Photo by Shawn Smith
At Dystopia Rising, we often talk about our Community, and we’re proud of the group of people who create and attend our events at Dystopia Rising New York. But a community is more than a group of people with a common pastime: together, we create a culture, a collection of norms and behaviors that drives our events and allows us to come together to play safely and effectively.
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Photo by Shawn Smith
The Grave Mind is the weirdest part about Dystopia Rising, and players love weird stuff. It’s where our world becomes unique and unpredictable.
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Photo by Shawn Smith
Shadow. Bad-Ass. Graverobber. The one thing we’re sure about: Professional Focus Achievements (PFAs) have awesome names. The majority of plot requests we receive at Dystopia Rising New York involve PFAs, as well as quite a few complaints. PFAs are some of the coolest things that can end up on your character’s sheet, and take the longest to achieve… you have to have spent at least 100 Build before you can have one, then put in a plot request. And then… to use one, you have to have an expensive piece of equipment or “be in the right place at the right time.” All this results in PFAs being a source of confusion for players and staff alike. So what is a PFA in DRNY?
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Photo By Shawn Smith
At Dystopia Rising New York - and to a degree, the network as a whole - we think a lot about new players… how to recruit them, how to make them have a good experience, and how we can bring them back for more. And this emphasis is important! New players are the lifeblood of any larp, and there’s a good reason we focus on them. But sometimes, in our zeal to improve the experience for new players, other groups get left behind. And one group in particular needs some attention these days: returning players.
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Photo by Shawn Smith
When you design a boffer larp, you’re not really making a competitive game: the players are going to win. Like a video game, there’s an illusion that you’re struggling against an opponent, but in the end, the NPCs are going to lose, and the storytellers aren’t really trying to defeat you. Instead, there has to be an “illusion of failure,” mixed with actual setbacks, minor defeats, and “reach goals,” to create the sense that you have agency, when actually, it’s really hard to lose. So the biggest challenge for designers is how much adversity should players encounter before they win… or “how much is too much?”
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Photo by Shawn Smith
A larp isn’t really an experience - it’s a chance to create your own experience with your friends. At Dystopia Rising New York, we offer many things to enhance that experience - antagonists, narratives and a beautiful campsite - and we have a lot of elements unique to Requiem. But what’s the core of the Dystopia Rising experience? When you and your friends get together and play Dystopia Rising, what do you expect? What about the game appeals to you?
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Hello Readers! We are back with another blog post, and this one serves a couple of purposes; transparency and bringing attention to collaborative play.
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It’s clear to us that our players have enjoyed the “Fuck Around And Find Out” mentality and ability to opt in that came with Red Line. While thats still very much on going, we would like to offer another opt in for “Fuck Around And Find Out” that’s a bit more in theme for the spooky season.
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Photo by London Belli
With a new season of Dystopia Rising New York beginning, there’s a few items that haven’t been taken care of.
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Photos by Shawn Smith
Over two hundred survivors descended upon the town of Requiem, as the Families observed their annual tradition of Honor’s Fall. While murder and death cast a shadow on the event, there were also fortunes found in the Hot Zone, revelry at the Bacchanal, and a very special concert. Here’s what you encountered this past weekend.
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