Howdy Vados!
It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to our December Premiere event FORGOTTEN IN THE DARK! This will be the last game under the 3.0 system, led by Andrew Harper. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering a key mechanic of the event, being caught ALONE IN THE DARK!
If you had a great experience at our last event THE FUTILITY OF EVIL or had some suggestions for how we can improve, we’d love to hear from you! We appreciate your high-fives and suggestions, and always want to seek ways to improve our events.
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Buy Back for 3.0 Events ends on December 15th!
Any local DR:TX player can still retroactively buy tickets for past events they missed, or for any past XP you didn’t add to the ticket since your character has been created. Travelers can still purchase for old DR:TX Premiere events too! If you missed an event there’s still time to make sure you don’t miss out on the XP! This is a great way to both support our game and add some XP to your roster before the transition to DR Live. After December 15th, our new contract will prevent this purchase and you will no longer be able to buy XP for any past 3.0 events. Don’t miss out!
Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, including Lily-Jay Jones, Miranda Farmer, Noah Goodman, Seth Kahler, and Max Pohlmeier.
Caught Alone
We’ve touched a bit on some spooky mechanics for the winter months during previous DR:TX events. This year, these mechanics are back for a final time with a bit of a twist. When people go missing in the early hours of the Long Night, they often come back missing something important. For some, it’s just a few hours of their time while others forget things more significant. Some haven’t even returned at all if they were caught alone, as the night is dark and full of terrors.
Let’s talk about what this will mean for your character. The mechanics for getting caught are simple:
If you are caught alone in the dark after sunset in a place where you can no longer see another person, you might find yourself CAUGHT ALONE.
You can either choose to self-report this as a means of opting into the story of the weekend, or a Guide or Storyteller might catch you out in the darkness and send to you Ops if they catch you.
You should report to Ops at your next convenience to determine what happens next. If it’s late at night after Ops has closed, you can just come back in the morning to determine what happened.
Characters using Basic Stealth can move freely in the darkness while alone, but if a [REDACTED] calls “Alert!”, you’ll suffer the consequences of the Caught Alone mechanic. It’s better to be quiet and unseen, when the unknown things are prowling the darkness.
If a player uses “Never Here” and leaves you alone in the dark as they vanish, you could be Caught Alone. Make sure you trust your walking buddy to get you safely to your cabin!
There will be actual Threats wandering in the darkness throughout the evenings for this event, so this mechanic isn’t the only danger after sunset.
Let’s talk about what happens next. Don’t read ahead if you want this to be a surprise.
++[SPOILER WARNING!]++
What Happens Next…
If you get Caught Alone during the December event, you’ll proceed to Ops and check on the chart below for what happens next. We’ve chosen to make this a roll of a D6, to mimic several abilities of this sort in the upcoming DR Live ruleset, as well as the Advantage and Disadvantage keywords.
Here’s the specifics of this mechanic:
A LC reporting to Ops for the Caught Alone mechanic should roll one d6 and use the result on the chart below:
Non Aberrant Travelers and Duster roll with Advantage, rolling two d6s and choosing the result they want from the two rolls.
Aberrants roll with Disadvantage, rolling two d6s and must take the lower roll.
Items may not be used to reroll this roll.
So, let’s cover a few frequently asked questions here.
You are an Aberrant if you have ANY psionic or faithful skill on your sheet.
In DR Live, being an Aberrant will also mess with rolls for various Grave Mind procedures and increase the number of abilities that can be used against you by monsters.
Advantage and Disadvantage work similarly to D&D and other RPGs. Roll two dice, and pick the highest if you have Advantage, or pick the lowest if you have Disadvantage.
You can’t use items like the Wasteland Hauler to reroll this dice, as it’s not a function of the Post Office. Think of this like a camp-wide Zone of Mechanics.
You can always choose to opt out of the memory loss mechanic below if you don’t enjoy that role play. If you choose this option, you’ll take some damage and a Mangle from the things in the dark, and you can return to play wounded but alive.
You can choose to be killed by the things in the darkness if you prefer, but you may be asked to come back later for a Grave Mind scene if the death is happening at the same time as other events in the Morgue.
What is Forgotten in the Dark
When you roll the dice for the Caught Alone mechanic, a few things can happen:
[1] A broad memory is lost. Pick a broad memory (such as a small group, a settlement, a chain of related events, or a grouping of related skills). That memory is gone.
[2] A narrow memory is lost. Pick a narrow memory (such as a single person, a single location in a settlement, a short event, or one skill). That memory is gone.
[3] A narrow memory is lost. Pick a narrow memory (such as a single person, a single location in a settlement, a short event, or one skill). That memory is gone.
[4] A recent memory grows distant. Pick a recent memory (such as changes in a small group, a settlement, a chain of recent events, or a recently learned skill) and the next time that memory is relevant, spend a scene roleplaying struggling to remember the chosen memory while slowly reclaiming it.
[5] A narrow memory grows distant. Pick a narrow memory (such as a single person, a single location in a settlement, a short event, or one skill) and the next time that memory is relevant, spend a scene roleplaying struggling to remember the chosen memory while slowly reclaiming it.
[6] The cold presses in and you can feel an alien feral hunger searching for you. But you make your escape before it finds you.
Our Storytellers can you help you pick a memory that is impacted, but it’s entirely up to you. You can always opt for a lower roll than you actually made, and you can also opt-out of this memory loss, as listed below:
[Optional] If a LC does not wish to RP memory loss, instead of rolling on the table they may escape from a Longwalker. Lose half your current body and mind in the process, and a limb of your choice is mangled.
As you can see, a few of the options are repeated on the chart, and the lower rolls generally have a more severe effect. This means that Aberrants will be more likely to suffer the memory loss than other survivors, but most of these effects are targeted at specific role play scenarios.
As with any key mechanic, let’s cover a few basics:
The memories chosen should be important and impactful to roleplay. They should not be trivial to work around.
In the spirit of the story, we hope that you will choose something meaningful and important to your character. If you just forget an unimportant memory, your friends probably won’t be able to notice that something happened to you. Steer a bit into the story, and miss out on something major!
Memories related to CvC or Criminal actions with potential consequences may not be lost. You can’t game this system to accidentally ‘forget’ that crime you just committed. Sorry!
Lost memories will NOT return on their own, but may be restored with Master Biokinesis (in the DR Live ruleset). A plot card will be written for lost memories if a player wishes to regain them later. This lost memory will function as a “Mental Block Item Card”, and can be restored using the rules in the DRL Player’s Guide on page 56 starting in February.
As a story tool for transitioning to DR Live, a lower roll result may always be chosen if desired to explain large character changes.
Memory Loss & DR Live
One of the big reasons we were drawn to this mechanic once more is the chance to give our players permission to make some big changes as we move into a new edition. As you get ready for this change, you might see fit to update some aspects of your character’s story to better match the new world of DR Live.
The memory loss from the Caught Alone mechanic could be an excellent catalyst to change important parts of your story. Here’s a few examples and ideas:
Forget parts of your backstory that never made it into play. Good backstories find ways to make it into your roleplay or in-character stories, but sometimes that bit you wrote a few years ago doesn’t make much sense. Maybe your character forgot that brother they once had, or forgot their time in another settlement. Maybe they forget everything about Bravado, a new victim of the Fog of Memories, and you’ll get to cause some angst with your friends in the new world.
Forget a crew or character group. With several factions changing for DRL, it might be time to explore some new opportunities with the Militia or the RRC for DR Live. Maybe your crew has since scattered, and it’s time to find a new family or friends to gather together for safety. This is a great time to set up new alliances, forge new bonds with new characters, and explain away some narrative changes for your player faction.
Forget lores or other bits of in-character legends so you can update your character for live. Was your character a Grave Head, or a master of Raider Lore? What if they weren’t anymore? Changes to Lores can be a cool way to explore a new specialty or focus on your character.
Forget old characters that have moved on, so you can focus on new connections. It’s no secret that sometimes folks move on from DR or a character might meet their final death. This could be an excellent time to change how those memories impacted your character and try something new. What new ties might you be able to make without the shackles of the past?
Forget skills or abilities that you won’t have in DR Live. This is a great time to explain away your changes to your character sheet. Your character forgot how to cook? Must have been the Long Night. Your character suddenly can’t remember their psionic abilities? That was sure some spooky Longwalker you encountered. Got a cool new weapon or armor prop? Time to ‘find’ that new gear just in time for the next edition.
Forget Lineage abilities or backgrounds. While this is probably the most extreme example, you could even forget a Lineage or Strain! When we complete the transition to DR Live, you’ll be able to reset all the aspects of your character, including their Lineage. Is your city-bound Nomad now being called to the road as a Wastelander Nomad? Did your Townie forget their home in Old York, and suddenly realized a different calling in their faith? This is a great way to explain away some major changes!
How will you use being Caught Alone to update your story for DR Live?
Wrap Up
That’s it for today, Vados.
We hope that you will come join us for our next event, our last DR:TX event using the 3.0 rules for Dystopia Rising. We have some fun surprises in store for you during this game, and we hope that you are ready to try and survive the looming Long Night. Will your memories fail you as you wander the lonely woods of Bravado? Will something terrible find you in the shadows, or will you discover the answer to the strange happenings and disappearances? Will you be forgotten in the dark?
Next week we will cover some of the Last Hurrah mechanics of 3.0, and some ways to cash out on your SES Points, Local Plot Cards, and more. See you soon, Vados!
