DUST `` elemental apocalyptic dogs

Global papers called it America’s Chernobyl. After a massive earthquake ripped through the Cascades, a failed emergency shutdown of a nuclear energy plant in the Washington town of Newton resulted in a catastrophic meltdown of the nuclear core. The plant erupted in flames and radioactive fallout, dooming everyone within the plant, and soon, many homeowners who had purchased cheap property near the plant. Newton was declared a national emergency, but with FEMA fumbling their emergency relief program, help didn’t arrive for weeks. Radiation exposure and poisoning had killed nearly half the town’s population by the time help arrived. Soon, Newton became a ghost town.

In between the abandoned bones of a once bustling suburbia, the long forgotten pets of the dead and evacuated learned to survive. The radiation changed them through the generations, morphing them into hardy creatures who had endured catastrophe, desertion, famine, and plague. The dogs came to resemble dingoes from the Outback and were, in comic book fashion, given the ability to manipulate elements from the same radiation that had tried, so valiantly, to destroy them. They adapted. Evolved. Survived.

A second meltdown has left the city all but decimated. A nuclear winter has overtaken the area as far as the eye can see and the bitter chill threatens the survival of the dogs. Loners cast off their solitude for the safety in numbers and magicless are being seen as more and more of a pariah, blamed for the second fallout. Tensions are high as Newton struggles to find its feet after this latest disaster.

Dust is an intermediate dog roleplaying community that weaves survival, elements, and radiation into an interactive plot that is designed to be both interesting and interactive for the members. The current plot revolves around “hot spots,” which are different boards that see the effects of extreme radiation for a short period of time, and the scarcity of resources. The game is intended to be about the difficulties of survival to create interesting character interaction and depth. The game and plot will evolve as the community evolves and characters leave their mark on the fictional canvas of Newton.

Dust also employs a gene inheritance system that brings realism into the game and is used to introduce a new level of play to the game.