REQUIRED READING: What to Know for Our Upcoming Premier Event

Barkers and Travelers alike!

Please read this blog in totality for important information about our August 2025 Premier Event at Camp Tumbleson Lake. A lot of this info is different from what we have done for events held at Camp Tumbleson Lake in 2024, and some will be specific to this weekend (e.g. we’ll be doing stuff slightly differently the rest of the season).

Where to go

Google maps will send you to 173 Co Rd 96, Ward, CO 80481.  When you get to that spot, you will want to continue down County Road 96 to the next left, which is the main parking lot.  

You may arrive on site at 5 p.m. to select a bunk, or aas early as 3 p.m. if you want to help us set up.

Check In

Right next to the parking lot is the Arts and Crafts building.  You will check in here with Seth P. to get your character sheets and make any outstanding payments, OR you will be directed to where to go in case we find a better place for Seth P. to set up.

All players will need to sign both a Dystopia Rising Colorado liability waiver (as we have re-upped our insurance) as well as a YMCA Camp liability waiver (this is new).

If you arrive after lay-on, you can check in at the Public Works (see below).

Arts and Crafts will also be the place to go for your assigned casting (NPC) shift if you have one (NPC Camp).

Cabins and Tents

Once you check in with Seth P. you will be directed on where to set up.  Most players will be sent to the Frontier camping pod, which you can drive your car to, unload, set up, and then later drive your car back to the parking lot. Once your car is reparked, we would love your help getting set up either in NPC camp or in the Frontier space, where the crafting areas and other zones are.

Please note: This area is a little more rustic and does not have any power, therefore it’s important to bring power banks or spare batteries as needed. There are plenty of glamping tents with more than enough bunk beds for our player attendance, a log cabin (called a longhouse), pit toilets, an amphitheater, and the space where we will set up a camping kitchen for food, a water cooler, agricultural area, morgue spaces, crafting areas, Public Works, and more.

If you need Medical Sleep we will have two options for you:

1. If you just need a space where your cabin won’t get attacked at night and quiet space, we will have a glamping tent set up as Medical Only at Frontier.  This space will be closer to the rest of the tents, the crafting areas, Public Works, etc.

2. If you need power or close access to the bathhouse, we will have a limited number of cabins available in Miner’s Row.  

Meals and food storage 

Food storage will be at the Dining Hall only; please, no food in the glamping tents, cabins, or vehicles, as this poses a wildlife risk.  Sealed bottles for water or beverages are fine; please remove labels/genrify your drinks.  The Dining Hall is in the main part of the camp, which is a bit of a walk from Frontier.  Please check with our kitchen leads, Lucan or Joelle, for assistance on where to keep any food that you’re bringing.  We recommend dry goods and other things that can be kept in a cooler for the weekend.  There will be a limited amount of fridge space for cold items.

Our access to the Dining Hall and the kitchen has some limitations this weekend, specifically on Friday night and all day Saturday.  As such, our kitchen staff has elected to host all meals after Thursday night, and our Saturday barbeque at Frontier, where we will be setting up a camping kitchen.  We will have our disposable cutlery but you are encouraged to bring your own mess kit.

On Thursday night, our dinner will be held in the Dining Hall.  Since opening announcements are at 9 p.m. and the opening mod will follow, you will want to be in costume.

You will be able to utilize the microwave in the dining room when it is not otherwise occupied; we are also looking to set up a microwave at Rustler’s, which is at the top of Miner’s Row (previously known as the Counselor’s Lounge, with the balcony porch).  We will update when we know for certain.

Guide Meeting

If you are a guide, we will have a pre-game meeting at 8:30 p.m. at NPC Camp (Arts and Crafts).  Please be prompt and we will do our best to be concise.

Opening Announcements

We will have opening announcements at 9 p.m. on Thursday at the Dining Hall, with lay-on to follow.  After opening announcements, all PCs will meet outside Arts and Crafts as the mustering area for the opening module at 10 p.m..  Any latecomers or people who haven’t checked in yet can get that done before 10 p.m.; afterwards, check-in will move to Public Works at Frontier.  Please be in costume for opening announcements; Frontier will be unavailable from 9 p.m. until after the opening module is complete.  This will also be a great time to return your car to the parking lot, if you haven’t moved it down before dinner.

Getting around site

While there will not be sufficient parking near Frontier for everyone, we will be allowing and utilizing people’s cars to shuttle NPCs, meal service items, equipment, and trash as needed.  Please let us know how we can help if mobility is a concern for you.

Public Works

Seth P. has secured a solar-panel set-up and a Starlink to set up Public Works at the Frontier camping pod.  Depending on the space, we will set up Public Works either in the Longhouse, the yurt, or a pop-up nearby.  We should be able to handle all Public Works requests, though there is currently an open question about blueprints.  We will either print blueprints at Public Works, or if our power solution can’t handle the printer, we will print them in batches at another location from time to time.

Closing Announcements

We will be calling lay-off at 3 p.m. on Saturday.  We will do a quick closing announcement, and then we will tear down most of our play space and NPC camp.

Folks who need to leave early can do so any time afterward cleanup; the camp will be available for folks for the rest of the evening for…

Community Gathering

Saturday after cleanup we will have our out-of-character hangout, board games, barbeque and more.  Non-attendees, friends and family members are welcome to join us and should RSVP so that we are sure we have enough food for folks.  Players are free to spend one more evening on site.

WHEN WE HAVE TO BE Off Site

We will be looking to be off site by 12 p.m. noon on Sunday, so any remaining cleaning, packing and loading will be done in the morning.  Breakfast will be available at 8 a.m.

We’ll see you all very soon!

Gear Up for a “Home Coming” — Our Premier Event This August

Tickets are now available for our August Premier Event! Join us at Camp Tumbleson Lake on Thursday, August 21st through Sunday, August 24th. This event has some slightly different scheduling and cadence compared to our regular events and past premier events, so be sure to read the whole post.

While you’re here, we also included some exciting updates pertaining to the event site, Community Action Points (CAPs), and more.

Event Details

When you get to the site, please check in at Arts and Crafts rather than the main office, which is being used by the increased camp staff as an office and store. It’s right next to the main parking lot.  

Unlike past four-day/three-night events, this event will offer just the normal base XP (e.g. no +1 bonus), and it will also be the same price as a normal weekend event. Like other premier events across the network, you will have the option to purchase up to 5 extra XP.

Opening Announcements will start at 9 pm on Thursday, and the in-character action will continue through 3 pm on Saturday, August 23rd.  Most of the plot line items will be occurring on Thursday night and Friday all day so if you are coming up on Friday evening and not on Thursday, you may miss a lot of the stories that we’re running this weekend.

On Saturday morning and early afternoon, we have reserved time for community-driven plot and events.  This will be your time to participate in the Diesel Jock races, have religious ceremonies and inductions, host a bazaar, or whatever else your character would like to have the extra time to engage in. If you have a fishing license and a pole, there’s a lake you can take advantage of as well.

At 3 pm on Saturday, we will lay-off (end the in-character portion) from the game, do a little cleaning and packing, and have a Community Gathering. Board games and personal crafts are encouraged, and we will have a barbecue in the evening. We are also inviting any players who can’t make the main event, new players, veterans, players of other LARPs, and LARP retirees to come join us at 4 pm. This event is open to everyone — including family members. Please RSVP so that we know that you’re coming and planning to eat with us.

Players will have the option to head home early on Saturday or spend one more night at the beautiful campsite out-of-character, under a moonless sky in a part of the country dark enough to see the Milky Way galaxy on a clear night.  

Camp Tumbleson Lake Updates

The areas around each of the three longhouses have all been heavily constructed since we first started using this campsite. Each area is now arranged as a “pod” — named Sky, Fortis, and Frontier respectively — with each area having a constructed log fence, an entryway, ten large tent platforms with 14 bunks each, and a yurt likely to be used for Public Works.  We will use a couple of the tent platforms for buildings as needed, and the longhouses will host our Artisan and Culinary areas with an Agricultural area nearby.

For our August event, we will be using Frontier for our sleeping area and are looking at Fortis for some modules on Friday. There are pit toilets nearby both of these pods.

Please note that none of the pods are currently running power, so please plan for battery operation or power banks as needed, and genre lights. Folks who need power for CPAP or other medical purposes will have access to a limited number of cabins in Miners’ Row, which is closer to the shower house and the dining hall.

Frontier Camping Pod (longhouse is behind the tents, to the right)

The shower house was also completed this year and is just east of the Sky pod. We will have some of our meals at the dining hall, and others will be held at Frontier. Stay tuned for updated information on our Discord server.

Thanks to the support of our players and visitors from around the network, we were able to order some additional infrastructure support for this and future events, including the ability to provide meals and host Public Works in remote locations.

CAPs update

The staff and the writing team are pleased to release our CAPs Rewards and CAPs Redemption lists.

For those who may not know what CAPs are, they’re rewarded for performing particular tasks, making donations, and otherwise helping out the local Dystopia Rising Live chapter. Each chapter has their own list of rewards and redemptions. People can earn CAPs in any chapter, but these are not transferrable between chapters or players.

For those who remember CAPs from 3.0, there are no “National” or “Network” CAPs anymore, as these were decommissioned last year. If you see some in your player profile in the DRL Database, reach out to the game you are attending to see if they will honor them.

The Rewards list is how you can earn CAPs and the Redemption list is for what you can redeem CAPs.

If you contributed to a Dystopia Rising: Colorado event this year, you may have earned rewards that are not reflected in the database yet. These will be entered into the database over the next couple of weeks.

Redemptions may be made in anticipation of any future event (including the Premier Event). For some rewards, you may want to make the request early (e.g. not the Monday before the event) to ensure any in-game impacts are taken into account for that event.

Available reward amounts, reward types, redemption values, and redemption types are subject to alteration in the future, as we balance out what we want to prioritize.  We are also looking for additional redemption possibilities for community artwork or videos, so please let us know if you have any ideas or if you’re interested in contributing.

The Important Links

• Premier Event Tickets

• Database Checkin

• Community Gathering RSVP

• CAPs Rewards (how to earn)

• CAPs Redemptions (what to spend them on)

• Join us on Discord

"ROOT OF ALL EVIL" Premiere Event Recap

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.

Friday Night

The first night of the trade began with a bang. Botadens Researchers—local Overgrowth scientists and experts—came into town both afflicted with Wildwood Fever and bringing samples for research into this new virulent and fast-acting disease. They didn't leave, however, without first infecting several in their rages.

Meanwhile, the first visit to a Machonis Company site—part of promised audits—revealed worrying information and an Infected Bear-ver that had to be put down. Simultaneously, Marshal Ephraim Butcher continued his hunt for Murder Inc., speaking with several people in town before revealing some organization members and attempting an arrest. 

Butcher later interrogated A. Walker, Sainthood of the Postal Service, who experienced strange and adverse reactions while questioned about Murder Inc., mainly about "The Lockes" and "The Atlas," before dropping dead from a brain hemorrhage. After the town endured psionic fallout from a powerful Aberrant's final death, Walker's zed (a Brilliance Breaker psionic undead) was put down by several Survivors in a harrowing fight—including those close to Walker in life. As the night wore on, folks rescued Deja from the Mortis, and the Mortis Stranger, which had been menacing the town, was dealt with.

Saturday Morning

The financial institutions held a festival Saturday morning that lasted into the early afternoon. Those in attendance had plenty of fun, but several spirited researchers sought to progress their research into Wildwood Fever as the symptoms worsened throughout its victims. Fiona Machonis paid a visit, completing research for pay and pausing Wildwood Fever with injections of her proprietary Purifying Bad Brain. The head of the Rolling Coalition, Pacman, visited the Mayor, warning him against working with RANGER. Making his war and demands for blood publicly known, Pacman and Shift left the town expecting members of RANGER and info sent their way. 

As if that wasn’t enough chaos, a RANGER member assaulted folks gathered at the festival. Once stopped, they implicated Machonis in harvesting a root in the Overgrowth, causing the agitation and Wildwood Fever to spread. Taken out of town and immediately executed by the Rolling Coalition, the RANGER member (one of the Grace Rovers) yielded a cipher key for cracking codes at the Machonis sites.

Saturday Afternoon

Another Machonis audit Saturday afternoon yielded similarly troubling results and a fight with some Infected Boulder Puma. Butcher returned to town hunting for Nicholas, who struck back with murderous intent—only for Tarth to jump in the way of the blows, taking their final death, which reverberated through the town. Tarth emerged as a Broken Angel, fitting for a Sainthood Saint, and was defeated as the mourning Survivors remained.

A third Machonis site audit put pieces together with a fight against Infected Radbits, leading several brave people to meet with Fiona Machonis and attempt diplomacy. As her plans and motives unfurled before them – seeking the Moonwort within the Overgrowth, which she saw as a potential panacea at any cost, and believing the Wildwood Fever to be a solvable problem, Fiona was prepared to take on the town and die if necessary in pursuit of a better world.

Realizing the nature and possible source of her convictions, several agreed to work with her. An experiment occurred, sacrificing a member of town to Wildwood Fever so Fiona could study the effect of the Fever and Physis, her experimental serum, to prevent Infection loss from the Fever. Diving into the resultant Mortis scene, Fiona's past became known—once a Digitarian member of the Nuclear Family, she'd lost her family after her experiments on a Haze Raider ended with the Haze Raider's other half breaching their facility and leaving her as the sole Strain survivor. The genesis of the now-Tainted's ambitions to control others and keep her people, her Valued Host Nuclear Family of Machonis, safe and on top became clear.

Saturday Night

The night still young, a Wildwood Fever casualty, and the Haze Raider-ized version of town member Phoenix pushed several to the brink of death and even to death from Wildwood Fever. Fiona came to town to give those at (raidery) death's door a brief and tenuous pause to their progression towards death. In the middle of a speech about taking control of the situation and the town, Fiona looked shocked as two peculiar Haze Raiders marched Warpaths into town and the town scrambled to their defenses. 

““They’re here for me,” Fiona revealed as the Raiders pushed past the town and sought out the doctor. A pitched battle resulted in the town saving Fiona and earning her trust that the potential cure they’d discovered—a mixture of diluted Blood Sap into the water supply—could work. ”

With her and others' help, the town fought their way through and defended the poisoning of the water supply against Overgrowth and Critters, managing to apply the cure and end the scourge of Wildwood Fever. 

The End of the Gather

In victory, the town spent Sunday unwinding, discussing new laws, fighting Undead and other threats still assaulting Barker, settling back towards some semblance of normal. Some members of the Graces came into town upset at how their misguided family member had been treated at the festival. They negotiated a meeting with the Rolling Coalition with the caveat that the Mayor would not be the mediator. When the gather concluded, despite significant losses, the Barkers and their compatriots had made hard choices and fought tirelessly against the scourge of Wildwood Fever and the machinations of their now-ally Fiona Machonis. 

With rumblings of strange faith activity in Barker kicking up and elections around the bend, who is to say what the future will bring for Barker Meadow and its residents?

The Root of All Evil: Here's What to Expect This Weekend

Our Premiere Event is fast approaching and we’d like to provide a rundown of what to expect. In this blog, you’ll find some of the story that’s set up for 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.

The Story So Far

The Overgrowth has been surging and encroaching on Barker since the winter. Key to the weekend’s action is that something has agitated the Overgrowth, sending massive amounts of dangerous flora and fauna into town – as well as threatening to overtake the town itself!

Meanwhile, R.A.N.G.E.R. – an extremist environmental activist group concerned with preserving and propagating the Overgrowth and all its creatures – has caused problems for the industrial ambitions of the Financial Institutions of Lorado. As Barker has tried to navigate these conflicts, others have been less diplomatic, and now the Rolling Coalition has declared outright war on the “ecoterrorists” after a violent dispute. 

Finally, the Machonis Company, a health-tech “startup” (whatever that means) run by maverick medical pioneer Fiona Machonis, has moved into town. Though she soured local opinion in her first visit to a Barker trade, Fiona proved instrumental in defeating the fatal contagion of Tunnel Hunger last month. With opinion divided, the Machonis Company has made its intention to remain in Barker clear. 

Major Weekend Plots and Themes: 

• Major Themes

• Environmental Destruction and Exploitation

• Spread of Disease and Fear 

• Resistance and Rebellion, Control and Manipulation, Unity and Division 

Major Plots

Major plots this weekend will focus around the Overgrowth and how to deal with its dangers, with our Survivors unraveling what’s going on and making complex choices while they fight for their lives. Expect a good deal of action and pitched combat this weekend. Finally, though not in-character knowledge: there’s a disease afoot, and dealing with it will also mean the inevitable intervention of the profiteer Machonis Company. You’ll have to do research and find ways of mitigating, treating, and hopefully curing the disease at your disposal. 

Local Mechanics of Note

Although we have a variety of local custom mechanics and encourage you to read our website to learn more (please note our website is under revisions and not all the below mechanics are posted yet) we’d like to highlight a few key ones for this event.

Invasive: This means an effect is exceptionally powerful – often psionics – and comparable to Overpower. To resist an Invasive effect costs double, e.g. “Area of Effect Invasive Agony” would still be countered by Basic Mental Endurance, but it would cost 10MP at base instead of 5MP.

Inflict (variant Threat Mechanic for this event): 

• If an attack with the Inflict carrier hits your Body (i.e. bypasses or exceeds your armor), you contract Stage 1 of the declared Disease. 

• If you already have a Stage of the declared Disease, this call will NOT advance your Stage. 

Pheromone: A tag for other mechanics, Pheromone indicates that the call can be resisted by the Basic ability of the Helscape Deathmask.

Role-Play Prompts: Role-Play Prompts are meant to give actions or guidance for RPing your character during their duration. Characters should attempt to complete the Prompt or to role-play struggling against the Prompt and fighting it off in some clear depiction of internal strife. Prompts are an Opt-In mechanic and can be opted out of at any time. 

Bad Brain Prints: The Machonis Company are bringing some of their innovations to market, most notably the Cutting Edge Injection and the Razor Syringe. Cutting Edge is a potent combat enhancer for using Proficient Combat Skills – especially for similarly Bad Brained individuals who want to push to the limit. Razor prevents the progression of Bad Brain due to the passage of time and allowing tapping into “Raider Rage” but with some drawbacks. We strongly encourage you to seek out these prints in-game. 

Cracked Psionic Crystal: A local resource usually available on the Master Criminal and Northheed Favor buylists, at start of game it will not be available via Buylists due to plot happenings.

Blood Sap: A local resource available on the Master Trade and Bear Claw Favor buylists. This one might come in handy – especially given its historical links to the Overgrowth. 

Hunting Buylist: A buylist that uses Hunting produced goods and Meaty Bits as well as the skill Hunting to buy from it. Several items on the buylist will help fight Critters and Overgrowth this event.

Psionic as a Tag: Some threats or other mechanics may tag on “Psionic” to a typically non-Psionic call, meaning the effect interacts with mechanics involving Aberrancy as normal (such as being shut down by Master Mental Endurance) – and as a carrier tag – that if it directly would harm or impact your character, Basic Mental Endurance is a viable defense unless indicated otherwise by a Guide. 

Psionic: Stealth: A caveat about Psionic-tagged Basic Stealth, however! This skill in particular is augmented by the Psionic tag, bypassing requirements for cover, darkness, etc. – just don’t whisper while you walk! Interacting with the environment and Awareness still cause this skill to drop as normal. Because this is not a direct impact on your character, Basic Mental Endurance does not reveal a threat using Psionic: Stealth. 

Damage Cap: Possessed by fearsome threats, mostly local Undead, this allows any damage above a certain number to be reduced by the threat to that number. Bane is reduced to the Cap and then doubles. For example, an Undead with Damage Cap 5 would take 5 Damage from a 20 Damage strike, but 10 Damage from a 20 Undead Bane strike.

Local Diseases: Several diseases floated around as of last trade, but the most important is Purifying Bad Brain, a Bad Brain variant invented by the Machonis Company that can halt the progression of other diseases. 

Wildwood Fever

Finally, let's talk about Wildwood Fever, this weekend’s star Disease. It’s a virulent, deadly contagion from the Overgrowth that can cause delirium, rage and obsession. Any Bad Brain-specific calls that you may hear throughout the weekend will affect you as well while you are afflicted with Wildwood Fever.

For example, if a Haze Raider calls “Advance One (1) Rank of Bad Brain,” and you have Wildwood Fever you would advance in Wildwood Fever, otherwise you would interact with regular Bad Brain. Please refer to this document for a spoiler-light writeup of the Fever as well as information about specific RP prompts for each stage. Be sure to check-in with fellow players before engaging in CvC while under the effects of Wildwood Fever, as you would with Bad Brain. Remember, at the end of the day, these are your real life pals!

While you can Opt-Out of Wildwood Fever at your discretion, we encourage you to lean into getting and having Wildwood Fever. It will be a blast. A surge, if you will. Of pheromones.

Hopefully this will help prepare you for this weekend in Barker as you face down the Overgrowth, Wildwood Fever and more. Dive into conflict, make tough decisions, and try to survive. The Root of All Evil awaits – see you in the fray!

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.

Archons and the Abyss

While this event emphasizes the broader concept of the Abyss over the Archons themselves, their presence will be felt through their impact on the world and in opt-in Grave Dives dealing with the Trapped Archon in Barker’s Grave. For more information on the Trapped Archon and the consequences of the Abyss, such as Distortion, Corruption, and Marks, check out our story highlight on the Trapped Archon here and our combined triple threat of a mechanics highlight here.

The Stitched

Expect to confront a horrifying hybridization of Undead and Raiders known as The Stitched as they emerge alongside the presence of the Abyss in Lorado. These grotesque creations of the Archons will possess potent combinations of Undead and Raider abilities, and are not vulnerable to any form of Bane. How will you prepare to do battle with this new and dangerous enemy? 

The Overgrowth Pinemaw

After confirming the existence of the legendary Overgrowth Pinemaw in a harrowing November trade, the survivors of Lorado have begun to understand more about these deadly threats and their role in the local ecosystem. The rugged frontiersmen of Bear Claw Hunting & Trapping have recently reported telltale signs that a new Pinemaw has become active somewhere in the Barker area - and other evidence that something unknown and more sinister may be happening along with it. Bear Claw will need Tradegoers’ help this month to venture into the Overgrowth, pin down the exact location of the monstrosity, and eliminate it… all while delving deeper into the mystery of why everything about it seems so wrong.

A NOTE FROM YOUR TEAM:  The mechanics of the Pinemaw have been overhauled and refined since its debut; in-character, the monster will not be considered to have changed, but we hope those who remember the grueling fights of the first run will find this new version to be a better balanced and more fun experience. Read more about it here.

Local Threats

Barker Meadow is home to various horrors like the Faith-hunting Profane Wolves and the Grave-distorted foxes known as Sin-Eaters, which drag mauled strains to the Morgue to confess their sins to the Mortis. Additionally, the recent appearance of terrifying Grave Antibody Undead adds to the tension in Barker. With escalating regional events, these threats may behave in new and unpredictable ways, calling for the investigation of the destabilization in the region and the defense of Barker.

The Taleholders and the Truce

The Taleholders, a cunning sect of Telling Visions and Tribes of Seasons determined to control the narrative of Lorado, have been a constant antagonist to Barker residents. With their Graverobber, Flesher Calonyction, plotting an apocalyptic Great Work, they now offer a truce and assistance to combat the Archonic intrusion that poses an existential threat to all sides equally. Rumors of Flesher’s unholy powers have long abounded: control over the formidable Undead known as the Workers; the world-shaking Grave procedure known as the Oblivio Mortis. With the chance to wield the weapons of their enemy against a far greater foe, will locals and travelers alike make bedfellows of the Taleholders? 

Overall, come into your weekend expecting to deal with themes of Cosmic Horror and holding on to humanity in a time of catastrophe: in a world under siege, what deals with devils might your survivor make to stop the end of their world?

Follow our blog and social media for updates and insights into the event. Tickets for APOTHEOSIS are available here.

See you there, Survivor!

Abyssal Marks and You: A Primer

As we get closer to our Premiere Event “APOTHEOSIS” on August 17th to 20th, we are opening an early opt-in form for one of the unique mechanics of the weekend: Abyssal Marks.

Abyssal Marks are an optional mechanic meant to appeal to fans of psychological horror and lovecraftian madness. They represent a sliver of alien thought and intent getting into a character, burrowing deep into their Imprint.

Abyssal Marks function similarly to the DR:CO local mechanic Fixations, detailed on our page here. Like Fixations, Abyssal Marks are a Status Effect that cause your character to interact differently with elements of the weekend’s game and plot! 

How does this Mechanic work, you may ask?

For opting into the mechanic with the Early Opt-In Form, you will receive a resin necklace that will represent an “Abyssal Mark” when you collect your character sheet from the Public Works. You will receive a set of prompts or tasks, goals to complete before the end of game.  

For example:

• Confess a fear to someone once per 12s to quiet the growing screams in your mind.

• Embed infectious material into your open wounds Saturday at 3 p.m. to grasp a terrifying moment of lucidity.

• Perform a rite of faith at an Abyssal Distortion Zone once every two hours to feel closer to something vast and malevolent.

While some of these prompts may be unobtrusive, others will likely make you a target or in a position to enact CvC. Because of this, we request that players observe all CvC rules and make sure to check in and ask for consent before enacting atrocities to your fellow players.

If you are having difficulties with this kind of role-play or just plain old not having fun, you may opt-out of Abyssal Marks at any time by going to Ops to inform them and putting away your Abyssal Mark (you can still keep the physical mark as a souvenir).

We appreciate you partaking in this experience with us! Be sure to get your ticket (and checkin) to our upcoming event here.

"Apotheosis" August Premiere Event: Story Highlight - The Trapped Archon

Something malign dwells beneath, and it corrupts. Like a trapped animal, an Archon, an Outsider, thrashes against the walls of its cage in the Grave of Barker Meadow, trade hub of the Lorado region. While some view it as an enemy to be defeated or an opportunity for research and discovery, the other two Archons nearby perceive it as a captive in a cosmic conflict beyond comprehension. These two are determined to liberate their comrade, even if it means tearing Lorado apart.

For transparency, we present information about our August Premiere event, APOTHEOSIS, well in advance. This allows players to prepare and helps cultivate excitement for the event. Although characters in Lorado will not fully understand the Archonic presence until closer to the event, we offer you as a player a glimpse into some upcoming content. In this post, we focus on the Trapped Archon.

The setup for this narrative is that Archons took a long time to arrive in Lorado. The ubiquitous psionic background static of particular Overgrowth blanketing the region - the Pines and the Long Grass - created a sort of barrier layer that repels Archons’ ability to try to surface and Abyssally Rift into the region.

A crack in this foundation appeared with the detonation of the ancient bioweapon under Fort Pennrose (a.k.a. Dedstop II) and the polluting of the surrounding area with potent Morticide, a toxic dust that could drift on the air and seep into the soil, killing and dissolving Infection in living things and impacting the Mortis Amaranthine there. The center of the Pennrose QZ is isolated enough and altered enough now that Outsiders have the ability to surface there. This change in circumstance has led a trio of Archons to initiate an effort to invade the region.

Their first attempt to breach relied on a brute force attempt to penetrate the Overgrowth’s barrier layer, with a disastrous outcome: the Archons managed to force one of their trio far enough into the psionic miasma that it “closed” behind them, creating a bubble of sorts that the trapped Archon cannot escape; the two others aren’t powerful enough without the third to reach that far again and rescue their companion, so are putting other machinations in play to try to achieve this goal.

What does that mean for you? Imagine having a prized, caged tiger in your living room, and imagine that more are coming for it. The key to this part of our event narrative is that you will have choices and narrative agency of what to do with the Trapped Archon. The Trapped Archon will be accessible via Grave Dives, at tremendous risk to the mind, body, and very existence of Survivors who in-character brave their way into its ‘bubble’ and meant to provide engaging experiences for players who wish to opt-in to the Archon plot and its cosmic horror. Meanwhile, the two Archons who remain outside are working on other strategies to try to reach the trapped Archon, and the trapped Archon itself is causing issues, some ramifications of which are detailed in our blog post about the mechanics Abyssal Distortion, Corruption, and Marks here. 

What would you do if you were in the position of being able to intervene in this battle and attempted rescue mission, in the position of being able to go and meet the force of an Archon in an environment unlike one it is usually encountered in, to interact with it in unexpected ways?

During the August event, we aim to especially encourage creativity and strong narrative initiative. We aim to reward players who lead the charge in shaping the event's narrative in their desired manner, as well as those who choose not to engage with the Trapped Archon plot.

With that said, we’ll be providing more details on this and other plot elements, mechanics and logistics of the event in the coming days and weeks, and look forward to sharing more with you soon. 

In the weeks ahead, expect more information about this and other plot elements, mechanics, logistics, and further content previews. Meanwhile, tickets for July's POWDER KEG event are currently on sale.

Join us at both events for a thrilling experience in Dystopia Rising: Colorado!

"Apotheosis" August Premiere Event: Mechanics Highlight

Dystopia Rising: Colorado is excited to introduce our August Premiere event: Apotheosis. We're set to unveil some innovative game mechanics for our coming game. To pave the way for your planning and maintain transparency, we share a high-level overview of three main mechanics: Abyssal Distortion, Corruption, and Marks.

Each mechanic interacts uniquely with differing play styles and we can't wait to see how they cater to a wide range of experiences. Let's delve into each.

Abyssal Distortion is a spatially located and represented mechanic in the gameworld symbolizing an abnormal liminal space in the game world warped by the Abyss, abode of the Archons, that demands your character's intervention. This mechanic immerses players into areas twisted by unseen forces, altering how characters perceive and interact within the game. The air of uncanny mystery will appeal to enthusiasts of intellectual puzzles, unique mechanics and unusual props, offering an opportunity to claw back the everyday from the intrusive and warping horror present in the gameworld.

Abyssal Corruption, on the other hand, targets enthusiasts of medical role-play and uncanny body horror. It centers around themes like contamination, irreversible damage and death, stirred by foreign contagions and threats that require thoughtful intervention to resolve. Players have the choice whether or not to engage with this mechanic. Relish in terrifying body transformations, research and treatment if you opt-in.

Last comes Abyssal Marks - another completely optional mechanic that immerses players into psychological horror by introducing fragmented, alien character thoughts linked to the Abyss for you to roleplay. You may decide to bring your character into game bearing a Mark which can cause unique mechanical interactions during play as well as role-play prompts and their consequences that you’ll work through over the weekend. The experience for Marked characters is akin to DR:CO’s Fixations; these characters may also be potential targets throughout the weekend event but beginning as Marked is not required for plot participation. As a reward for opting in? A unique souvenir representing the ordeal you can take home post-game! Who doesn’t like horror and swag?

Stay tuned for more interesting tidbits on Apotheosis as we near the big day! We eagerly await the shared experience of weaving thrilling stories at this unique event. Meanwhile, join the discussion on Discord, Facebook, and Instagram! Prepare yourself for horrors the likes of which DR:CO has never seen before at this event and the stories we’ll get to tell together at Apotheosis.