The Blacktide Hunters and Other Cool Groups

“You can never have too many knives, and you can never have too many guns. That’s the fact of it. When you’re going up against something bigger than your momma’s ass, you better come armed.” 

Today, we’re taking a moment to introduce you to the latest national group, the Blacktide Hunters. This newly designed faction isn’t your stereotypical mercenary group. Instead, they specialize in hunting the biggest and baddest “monsters” within the wasteland, including massive creatures, huge gatherings of Raiders, and even giant zombies.

Now they’re coming to a DeathCon, a gathering of Raiders that occurs every few years, and could mean mass destruction for the settlement they gather near, as well as the surrounding region.

At DeathCon, there will be opportunities to join up with the Blacktide Hunters to combat Raiders and to go on Grave Dives. With that being said, there is profit in this, too. Raiders have valuable materials and parts on them that can be used by the Blacktide Hunters and others. Plus, there are items within the Mortis Amaranthine – death itself – that will give researchers valuable insight into corrupted morgues.

While there is a lot to be said about the Blacktide Hunters in the new societies book, Social Creatures, we’re also going to provide a little bit of insight into the founding of the society (just because we love this passage so much):

The story of the Blacktide Hunters' founding claims it began, as many wasteland tales do, in a dirty bar. A group of unlikely allies found themselves sharing drinks and trading ideas: a Lamp Lighter, a former officer of the Fallow Hopes, a disgraced Deacon of the Final Knights, an engineer from the Lineage League, and a Trade Union representative. Fueled by equal parts alcohol and desperation, they came up with what they later called “the best, worst idea ever.” Somehow, the plan stuck. The engineer from the Lineage League reportedly returned to Old York and emptied their family’s financial resources, recruiting a group of Kings and Queens Court engineers to construct a network of radio towers. The former officer of the Fallow Hopes, donning their uniform one last time, ventured deep into the Overgrowth to Fort Wash and Talkie, where they convinced the Warden to conscript Inmates with forged paperwork. The Warden, recognizing the forgery, allegedly said, “Fuck it. It’s so stupid it might work,” and signed off anyway.

With that in mind, the Blacktide Hunters were created by a ragtag group who all came from different walks of life and different groups. They saw a need for forming a mercenary crew, and created something new together.

While there will be plenty of story opportunities for you to become involved with during DeathCon, we’d also like to highlight the special currency that the Blacktide Hunters use: Blood Money. This specialized currency can only be earned at national events, and can be used to pay for special items that only the Blacktide Hunters sell there. This means it pays (pun intended) to assist the Blacktide Hunters with their mission while at DeathCon. For all of our currency collectors out there, you’re definitely going to want to do some favors for the Blacktide Hunters.

With that being said, the Blacktide Hunters aren’t the only group you’ll encounter at DeathCon. You’ll also find Papaya Firearms and Angry Anchor. Papaya Firearms specialize in guns that have a high rate of fire while Angry Anchor specializes in slower firing guns that pack a real punch. During the event, you’ll be able to support these factions, learn more about them, and influence the story at DeathCon.

While you’re eagerly waiting for tickets to go on sale, make sure you check out the new Social Creatures book to read all about the various factions in the Dystopia Rising Live universe (and Blacktide Hunters in particular). We’ll see you at DeathCon!