Last Time at Dystopia Rising Colorado: Solstice of the Scourge Event Recap

Did you miss the first (virtual) event of the season? Want a refresher because you can’t possibly keep track of everything between events? Never fear! Our event recaps are back! Read on to learn about some of the hijinks you may have missed out on, or relive the hijinks you did get up to!

Friday night

Some of our survivors explored the trails and discovered the main road, DJ Road ii9, had been taken out by a rockslide. It’s still traversable by the West but there’s a massive and dangerous drop-off. Other important areas of note that they uncovered included the southern hunting trails being clear enough to travel on foot and that most of the Diesel Jock roads were also relatively clear… except for the one into town which was overrun by Overgrowth (think, the post-apocalyptic equivalent of an off-ramp from a DJ road to town). Our survivors investigated the town and noticed the old Blue Sun lab was overrun by Scourge and the Saloon… well, what was once there is there no longer.

Meanwhile…

A couple of our town’s doctors were working on an experimental surgery. Surely everything is Fine and Normal.

And if that wasn’t curious enough…

A former-almost-Scourge (yes, those exist) named Yancy crawled out of the grave after basically ditching his induction ritual at the very last second. He collided with a few locals and travelers, including Pollo and Juice, along with a member of the 7x7s, and begged for mercy. Yancy gave them some information, bringing them to the cabin of the Nawleys — a local family — walking them through what happened there with him and the Scourge. He also gave some information that could potentially lead to the 2x2’s lair. Runaan still tried to kill Yancy, with Cascade intervening. Yancy is currently locked up under the 7x7’s surveillance.

Later that night

Immediately following their scuffle over Yancy, Cascade and Runaan found a Natural One named Brynn in a Scourge trap, being attacked and eaten by Zed. They intervened, fighting by the zombies while also being attacked by Scourge that had been hiding and watching the ritual take place. Near death, they managed to draw the Zed’s attention onto the Scourge and escape with Brynn (who will need long-term medical care).

At the same time…

A group of locals assembled to infiltrate some Blue Sun labs and with one of them successfully becoming 2x2’s new lab assistant… at a gruesome cost. Yikes.

SATURDAY MORNING

You may have heard about a traveler named Alicent talking about how they fought God. Don’t… worry about that.

Meanwhile…

Someone let not only Bug, but Pollo and Vanya as well, have access to flammable materials. They, along with their group, did a good job clearing some of the Overgrowth for the Firewatch and managed to even help someone out in the process.

saturday night

A small group fought their way through trapped tunnels that began in an old cell way, way down to a large ritual room. (Spooky.) After they battled waves of cultists, they faced off against 2x2 and… you guessed it, “God.” Didn’t I tell you not worry about this? That’s because they defeated them (narrowly) and saved Alan Hershel in the process from… whatever messed up ritual that was planned.

While that was going on…

A smaller group descended upon the old Barker Bank entrance to the lair, managing to get in and unlocked the vault ever-so-quietly. There was, however, a gnarly fight that happened after and poor Elmore perished. The group had to soldier on, however, and eventually a slightly bewildered Elmore emerged from the Mortis and rejoined Natalie, Coven, and Amaris; and they all stumbled upon 2x2’s SAW trap designing room. (Yikes!) 8 Strains were locked up in murder contraptions… and tick tock, tick tock went the clock.

Under the time constraints and extremely high pressure, they split up the tasks at hand and managed to disarm all the traps, rescuing the would-be victims. Towards the end, however, a Myers entered and tried to intervene. Thanks to some quick thinking, the group overwhelmed and Amaris removed his head privileges.

And there you have it folks — that’s what you missed last month!

Looking to get in on some (more) hijinks at Dystopia Rising Colorado? We have another virtual event coming up March 6-8 before we return to in-person events in April.

The Great Breakening Is on the Horizon: A Quick Guide

With the first season of the Dystopia Rising: Live rule set nearly over, it’s time to remind you of a forthcoming deadline that was mentioned earlier this year: all undated scrap leftover from 2.X and 3.0 will be expiring on February 1st, 2026.

Since we aren’t likely to have an in-person event in 2026 until April, this means any scrap that doesn’t get used up soon will be expired when we return for our 11th season. That said, you do have several options available to you… but first you have to make it to an event:

1. Attend our season closer/Halloween event at Camp Tumbleson Lake (tickets on sale here)!  We will have time available in the mornings of this event for crafting unlikely to be interrupted by nasty threats. Can't make it on Friday night? Come up on Saturday with a day game ticket, or get a Standard or Limited Casting ticket and spend the night!

2. Visit another chapter that is holding events prior to February 1st by going to their websites and/or visiting the DR database’s event calendar.

3. Join some of the DR:CO players and staff members at Downfall 2025 on November 13th - 16th, 2025 in Washington state!

Once you make it to an event, you have lots of options for dealing with your scrap including:

1. Sell it, trade it, or give it away to other PCs or certain NPCs (some of whom might be in a similar boat as you… oh no!).

2. Craft your scrap into weapons, armor, gizmos, vehicles, or other items, utilizing the town Blueprint Library. Don’t know Basic Artisan or higher?  Surely there will be folks there who can teach you how to do it.

3. You can also use Basic Artisan to craft 3 Basic Scrap into 1 Uncommon Scrap, or 3 Uncommon Scrap into 1 Rare Scrap; the new scrap cards will have an expiration date of one (1) year from creation.

4. Alternatively, use Basic Artisan to turn 6 Basic Scrap into any 1 Metal, expiring one (1) year from creation.

5. You can also use your scrap to make certain mechanical crafting components (gizmos) commonly used in vehicles, which last a year.

6. Any of the items that you craft — including other scrap — can be added to your character’s online inventory for use at a future virtual event (You cannot, however, just deposit the old scrap into the inventory).

Of course, if you still have scrap leftover after our event and you’re unable to make it to any additional events prior to the Great Breakening date, the option to work with your crews and friends is always there.

And if you miss your opportunity to use up all your scrap before it expires, there are many ways to gain scrap at future events through various skills such as Salvaging, Foraging, and Travel. Going forward those materials will have an expiration of one (1) year for scrap, trade resources, and metals and six (6) months for natural resources. Refer to the Guide’s Guide pp. 92-96 for more details on those items.

In addition, with the updated DR: Live Blueprints (which you can look at on the database), chances are good that you won’t need as much scrap as you used to as many skill-augmenting items are cheaper and easier to make, and last longer, than in previous rules editions.

"Resurgence" Event Overview and Expectations

We are excited to bring you, “Resurgence,” our July event this weekend! Before the event, we’d like to detail what you’re walking into for transparency and to get you excited, as well as set some expectations for the event and going forward.

Event Overview

The Barkers have been called to Resurgence, a new settlement formed in the shadow of the old Everliving Wood. Groups from the Darksky Natural Ones to some of the ever-persevering Irons of Ironwood have formed a settlement in dangerous territory based on tenuous alliances, unfriendly to outsiders – except the Barkers, who many of them owe or have entwined destinies with. They’d make a key and powerful ally in retaking Barker, but how will you convince this settlement of mostly Natural Ones dealing with their own problems to take on that amount of risk and inevitable death?

Resurgence has been dealing with the Devouring Pines who see the Overgrowth as a brutal way to enlightenment, the Overgrowth itself’s dangers (including Diseased Critters transmitting Feral Wasting Syndrome), and zombies aplenty. Worryingly, there’s even rumors of a Raider Den in the area…

Helping Resurgence with their issues and navigating their internal and external politics via. diplomacy, strength of force, and more, will be key to gaining their help with retaking Barker.

Expectations and Themes

We hope this game will mark a return to form and the intended genre of Dystopia Rising as a survival horror game. Let’s break down what each of those words mean in this context, starting first with horror.

Horror

Horror is rooted in threats both physical and psychological to the characters in the story. We look to bring a level of threat, danger and scares to the game that will excite fans of horror. 

This includes a  return to late night threats, and a potentially deadlier game for your character
As far as themes we may tackle that are difficult or disturbing, here is an ingredients list of the spicier ingredients this weekend:

• Kidnapping 

• Body Horror

• Torture 

• Medical Horror

• Depictions of loss and grief

• Plants 

• Animals in peril, including diseased animals and animal death

We hope that by returning to form and tackling difficult themes along the way, we can deliver a great horror experience. - 

Survival

Simply put, some plots do not have heroic outcomes. For example, running away is not “losing,” and not all stories are written with some “win” condition. Tragic narratives are intended to open story and character opportunities in both the setup and aftermath of the tragedy.

A “loss” is not the end of a story. This is, as much as we can make it, a living world LARP where we aim to expand on stories no matter the outcome of an encounter and we encourage you to roll with the dynamic story as well.

All that is to say, we want you to come to the game and have a fun time. We want to facilitate excellent character beats and role-play. We want you to be scared and traumatized in-character and have a ball out-of-character! We hope to see you this weekend at Camp Lazy Acre for “Resurgence.”

The Dying Light: What To Expect at Our May 2025 Day Game

We're excited to give you the rundown on our upcoming May 2025 Day Game event focused on the fate of the Aberrant commune of Will-O-The-Wisp. This commune located on the grounds of a historic Lovelace Family Estate was envisioned as a sanctuary for Aberrants and became a source of growing danger and tension in the region. This weekend our Survivors have been invited to the Lovelace Estate by members of the once-all-Pureblood Aberrants, the Lovelaces, to interact with human drama, dangerous faith, and the way good intentions pave the road to hell.

Setting The Scene

Will-O-The-Wisp was — some might argue still is — a small commune (population: 15) built on estate land donated by the Lovelace family. It is meant to be a refuge for Aberrants in a historically anti-psionic region once more inflamed with those sentiments. Recently, the gathering of Aberrants and meddling of the Holy-Field cult (more on them later) festered their Morgue into a Corrupted Morgue, which burst and left the community reeling, vulnerable, and coping with deaths including permanent ones. Meanwhile, a few members of the Lovelace family have moved back into the Estate's old manor house, navigating their relationship with the Aberrant community on their land and its people, but how far will the obligation of nobles to the people stretch?

Themes and What To Expect This Event

interpersonal drama

Will-O-The-Wisp's people are a group that's full of conflicts, family dynamics, and more challenges to the mission of building an Aberrant sanctuary in a hostile world. Characters interested in social and political gameplay should look to lean into the drama of these imperfect people and their fledgling settlement. Townsfolk like Bayley Topshelf, anxious Vegasian full of Spoilers searching to rescue their sister Abby from the Holy-Fields and Lydia Of-The-Dirt, an Unborn who tends to the Morgue and holds complex views on aberrancy, will need aid and direction to move forward in a dangerous aftermath.

The Holy-Fields

The Corrupted Morgue didn't just damage the settlement, it attracted dangerous attention. The Holy-Fields, a doomsday grave cult (see Dystopia Rising: Live's publication “Faith and Devotion,” p.150 for OOG details), embedded themselves within the commune and recruited vulnerable residents. Among their recent converts is young Abby Topshelf, who is one of the characters at the center of this drama. The Holy-Fields won't stop until Will-O-The-Wisp has either joined their cause or been sacrificed to power their Engine of the Mortis Amaranthine. Will you stand against their zealotry and twisted actions?

The Aberrancy Debate

At the heart of Will-O-The-Wisp's existence lies a fundamental question: Why remain Aberrant? The concentration of psionic abilities in an Aberrant sanctuary also makes it a target, drawing Undead, problems with the Morgue, diseases, and more. Is aberrancy a tool for survival, a burden to be managed, or something to be disdained or even hunted for possessing? In a world full of dangers, are psionics worth the cost? Expect philosophical debates along with prosaic challenges as the community wrestles to define itself and its future.

Threats from the Mortis and more

No settlement is safe, and the small encampment by the Estate definitely won't be either. Aberrants bring Undead — and nasty ones at that — while other threats like the Holy-Fields may aim to take your Infection. The concentration of Aberrants in one location has its consequences that have already been seen, and more far-reaching and long-term that need to be untangled with the help of our Survivors.

Quick list of Gameplay Focuses

• Social roleplay opportunities with the residents of Will-O-The-Wisp

• Combat encounters with Undead and possibly cultists

• Philosophical and practical debates about Aberrancy, family, and community

• Chances to help shape the future of Will-O-The-Wisp

• Visiting the Lovelace Estate and meeting the secretive Lovelaces

…and more to be uncovered this weekend!

We look forward to seeing you at our Day Game! Tickets are still available here at flexible pricing, so if you haven’t registered yet — what are ya waiting for?

Aberrancy and You! Or, How Aberrant Abilities Impact Your Settlement

This blog has been in the works since we began working on our May event, “The Dying Light,” and has gone through several revisions as we’ve seen and aimed to respond to questions and concerns from local players. The community of Will-o-the-Wisp is Dystopia Rising: Colorado’s first plot surrounding Aberrancy using the new Dystopia Rising: Live rule set. Our aim is to play it straightforward per the current lore and narrative advice given on pages 37 and 38 in the Guide’s Guide, a public document available to view and download here.

In the world of Dystopia Rising, all Strains theoretically have the ability to become Aberrant. Doing so involves learning or honing innate abilities within the Infection to acquire power. However, this power does not come without a price, as those with Aberrant powers draw Undead to them, interface with the Mortis Amaranthine in destructive ways, and can be vectors for disease. The more Aberrants there are in an area, the more dangerous that area becomes. This can lead to Aberrant characters facing social stigma and being the targets of anti-Aberrant factions. 

These narrative factors have mechanical implementations. When an Aberrant character passes through the Mortis, approximately 1-5 higher threat Aberrant Undead are sent out. When over one third of the checked-in characters at an event are Aberrant, these higher threat Undead are available to run throughout game. When over one half of the checked-in characters at an event are Aberrant, the highest threat (Apocalyptic Undead) are available to run. The disease Cerebral Scourge spreads from Aberrants. Additionally, certain Mortis procedures are mechanically more difficult if more than one Aberrant is a target of the procedure.

Choosing to make your character Aberrant is choosing to accept the conflicts and challenges that narratively and mechanically come with it. The narratives surrounding Aberrancy are about power and consequence. If you reach for your potential and learn to bend reality, your powers could help you and the people you care about. But is it all worth it? That’s for you to decide.

These narratives are intentionally filled with moral ambiguity, with no truly right or wrong answer, and characters may have opinions that span from Aberrant supremacists to militantly anti-Aberrant and everything in between. In order to align with the intended themes of choice and consequence, characters in Dystopia Rising: Colorado’s stories are always able to give up their Aberrant powers without causing lasting physical or psychological damage to themselves. Narratively speaking, this process can be as complex as a surgery, or as simple as a period of meditation.

With all of that said, because the negative impacts of Aberrancy are core in-universe canon, players should not use Aberrancy as an allegory for neurodivergence, disability, and LGBTQIA+ identity in order to prevent negative bleed for themselves and other players. Unlike any of those things in our world — in the world of Dystopia Rising — Aberrancy is actually dangerous. Characters with anti-Aberrant sentiments can hold legitimate, logical concerns about the impact Aberrants and Aberrancy have on their communities. This imbalance between the canon of Dystopia Rising: Live and the reality of these experiences can result in:

• negative bleed for players using this allegory when interfacing with anti-Aberrant plots and characters,

• can make players of anti-Aberrant characters uncomfortable with the role they are forced into when an allegorical connection is created, and;

• can make other players who have these experiences feel uncomfortable with the implication that their existence is equivalent to one with a canonical negative impact.

Aberrancy is meant to ask the question: “Yes, you can, but should you?” — which is not a question we want to ask about LGBTQIA+ identities or disabled and neurodivergent people.

Because of the narrative and mechanical impact Aberrant characters have on the setting, and the challenging narratives Aberrant characters can face, if you local to Dystopia Rising: Colorado and wish to have any Aberrant skills removed from your sheet, please reach out to the local game runners to accommodate this request either at game or beforehand.

Ease Back IRL into the Wasteland at our April Day Game

The Hordefront—a zed horde of historic scale—is tearing through the Dead Range. Regrouping at a Tal-Servi Rover way-station, our survivors must band together, build and prepare for taking back Barker Meadow. Join them and help them fight for their future!

We’re hosting a day game event on April 26th at Lakeview Ranch! As a thank you to our amazing community and the support we have received over the years, we are offering a variety of ticket prices for people who show up to this event, which is our first in-person event using the new Dystopia Rising Live rules. All attending tickets (aside from Opt Out and Non-Attending) are the same; they include full XP (the same as a normal weekend event), a 2 Hour NPC shift, and lunch. You choose what you want to pay for this event.

Some other things to know for our day game:

• You may arrive upon site at 7:00 am to help set up or put up your own areas (e.g. pop-ups, tables, etc).

• Opening announcements will be at 8:45 am.

• Lay on will be at 9:00 am.

• We will be playing until 6:00 pm, with closing announcements and tear-down to follow.

Get your tickets now by clicking here, and make sure to register in the database.

Don’t forget our Community Day this Saturday

Prepare for this event by joining us at Lakeview Ranch for our community day this Saturday, April 12th. We’ll help you build or rebuild characters, exchange cards, get your fighting chops back, and more.

NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE DYSTOPIA RISING LIVE RULES?

Make sure to check the rule books (at the very minimum, the Player’s Guide) for the changes you’ll need to know. A quick rundown is also available in our past blog post. Don’t fret if you feel overwhelmed. We’re all still adjusting to the rules, so please feel encouraged to ask questions if you have any.

DR:CO Season 10 Starts February 28th!

Doing it Live!

Dystopia Rising: Colorado is excited to enter its 10th season this year, starting with online games February 28th (tickets now available) and March 28th! These games will be using a different online ruleset than we’ve previously used, because we will be using the virtual play rules for the new system that we are moving to this season.

Last year testing began for the newest edition of Dystopia Rising, Dystopia Rising Live. With overwhelming enthusiasm and support from chapter owners and directors across the network, all games are beginning the transition from 3.0 to DRL between February and May of 2025.  Dystopia Rising: Colorado will be using the DRL ruleset for the entirety of 2025.

Want to get the scoop on the latest ruleset, threat books, Strain variant mechanics, and lore of the world of Dystopia Rising? Download the latest publications here.

Not sure where to start? We recommend the “Player’s Guide” for updated rules of play, the Lineages book “Strained Ancestry” for new Strain variants and updated lore, and the “Devotion & Faith” book for updated lore and subsects of the wasteland religions.

Want a quick rundown on some key differences? We have you covered.

It’s Alive - All documents are Living

There will not be print publications of this edition available. Instead, the website will host PDFs of all documents — which will be updated as needed and include change logs. Most of these publications have already been updated since their release, so if you have looked at any of them in the past, it’s recommended that you check again. Some of these documents will likely see a lot of change over the first year as the system is played, and then will slow to only be updated as needed or when new content is published.

Impact and Development Skills

With only a few exceptions from professions and items, Mind Points are now completely divorced from combat. The skills you would rely on in combat or other tricky situations are now Impact Skills. Once you learn an Impact Skill, you may spend XP to purchase additional uses of the skill. These uses refresh after 20 minutes of resting away from combat, and new Blueprints facilitate the creation of items that can regain those uses should rest be untenable. Crafting, Gathering, and Social skills are now Development skills. These skills cost Mind or sometimes Resolve to use, as they did in previous editions.

Different Power Scale

All new characters now start with 50 XP to learn skills and/or train Mind/Body/Resolve at their first game. With this change, existing characters get a bonus 50 XP for putting together a DRL character. New players earn 10 XP per game for their first 10 games. After the first 10 games, players earn a standard 5 XP per game, and can purchase up to three (3) additional XP at a standard game, or more at a Premiere or National game. Players cannot earn more than 25 XP per month.

There is no longer a minimum XP expenditure before purchasing Tier 2 and Tier 3 skills — those can be purchased immediately.

Skills and Stats cost little to start, but quickly become very expensive. This better balances the scales between the largest characters and the smallest ones, empowering players with less XP and allowing players with more XP to participate in the game without threat of disrupting a challenge.

That said, this is a different scale from 3.0. The adjusted starting XP and increased XP per game leaves the number of games to reach certain milestones the same, but your XP milestones will be different — in 3.0, a character could get their first PFA after 100 XP spent, and additional PFAs every six (6) months. Now, while the requisite Skill or Stat purchases may be as little as 45 XP, it is recommended that a character looking to be fairly well-rounded aim for one Profession every 200 to 300 XP spent. This is a general bit of advice to help those who are feeling discouraged looking at the character creator — if you have a vision that involves a Profession and little else at lower XP, the right build is whatever is most fun for you.

Professions — like PFAs in the 3.0 system — have prerequisites. Development Professions require two Master Skills each, Impact Professions require at least 5 collective uses of either or both of their prerequisite Impact skills, and Default Professions require at least 30 cumulative purchased points of Body and Mind. Unlike PFAs, Professions each have two (2) skills unique to them. Profession Skills are purchased separately from the Profession title. And unlike PFAs where there really wasn’t a limitation on the number you could earn, your characters are limited to three total Professions. This is to help your characters feel more unique, as it is less likely for any two characters to pick the same three professions.

Updated Economy

• All items will have different mechanics now. Most will have an equivalently named item, but some won’t. We will have more information on how we’re handling swapping 3.0 items and blueprints for Live items and blueprints in the future.

• Scrap expires now. All scrap has an expiration date of one year, and cards without an expiration date will be assumed to expire February 2026.

• There are no more Twelves. Mind refreshes now only come from item and Lineage mechanics.

• Being interrupted during crafting or gathering only loses the time, not the resources or Mind points. Just start over again when it’s safe.

These are big changes to the game and the way the economy has functioned thus far, but serve the purpose of creating a system that encourages player interaction and cooperation. No character can be an island anymore, and you’re not supposed to be self-sufficient — the scaling cost of base Mind, the lack of natural Mind refreshes, and the lessened ability to stockpile resources, are all meant to encourage players to either form crews or coordinate with different characters each game to make the items needed to survive.

It’s called Live, but will you Live?

This system is designed to be deadly. Spike damage for players is limited and precious, threats are more powerful, and additional threats are unlocked when over a third of the characters checked into a game are aberrant. The threats are designed to be approached tactically, and while crafted weapons and gizmos are helpful, collaborating with others and strategizing make it possible for a group to handle any standard threat with starter equipment.

It’s worth noting that resolve expenditure is rarer in this edition, and forced Resolve loss rarer still. This means Fractures are a rarer occasion overall. Which is good, because after a character has accumulated four Fractures, gaining any more results in permanent character loss. In most cases, a character with a Fracture cannot be forced to gain another — they may only gain more through voluntary methods. This opens a new avenue of stories for players who want to portray a character shattering to the horrors of the wasteland, and greater incentivizes players to help resolve or soothe one another’s Fractures.

You will find that playing it cautious and buying more uses of Avoid and Mental Endurance, or raising your Infection cap, makes it harder to buy more ‘fun’ skills. You are encouraged to play it less safe and have fun with it. Infection only costs XP to raise your cap above three (3) now - if you are ever below your cap, there is no XP cost to regain Infection. However, Infection regain, and Infection loss prevention, are rarer and more expensive than they were in 3.0. There is a greater expectation that characters will retire or perm in this system than in the previous one - which is part of why 100% of your XP carries over for making a new character after permanent character death. When you retire a character, 50% of that character’s XP is available for new character creation, and the remaining 50% is awarded after six (6) months of playing the new character.

Presenting our first Live game: Hordefront Pt. 1: King of the Mountain 

On February 28th, we’ll be hosting our first virtual Dystopia Rising Live game on Discord using the new virtual play ruleset. Come visit scenic Elder Mountain, irradiated home to an ideological conflict between the Wells Society seeking to eradicate the radiation with their Glow Shrooms to pave way for civilization and the Temple of Evolution seeking to embrace radiation’s power and potential. The fate of Elder Mountain will be in your hands in more ways than one, as a horde the likes of never before seen in the region is on the way. With the potential for events on Elder Mountain to impact the future of the area, including Barker Meadow, stakes are high and we’re doing it Live!