A Noobs Impression
Chris_Chinn:
Hi abjourne,
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I noticed that the systems decidedly vague trait mechanics can be easily exploited or if unfamiliar with the game's mechanics easily producing highly flawed /weak Dogs.
I don't have my books with me right now, but there is a rule in the book that raises and traits are limited by the group's critical eye - in other words, saying, "I'm always right!" only works if the whole group is says, "Yeah, that applies here in this situation". If anyone says, "No, actually, that's BS, that's stretching it, that doesn't actually make sense", then no, you don't get to use that in a Raise.
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I don't understand why you don't offer any advice on how to frame a towns "problems" as a presentation to the players.
Have you read the section on Towns? It actually gives quite a few ways and descriptions on how to frame it- and very often while the Steward has ideas about "what's wrong", every other person in town also has their own ideas, and the GM is told to have everyone either say what they think will get them what they want, or, if they're hiding something, say to the players, "You can see he's hiding something."
It sounds like your group could do with a close re-reading of the book, because this, especially, is one of DitV's strong points as a game. The "Structure of the Game" outline is also worth having on hand, because you can remind each other, "Hey, this game works differently than (previous game we're used to), THIS is how it's supposed to go."
Chris
Adam Dray:
I'm running a Dogs campaign right now, so I can relate.
Ritual is explained in one place and it has two prongs. First, as others have explained, ritual changes the Fallout that demons and sorcerers receive when they Take the Blow. You can be "just talking" (normally d4 Fallout) but if you Anoint with Sacred Earth while you do it, that makes it d8 Fallout. Second, sorcerers and demons cannot ignore ritual. This is perhaps more important than the Fallout rule. Basically, it's a squishy rule about the fiction, but it's a strong one. You pull out the ritual, whatever you're doing cannot be ignored. That is, the GM has to turn it into a conflict and the demon or sorcerer has to deal with your Raise. Remember that in a conflict, only those people who have to "answer" a Raise have to See it. Ritual puts the crosshairs on the sorcerer. That's my take on the rule, anyway.
I'm curious what happened during your exorcism. Because there's nothing in the rules about exorcisms, right? Obviously, it's some kind of conflict, but the nature of exorcism is left to the playgroup. Want to tell us more about how that played out? Remember any of the specific details? What supernatural elements, if any, were introduced by the players and GM?
While the Town structure is extremely powerful and well described in the rules, I do agree that the text could better explain where to start. I often fumble to figure out which NPC I want to be my lead. When I write up a new Town, I often decide who will impart information when. That said, if you follow the Town rules exactly, you should end up with a list of NPCs and what each wants from the Dogs. There's nothing wrong with picking a random NPC and having them approach a Dog and plead his or her case. The players can piece the whole story together over time.
That said, there's nothing wrong with having the Steward just lay it all down for the Dogs. The game isn't a mystery novel. It's not about figuring out what is wrong. It's about deciding what is the right way to fix it. The Town creation rules plus a little creativity generate dynamic, complex situations that don't have a single, right solution. Okay, so the Steward told you what's wrong; what are you gonna do about it? Who is going to oppose you? And certainly the other NPCs all want something, too. They get to speak up.
The text does address the strength and weakness of Dogs. The character creation rules require that everyone at the table thinks the character is suitable for play, and suitable for being a Dog. If a trait sucks, anyone can speak up, and the player has to change it.
"I'm always right" is an awesome trait. It doesn't mean the character is always right; it means the character thinks he's always right. Also, while it might be trivial to justify using "I'm always right" during a Talking conflict, it's harder to bring it into a violent one. Make the player explain how "I'm always right" means he can shoot better, or punch a guy in the face more easily. If people at the table think it's bogus, then it doesn't happen.
In my game, one of the players made a PC that is totally geared for knife fighting. She gave her character totally crappy talking stats, no talking traits, great fighting stats, and tons of huge knife-fighting traits. And a big, excellent knife, of course. Is this character optimized for violence? Yeah. So what? I threw a ton of talking conflicts at her. People who are mouthy and a little out of control in their lives, but not necessarily murderers. I wanted to see how she'd deal with it. For a long time, her character just helplessly and silently stood by while shit happened. When she got frustrated enough, she threated someone with her knife. It was totally psychotic, but that's the situation she put herself in. As time passes, it'll be cool to see if the player invests Fallout and Experience in talking traits. In short, though, the isn't broken here--the game laughs at hyper-optimized characters, and it lovingly caresses weak, quirky characters. It's all good, really.
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