The Dystopia Rising: Colorado team is excited for our first virtual event, Hordefront Part I: King of the Mountain, using the new ruleset. In addition to our take on a “back to the basics” Dystopia Rising experience, this event will be drawing from the Illusions of Civility Part 1 network plot kit’s themes, groups, and conflicts.
For transparency's sake, although the fate of Elder Mountain is an in-character decision that can be impacted by any and all participants of our February event, the direction of Illusions of Civility Part 2 — and its impact on our setting at Dystopia Rising: Colorado going forward — will be decided in a poll (here) that will be available to local players until March 11th. This is to both empower players to make decisions at the upcoming game even if they are not local, and to allow local players the chance to weigh in on long-term decisions even if they cannot attend a conclusion mod.
Illusions of Civility Part 1 involves choosing a path to either decrease or increase the ambient radiation in our corner of the wasteland. This leads directly into what antagonistic groups might appear in Illusions of Civility Part 2 — as well as what temporary diseases, threats, and other mechanics or narratives will be run while Illusions of Civility Part 2 is active until May.
In addition to those unique temporary mechanics, Illusions of Civility Part 2 will give players the option to narratively change their Strain and Lineage between our March and May events. There will not be future narratives that give players the chance to change their character’s Strain and Lineage after this, and to do so will require either a full retirement of an existing character and creation of a new one, or a discussion with local directors/game runners about your current and desired experience playing the character to resolve rewrites. These may be limited by other factors as well, per game runner discretion.
The most important aspect of the player choice in Illusions of Civility Part 1 is its impact on the setting and future stories over the season and potentially longer:
If local players choose the path of the Glow Shrooms, the setting will have a greater focus on the Overgrowth and other Infection-influenced places and creatures.
If players choose the path of Radiation, the setting will have a greater focus on the Apocalyptic Wasteland, resource scarcity, and mutated creatures.
You do not have to vote in the same way your character would. In fact, we’d prefer you vote based on the kinds of stories you’d like to see going forward, as well as the impact you’d like to see this decision have on the settlements and groups in them.
Cast your vote by March 11 here.