[DitV] I'm not sure if I'm getting the rules completely
Shoo:
Thanks for the answers! I ran the game and it wasn't very good, but at least one player wants to give it another try, so I'll have a chance to make it right next time. :)
My main mistakes were that:
1) I didn't give players all the information soon enough;
2) the town wasn't sinful enough (I stopped on Demonic Influence);
3) there was a event that had to happen in three days (players were aware of that, though) that resulted in "This is what happens. What do you do?" - ... - "Okay, nothing more happens today, let's skip to the next day." I feel that this is boring and the game needs to be driven by actions of players, not by schedule.
On the other hand, what should I do if players say "okay, we wait and observe". Continue with progression of sin and describe observable changes?
Noclue:
Hi Shoo. Sorry to hear it didn't go well, but I'm glad you'll get another go at it. I think it might help if you start off with a consensus that you're all learning something new and there's bound to be misfires along the way. Make sure everyone is okay if things stumble a bit until you are all comfortable, and its okay to help each other if there's any confusion.
I'd like to comment on some of your points:
Quote from: Shoo on October 13, 2009, 02:28:46 AM
1) I didn't give players all the information soon enough;
This is such an easy mistake to make. It happens all the time. One suggestion, look at your list of what everyone wants from the Dogs and decide before you play how all the NPCs are going to try to get those things to happen. And then have them try to get them to happen within the first 1/2 hour after the Dogs hit the town. So, if Sister Constance wants the dogs to annul her marriage because Brother Ezekiel is an adulterer, have a scene in mind where she immediately goes and tells the Dogs just that. If there's a murderer hiding in town, don't make the dogs hunt for clues. Throw the clues at them. Heck, have the ghost of the victim visit them in their sleep and accuse his murderer..anything to avoid an investigation.
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2) the town wasn't sinful enough (I stopped on Demonic Influence);
There's a thread started by Simon C called something like [DITV] Two simple rules questions. Vincent shows Simon how to really amp up his town with moral complexity and nastiness. I think it is a worthwhile read on this subject. See, if you're going to give up all the information as in #1 above, what's the game going to be about? It's not about investigating and wandering around lost for hours. It's about all these hard choices the Dogs have to make with the information you've just dumped all over them.
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3) there was a event that had to happen in three days (players were aware of that, though) that resulted in "This is what happens. What do you do?" - ... - "Okay, nothing more happens today, let's skip to the next day." I feel that this is boring and the game needs to be driven by actions of players, not by schedule.
On the other hand, what should I do if players say "okay, we wait and observe". Continue with progression of sin and describe observable changes?
[/quote]
Yeah, this whole setup is an invitation for inertia. It would probably be best not give the players a notion that they can just wait around for a Thing to occur, but here's the thing about schedules. You're in control of the progression of time. If you've got nothing interesting to do for the next three days, skip to the Big Event. If you have some things you want to see come out in play before then (and I should hope you do), frame scenes. Don't ask open ended "What do you do?" questions. Frame the Dogs into scenes. Your NPCs aren't going to wait no three days. The Demons don't want to wait three days. There should be a few NPCs that the Dogs have relationships with...put their bodies and souls in peril and see how the Dogs handle it.
Never, ever, ever "describe observable changes"...frame scenes. Don't let the dogs just hang out and watch. The town needs them to act.
Noclue:
Oh, and the thread I referenced above is wrong. It should be [DITV] What are demons for?
Warren:
Quote from: Noclue on October 13, 2009, 10:25:17 PM
Don't ask open ended "What do you do?" questions.
Yeah, I agree. I don't know if I got this tip from Vincent or somebody, but I have found with Dogs (and a lot of other indie RPGs) it's a lot better to ask the players "OK, What do you want to achieve next?" rather than "OK, What do you do?". Just that turn of phrase makes the player response more active and I've found it's easier to skip time and frame scenes appropriately.
lumpley:
Not from me! I say "what do you do" almost exclusively.
Shoo, here's a link to the thread Noclue's talking about: [Dogs] What are the demons for?
-Vincent
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