[DitV] Why are relationships so specific?
Moreno R.:
One rule a lot of people forget, is that a starting character can have only 1-2 relationships with a single person (+ a relationship with the Dogs, optional if the character is a Dog, mandatory if the character is not a Dog). Other kind of relationships (with places, demons, etc.) can be added only during the game, using leftover relationship dice or fallout.
It's a rule that work very well to curb some annoying leftover habits that a lot of people have from "traditional" gaming, as for example having a fixed, immutable concept of the character or having a long and involved backstory (the only place where they usually had narrative control). Both things don't work in DitV, where the point of the game, among other things, is to see how anything (even a kiss) change profoundly your character.
Noclue:
Timo, I believe that the rules allow you to take a relationship to a sin.
lumpley:
Somebody look up the rules for a) what you can have a relationship with and b) when you get those dice, and post them here? I don't have a book handy.
Can you still have a relationship with a place, or did that get lost between versions some time?
-Vincent
Neil the Wimp:
You get relationship dice
WITH A PERSON when they're the opponent, they're what's at stake, or they come to your active aid;WITH AN INSTITUTION when your opponent has authority in that institution or your status is at stake;WITH A PLACE when you're at the place or the place is at stake;WITH A SIN when you have committed the sin, you resisted the sin, or the commission of the sin is at stake;WITH A DEMON when the demon is your opponent or the demon is at stake;
(pp. 68-9)
Neil.
lumpley:
Good! I'm glad that's still there.
So Neil, there are a couple of things to talk about, I think.
1: You do get traits and relationships from the same pool. You get your stats from that pool too. It's just that (a) you divvy up the pool when you choose your background, because (b) the various categories of dice aren't worth the same, because of how more or less restricted their use is. 1 stat die = 1.2 trait dice = 1.4 relationship dice, or something, roughly.
2: There's an important reason to limit the usefulness of relationship dice! It's that relationship dice, if they could be applied broadly, could always be applied when you're just talking. They'd form a whole body of dice available to you without escalation. Take "old men" for example. If you get 2d8 whenever you go into conflict with any old man, those 2d8 ease the pressure on you to escalate. This may be exactly what the player wants, but it's not good for the design.
3: You could make all your traits work like these proposed relationships -- "I'm good with old men," "I like dingy alleys" -- but (a) you have fewer trait dice across the board, so that mitigates it, and (b) very few players do that. "I'm a good shot" is awfully tempting. It's like belongings. You can have as many big, excellent belongings as you want, because most belongings are weapons and so call for you to escalate. Most traits call for you to escalate too; no relationships do.
I may or may not be making sense here, yet! Clarifying questions very welcome.
-Vincent
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