. Let folks hit you, it’s more fun that way!

Raider Roleplay

• Growl, don’t talk: While more intelligent than Zed, most Raiders cannot communicate with Strains. They make growling noises, roar, and chant in their own language, but only Thrill Kill Raiders are capable of convincingly mimicking Strain speech.

• Salvage cards and what to do if you don't have any: Raiders are supposed to be handed Salvage cards in case they are looted. These represent their extremely rudimentary weapons and armor. If you find your mod went out without Salvage cards, just tell the player that searched you to find a Guide. The Guide will return to Ops to take care of any loot that needs to be handed out after the mod is finished.

Our final point is very important. Whether you are a PC or an NPC, show respect to your fellow players. NPCs are there to build stories for PCs, but they should be having just as much fun and feel safe out of game, even if your PC is hunting them down in game. At the end of the day, we are all here to tell memorable stories and have a great time. So get out there and give someone a story!