Dogs in the Vineyard

Dogs in the Vineyard

Dogs in the Vineyard (2nd edition) cover
Designer(s)	D. Vincent Baker
Publisher(s)	Lumpley Games
Publication date	2004 (1st edition) 2005 (2nd edition)
Genre(s)	Alternate history, Western, Indie (Narrativist)
System(s)	Custom

Dogs in the Vineyard is an independently published role-playing game based on the history of the Mormons.^[1] It was written by D. Vincent Baker and published by Lumpley Games.

In the 2004 Indie RPG Awards, Dogs in the Vineyard was awarded Indie RPG of the Year^[2] and Most Innovative Game.^[3] In 2005 it was nominated for a Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming.^[4] It generally encourages narrativist play.^[5]

Setting

The game is set in "a West that never quite was" - loosely based on the Mormon State of Deseret in pre-statehood Utah. Players are "God's Watchdogs" (Dogs), who travel from town to town delivering mail, helping out the community and enforcing the judgments of the True Faith of the King of Life. This may involve anything from delivering new interpretations to the town's Steward to executing heretics. Dogs have absolute authority within the Faith, but not within the laws of the Territorial Authority, and so their actions can lead to conflict with the government in the East.

System

The game features an unusual form of conflict resolution, where die rolls are used in poker-style bids.

Character's statistics and traits are represented by dice pools. At the start of a conflict, the Gamemaster and other players decide what is at stake, determine which pools are applicable, and those are rolled at that point. The character with the initiative puts forward a "raise" of two dice, while narrating a portion of the conflict which is beneficial to his character's position in the conflict. The opponent must respond by putting forward one or more dice whose total exceeds the total of the dice which were used to raise, or "give" — i.e. lose the conflict. If three or more dice are needed, the opponent suffers "fallout" — a negative outcome to be determined at the end of the conflict. If only one die is needed by the opponent, the attack has been "turned against the attacker" and the die can be reused to raise in the next round. The opponent now begins a round by putting forward two dice which the first character must match, and so on until one player or the other gives. Players may bring in new dice by "escalating" the conflict, from non-physical (discussion) to physical (running away) to brawling and then to gunfighting. If the conflict didn't start with non-physical, players may escalate from gunfighting to discussion, though it occurs only rarely. The GM's set of rules in conflict is very simple: "Say yes, or roll dice."

One of the most potent aspects of the system is "Town Creation" where the moral landscape of the town is laid out in the form of characters, their desires, and what they've done to each other. This gives the GM the ability to make sure that merely engaging meaningfully in the town is interesting and making wins or losses less important to them. By representing the townsfolk and their interests, rather than presenting a tactical challenge, the GM is able to pose interesting questions of the players and give them opportunities to judge their own characters.

References

1. ^ D. Vincent Baker. "How special interest can you get?" indie-rpgs.com, 2003-07-31. "My design goals are: it's interesting to Mormons, it's relevant to Mormons, and it treats the concerns of Mormonism with subtlety and respect."
2. ^ "INDEPENDENT GAME OF THE YEAR, 2004". The RPG-Awards Site. http://www.rpg-awards.com/2004/game_of_year.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-10. 
3. ^ "INNOVATION IN A ROLEPLAYING GAME, 2004". The RPG-Awards Site. http://www.rpg-awards.com/2004/most_innovate.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-10. 
4. ^ "The Diana Jones Award 2005". The Diana Jones Award committee. http://www.dianajonesaward.org/05nominees.html. Retrieved 2007-09-08. 
5. ^ Baker, D. Vincent (2005). Dogs in the Vineyard (2nd edition ed.). Lumpley Games. ISBN 0976904209. 

External links

• Lumpley Games' home page for Dogs in the Vineyard
• Lumpley Games Forum on The Forge, mostly concerned with DitV