We're 24 hours out from our May Event, so let’s talk a bit about our Premier in June!
For a bit now, the folks in Steel Horse Crossing have been learning more about a nearby region in the Great Lake known as "The Dead Zone," a place of poison and death that used to have a thriving ecosystem primarily inhabited by a group of Saltwise known as the Kohl-Andra. As the name “Dead Zone” might imply, the property value has declined substantially since the Kohl-Andra lived there.
Meanwhile, one of the themes that we've done pretty much every summer since our chapter first opened has been that of the Helldive: An excursion into dangerous and unknown territory, to deal with a problem that threatens on a level that a single crew of individuals cannot easily solve on their own. While the original Helldive scenarios were focused on the local underground mines and their fires, we have in recent years branched out into other settings and major problems. You've probably figured out where this is going by now. :)
The focus of our Premier Event will be centered around the Dead Zone and learning how to resolve its cause. As the Dead Zone is a region out in the Great Lake, and not just down the street from the RoadHouse Bar, Player Characters will be traveling to, and setting up at, somewhere outside of the typical Steel Horse Crossing Monthly Trade Meet. Despite the temporary change in Setting, we will still be at Camp Sinawa. We realize it may feel weird, but we ask to please try to ignore the cognitive dissonance rather than draw attention to it. If it helps to reinforce the sense of being Elsewhere, we encourage you to choose sleeping bunks that you wouldn’t normally, tent camp, or make changes to your usual decorations and props around town.
We also feel it would be needless and a jerk move to deny everyone the Room Augments and Custom Crafting Zones that our players have already created at the WI game, so we are allowing them to be packed up and brought along for the ride. You will not be required to rebuild them from scratch, but instead some effort will need to be expended (such as Time and RP) in order for things to be transported in and installed. For example, an Agricultural Zone may need to have brush cleared, ground tilled, or fertilized. An Artisan Zone may need to have tools and materials laid out . We will have more details on this aspect as we get closer to June, but we wanted to be transparent with the broad view now.
In keeping with the theme of going where noone wanted to go before, we’re also likely to have some new threats you havn’t seen before, perhaps some old threats you wished you’d never see again, and likely some custom mechanics as we host our first Helldive that involves, well, literally diving. Any given Dystopia Rising game has a reasonable chance of covering a very broad range of horror topics, but we wanted to give some particular mentions of Content Warnings that are likely to come up, whether through direct experience or reference:
Thalassophobia, Submechanophobia, and Environmental Hazards such as drowning
Critters, including Spiders, Parasites, and other Creepy Crawlies
Historical References to the Ironworks, which may include topics such as fascism, torture, mass murder, and unethical medical experimentation and treatment of prisoners
Low Light Environments as well as Combats, potentially with atypical threats
Difficult-Choice and Morally Grey Situations
Splatter or Splash Effects
All of the usual things you’d expect, such as Blood, Gore, Body Horror, and Death.
As always, we will endeavor to steer modules or stories away from those who have communicated particular phobias or triggers to us, but as these will be major themes of the event we felt it crucial to be transparent about them. Players should always do what is best for them when engaging with sensitive topics, even as our Characters may be having the worst time of their short lives.
We certainly hope you’ll join us in June for this Event if this sounds like a fun time to you, but we also want to be transparent about the type of Event we will be hosting. The key to any game that revolves around cooperative storytelling is when players and gamerunners work jointly towards the story that they are creating together.