05/23/2026
Are you thinking of heading out to Dystopia Rising: The Pike's game, Deals in the Dark, on June 5th-7th? This is a good time to refresh your permethrin on your costume.
Dystopia Rising: The Pike presents: Warm-Weather Larping
Covering:
* Lyme Disease
* Heat Stroke
* And Having a Good Time For a Long Time
New disease just dropped. It's Lyme. We don't like Lyme. It’s easy to treat if caught early, but the symptom set is general enough that it initially can be hard to catch if people don't know what to look for.
Lyme can cause severe damage to a body if left untreated that can take years to heal for nerves and in some cases lasting injury, and it comes from terrible little guys that might have yet more diseases inside of them which you can catch at the same time. You probably know a fellow larper that had it. You may be that larper that had it.
Lyme Disease is caused by the borrelia bacteria, of which there are several strains (same lineage), just so you can catch it again and again. If you're curious how Lyme Disease works, please read on. IF not, check out the pictures and share them.
(This is not medical advice. This information is mostly gathered from the Sawbones podcast, Wikipedia, and the CDC over the years and not given by a medical professional.)
Vector: Blood exchange with infected hard tick.
Prevention:
Physical barriers: Wear socks over your pants, and tuck in your clothing. Deterrents: Deet, more deet, other bug deterrents. Tick-killing clothing treatments: permethrin is safe once it dries (read instructions carefully, especially if children or pets) and lasts several washes or roughly 2 months at peak effectiveness.
Check-Ins: Every 24 hours, try to go to a brightly-lit bathroom or similar area and check your skin, paying special attention to areas where your clothing cinches or is tight to skin, your hairline, your nethers, your pits, and other areas that seem like good hiding places to a very tiny creature. Even better if you can make a habit of it doing it before brushing your teeth or going to the bathroom.
It is in-character to check for ticks. Even if there isn't a disease mechanic for it, our wastelanders have survived this long by doing so. Medics, if the player is comfortable with it, incorporate superficial tick checks into your basic/master medical routines.
Every 36 hours, give a very thorough check of all surface areas of your body, such as when preparing to shower, including your hair. In most cases a tick removed before 36 hours won’t pass on disease.
Help Your Doctor Identify The Strain If You Get Sick For More Targeted Care: You can Ziplock the little dude to bring to a doctor for testing if you later develop symptoms. Definitely do so if you have a rash, symptoms, or you have reason to believe it’s been on you for more than 36 hours. Keep them in a safe place (I throw them in the freezer) for a week or so and then throw them out.
Stage 1 Lyme Disease (Early Localized Disease)
General time period: days to weeks after bite
Easiest to cure
80% of people develop the erythema migrans rash, which sometimes resembles a bullseye on pale skin but can have a wide variety of appearances (see picture). Notably, it doesn’t itch and is not painful, and it slowly spreads outward from the center over the course of days. 20% of people do not develop this rash at all, which is another reason tick checking and awareness of symptoms is so important.
Flu-like symptoms, including chills, fever, and malaise
General Treatment: Oral antibiotics
Stage 2 Lyme Disease (Early Disseminated Lyme)
General time period: weeks to months after bite
Flu like symptoms progress
Some people start showing nerve issues such as pain, weakness, numbness in face and extremities, vision changes, and Lyme carditis/heart palpitations/heart issues
General Treatment: Oral or IV antibiotics
Stage 3 Lyme Disease: (Late Disseminated Lyme)
General time period: weeks to years after bite
All of the above with the addition of joint pain/arthritis, sleep disturbances, nerve pain, dizziness/vertigo, and neurological symptoms
Likelihood for long-term damage greatly increases
General Treatment: IV antibiotics
Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS)/Lasting Damage From Lyme
General time period: Does not occur with everyone, but diagnosed if any symptoms persist six months after Lyme disease has been fully treated and no other/active infection can be isolated. Thought to be from either long-term damage/immune response changes, though research is still light. Lyme arthritis and nerve damage can heal slowly with time.
General Treatment: Management of symptoms once all other possible causes have been eliminated. More research needed, but the only thing they've really nailed down is that more antibiotics don't seem to help if treatment completed and no infection is detected at that point.
Can you catch it again?
Yes, unfortunately. Catching it does not confer immunity. You can get it again. Even those who already suffer from PTLDS can be further injured with subsequent infections of Lyme, especially Lyme that isn’t treated early, so checking is vital.
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Take a look at the attached pictures for resources on Lyme, as well as resources for staying cool, recognizing heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and an outdoor camping checklist to help make sure you have what you need to bring ease to the warmer times if you decide to move off-cabin with the weather.
We hope you stay hardy and larp with us for many years to come!
And if you're coming, we're excited to see you June 5th-June 7th at Camp Somers for "Deals in the Dark", a live Dystopia Rising: The Pike game.
Camp Somers | 750 Waterloo Rd | Stanhope, NJ 07874
Register/Meal Plan: https://www.dystopiarisingnewjersey.com/home
Check-In: https://db.larp.network/dystopia-rising/events
