Early Early-Bird For February

Photo by London Belli.

As we prepare for January’s event, That Which Was Taken, we want to remind you that our February Event will follow only two weeks after. To get ready, we’re opening Early-Bird sales up this Thursday, and will continue until the Sunday of our game.

Tickets go on sale at 8 pm Eastern on Thursday, January 20th… watch for announcements for your chance to snag opt-out tickets!

As a reminder, Early-Bird Tickets aren’t more expensive or limited in number; rather they’re a way of saying “thank you.” Early sales help us with our planning and payments, and we want a way to encourage you to sign up early for DRNY.  The Benefits of an Early-Bird Ticket include:

• A Grab-Bag of special benefits to use during the event.

• All Opt-Out and 2-Hour NPC tickets will only be available during the Early-Bird period. You may also purchase 4-Hour and 6-Hour NPC tickets during this period.

• First choice of bunks: you’ll have a placard in ops that a friend can use to reserve a bunk for you (we’ll explain more once you purchase the ticket).

To get the benefits of an Early-Bird ticket, you must both purchase a ticket and register in the database before the end of the ticket window. Note: Directors and Writers are not eligible for Early-Bird Tickets (although DRNY guides are). 

Recap of Important Information

Photo by London Belli.

Coming in January? With the additional protections we’re putting in place for COVID, the logistics around our water situation, and our travelers, we’ve had a number of announcements for you this past week and a half.  Here they are, all in one place.

• Enhanced COVID-19 Protections - A policy we’re implementing to manage risk of illness at our January event.

• Booster Incentive - Inoculation - A special mechanic to reward players who get a booster shot.

• Cold Weather Larping - A blog entry with tips on larping in cold weather.

• Winter Sanitation & Hydration - Logistics to handle the winterization issues at Forestburg Scout Reservation.

• Normalize Mask Wear - A policy to encourage mask use in January and beyond.

• Traveler Logistics - Ways to support our friends traveling from out of town.

• Early Clean-Up, Set-Up, and Donations - A request for logistical support for our next event.

Early Set-Up, Clean-Up, and Donations

Photo by London Belli.

Our January event has some unique challenges, and your staff has worked hard to come up with a number of solutions. To do that, we need your help, in the form of early set-up, early clean-up, and donations.

Early Set-Up

With the additional water, cleaning supplies, and heaters we’re using, we need some help setting up. We’re looking for four volunteers to help with early set-up. Volunteers will need to be on-site no later than 1 pm on Friday, January 28th, and will work for about four hours. Benefits of early set-up include:

• No NPC Shift - If you help with Early Set-Up, we will sign off your NPC shift.

• 50 CAPs

• First choice of bunks

If you’re interested in early set-up, please email us at info@dystopiarisingny.com. The spots are first-come, first-serve.

Early Clean-Up

Several people have asked for early clean-up; there are still some opportunities available. Remember, early clean-up is available on a case-by-case basis as there are limited spots. If you have already signed up for early clean-up, please email us at info@dystopiarisingny.com and let us know the time you have to leave, and if you have any lifting restrictions.

All players doing early clean-up will receive an early clean-up time throughout the weekend. You have to show on time to get credit for your clean-up. All early clean-ups will last 30 to 60 minutes, and perform one of three tasks:

• Positioning water throughout the cabins and collecting trash bags.

• Sanitizing common areas, in particular the heated bathrooms, the Great Hall, and the Wilted Rose.

• Special tasks as required by ops (primarily Saturday Night and Sunday Morning).

Position water and collecting trash requires lifting, so we need to know if you can’t perform those tasks prior to scheduling you.  We will provide the schedule the week of the event; you will not be allowed to adjust your times (although we will allow players to swap shifts). 

Donations

In addition to the items on our donation page and our Amazon wish list, we will offer double caps for anyone who buys the following items:

• Trash bags

• Hand sanitizer

• Cleaning wipes

We’re looking forward to seeing you in January… it will be a lot of work, but we’re confident we can gather safely and have an amazing event.

Traveler Logistics (and CAPs!)

Our January event will see a significant number of travelers coming from across the country, including many Bravados coming up from Texas. This is a tremendous opportunity to make new friends and showcase what Dystopia Rising New York has to offer, but also requires a new level of logistics.  To make it happen, we’ll need everyone’s help. Here’s what we’re asking:

• Please go to the logistics tracker and fill in your information… particularly if you’re a local who has space in your car.  We’re particularly interested in people driving from Queens or Long Island.

• Join the DRNY Invasion Retaliation group to talk to the travelers and see how you can help. People need crash space and rides to game.

• We’re offering 50 CAPs per traveler that you drive to game.  If you’re helping out, email us at info@dystopiarisingny.com so we can get you your CAPs.

Remember, there’s a lot of announcements for this event, so please check out our event page.

Normalize Mask Wear

Photo by London Belli.

At Dystopia Rising New York, we have a standing mask policy, not just to protect you from COVID, but to protect against all sorts of illnesses

Remember all the way back in 2019 when you used to go to a larp and have a runny nose, headache or fever? We’ve been having problems with germs at larp since we started larping, it just wasn’t as life threatening. We want people to start wearing masks at Dystopia Rising New York (DRNY) and we don’t want them to stop once COVID is done.  

Reasons to Wear a Mask

1. It stops the spread of germs.

2. It keeps you significantly warmer in the winter. 

3. They make sense, immersion-wise (the air in the apocalypse is problematic)

4. They look cool. 

Masks Are In Fashion In Requiem

Why is everyone in Requiem wearing a mask? They’re in fashion. A new mask design that protects your face has quickly spread around the Fold, and it’s simple to make and repair. Survivors have taken to personalizing them, and generally keep them on, particularly in large groups. 

Rules For Requiem Masks

Starting this event, DRNY will introduce a new mechanic, Requiem Masks.

Requiem Masks - Characters wearing a functional facemask (a mask that fits to your face and covers your nose and mouth) gain 2 armor. If the mask is genre, this increases to 5 armor. These armor points stack with your other armor. A successful Break Armor will break both your regular armor and the additional armor from your mask. Requiem masks are considered repaired when you repair your normal armor, or can be repaired with 10 minutes of role-play by any character (no skill required).on their own. If you plan to disguise at the event, be sure to have an extra mask.

Winter Sanitation & Hydration

Photo by London Belli.

The winter months at Forestburg Scout Reservation present a unique challenge this year: due to a paperwork issue, the camp did not receive permission to dig a new well before winterizing. As a result, the majority of the site does not have running water. The staff of Dystopia Rising New York has a plan to mitigate this issue; this announcement describes how we will provide a safe and comfortable experience. There are three key things for players to know in this regard: what activities you can’t do, what activities will be impacted, and special actions we need you to take.

What You Can’t Do

There are only two things we can’t mitigate with the water situation (one of which you might not have even known was an option):

• Showers will not be available. You can’t shower onsite.

• You can’t wash your clothes (normally, we have washers and dryers).

All other activities (including cooking & cleaning) will be available, with some necessary changes and limitations.

Activities Impacted

First and foremost, we need to make sure that you stay well hydrated. We will provide 1,200 bottles of water that will be positioned in sleeping cabins around the camp. In addition, we will have coolers of water in Ops and in the Great Hall for you to fill your personal water bottles. As all cabins are heated, we do not foresee any issues with water freezing. 

Cooking onsite has always been limited; players need to bring their own stovetops or other cooking devices (microwaves are available). To clean your cooking utensils, we will be carrying water to the kitchen in the Great Hall, and heating water on the camp stove. This will allow you to sanitize your utensils, however, you will need a Coord Guide present to supervise. As the kitchen and the post office are co-located, you’ll be able to clean your utensils whenever the post office is open. We recommend that if you intend to do a great deal of cooking, you look into alternatives to keep your utensils sanitary.

Personal hygiene is important, and we’ll be providing hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes in all the cabins. We’ll also be sending cleaning crews out throughout the weekend. As we expect an increase in trash (due to plastic bottles and pre-packaged food), we will provide large trash bags to all cabins. Remember: All food waste must be disposed of in the trash compactor by the Great Hall every night!

Special Actions

As this is an unusual circumstance, we do have special actions we’ll require of players:

• Please plan on how you’ll accomplish personal hygiene. Think ahead not only in regards to make-up removal, but also brushing your teeth using bottled water, for example. 

• Please make sure you have a refillable water bottle: it prevents unnecessary waste.

• If you have Early Clean-Up, you’ll be provided a specific time. It’ll be your job to go around to the sleeping areas, replace water bottles, and remove trash. You might also need to clean common areas.  Early Clean-Up is a vital part of our plan - please be sure to report on time. 

• Most bathrooms on site are latrines without flushing toilets. The only flushing toilets will be by the parking lot (these are also the only toilets that we can guarantee will be heated). 

• Throw away your empty water bottles. We have had problems with people leaving empty bottles around the camp in the past, please prioritize throwing away your empties.

While the lack of running water is a significant obstacle, our plan to mitigate it should result in little more than a lack of showers and a long walk if you want a heated bathroom. If you have questions, please contact us at info@dystopiarisingny.com

Booster Incentive - Inoculated

Photo by London Belli

While we’ll use the Enhanced COVID-19 Protections for our January event… what we really want is for our players to get their booster shots. Reports are showing that booster shots are effective against the Omnicron variant, so we wanted to give you all a little extra incentive to get the shot: a mechanic to reward those of you who have your booster called 'Inoculated.'

The Zodiac Collective is known for terrible, often unethical, gravemind experiments, but they’re tolerated for a reason - their research ultimately does produce beneficial results. Years of experimentation has allowed them to introduce new resiliencies into the infection of locals. This research was bolstered by a rash of Gravemind incursions (you know who you are) that will have a number of consequences this event. Many of these consequences are bad, but Inoculation is a beneficial one: if you’re affected by it, you gain some special resiliencies.

Inoculated - Once per Twelves, you can ignore one effect that would normally be countered by Avoid, Balance or Mental Endurance. You may do so even if you couldn’t normally use the skill (i.e. while stunned, or attacked with Proficient Malicious from behind). You may also use Inoculated against Area of Effect calls that cause damage.

Players who have received their booster shot may use the Inoculated mechanic at any DRNY event that has Enhanced Covid-19 Protections in place, including our upcoming January event.

Enhanced COVID-19 Protection

Photo by London Belli.

In light of recent increases in COVID-19 cases, Dystopia Rising New York (DRNY) will implement additional risk mitigation measures at events to address the issue. In addition to our standard policy (requiring all participants to be vaccinated) we will apply the following additional measures.

Event Cancellation Criteria

DRNY will cancel an event under the following circumstances:

• Federal, State, or Local guidelines prohibit the event.

• The owners of DRNY deem the risk of a live event excessive, even with Enhanced COVID-19 Protections (ECPs).

In the event of a cancellation of a live event, DRNY will not issue refunds, and will transition to an online event.

Enhanced COVID-19 Protections

DRNY acknowledges two ECPs:

1. A booster shot (administered at least a week prior to the event).

2. A negative result from a test administered within 72 hours of the event. 

All players must choose one ECP.

Testing Protocol 

Tests must be performed within 72 hours of the event (9 pm Eastern the Tuesday prior). Please email test results to info@dystopiarisingny.com. For self-administered home tests, please send a picture of the negative results with some form of identification in the background (a piece of mail will do). 

If you do not have a booster shot and do not email us your test results, we will have a limited number of test kits at the game to accommodate you. Individuals who test positive will have to leave the game site immediately and are trusted to follow health department instructions. 

Additional ECPs

As the situation continues to evolve, DRNY staff may implement additional ECPs, and may require players to use 2 or more available options. Additional ECPs will be added to this announcement.

Proof of Vaccinations

To mitigate the risk of COVID-19, Dystopia Rising New York requires all players to be fully vaccinated (including two weeks since their final shot). In order to fulfill our responsibilities, we’re asking all players to resend their proof of vaccination to us. Players can email their name, player number, and proof of vaccination (which must include the date of their last dose) to info@dystopiarising.com.

Why do we want you to do this? Previously, we tracked vaccinations for each event, and we’re assembling a roster that we can easily reference and audit. In addition, many of our players submitted their proof of vaccination before booster shots became widely available, and we want to determine how many of our players have received the booster shot.

Northern Hospitality

Photo by London Belli.

We sent down a half-dozen Req’ers to Dystopia Rising Texas this past weekend to survive their Long Night; now they’re going to return the favor. And being Texans, they have to do everything bigger - we’re getting twice as many people coming up to brave the cold. Read on for our in-character premise and logistics support.

Why All These Vados

The settlement of the DRTX game is Bravado; its denizens are called Bravados or just Vados. This past weekend, our very own Anton Anastasia opened up a trade agreement with Bravado; now, one of their leaders, Felicity Renfield, will come visit us. With her will be a number of Vados escaping the Long Night, a time of complete darkness and bitter cold in Bravado. 

Custom Mechanics - Trade Agreement

Due to the Trade Agreement between Bravado and Requiem, players at DRTX and DRNY games will be able to use Local Plot Cards from either settlement at either game.   The mechanic will last for one (1) year (through January 2022).

Logistics - Help Our Visitors!

Let’s show our travelers some hospitality and help them get to the game. To do so, please fill out our Logistics Spreadsheet to let them know if you can offer them crash space or a ride. Travelers, one of your players made a Facebook group to help y’all coordinate! Locals should join too!

We can’t wait to chase you all through the woods in January!

Updates & Announcements

Photo by London Belli.

Whenever we hold an event, we spend time collecting feedback. Most of this feedback helps us as staff, but we can also identify information that needs to get back to players. Please review these reminders and clarifications to help improve play for everyone involved. Remember! This is how we improve, and the information applies to everyone - if we need to speak to you directly, we’ll reach out. 

NPC Shift

As we grow more comfortable with our return to live games, we sometimes get a little lax on rules. We mentioned being more careful with your mind expenditures before the last event, but we also need you to make sure you understand the stats for any NPCs you portray. Before you go out on shift, please ask if you have any rules questions, and err on the side of players when tracking your NPC’s body.

Borrowing Weapons

Sometimes, someone needs to borrow a weapon from ops. This shouldn’t happen… we’re not responsible for your boffer weapons any more than your toothbrush… but we’ve tried to help out in the past. Unfortunately, we can’t offer weapons to players anymore, as our inventory has been depleted by people borrowing but not returning them. If you have one of our weapons, please drop it off at ops, and please advise new players they can’t borrow weapons from ops. 

Cars on Site

It’s not just for immersion… bringing your cars on-site during the game is also a safety issue. There’s no reason to drive on site during the game - if you have to leave early, please allow for time to carry all your gear back to your car. Do not bring your car to your cabin!

Early-Bird Ends Thursday!

Photo by London Belli. Pictured: Paula Malave.

Early-Bird sales end Thursday, December 9th! This promotion is our thank you to players who sign up early, and we want you to take advantage of it. A few reminders:

• You have to check into the database to get all of the benefits of Early-Bird.

• If you buy a ticket, we’ll contact you early next week to explain what’s in the grab-bag, and how to reserve a bunk.

• Don’t forget… every DRNY player who gets an Early-Bird ticket will have us empty their LIT for them prior to the game.

We’ll be taking down the Early-Bird tickets at 9 pm Eastern on Thursday… don’t wait until the last minute!

LIT Updates

With the blueprints finalized and most chapters running live events, Dystopia Rising New York (DRNY) will begin the process of moving all items out of the database’s LIT (Logistics and Inventory Tracking) system and providing you physical copies of your item cards and blueprints. What does this mean for you?

• First, when you go to the post office, we won’t place any items or resources into your LIT - everything will be on physical cards. The only exception is if you do a LIT transfer: if you come up and ask for an item to be moved from your LIT to someone else’s. 

• If you’re a DRNY player, and you purchase an Early-Bird ticket, we will have all your items carded for you and all your blueprints printed by the January game. Reminder: the Early-Bird closes December 9th.

• If you’re a traveler, you must talk to your own chapter about your LIT items. We can’t empty the LIT of players who are not part of DRNY.

• For items other than Blueprints in your LIT, we will still practice the policy of radical honesty. Please mark all expendable items used on the back of your character sheet.

Remember, only DRNY players are eligible to receive their cards from LIT (learn more about transfers). Early-Bird Tickets on sale through December 9th.

DRNY (And Bobby Dimes) - Now On TikTok

If you were at our November event, you already know that Dystopia Rising New York was starting a TikTok account. Now, you can follow the misadventures of Bobby Dimes of the Wasteland Times as he interviews your fellow survivors on what happened in Requiem. In addition, we have jokes (both clean and dirty) outtakes and quick interviews with our staff.

Check out our TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@dystopia_rising_ny.

January Grab Bag

You’ve probably seen our Early-Bird promotion by now… in addition to your first-choice of bunks, it also promises a grab bag of sorts. But what’s in the mystery bag?

First, let’s talk about the purpose of the grab bag. We’re offering it to say “thank you” to people who register early and help us out. It’s supposed to be a fun “extra” thing, and not an advantage for resource gathering. We’ll try to do one every month, with a tie-in to the event’s focus. This month, the focus is “assassination games.”

What’s in it? You’ll have three items - two of which we’ll tell you about right now:

• First, you’ll have a signed Wager (our local currency) from one of the Family Heads. You can turn that in to the Family Head for a favor… or you can use it to buy a Tier 1 item off that Family’s Trade List. Every event, we’ll offer this perk, from a different NPC each month. This month, it’ll be a wager signed by Anton Anastasia.

• Second, you’re going to get your own little zone of mechanic. How little? Exactly the size of your bunk. Check out these mechanics:

Necessary Precautions (ZOM)

This card must be posted clearly on a bunk; if posted on a bunk bed, it must clearly mark either the top or bottom bunk, but not both. If the individual in the bunk enters bleedout, they may call “Immune to Killing Blow: One Minute” 

What’s our third item? It’s a surprise, and we’ll announce it at the end of the Early-Bird period. So if you like these, grab your ticket right now… the Early-Bird ends December 9th.

Texas Invasion!

As they say down in Texas, Howdy! 

In December and January, we’re teaming up with Dystopia Rising Texas for a couple of invasion games.  First, we head down there for their premiere event, The Long Night, and then they return the favor for our January game, That Which Was Taken. What does this mean for you?

First, come play with us! We have a travel group for people trying to make it to Texas, and our storytellers have suggested you might see some familiar (NPC) faces down there. Also, it’s a Premiere event - you can purchase up to 5 additional build for your characters, and they have some pretty special stuff planned. If you’re from Texas, come brave the cold and check out our survival-horror themed weekend, which will include tie-ins to the Dead Waters national event.

Can’t travel? Help out people who can! We’re going to need plenty of assistance driving travelers to and from the event. Check out DRNY’s Rideshare group on Facebook and look out for opportunities to bring a visitor to Requiem. Also, this invasion isn’t limited to just Requiem and Bravo, so spread the word to your friends in other chapters!

If you’re from out of town, we’d love to see you. Check out our Welcome to Requiem page to learn more about the town, and post on that rideshare group for help with transportation. For locals, we’d love to travel with you, and please help show a warm welcome for our winter game.

Early Bird Tickets

Words to live (and die) by. Photo: London Belli. Pictured: Chris Jenner.

Dystopia Rising New York has a special type of ticket: an Early-Bird Ticket. All ticket sales will be split into two periods, an Early-Bird period (typically two to three weeks) and General Admission. Anyone who buys a ticket in the Early-Bird period will get special benefits for their commitment to DRNY.  After two weeks, we’ll close sales on Early-Bird Tickets, and go to General Admission.

Early-Bird Tickets aren’t more expensive or limited in number; rather they’re a way of saying “thank you.” Early sales help us with our planning and payments, and we want a way to encourage you to sign up early for DRNY.  The Benefits of an Early-Bird Ticket include:

• A Grab-Bag of special benefits to use during the event.

• All Opt-Out and 2-Hour NPC tickets will only be available during the Early-Bird period. You may also purchase 4-Hour and 6-Hour NPC tickets during this period.

• First choice of bunks: you’ll have a placard in ops that a friend can use to reserve a bunk for you (we’ll explain more once you purchase the ticket).

To get the benefits of an Early-Bird ticket, you must both purchase a ticket and register in the database before the end of the ticket window. Note: Directors and Writers are not eligible for Early-Bird Tickets (although DRNY guides are). 

Site Notice - Limited Running Water for January

For our January game (and possibly February and March), Forestburg Scout Reservation will have limited running water. This will impact the players in several ways: the most notable being a lack of showers and dish-washing capabilities.

First, an explanation: the site needs to dig a new well, and their application was delayed by the town. They probably won’t have water for most of the site until the Spring. As such, there is no running water in the Great Hall or most of the camp, including the showers near the campsites.

Luckily, most of the bathroom facilities are latrines that do not rely on running water, and we have a plan in place to provide drinking water for all players. The facilities near the parking lot will still work as well. However we will not have any showers and the kitchen sink in the Great Hall will not work. For planning purposes expect the following:

• We will provide drinking water to all players for both hydration and personal hygiene (i.e. tooth brushing). 

• We will provide wet wipes and hand sanitizer for sanitation purposes.

• We will not provide a method of cleaning cooking equipment; please make alternative plans.

• You will not be able to shower on site.

We wanted to make sure we announced this issue early so that players could make an informed decision to attend. Forestburg Scout Reservation takes excellent care of their facilities and we are confident that this temporary problem will be resolved as quickly as possible. However, in the interest of transparency, we wanted to make sure we communicated our plan before anyone purchased a ticket.

DRNY Holiday Socials!

Since we don’t have a game until January, we’re going to hold off on ticket sales until after Thanksgiving. However, you don’t have to wait until January to see all your DRNY friends.  We’re holding three holiday socials in the next two months - one in NYC, one near Albany, and one in Western New York. Check out our facebook events on the DRNY page for details on each of these!

Arcade Night

Franklin’s Alley (Troy) | Friday, November 26th | 6:00 pm

We’ll be up near Albany the day after Thanksgiving at an arcade and lounge to kick off the holidays. Join us for games, fried food, and good company.  

Lower East Side Pub Crawl

Iggy’s Keltic Lounge  (Manhattan) | Tuesday, December 7th | 8:00 pm

Join us for a weeknight pub crawl around New York’s Lower East Side.  We’ll start at one of the oldest bars in the area, grab Oh-K dogs, and stay out as late as you like.  21+ please.

Discord Party

Private Residence (Bridgeport) | Saturday, January 15th | 1:00 pm

Playing in the National Event? Come join your friends after lunch as we sit around, hang out on Discord, and maybe even take some pictures. Please note: since this is a private event, you have to rsvp as “going” on Facebook or contact us at info@dystopiarisingny.com.

November 2021 - Post-Game Announcements

Photo by: London Belli

Despite the cold and the busy time of year, The Earning Season proved to be our best attended game since the Pandemic - thank you for making it a success! A few notes:

Social Media CAPs

If you participated in this months #readytoreq campaign, you should have your social media CAPs in the database. You can also check the spreadsheet here to make sure you got everything you were due (remember, there’s a max of 40 CAPs for the campaign).

Feedback

November Feedback is up! Remember you get 10 CAPs for filling it out!

Site Feedback

Remember, if you had any issues with the site, such as a lack of heat, water, etc, please contact us at info@dystopiarisingny.com.

Tickets

Tickets for our January event will go on sale Thursday, November 18th, at 8 pm Eastern. Watch for more announcements this week.