Personal Plot Request Expectations

Howdy, Wastelanders!

And welcome to our next segment of Pro-Tip Thursday! Our next game is quickly coming upon us in just two weeks (and some change). Even though this is our last game for the season, there is a topic I’d like to touch base on and that’s the process of our personal plot requests. 

But first, what is a personal plot request? There is a lovely form on our website (dystopiarisingar.com/plot-request-1) where you can request a plot that is specific to you and your character. Did you have a fun one-off engagement with a plot from the last game and want to deep dive into it more? You can submit that request here! Want to resolve something from your backstory? You guessed it, submit it there.

The form is very simple and prompts responses to help the Experience Design team understand what it is you’re looking for in this plot. You can even request a specific writer! So if I know I’m wanting a PPR and know that there is a specific writer that I work well with, I can request them. Please note that when you request a PPR to be run, you are agreeing to spending 50 Arkansas CAPs for this. 

Once the request has been submitted, it is sent to the Experience Design team. They’ll have a brief discussion and assign a writer to your plot. They’ll share the submission form with the writer so that they have all the information. Then, that writer will reach out to you for further information and to touch base on the plot. It’s that easy! Your partnered writer will work closely with you to ensure you’re getting the experience you are looking for. It may not be exactly what you have envisioned, but they’ll get it as close as possible. 

Some things to keep in mind when submitting your PPR is timing. This year, we had an astronomical amount of PPR and PFA requests. Because of this combined with writing story for the overarc plot, the experience design team has had to shuffle priorities. If you submit a PPR request two weeks before a live game, please be aware that it may get pushed back to the next game. For example - if I were to submit a PPR two weeks before the November game, a member on the experience design team (probably Truate or Cody) would reach out and let me know the time frame of when the story can be run. It’s not because they hate the request or the person who submitted it. It’s purely because they’re trying to prioritize stories and flow of the game for that upcoming weekend. 

Since we’re already two weeks away from the November game, any PPRs that come through now may end up being put on hold until next season. In next season, we’ll have moved from the 3.0 system to DR Live. It is possible that the PPR process will change with the new rule set. So just always keep an eye on announcements and Pro-Tip segments for the most up-to-date news in regards to PPRs. 

If you have any questions, comments, concerns about PPRs and our process for them, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Stay safe, stay hydrated, and we’ll see you in the wastes!

NPC Shift Expectations

Hello Wastelanders! Thank you, Curtis, for letting me take a brief break on pro-tip Thursday prompts. Who’s ready for Fear Fest this week? I know Nikki, myself, and our 10 thousand nemesis are! Just kidding. Or am I? Jokes aside, today’s topic is very much a serious one - NPC Shift Expectations. We have a handful of new faces and it’s always good to review things veteran players may know but not have explained.

 NPC Hours

When you purchase tickets for a Dystopia Rising event, you have an option to select how many hours of an NPC shift you’d like to work. For Arkansas, we have a higher priced ticket that allows players to not take part in an NPC shift. There's a limited number of those tickets so the moment tickets go live, they’re the first to go. That leaves you with a 4 hour NPC shift ticket, a 6 hour NPC shift ticket, or a free all-weekend NPC ticket. When you pre-register and check-in for the event, You can select what time blocks you’d like to be on the NPC shift. You can break it up into multiple sessions throughout the weekend, or pick a block of time that works best for you. In my experience, it’s best to choose your back-to-back sessions. That way there’s not an interruption between transitioning from being your character to NPC. 

Now, let’s say you didn’t pre-register or check-in for the event before showing up at the site. When you check-in at the post office, they will assign NPC shifts for you based on what ticket you purchased! Super easy.

The “Unspoken” Expectations

When you sign up for an NPC shift, there are a few rules and expectations that are attached with it.

1. When people in character say that they have a shift coming up on the “wall”, they’re referring to their NPC shift. 

2. Wear NPC black. Black shirt, black pants, comfy shoes.No graphic tee-shirts unless they are a Dystopia Rising AR Guide shirt.

3. Remove any markings/makeup that your character wears in game and come in as a blank slate.

4. Show up to your NPC shift at least 10 minutes early. 

5. If you are late to your shift, please remain on the shift to compensate for the time appropriately. For example, if I showed up 10 minutes late to my shift, I would stay 10 minutes past my scheduled shift to make up the time. 

6. If something comes up and you are unable to attend your NPC shift OR you need to adjust your time, you must inform Truate as soon as possible. If you cannot find Truate, find Curtis. If neither of these individuals are available, go to the post office first and ask if one of them OR a guide can reach out to Truate to inform.

7. Just because you selected a specific NPC shift online does NOT mean that you were given that time frame. When you check in and get your character sheet, check the top right side where it says “shifts” and review the times there.

8. If you are a non-combat player, you will be sent on mods as a non-combat!

9. We are here to tell a story and make a memorable experience, not just murder hobo your friends.

10. Bring a water bottle.

All that being said, there is another role that ALL players participate in at the end of the weekend - cleanup and game breakdown. This is an essential part of our weekend. We have to work together to get out of site in a timely manner. If you are planning on leaving game early, please communicate with Curtis & Truate the moment you know. That way, you still play a part in camp cleanup but are able to leave at the time you’re needed to. Now, if there’s an emergency that’s popped up, still communicate with Curtis, Truate, or a guide and take care of business.

Ultimately, we get it. Things happen and we lose track of time when we’re having fun. But let’s hold ourselves accountable and not give your poor Ops Guide a heart attack. It’s me, I’m that Ops Guide.

Well, Fear Fest starts tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you all there and cannot wait for some incredible story moments for the weekend. Remember your rules!

Metagaming and Me

Howdy, Wastelanders! 

And welcome to today’s Pro-Tip Thursday! Special topic today - Metagaming. Let’s dig in!

Metagaming is a common term that we’ve all heard before in ANY role playing game. But it all means the same thing. Metagaming is taking out of character knowledge and using that knowledge to make in-game decisions or actions even though your character should have no knowledge of the topic. 

An example of metagaming would be this. Let’s say Nikki and I are just hanging out OUTSIDE of the game. It’s an off week and we’re not onsite, let alone in our kits. But we’re discussing our characters, motivations, etc. Nikki discloses to me that her character, Shelagh, has a fracture that makes Shelagh go on a murder spree. Obviously, Nikki is nervous about it because it could cause some major friction with her character and has the possibility of CvC. Next game comes around and I remember that Nikki discloses to me about Shelagh’s fracture. So the first thing that I do as my character, Sierra, is to go fix her fracture without any medical checks or speaking to her about it. Sierra just goes and does it. Because I made Sierra react to the out of game information, I just metagame.

“But Lauren, how do I differentiate between out of game knowledge and in character knowledge?! Sometimes I get confused.” Super fair, random voice that I gave life to in order to transition to this next point. There are many ways to check if information you are gathering is in character or out of character. For example, if you’re not in the game space and you’re just shooting the shit with your friends, what you tell them there is treated as out of character knowledge. 

That being said, sometimes there are moments in game where that line gets blurred due to various reasons. In that case, you can use the out of character symbol (closed fist held on top of head) and go find a guide to ask for a clarification. Then, you can act accordingly with the response you’ve been given.

There are also moments out of the game that you can set up for in character knowledge. For example, we have two discord channels that are titled with “IC”. “IC” is “In Character”. Anything shared in those channels are in fact in character and common knowledge. Some folks will have soft RP chats outside of the game. Obviously, that information shared in those channels and spaces are in character knowledge and can be acted upon. If you can’t remember if specific information you’re wanting to act on is in-game or out of game knowledge, RP it where you’re finding out information again or ask a guide if it’s common knowledge. That way, you’re protecting yourself from any potential missteps or errors.

Let’s talk about the in-character (IC) and out of character (OOC) spaces at Rogers Scout Reservation. There are a handful of spaces at the site that are considered IC and OOC. Here’s that list:

OOC

• The entire site before 9:00 PM on Friday and the entire site after 12:00 PM on the following Sunday

• The medical cabin

• The lodge on the hill

• Personal tents and sleeping spaces

• Ops center (unless the Ops guide you’re with is working with you on something and specifies otherwise)

• DJ Yard (Where the cars are parked)

IC

• The entire site starting at 9:00PM Friday night until 12:00 PM Sunday afternoon

• Spaces OUTSIDE of sleeping areas

The tents can get a little convoluted sometimes. But those need to be treated as an out of character space overall. A lot of folks play different LC’s or NPCs and utilize their tent spaces to make the change of characters. That should not be held against a player. Let’s say that at  game, I decide that I want to play my alternative character. I’m going to my tent to change out of one kit and into another. If another character takes the chance to trail and follow Sierra to gather information/murder/whatever, they have up until I get into my tent to make an action. Otherwise, they must treat the next person who steps out of the tent as a new face. Unless Sierra herself steps back out. If that’s the case, then they can resume as normal.

Remember where the in-character spaces are. Whatever you say in the character spaces are considered in-character as long as no one is making the out of character symbol. So if your character decides to LOUDLY whisper a secret to another character and some passerby catches it, that’s on your character. However, if you’re having out of game conversations with other players, ensure that you’re in a space in which you’re having the discussion is out of sight and earshot of other players. Please refrain from having out of character conversations that last more than a minute in in-character spaces.

Dystopia Rising isn’t just a physical combat game. There’s a myriad of social interactions that take place. We always ask people to respect the spirit of the game. Respect your fellow players and the space in which they’re sharing information. If you’re ever unsure, ask the clarifying question.

Now, go forth and have fun at game this weekend. Make good choices and stay safe in the wastes!

Antagonist Guide - Raiders

Hey hi and hello! Welcome to our next installment of Antagonist Guide. Previously, I’ve gone over critter and undead threats that are unique to the Riverlands. For our final group of antagonists, I’m excited to share with you our flavor of raiders - Kudzu Raiders. Yep, that’s right. The screaming, cannibalistic, kudzu covered raiders. There are three different types of Kudzu Raiders that roam the forests and marshy swamps in Quiet Hollows.

Kudzu Raiders are a sub-type of raiders. Instead of presenting as regular raiders covered in scavenged metals, weapons, etc., these kudzus are stealthy hunters. The main trait that separates Kudzu Raiders from regular Raiders is the Kudzu that grows from their body. Kudzu Raiders live in groups known as a Hive.

While not a Kudzu Raider, a scary raider never the less!

KudFace Raiders

These Kudzu Raiders serve more of a purpose of a recruiter. Bait. Their main purpose is to draw unsuspecting folks from their safety and into an ambush in the woods or the swamps. They can achieve this by mimicking the words and sounds of human conversation. Once they’ve got their target in their clutches, the trap is sprung. Their goal isn’t necessarily to consume their target, but plant tainted kudzu into their victims. So if you’re in the wastes or swamps late at night and you think you heard someone call out to you, no you didn’t. Keep walking.

Swampland Stalker

The Swampland Stalker is the primary hunter for the Kudzu Raider tribe. They make the treks into the dangerous areas to hunt unsuspecting prey. Primarily they are seen in the swamplands and forest areas. However if they’re desperate enough, they’ve even been known to push out to fishing settlements. If there’s one Swampland Stalker, there’s more to come. They work together as a hunting pack, using tactics on their targets.

Hive Guardian

These raiders are the strongest in the Hive and they have one goal - protect the Hive. Their bodies are covered in battle scars and wounds from their effort. Whereas the KudFace and Swampland Stalkers are crouched closer to the ground for stealth, the Hive Guardians are tall, broad, and intimidating. Not easy to tangle with. Oftentimes, they can be seen with massive shields and in very rare cases, leading the Kudzu Raiders to defend the Hive.

And that’s it! Raiders on a normal day are not exactly the best to deal with. Combine Raiders with the natural stealth that the Riverlands offers can make the mutated Raiders even more dangerous to deal with.

Travel safely, and we’ll see you in the wastes!

Antagonist Guide - Undead

Howdy, Wastelanders!

Last edition, we talked about the different types of threats you’ll face in the Quiet Hollows area. Specifically, critters. This week, we’re going to deep dive into our unique undead threat! Due to a lot of REDACTED information, Quiet Hollows is home to 9 unique undead creatures in addition to the normal undead shamblers, tanks, etc. And if you’ve been to a few of our games, especially in the last two trades in 2023, you may have even encountered some of these assholes. For this, I’m going to be focusing on the unique undead we see primarily (if not only) in Quiet Hollows. Not really going to be touching on shamblers, tanks, etc.

Once more, you can find all these undead at dystopiarisingar.com/undead

Unhallowed

They died, strongly believing in their faith. That belief carries with them, even after death. Wearing symbols, objects, and even markings on their flesh of what they embodied while they were alive, these undead have twisted their faith to turn against you.

Be on the lookout for the faith symbols on these undead - Double Tap won’t work unless you’re one of their faith.

Blessed Dead

Much like the Unhallowed, these are undead that died strongly in their belief of their faith. The Gravemind has twisted their spirits to be a mockery of what they once were. So much so, that they can call on the aid of those of the same faith to protect them. 

Beware when the undead bearing the markings of Sainthood, lest you face Johanna’s wooden spoon…

Fallen Angel

Fallen Angels are what the Gravemind creates when a paragon of a faith sinks for the final time. Passing thru the Mortis for the final time caused them to be warped into disgusting parodies of what they once were. 

Fallen Angel draws on the power of others of aligned faith - strain or undead. Much like the Blessed Dead and Unhallowed, they can only be truly killed by one of their faith.

Skullcaps

Upon initial glance you may think you are seeing a Bonehead, but there are subtle differences between the two. Skullcaps have crystals growing out of the back of their heads, which has caused their face to be pulled back tightly and reveal much of the bone underneath.

Skullcaps are known to invade the mind of those with weaker mental fortitude and cause them to fight their allies, protect the Skullcap, or flee in terror. 

Marionette

This higher mobility zed is a danger to those highly powerful warriors that take pride in leaving a field of corpses. Its Psionic power invades the mind of those with even the most discipline and fills the cracks with their intentions. You better be on guard when you see their glowing blue light combined with their head of crystals.

Puppet Master

Not much is known about the Puppet Master. Just that if you see a cheshire grin at the back of an undead horde, that’s probably it. More to be coming soon.

Gibberling

This crazed zed is the remains of what one who lost everything to the wastes. Previously a normal member of society, their mind became so fractured before their final walk that the Gravemind had little to do to weaponize this creature. It can cause much chaos on the battlefield as it scare the hell out of even the most veteran survivors!

Grotesque

This statuesque creature is as dangerous as it is creepy. It has the ability to stay perfect still for hours and even days at a time to stalk its prey. Should it find a suitable target it, it will dash towards them dealing as much damage as possible before consuming its meal. Should you try to swarm this threat it will defend itself with a psionic pulse to weaken all others in the area.

Radiant Beacon

This heavenly glow is not your friend, it is not your savior, it is death coming for you. Commonly accompanied by heavy fogs, this creature uses psionic energy to manipulate both the living and the dead. 

Woof. That’s a lot of unique undead to parse through. Take time to go through it. All the information available here is also information your character has in game!

Stay safe in the wastes!

Online Event System

Howdy Wastelanders!

Next month we’re launching our online event for July and then taking a break in August. It’s hotter than Hell. Not everyone is a Final Knight and want people to suffer the Arkansas HEAT! So, for the next trade it will be in an online setting. There’s a LOT of pieces to it so we’re going to cover what you need to know. Please be sure to read all the rules in their entirety at dystopiarisingar.com/riverlands-rolls 

Location

For the last couple of online trades (July 2023 & December 2023), you may have noticed that the Trade wasn’t hosted at Quiet Hollows but at a different location in the Riverlands. That will be very much the same. Truate teased earlier in the season that we may be returning to our old stomping grounds, Crystal Creek, for some new business. Keep an eye out on our discord server, event posts, and receipt of ticket purchase to gain access to the event discord server and rulings for econ online.

Riverlands Rolls

I highly recommend going to our website, opening up a google document, and follow the instructions to transpose your character into the Riverland Rolls system. In fact, you will be expected to send/upload your Riverland Rolls character sheet to the Guide of that mod.

Riverland Rolls is a d20 system that we’re using for encounters in the online setting. The flow of it is that the Guide for the mod will lead you on an interactive narrated story path. Players will find themselves faced with an encounter that they must overcome. Your guide will prompt  players to make decisions on how they want to engage and the players will roll for the requested skill. Depending on the results will dictate success or failure. 

When engaging in a conflict (i.e., fight, skill check, etc.), the player will roll 1d20 and add the bonus modifier for the skill to the roll. 

• 1-6 results in a failure

• 7-12 is a partial success

• 13-17 is a normal success

• 18+ is a masterful success

Throughout the weekend, players can engage in mechanics online that allows them to earn extra things that can boost or decrease their scores. Players can also spend mind to increase the results of the dice roll after seeing their rolls. They can also extend that same offer to other players as well. 

Online economy

When you attend DR: AR online, you will have four hours of production time to split between your characters or you can opt into production packets. Production packets have been announced on the website. Take a look at dystopiarisingar.com/riverlands-rolls to see what is available!

Something very important to note is that if you’re performing an action that traditionally doesn’t take time to use, it now takes five minutes. Say you’re trailblazing. Typically this is an instant timeless action. However this time, it takes 5 minutes on your production sheet. Think of it like this - you’re spending five minutes in line at the post office to get your shiny metals. 

There will be no usage of items to reduce econ time or to increase the production outcome. That includes Zeppelins, Mechanical crafting stations, Goat Cycles, Electrowelders, Distillation, etc. 

In addition to no item usage, you will not be able to trade items with one another in the online setting.

On top of all that - we are no longer allowing blueprint copying at our game. With the implementation of National’s rules on removing LIT, it costs us way too much money to print, stamp, and mail blueprints AND cards to players.

A lot of information has been tossed your way so we will open up a thread in the Discord server to answer any questions you may have about the upcoming event. 

Until then, stay safe and see you in the wastes!

Local Rulings

Howdy Wastelanders!

And welcome to the next segment of Pro-Tip Thursday. As you may have already noticed, I’m on a little vacation for the entire month of June. But I’ve left you in more than capable hands. Be nice. :) Alrighty, our topic today is an easy one - Local Rulings & Policies!

Even though we have a core rule book that outlines all the rules on a national level, they (being nationals) have given us the luxury of adjusting current rules or adding rules on a local level. What does that mean? While I’m at a game in Arkansas, if someone throws a combat based skill at my Iron character, I can respond with “Immune; Evolved, upsurge 10 armor!” However, when I go visit my friends up in Indiana, that call does not exist. Make sense? 

At DR: Arkansas, we have a litany of local rulings. Let’s go through some of them. When you go to dystopiarisingar.com, you’ll see the beautiful banner at the top of the page. One of the titles is “Local Mechanics”. When you click on it, the drop down menu shows a wide variety of topics like, financial institution buy lists, lineage advantages, local blueprints, and so much more. When you have a little bit of free time, I highly recommend clicking through and getting familiar with the various local mechanics we have available. 

I’d like to draw attention to the topic “Local Policies”. This is where our Experience Design team makes calls that are influenced by the national rules of the game and more common to encounter. For example, armor coverage. Per nationals, in order to represent master armor your armor physical rep needs to cover 80% of your body. Here in Arkansas, we have hot and humid weather that makes games a little rough. Instead of adhering to those rules, we have a different set that we follow to ensure player safety. Our local armor coverage requirements are 1.5% coverage per point of armor. 

So if you have a basic set of armor, you have 10 points of armor. Therefore, you should have 15% coverage to represent basic armor. Proficient armor is 15 points so 23%, and so on. It’s incredibly handy to have! But when you go visit other games, ensure you know what their rules are for armor coverage. Despite the fact that you have carded master armor, come from the south and have 30% coverage for Arkansas standards, does not mean you have the same at another game. 

We have that and more! I highly recommend checking out the “Local Policies” aspect on our website. There’s a lot of very clarifying points made on rules, how certain calls are made, even on our augments. 

Alrighty, I’ve given you enough homework while I’m not even present. Let us know - what’s your favorite local mechanic you use? 

Stay safe in the wastes, friends!

CvC and Me

Howdy Wastelanders!

As you know, next week is our June game. While everyone is gearing up for this next trade, I want to take just a moment and talk about CvC and how you interact with it in game. 

What is CvC?

It’s an acronym that is used a lot in our game. CvC is “Character vs. Character”. It can be initiated in a myriad of ways but ultimately it’s when Character(s) A takes an action against Character(s) B with the intent of conflict. CvC takes many forms in our game. At our game, we recognize four different types of CvC.

1. Social - partaking in actions that would actively turn characters against another character.

2. Financial - attempting to ruin the finances of another character.

3. Combative - engaging in combat that has the potential to lose infection.

4. Passive - CvC triggered after a character is no longer present. For example, your character sends another character a trapped item with the intent of maliciousness (infection loss, poisoning the other character, aiming for infection loss, etc.). 

Steps leading to CvC

There’s a lot of different personalities in our game. Sometimes, it does lead to a conflict with one another. If you think that there’s about to be a conflict with your character and another character, what steps should you take to prepare for it? 

Premeditated Conversations with the Impacted Party

If you know in advance that your character is going to have an issue with another character’s actions, an out of character conversation should be had. Having a conversation with the other person involved with the conflict is necessary. It needs to be an out of character player-to-player conversation about the situation and character’s responses to it. This is where verbal steering agreements come into play. During this steering agreement, both parties will have the opportunity to work together for a desired outcome. 

If the two players that are attempting to engage in CvC do not get along with one another outside of the game, they should not engage in CvC as their characters with one another. 

Invitation to CvC

Once the steering conversation has been had and if the players come to an agreement about next steps. When the ingredients for CvC rise, throw up our sign to initiate the CvC request. It’s just cupping your hand to make a “C” and holding it to your chest where the character you’re interacting with can provide a thumbs up to confirm their consent to the next actions that your character wishes to follow or thumbs down to decline CvC.

Declining CvC

When a player is declining CvC, they’re essentially declining to escalate the issue. Both parties are agreeing to not initiate that role play and escalate the topic to a bigger outcome. Now, if someone declines to partake in the CvC action but still initiate behaviors that are antagonistic or pushing towards the CvC action either way, that’s a moment to step out of character (closed fist placed on top of head) and have a mediation conversation. If the conversation OOC escalates, both parties should find a guide to help with the meditation. If escalation continues and no mediation is found, it then needs to be escalated to an employee.

A lot of words were just thrown around. Let’s do a hypothetical scenario using Felix (played by Truate) and Cinder (played by Cody). Felix is in the bar, talking loud shit about Cinder. Cinder is right there and has had enough. Cody throws up the “C” to Truate and Truate realizes that he doesn’t exactly want that smoke. So, he’ll respond with a thumbs down and as Felix, will verbally say, “Oh shit, you’re mad mad. Yeah, I don’t want to get my ass beat. I’ll stop.” and Felix will stop shit talking Cinder in the bar for the remainder of the scene.

However if Truate thumbs down to decline the CvC action but continues shit talking Cinder in that moment, there will be an opportunity for them to step out of character and have a steering conversation. If that doesn’t get them anywhere, they’ll find a guide that doesn’t have a conflict of interest in the scene and mediate that way. If that conversation continues to escalate even with the guide, Truate and Cody will find another employee (like Curtis) to have mediation in that form.
When do you need a guide for CvC?

There’s a lot of situations in which it’s questionable if a guide should be present for CvC action or not. Here’s when you’ll need a guide for CvC actions:

1. Any and all thefts, no matter the location in game.

2. Any attempted murders, no matter the location in game (wastelands vs town).

3. If a potential CvC outcome could result in lethal combat.

4. Any time you’re unsure if you need one. Always safe to have a guide to monitor a scene rather than not.

Please note that if you’re going to engage in CvC and you’re in need of a guide that you find a guide that has no conflicts of interest within your character or the outcome of the scene. For example, if my character Sierra was going to steal from Truate’s character, Felix, I would have to go find a guide to monitor the scene. When looking for a guide, I’d find someone who wasn’t related to me or any of my characters in or out of game, isn’t associated with my crew, or could potentially be engaging in CvC with my actions. That helps narrow down my options and I’m able to ask that way. 

Any questions, comments, concerns? Let’s chat!

What is Bleed?

Hello Wastelanders!

Today’s topic touches on a heavy subject. In our LARP, you may have heard the term “Bleed”. And not in a “my character is bleeding out and dying” form. But “my emotions from myself are bleeding into my character” and/or vice versa. For this topic, I want to help everyone understand what bleed is, utilizing the okay check-in system, and fostering a positive play environment for everyone. Now, I know you’re probably thinking/saying “I always do the check-in system!” And that’s awesome! We still want to give you a run down of how things can escalate, how you can handle them, and tips for keeping it smooth.

Sometimes, there will be weekends where we’re not playing at our 100% or when it’s incredibly difficult to remove yourself from your character. This is a common phenomenon known as “bleed”. “Bleed is when emotions bleeds over between player or character, in either direction.” (E.Boss, Ropecon 2007). It’s something that’s heard in the world but difficult to define. We are pulled into an immersive world; it only makes sense that our emotions and decisions are influenced by the world we just spend 3 days playing in. Or leading up to game, it’s been an absolute shit show and your character isn’t at 100%. Then, they make decisions that they typically wouldn’t make. That's completely okay! Bleed isn’t inherently evil but on the flip side, it isn’t always positive. If you don’t recognize when you’re experiencing bleed, it can not only impact yourself, but the players around you. And that’s when it becomes an issue. The important thing is being able to recognize bleed, knowing how to navigate it, and taking steps to ensure you and those around you are having the experience you want at LARP.

Now that we’re all on the same page as to what bleed is, let’s talk about management tools. 

Check-In System

Dystopia Rising chapters have various check-in systems that are utilized at their games. The one we implement at Arkansas is simple. When you’re initiating a check-in with someone, look at the person you’re wanting to check-in with (try to make eye contact with them if you are able to do so) and throw a subtle thumbs up gesture. As a response, you should receive either a thumbs up, thumbs down, or a “so-so” hand wave. On the thumbs up, continue running the scene as is. For the thumbs down and “so-so” hand wave, back off and go out of character (placing a closed fist above or on top of your head). There, you and the person you are checking-in on can have a steering conversation.

Debriefing

You can do this in many forums, honestly. In our Discord server, we have a channel dedicated to debrief chat. There is also a channel called bleed discussion. You can utilize either of those spaces exactly for that! Or at Afters while eating delicious pizza offers a safe space to have those debrief conversations as well. There will have been some tense moments throughout the weekend and that’s a great time to check in with other players. “Hey, my character was an absolute ass to you. On an out of character level, I’m so sorry. Would you like to talk about what happened?” What I like to do is find my debriefing buddy. 90% of the time it’s Nikki (thank you for your services). If there was a scene that just didn’t sit right with me, I run my experience by her and we hash it out.

Writing

Also in our discord server, we have a channel dedicated to writing game hype or writing prompt responses/funsies. That is also 100% a way to decompress and navigate some of those intense emotions you may have experienced throughout the weekend. Writing about events that took place in your character’s point of view, reliving that moment can be a way to help understand why the bleed took place.

Boundary Setting

Setting boundaries is a great way to protect not only yourself, but others from bleed. If there’s particular scenes that are taking place that you KNOW you’re going to have an issue with on an out of character level, set a boundary that benefits all involved. It can be something as simple as “Hey, I’m not comfortable with your RP interrogation methods. If this is something that you’re set on doing, please let me know so I can step away from the scene for a moment.” Setting those proactive boundaries can make or break your entire experience for the weekend.

At the end of the day, we want everyone to engage in the experience they want from this game as long as they’re being safe about it. Knowing what bleed is and how to navigate it is an incredibly useful tool to have on hand at an event. To understand more about Bleed and its impacts in and out of game, please go check out this fantastic article that deeps dive further into it. https://nordiclarp.org/2015/03/02/bleed-the-spillover-between-player-and-character/

Thank you for tuning in this week and we’ll see you next time. Remember, stay safe in the Wastes!