Given Everything(™) these days, we felt that this was an important time to discuss with you Diseases, and Disease-related Plot, within the Dystopia Rising Universe and how it relates to our local plot specifically right now. The intent of this blog post is to provide both some transparency as well as needed clarifications going forward. Much like in-game Injectibles, Brews, and Faiths, creating Plot that involves a horrible Disease in a post-apocalyptic world with zombies is a complex process that should involve creating a strong Fourth Wall barrier of separation and disbelief between In-Game and the Real World. Just as we avoid In-Game Drugs based on Real Life Drugs, we also try to avoid In-Game Diseases based on Real Life Diseases; hence we have things such as Bad Brain, or Psionic Disresonance, or the like. And like any other new In-Game Thing, a good custom In-Game Disease writeup should be there to support the current story and Plot. Generally speaking, custom or new Diseases are another tool used to encourage players game-wide to work together on a larger or community scale against an existential threat. Some other types of large-scale tools in the horror genre may involve external threats (such as "War Plots" or the recently encountered Archons), while others may utilize more existential or other types of threats.
Like any other Plot, Dystopia Rising gamerunners recognize that people may have individual past traumas that may not be easily accounted for when organizing a game for a large number of people with different interests and life experiences. Our game and its culture has had for a long time a mechanic for assisting players in avoiding Plot they are not comfortable Roleplaying, often referred to as Opting Out (or sometimes colloquially, "Noping Out"). DR: Wisconsin fully supports your right to Opt Out of plot that you have no wish to partake in, and game-wide Disease-related Plot is no exception. Whether it's giant Spiders, creepy Clowns, or Diseases that cause people to bleed black ichor and explode into clouds of fungal spores, feel free to let your local gamerunners, or the Guide running the Scene, know that you'll be Opting Out. We will not only understand, but we will thank you for taking care of yourself, as a player, first and foremost.
There have also been a lot of misunderstandings, both among players AND some gamerunners across the Network, about Black Fungal Disease: how it works, and what to do about it. We'd also like to provide some clarifications there. Black Fungal Disease, as well as other things you sometimes see at Premiere Events such as Archons or even the Ottoman Collective, exist within various Plotkits available from National for Premiere Event use; a Plotkit is a tool that we often use, often containing mechanics or other self-contained story, in order to facilitate shared or similar stories between different games. The various elements encountered at our recent Premiere game were not National “Plot”, but they did include elements of several Plotkits available to and tied into the greater DR Larp Network. The Plot, however, was very much local. Each chapter can choose to Opt-In to the Plotkits they wish to use; “National Plot” or Plotkits are never forced upon a given chapter. Traveling to a chapter that does not use a given Plotkit also means that that thing essentially does not exist while there. So if your character contracted Black Fungal Disease while visiting a chapter that was using that Plotkit and running a related Plot, but then travels to a chapter that is not, the Disease is assumed to "not exist" while visiting that game. While this may seem a little weird from a player perspective in terms of continuity, it is critical for ensuring one chapter does not dictate plot or its direction at another chapter without that chapter's consent and collaboration.
Due to the complexity of some of those Plotkits, there was an initial misunderstanding, even among various Dystopia Rising chapters, that Researching the various Stage Cures involved a complex process utilizing ABCs (a National Society Currency). This is not the case. Researching what is needed to cure the various Stages of Black Fungal Disease only requires the Research outlined in the Dystopia Rising Rulebook on Page 193. To quote the most relevant section, "Characters may first inform Logistics and then Active Role-Play examining a patient with a Disease by using Lore: Medical. This may include checking the patient's heart rate; interviewing them; checking their sign for any signs of rash, blisters, or other anomalies; and checking for other symptoms. After 20 minutes examining the patient, the doctor may spend 5 Mind points to learn more about the Disease. For each 5 Mind point spend the doctor may learn vectors of transmission, stages, and treatment conditions."
It is important to note that this method of Research primarily applies to learning what it takes to Cure that Stage. Other information about Black Fungal or its relation to current plot may involve other methods of Research, such as calling in favors and collaborating with the Ottoman Collective, and it is these other avenues of Research that have likely helped cause confusion and recent misinterpretations.
Curing any Disease may be, and often is, significantly different depending on the Stage of the character who is Diseased. The Basic Medical Skill allows you to determine if a given character has any Diseases, but as written the skill does not necessarily state that the player being examined must state which Disease it is or at what Stage. Many players will give this information freely anyways, but the skill does not require it. Much of the original design philosophy behind how to utilize Diseases in-game involve makeup or Role-play requirements for each stage of a given affliction, and thus create a more Visually Interactive scenario where a doctor could, through visual cues and actual diagnostic puzzles, examine a patient’s symptoms and prescribe the appropriate treatment based on that person’s current condition.
In summary:
- A Player may choose to Opt Out of any Plot they are uncomfortable with, and Disease-Related Plot is not an exception.
- Diseases are related to local plot, and thus do not exist at other games unless that chapter choose to partake.
- Researching how to Cure a Disease, even Black Fungal, follows the mechanics in the 3.0 Rulebook. Other information, such as how a given Disease ties in to local stories, may involve other forms of Research.
Diseases are an important part of our horror genre and a useful tool in telling story for our game, but also one that requires delicacy, care, and understanding in how they are portrayed. Players are always encouraged to Opt-Out when encountering Plot that will affect them negatively (as Players, not Characters). For those who wish to participate in that Plot, however, we hope that these clarifications will give a better and clearer path forward for your characters, as well as providing avenues of engagement with current story.