[DitV] Simplifying the system
Marc Truant:
Vincent, you had me at "kill puppies for satan", but I fell in love when I finally bought Dogs in the Vineyard. The setting, the gameplay, the ideas and themes persistent throughout... Beautiful, wonderful, and so creative. I could see books, independently developed video games, maybe even indie films...
But that's not what I'm here to ask you or any other fine roleplayer on these forums today. What I'm here to ask is... How do I, for the sake of some of my players, simplify the system? How do I simplify it without dumbing down the themes and ideas, without removing Escalation of conflict and the narrativist elements of the system?
These guys, they would truly love the game and the setting... But not all of us have all that dice to spare, and some of them can't comprehend the system when the terms "Raise", "Fallout", "Take the Blow", etc surface and show their faces.
So how can I effectively SIMPLIFY the game's system while still keeping the spirit and the feel of Dogs in the Vineyard? I haven't been so inspired by an RPG in a while, I haven't been so pushed to play such an RPG, and my friends feel the same way. They want to be Dogs, they want to struggle as the Left Hand of God, but is there a way to make it possible for them?
Falc:
An interesting question and I'd certainly like to help, but I feel it would help if you were a bit more specific about what you were trying to achieve.
For one, I don't think the rules are all that difficult. If your group has trouble comprehending the system, perhaps it's more a matter of explaining it differently? Of using different terms? Are you perhaps not native English speakers?
Now, as for not having enough dice, that's another matter entirely. I think... ah yes: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=27120.0, some info about using cards instead.
Marc Truant:
Quote from: Falc on January 10, 2010, 08:15:24 AM
An interesting question and I'd certainly like to help, but I feel it would help if you were a bit more specific about what you were trying to achieve.
For one, I don't think the rules are all that difficult. If your group has trouble comprehending the system, perhaps it's more a matter of explaining it differently? Of using different terms? Are you perhaps not native English speakers?
Now, as for not having enough dice, that's another matter entirely. I think... ah yes: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=27120.0, some info about using cards instead.
I don't think it's that difficult either. Maybe you're right and I just need to explain the rules better... And we are actually native English speakers. :P
Teataine:
Do they play/understand poker? Tell them it's like poker. In poker when I make a bet, you can either fold, see or raise. The principles are similar.
You can just give up (fold), or if you care to see the conflict to the end you have to match my "bet". It you do it with two dice you're also taking a blow in the fiction, if you need more/better dice you can up the ante by escalating. Fallout is the "damage" you take along the way.
It's really not that complicated. Maybe you should just try playing, step by step. It might make more sense in play (or it might be a disaster, I don't know).
Falc:
Teataine makes a good point: try to explain it by starting from things they already understand.
I mean, if they're American Football buffs, I'm quite sure you could draw some neat analogies. One side's the offense, other one's the defense, offense calls their play by putting two dice forward, defense either gets a sack (respond with one die), loses ground (respond with two dice) or gets scored against (respond with more than 2 dice). It's not a perfect analogy since you switch sides after every play, but it should at least get the idea across, and that's what matters. The actual terms used, not so much.
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