WELCOME TO THE DEEP: Introducing The Rig, The Future of Online DRPA!
Survivors, Sailors, and Sinners!
For years, we've walked the dust-choked roads of the Wasteland, seeking shelter, truth, and maybe a little justice. Now, it's time to abandon the shore. We are thrilled to announce the launch of our most ambitious online LARP setting yet: The Rig!
Forget the ruins of the mainland. The Rig is a chaotic, sprawling, floating metropolis—a miracle of salvaged steel built from oil tankers and forgotten platforms, anchored in the relentless, deep blue sea. Its location is a secret known only by following a cryptic radio signal, making it the most important, dangerous, and resource-rich haven left in the world.
This is more than just a new setting; it's a new opportunity. Get ready to forge bonds with old friends and make new ones from chapters across the country, tackling threats and uncovering secrets in a shared, seamless narrative experience unlike anything Dystopia Rising has ever offered!
The Rig: A Sanctuary of Rust and Steel
In a world drowned by the infection and ruled by the horrors of the land, there are those who have chosen the terrifying sanctuary of the sea. The Rig is not a single platform but a sprawling, amalgamated fleet—a skeletal city built from salvaged tankers, decommissioned oil platforms, and fortified barges, all welded and chained together in the middle of the dark, relentless ocean. Its existence is a secret whispered only by the most desperate or the most powerful.
What is The Rig? The Unsinkable City of Secrets
The Rig operates outside the authority of any nation, governed only by the iron fist of the mysterious Bosun. Every survivor is welcome, so long as they obey the Laws of the Bosun and contribute to survival.
Finding the Unfindable
The location of The Rig is kept from the Wasteland by two factors: distance and encryption. There are no maps. There are no shared coordinates. The only way to find this floating hub is to possess a piece of the cryptic knowledge necessary to decode the low-frequency Radio Signal that broadcasts its position, a signal that shifts frequency daily.
For those who find it, The Rig is salvation. It is a vital node of trade, a source of fresh water (painstakingly distilled), and a temporary haven from the land-bound Dead. For others, it is simply a place of immense opportunity and crushing danger, governed by an immutable hierarchy.
The Laws of the Bosun
The Rig operates outside all known territories, but it is far from lawless. It is ruled by the Bosun, a figure whose identity is as mysterious as the Rig itself. The Bosun does not govern by democracy or kindness, but by necessity and absolute control over the docks.
Any ship, any crew, and any person seeking to dock at the sprawling harbor is welcome, provided they submit to the Laws of the Bosun. These laws are simple, brutal, and non-negotiable:
All Aboard, are Aboard: By docking with The Rig all crew are subject to and protected by The Laws of the Bosun
Obey the Docks: All trade, docking fees, and movement are subject to the Bosun’s appointed Dock Masters.
No Blood on the Deck: Internal conflicts must be resolved away from the main thoroughfares. Violations result in immediate, public exile to the water.
Contribute or Starve: Loitering is not tolerated. Every resident, from the lowliest deckhand to the wealthiest merchant, must contribute to the Rig's survival or face expulsion.
The Rigs' Riches and Rivalries
The true value of The Rig is not its safety, but what its unique position allows its inhabitants to pursue. Multiple powerful Factions vie for dominance over three vital areas of control:
Scientific Discoveries: Deep within the insulated laboratories, crews hunt for pre-Fall knowledge, advanced weaponry blueprints, and, most crucially, a biological solution to the rising number of Abyssal Horrors.
Rare Resources: The ocean floor holds sunken treasures, rich mineral deposits, and materials—rare metals and necrology deposits—that are impossible to find on the surface. Control of the deep-sea diving efforts is a constant source of violent rivalry.
The Rites to Hunt: The deep waters are infested with immense, mutated Sea Monsters—leviathans that rival the size of dreadnoughts. Their meat, carapace, and biological fluids are incredibly valuable, often serving as high-grade fuel, rare toxins, or medical components. The Bosun grants limited Hunting Rites—contracts that are violently enforced and frequently contested—to those strong enough to claim them.
Unprecedented Online Gameplay: Deep-Sea and Monster Hunting
This setting provides unique online modules and thrilling experiences you can’t get on the mainland:
🌊 Deep-Sea Exploration Modules: Work with N.O.A. or WDE to pilot deep-sea suits, recover pre-Silence artifacts, or seek out crucial scientific data. Be careful—what you find might be worth a fortune, or it might be the Ossuary’s latest horrifying experiment.
🦑 Monster Hunting Modules: Contract with The Skip Jacks to track and fight the terrifying Abyssal Horrors—leviathans mutated by the ocean's depths. These are high-risk, high-reward endeavors, offering the most valuable resources on the platform.
🚨 Defending the Platform: Brace for impact! The savage, Bad Brain infected Raider, Pirates. Are they of the rumored Red Flag Fleet, led by the monstrous flagship The Iron Tide? Or are they just some poor fools lost to the sea and disease? Join the defense efforts and earn your stripes!
The Factions of The Rig
The Rig’s power dynamic is defined by the uneasy peace and constant jockeying for position among five key groups, each often serving as the local face for a larger Society:
The Dock Masters: The Bosun's unwavering hand, tasked with enforcing the Laws of the Bosun with an unwavering dedication to the Laws of the Bosun. They are the visible authority, controlling the flow of goods, ships, and people, and collecting the critical docking fees that keep the whole operation afloat. When an issue grows beyond their ability they will convene the Jury of the Mast (made up of any Arbiters of the Bond aboard) to intercede. Citizens have also called upon the Jury when the feel the Dock Masters themselves are the problem.
N.O.A. (New Ocean Acolytes): A subsidiary of the Wells Society, N.O.A. is focused entirely on pure scientific research and exploration of the sea floor. This puts them in direct conflict with Wine Dark Enterprises over deep-sea equipment access, and with The Skip Jacks, as N.O.A. wishes to study the leviathans that the Hunters are contracted to kill.
Wine Dark Enterprises (WDE): The local front for the Ossuary Society. While they maintain a flamboyant public face—running glittering casinos and the best grog houses on the Rig—their true purpose is compartmentalized and separate: highly dangerous necrology research tied to the ocean's depths. Though regularly scapegoated for the Rig’s misfortunes, WDE’s immense wealth and control over leisure facilities have so far insulated them from the Bosun’s interest.
The Skip Jacks: A hardened company of Black Tide Hunter Mercenaries. These are the most experienced sailors on the Rig, spending their days fulfilling dangerous contracts to hunt and harvest the massive sea beasts. By night, they are often found in WDE grog houses, telling their loud tales and spending their hard-earned scrip. Their desire for prime hunting territory brings them into direct conflict with both N.O.A. and WDE.
The Coyne Company: The newest and smallest faction on the Rig. Their role is purely logistical: they manage the Rig's economy by providing the company scrip used as currency. Since The Bosun sets the exchange rates for all major goods, The Coyne Company is the vital (and potentially vulnerable) gatekeeper of all commerce on the platform.
The Lifeline: The Kharon
Amidst the chaos of raiding fleets and internal squabbles, the existence of The Rig depends on regular, reliable transit. The most critical vessel in this network is The Kharon, a hulking, repurposed cargo ship that serves as the primary passenger and light freight carrier, making the perilous journey to and from the Rig more regularly than any other non-military vessel.
The Kharon is a patchwork behemoth—its hull patched with layers of metal and scrap plating, its engines groaning under the strain of continuous use. It is slow, and its trips are long, but it is reliable. For most survivors, The Kharon is the sole link to the mainland, carrying the bulk of new arrivals, specialized traders, and critical, non-bulk supplies.
The Kharon maintains a precarious neutrality. Its captain and crew, known for their grim efficiency, refuse to align with any single faction, instead offering their services at exorbitant rates, payable only in Coyne scrip or hard-to-find components. Their cargo manifests are closely guarded secrets, making the ship a prime target for the desperate, the Dock Masters (who want to tax it), and the Red Flag Fleet (who want to plunder it). When The Kharon is inbound, the entire Rig holds its breath, knowing that life, trouble, and opportunity are about to arrive.
Join the Arc: A Year on The Rig
To give your characters the chance to rise in power, form deep alliances, and see the narrative through, we are launching The Rig in two massive, distinct story arcs that span the year. You can join for one, stay for both, or drift in and out like the tide!
Arc 1: Somewhere beyond the sea
December 2025, January 2026, and February 2026
Focus: Establishing the internal power dynamics, the arrival of new people and their motives via The Kharon, and the initial, devastating events that expose the players to what really keeps The Rig afloat.
Arc 2: Changing Tides
June 2026, July 2026, and August 2026
The Rig needs survivors—desperate sailors, shrewd merchants, dedicated scientists, and brutal hunters. This is a chance to redefine who you are and what you stand for in a world of rust and salt.
Prepare your sea legs. Your voyage begins this December.
