A history of the game worlds development

Dystopia Rising began as a “we will do it some day” project, with its initial foundation written between 1999 and 2001. It started as a small group of friends and a game runner with a vision for a unique post-apocalyptic world. By late 2002, the earliest private games resembling Dystopia Rising began to take shape. In 2009, the first public event was held, marking the game’s formal debut. While it was very different from the modern iteration, its core spirit was already evident.

In 2010, Eschaton Media was founded, marking a turning point for the project. This publishing company, formed by individuals connected through Dystopia Rising’s Connecticut larps, focused on creating tabletop RPGs (TTRPGs), including one based on the larp itself. From 2010 to 2011, the first edition of the Dystopia Rising TTRPG was written and launched at NYCC in late 2011. Eschaton Media continued expanding the tabletop universe, collaborating with in-house and freelance writers. Meanwhile, the LARP grew, with new branches opening and the need for standardized documentation increasing.

In 2015, a new rule set, known as 2.0 or 2.x, became the network standard, introducing significant gameplay and mechanical updates while maintaining the post-apocalyptic themes. By 2017, Eschaton Media released its final Dystopia Rising TTRPG and soon after closed its doors. During this period, the LARP network experienced management changes and uncertainty.

In 2018, Onyx Path Publishing acquired the TTRPG rights, releasing Dystopia Rising: Evolution. This version maintained the spirit of the original but introduced a lore reset that re-imagined the game’s history while using previous content as a foundation.

In 2019, the LARP rules were updated again with the release of 3.0, but development faced challenges due to multiple management transitions. By 2020 a new company Rock Bitter took over the LARP network, but little new LARP content was produced beyond blueprints, while Evolution continued to publish in house and community-driven content.

In 2024, the LARP network underwent another major shift. Operations ceased for multiple days as Rock Bitter discontinued managing the network. It took a few days for a pair of companies to draft new license agreements, Larp License LLC and Most Improbable LLC. To generalize Larp License oversees network operations, while Most Improbable develops and publishes a new framework for the game world. This change brought sweeping updates: a new database, mechanics, contracts, and lore books specifically tailored for the LARP. This effort laid the foundation for what is now Dystopia Rising Live.

The vision for Dystopia Rising Live is to honor the spirit of Dystopia Rising while shedding outdated conventions. This shift allows for addressing elements from earlier iterations that, by modern standards, are culturally insensitive, problematic, or simply inconsistent. The new approach focuses on creating an internally cohesive lore set, crafted in-house, rather than maintaining parallel narratives across multiple mediums while also allowing us to address cultural issues of the past. This ensures the LARP can evolve organically while staying true to the essence of its world.

The most significant change in approach for Dystopia Rising Live lies in how Lineages and Strains are conceptualized. Lineages are not human, yet their cultures reflect similarities to humanity’s diverse social structures. To truly understand what makes a Strain biologically unique is vital to their identity, but in the real world, culture and society are shaped much more by the idea of nurture than nature.

Capturing that nuance would require extensive volumes detailing the histories and cultural evolution of each settlement that characters could be from—a scope that is neither feasible for publishers nor practical for local game runners. Requiring branches to develop localized cultural lore that perfectly aligns with the shared Dystopia Rising Live narrative would create an overwhelming barrier to entry for running a LARP, both in terms of content creation and consistency.

Additionally, the more content available, the less likely people are going to read or engage with it fully, creating a balance between accessibility and depth. The new approach simplifies these challenges by focusing on key biological distinctions and providing a flexible framework for cultural expression, ensuring the game remains immersive while maintaining accessibility for both players and game runners.