Seeing when everything depends on the future
Jasper Flick:
Thanks guys!
Jesse,
My players are honest too, but they aren't used to the freedom Dogs grants them. They'll loosen up with time. Right now they're helped lots by following strict procedures and by me giving them lots of suggestions. That approach worked fine so far, except with that special case of Seeing. Next time I'll present it to them as the gray area it is, and we'll decide how to deal with it.
Filip,
I just don't like it when people say "it's official" when you can subsitite "that's how I intended it, no it's not in the book or on a handy page of my site, it's somewhere hidden in a forum, maybe". Yes, it's proper use of the word official. No, there's nothing inherently wrong with it. But it fools me into thinking it should've been obvious and I'm stupid for missing it.
I did check online and read a lot about Dogs, but couldn't really find what I was looking for in a reasonable amount of time. My WTF count for Dogs so far is 1, which is actually very good.
David Artman:
I don't know if it will help you, but you can try our general way of invoking Traits or escalating. I'll use your example:
PLAN: To escalate to physical and invoke a Gun and related Trait.
NARRATION:
Beginning see...
GM - "I've had enough of this talk [escalate to physical, because I don't intend to hurt the other Dog; roll dice]. I draw my gun [roll die/dice] and take aim, like any Good Shooter would [roll dice]."
Check out the dice and pick a see...
GM - "Well that was crap; I have to take the blow [push forward dice], so I clearly fire wide of the bottle that I was aiming at and hit the wall. 'DAMN it!' I shout, clearly losing my cool. My gun hand is shaking with rage and embarrassment. [set aside d4s for Fallout] Um... OK, I raise by saying, 'Next shot's your hand... or maybe your head, I'm pretty shaky.'"
So so I (the GM) escalated to physical, invoked the gun JUST because I'm wielding it around--it's NOT fighting or gunplay if I doesn't intend harm, as I understand it--and invoke my Good Shot trait to get more dice. The rolls mean I will have to take the blow on the see, which means his words have had their impact (Fallout at d4) and I make a feeble raise that is *still just talking*. In essence, I de-escalate back to Just Talking, but I can't re-roll those dice (been used). Or, hell, I could say my guys throws the gun at the bottle, having missed with my shot (a physical Raise).
Basically, realize that taking the blow means fallout for what was narrated, NOT the dice used. Likewise, dice are invoked by intent but DO NOT guarantee outcome, NOR do they require a "typical" application of the invocation--viz how I "aim" to invoke Good Shot on a raise which would lead to merely d6 of Fallout if he takes the blow; meanwhile, in a gunplay conflict, I could invoke the same thing to say I shoot him in the face, making for d10 Fallout if he takes the blow.
And it's not retconning if you say, "I shoot him in the face" and push forward, say, a pair of twos; after which he says, "You miss wildly and hit the Tree of Life alter behind me, shattering it" to see with a single die (a four). That's sort of like "soft outcome" narration, where it literally could be narrated as "I try to shoot him in the face." The d10 Fallout dice would come in due to the obvious intent (harm, with a gun), but it is only taken if the blow is taken (yep, shot me in the face, cause I only have a pair of ones left to see your pair of twos). But in the example above, the Fallout dice would, at most, be d6s because the intent (break bottle) isn't literally to harm the target, just use physical means to get them to Give.
Making sense? (Am I off base, Vincent?)
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