Dystopian Blog #1 : How it Started & What it is!

What is Dystopian Dawn?

Dystopian Dawn combines all of the beloved Fantasy elements (Magic, Wizards, Druids, Barbarians, Mythic Monsters, Epic Quests) with classic Science Fiction tropes (Dystopian Societies, Mutants, Cyborgs, Mad Scientists, Giant Bugs, Renegade Robots, Alien Technology) sprawled across the Post Apocalyptic future of North America.

The game is set 500 years (give or take) after the world ended. Humanity has only recently arisen (from vaults, caves, shelters) to the surface over the past few generations. While the Humans and their technology were gone, the Fae returned bringing magic and creatures of myth and legend with them. Humans have returned to a land unlike anything in the “time before”. It is now a land of Magic, Mutants, and Machines!

Dystopian Dawn is a game of Survival, Exploration, and Wonder! Travel the world discovering buried civilizations, hidden treasures, and danger around every turn. Uncover the secrets of the “time before” while blazing a trail into the unknown future! You play as a Barbarian, Druid, Engineer, Mutant, Scoundrel, or Wizard, completely customizing your character along your adventures.

With flexible, easy to learn, and fully customizable game mechanics - anyone can jump in and play Dystopian Dawn - no experience necessary! The game has a unique magic system built to fuel each player’s imagination, ensuring that no two spellcasters are EVER the same! Using a simple d20 Feat Roll system with default skill options, your player can try and do almost anything! It’s unique Evolution style Character Creation system combines dice rolling with point spending for the best of both worlds. During character creation, your rolls also create your starting backstory! You expand the story or use it as is. Your character is unique and ready to adventure in no time!

How Did it Start?

After two years of play testing and revision, Dystopian Dawn launched in early 2023 to a successful Kickstarter campaign.

I’ve been playing and running TTRPGs since 1980 and I always end up creating house rules for every system each of my groups used. One day a player asked “Why don’t you just make your own system?” I had no response. The gauntlet was thrown!

The first attempt was called KAOS (clever, right? haha) and it was a decent, though rules-crunchy Swords & Sorcery game. The mechanics were solid but it lacked that certain… something. I didn’t want to make just another Fantasy game, so I scrapped the whole thing and started over. I wanted something new and original. But above all else, I wanted to create something FUN. A game people wanted to play. I spent nearly a year writing and rewriting until I had a 300+ page manuscript. I was ready for play testing with my current group of players and longtime friends.

I’d love to say that it went great right out the door… but that would be a lie. The gameplay was fine but the character creation was a total disaster! It took hours to go through all of the meticulous tables and hoops I’d crafted, and I realized that I’d painted myself into a corner. My initial feedback was as brutal as only close friends can be! So, I scrapped most of that system, rebalanced the magic system, created a new character creation system, added and tweaked, and then tried it again. The second go-around was much better! After that,I met with a group of people I didn’t know to play test for the rest of the year. The group ranged from ages 18 to 50 and the experience was enlightening.

I HAD created a fun system that people wanted to play. After the first few sessions, I was ready to move on but the group was having so much fun they asked me to create MORE campaigns for them. The first sessions included The Wizard of Ca Bla! and Mystery of the Were-Jackalope. Since the group wanted more, I continued the testing with two new scenarios - The Recycling Depot and Death Race 2526. Each of these four initial stories are included in the Game Master’s Guide as starting scenarios. They still wanted more. This made me happy but also added to my workload of finalizing the book (yes, it was originally going to be one giant book). I adlibbed an adventure week to week until it became the full campaign that I later published as Danger Zone.

At the end of testing, I had nearly 500 pages ready and even more scribbled notes all over the place! I realized that I had to narrow this down to something feasible and broke the core into two books - Player’s Guide and Game Master’s Guide. I broke out everything a player would need into one book and everything a GM would need into the other. The Player’s Guide covers commonly accepted lore, all core rules for character creation, locations, game mechanics, magic, psionics, and gear ranging from low-tech to medium-tech. The Game Master’s Guide includes expanded and optional rules, the true story of how the world ended (with enough room for GMs to customize), tables for combat, reactions, fright, and random encounters, a complete Creature compendium, high-tech and magic gear, GM tips, and the four previously mentioned starter scenarios.

Next came the fun of book layouts! I did all of that myself while learning new tools along the way. I also drafted much of the early art and commissioned several indie artists to join me on this journey. Many of them have worked on all five of the existing books and I’ve met some new great talents, too.

With two roughly 200-page books, the core was complete. I then put all of my notes together into the first campaign style book (I call them Source Adventure Books, now) - Danger Zone. With over 50-pages, Danger Zone adds six new areas to The Nether territory, a campaign, and expansion ideas for each of the “zones”. These three books were the first Kickstarter. That was the scariest part of this entire journey! Marketing is not my specialty!

I took Dystopian Dawn and Danger Zone on the road in mid to late 2023. First to Phoenix Fan Fusion, then Tucson ComicCon, and wrapped up the year at Orbital Comics (a local comic & games shop). I attended as a Guest GM to promote the game and through online vendors (Giant Slayers RPG and DriveThru RPG) I managed to keep my head above water. It was a good start. During this whole time, I kept writing and set for myself what I’d hoped were achievable goals.

What Happened Next?

I ran my second Kickstarter around September 2023 for the next source adventure book - Secrets of Sacred Mountain. This campaign also succeeded and the book launched in November 2023! This book covered an unclaimed area between three territories (in what was once the Black Hills) and was heavily steeped in Native American lore. It adds a slew of new material - lore, adventures, creatures, skills, mutations, gear, NPCs, and two new Nationalities that PCs could choose from (GM willing). This book involved a lot of research on my part and invaluable insight from a great gamer and historian, Mato Gado Mani of the Three Affiliated Tribes. Secrets is nearly 80-pages long and in it I showcase each of the artists in an appendix, complete with their professional contact information. I decided that this needed to be my approach for all of the books moving forward. My way of creating an Indie Community. Soon I plan to open up a simple game license to entice indie writers to join me.

At this point I’d solidified my plan for SIX Source Adventure Books that would encompass the “known world”.

The third Source Adventure Book, Time Warped, also had a successful Kickstarter and it launched in May 2024. This is the largest (so far) of the source books at over 100-pages. Time Warped covers the entire Paradisium territory, expanding all of the lore and secrets from the three provinces in GM’s Guide while adding six new locations! I launched Time Warped with an Alternate Cover Limited Edition and the option for backers to create a new NPC (complete with commissioned artwork) for the book. The NPC option went so well, I plan to do it again for future books. Time Warped adds a ton of new lore, creatures, gear, skills, mutations, and a huge host of NPCs. Add two completely different campaign ideas and dozens of subplots and points of intrigue, and you’ve got more than enough material to game on for a months or more!

A few new unique additions include Astronauts from 1999 (yes, escaping the Y2K Bug! haha) crash landing back on earth 500+ years in their future amid alient looking races of bipedal mutants (Apes, Dogs, Cows, Snakes, and more). New mechanics for the Astronauts evolution and exploration of this “new planet” and rules for PC creation of mutant animal characters .

Sidebar - it took three sessions before the players realized they were actually back in Florida and not on another planet!

What Does the Future Hold?

Currently, I’m writing and play testing the next Source Adventure Book, “Cowboys & Mutants!”. This book covers much of the southwest and west, Alamex to New Rome, adding new lore, NPCs, campaign and plot ideas, and a bucketload of new locations. Ranches, Bunkers, Vault Complexes, and more! Play testing has been a blast! Combine adventures with interweaving plots of New Roman Legionaries, Druid Cabals, Cattle Rustlers, Border Skirmishes, Mutant Monsters, Artifacts, and you get Cowboys & Mutants!

This book also adds Magical Items for the first time, and lots of new Tech to the world. I plan to launch the crowdfunding for this one in October 2024. I plan to use BackerKit for this book to test the capabilities of different platforms.

The next Source Adventure Books are (working titles) “Robots & Vikings!” and “Cross-Country Chaos!” The first book expands New Rome and Summerica with a pre-nuclear submarine wreaking havoc on Viking trade ships and introduces the Fae villages! The latter involves a mad car race (think Cannonball Run meets Death Race) from Haven to the west coast.

When these are done (mid 2025 I hope), I have plans for a soft cover boxed set and two compendium style books. The Player’s Compendium will include all of the new skills, nationalities, low to mid tech gear, mutations, and character creation options from the six Source Adventure Books in one volume. The GM’s Compendium will include all of the creatures, NPCs, high-tech, magic gear, and expanded location information.

I decided to go this route rather than create “2nd Edition” rule books that would each be well over 300-pages. All of the plot and campaign material stays in the source adventure books, while these compendiums let groups expand their worlds with easy-access reference books.

Meanwhile, I’m hard at work on Standees, Tokens, and more swag!

And then… the next World Book begins!

Once the North America books are complete, I’m taking Dystopian Dawn to Europe and beyond!

Dystopian Mythos will be set in what remains of Europe and focus on the Fae folk from lore and legend. Humans will be in the minority as old world mythology manifests in the Dystopian Dawn. This will include new Nationalities (Elves, Dwarves, etc.) and expanded magical abilities. The core rules remain the same - there will NOT be a new Player’s or GM’s Guide. This book answers the question “what would a Fae continent look like without Human intervention?” A world with more magic and less tech! This will also introduce intercontinental travel rules so GMs can connect both worlds… if they want.

Dystopian Space will be set on Mars! This world book focuses on the ancestors of those lucky few who escaped the apocalypse to terraform and colonize the red planet! What will the Mars civilization be like 500 years after the Earth’s apocalypse? This book will also include interstellar travel, notes on other planets, and if the GM wants, allow players to adventure to Earth.

Thanks for reading! I hope you’re ready for more wild rides. This is only the beginning!

Tony