The Forge Archives

Quote from: MikeF on May 26, 2010, 09:16:21 AM

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point, but I don't see it this way. Why does the mechanical difficulty of a challenge mean that overcoming it is more or less creative? The system doesn't automatically penalise - or reward - you for coming up with creative solutions to problems. That's up to the GM, who can arbitrarily make your chances of succeeding more or less likely using tokens. You could have your PC take the most circuitously "difficult" approach to a problem within the fiction and still have the GM make it "easy" by assigning a low number of tokens. So how you approach the problem and whether or not you succeed seem to me to be entirely independent of each other, mechanically speaking.

That's not to say the GM should be acting entirely independently of the player's creativity - I would hope that they would use their tokens wisely to pace the story, and invest the most tokens in those bits of the story that the players seem most interested in and respond to most. But fundamentally that's a GM technique, it's not forced by the mechanics (though I guess you could tweak the rules so that GM's received their tokens in installments, to force the pacing a little: so the GM gets, say, 20 tokens to use over the first three scenes, 20 tokens for the next three, and then fifty tokens to use in the climactic endgame).

Hmm, maybe I see where the disconnect is. I was assuming that "obstacle level" was supposed to fairly closely map "perceived difficulty level". Is that not true?

...the helmet in particular.  To draw similarities from my own experiences, even boxing headgear can be quite cumbersome if you have not spent many good training hours getting accustomed to it.  The models with heavier padding tend to restrict your vision, and models that don't fit properly move too much and distract you.  Thus, I've actually taken a preference for the lightest headgear, and despite the reduced degree of protection, I'm actually protected better because I am able to focus on what's going on.  I can only imagine knights felt the same way about their helmets, often choosing to sacrifice protection for less cumbrance. 

From what I've read of helmets of the day, and from what I couldn't logically assume otherwise, they severely restricted vision and were extremely stifling.  By bridging my own experiences with my research, I would have to extrapolate that helmets, especially ones with closed visors, presented many tangible hindrances to accompany its protective benefits.  I intend to model these factors within the system.  (Note: because of the high granularity, and because game masters are likely to overlook them, these rules will probably be listed as optional, or I may simplify them in another way).

1.  Severe loss of vision - This means that the combatant has a lower range of awareness.  Also, opponents that are able to flank the combatant will get a -2 DR bonus instead of just -1.

2.  Difficulty breathing - This means that the combatant is likely to tire quickly (does not affect open-faced helmets or helmets with the visor raised).  If the combatant suffers any form of attack (even a minor success) or a critical miss, he must check his athletics passive skill or become fatigued as a result of the great effort required to recover.

3.  Lack of experience using the equipment - This means that you get distracted while wearing the helmet, and you suffer -1 to any skill while wearing it.  Helmets that don't fit well or are badly damaged will also cause this effect, which does not stack with the experience factor; -1 is the maximum penalty.


Next post: alternative (simplified) armor rules for possible revision of the previous post.

I'm planning to run this town at Gamex this weekend in Los Angeles (So, if you're playing on Saturday don't read this). I'm interested in any feedback. Do you think it will work for a con game scenario?

White Rock Crossing

Brother Solomon, a Dog originally from Back East, has spent over a year recuperating in White Rock Crossing under the careful ministrations of the Steward's young wife, Sister Elianna.

Although things seemed calm in the town the demons soon showed themselves. The summer was freakishly hot and muggy, streams dried up and fields went fallow. When Brother Ezrah's grain started rotting in storage and bloated, maggot-filled cattle corpses washed up in the town's remaining water source, Brother Solomon knew he needed to act.

The root cause was easy to see. The Steward had failed in his duties to the branch, allowing the demons a foothold in town. Brother Boaz was obviously distracted by his pretty new bride, doting on her to such an extent that the town suffered. Brother Solomon annulled the marriage. As the King is merciful, he allowed Brother Boaz to retain his position as Steward.

Brother Boaz was devastated by the loss of his marriage and felt wronged and shamed by the injustice the Dog's verdict. To drown his anger and despair, Brother Boaz turned to strong drink, leaving the town without spiritual leadership.

To fill the breach, Brother Ezrah, Sister Hannah and Sister Leah formed a Council of Elders, ostensibly to oversee the administration of town business until Steward Boaz had overcome his grief. However, the Council, drunk on its own power, soon took over all duties, including leading worship and blessing a child born to Brother Emmanuel and Sister Sophia.

Sister Elianna and Brother Solomon fell in love, not a worldly love, but one written in the stars by the King himself. Brother Solomon put aside his coat but evaded all her questions about marriage. As the months wore on, she discovered that she was carrying Brother Solomon' child and confided in her sister, Patience.

Patience, jealous of her sister's relationships with the Boaz and Solomon, said some pretty mean things in her anger and concern for her Elianna's eternal soul. She approached Sister Hannah in strictest confidence. Sister Hannah publicly condemned the young woman as a Jezebel and adulterer, destroying two godly men with her wicked charms. Brother Solomon' shock at the news of the child didn't help matters. Shamed and shunned, the young woman took Brother Solomon's coat from his room and hung herself from the rafters of the branch's worship hall.


Pride: Brother Solomon's love with Sister Elianna violates his vows and hers. Solomon believes their love is ordained by the King himself and thus their coupling out of wedlock is sacrosanct. He also believes his love for Elianna had nothing to do with annulling her marriage.

Injustice: Brother Boaz, turned to strong drink in order to dampen his pain and despair at losing his wife.

Sin: Brother Solomon and Sister Elianna's adulterous affair. Brother Boaz's drunkenness. Sister Patience's covetous attraction and

Injustice: Sister Elianna's pregnancy leads to her being condemned and humiliated.

Sin: Elianna's suicide. Patience murdering Hannah. Brother Boaz's vengeful rage.

Pride: Brother Boaz places his own hurts above the needs of the Branch.

Injustice: Believing the Steward will recover with time and care, the Faithful are left to minister to themselves.

Sin:  By abdicating his responsibilities, Brother Boaz has left the faithful open to Demonic Attack.

Pride: Brother Ezrah, Sister Hannah and Sister Leah have formed a false priesthood. What started as a good faith attempt to fill a void, is now a prideful power play, which none of them is willing to relinquish.

Injustice: Sister Hannah's condemnation of Sister Elianna led to her suicide and then to Sister Patience's murderous attack.

Sin: The Council acts like a priestly body without the divine authority to do so. They're judgements are based on pride and greed, rather than the True Faith.

Demonic Attacks: A brooding heat, the air is heavy but it will not rain. The streams have failed and the crops are withering. Images of rot and insects abound. Corpses.  The demons inhabit the multitude of carrion birds that have flocked to the town. They seek to feed the negative emotions of the townsfolk – lust, jealousy, rage, despair, greed, and covetousness.

False Doctrine: Brother Solomon believes he can take up again the work of a Dog after casting aside his coat. The Council of Elders believes they can act in the Steward's stead and provide spiritual guidance to the Branch.

Corrupt Worship: The Council of Elders are leading services and blessing babies.

False Priesthood: The Council of Elders' usurpation of the Steward's role makes them a false priesthood.

Sorcery: Sister Leah is a sorcerer using her powers to push Brother Ezrah to assume more and more power, at times possessing him to work her will through his actions. She is enhancing Sister Hannah's rigidity and sense of propriety. She has also worked her magic on Brother Boaz, Sister Elianna and Sister Patience, heightening their feelings of grief and despair.

Hate and Murder:  Patience blamed herself for Elianna's death. She fell in love with Brother Solomon at first sight and slipped a mountain folk love potion into his coffee. Obviously, it worked all too well. In her rage and grief, she fell upon Sister Hannah with a knitting needle, putting out her eye.

Brother Boaz is in a murderous rage as well, but he is fixated on Brother Solomon, the source of all of his woes, whose misuse of power had destroyed both himself and his naive young wife, corrupted Sister Patience and opened the town up to demonic attacks.

This is the town the Dogs find: Sister Elianna has been cut down from the Church rafters, a bit of Brother Solomon's coat still clings there. Brother Solomon, wearing his torn coat once again, is loading his guns and going to confront the Council who he blames for her death. Sister Patience is being held in the Steward's vacant house to await sentencing. Sister's Hannah's wounds are being tended. Brother Boaz, is armed and drunk and spoiling for a shot at Brother Solomon.

WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT

BROTHER SOLOMON wants Sister Hannah, Sister Leah and Brother Ezrah to pay for the Sister Elianna's suicide.

BROTHER BOAZ wants Brother Solomon dead, but he'll settle for him admitting his sins and being publically stripped of his office.

SISTER PATIENCE wants the Dogs to forgive her for killing her sister and attacking Sister Hannah.

BROTHER EZRAH wants to remain in power, either as the head of the Council or as the new Steward.

SISTER LEAH wants the Dogs to destroy everyone who might be a source of power in the town, leaving her alone to wield her influence.

SISTER HANNAH wants Sister Patience punished for her crimes and cast out of the Branch.

THE DEMONS want to see the town erupt in hate and murder. They want to see the Branch declare the Brother Solomon profane and kill him. They want Brother Solomon to kill the council members.

What Would Happen if the Dogs Never Came?
The council would declare Brother Solomon to have been stripped of his office when he cast off his coat. Brother Boaz would shoot Brother Solomon. Brother Solomon would shoot Sister Hannah. Sister Patience would follow her sister's lead and kill herself. Brother Ezrah and the rest of the Council would evolve into a sorcerous coven and lead the entire Branch into spiritual ruin.

Alright, so now I am working on schema for resolving role-playing. I'll get a chance to test it out here in a couple weeks, at least with me running it anyway. I am going to take advantage of one existing feature within the game, my trait system. These were designed to link combat with role-playing, so adding a role-playing framework will help to finish up the original design goal for traits at any rate. My biggest concern is that it may easily prove too complicated. Anyway...

Traits: These are abstract descriptors of a character. They come in opposed pairs such as fair-brute, good-evil, light-dark, compassionate-cruel. If you have a trait and you help someone else with the same trait, you can trigger an affinity bonus (+3 in combat terms, and that's on a system using 3d8 plus modifiers) to help them more. If a character attacks someone with an opposed trait, they can trigger an opposition bonus (+6 in damage). Triggering a bonus costs an allotment (which is a limited resource that reboots in between game sessions). This is normally relevant to combat, though it adds significance to role-play in the sense that players are conscious of shared traits and/or opposed traits and let their characters gravitate towards the latter. Anyway, the new system, rough draft of the schema.

The GM will role-play the scenario, having the players talk in character for the most part and assess the attitude of any relevant NPCs toward the player characters as a party. (It would probably be best if she stuck with the main NPC, unless there is specific reason to keep track of more than one. If there is a clear decision maker, then just keep track of that one.) While running through the conversation the GM will note two things (as they are perceived by the NPCs); the attitude of the NPC towards the PCs and the compatibility of their interests.

Attitude: This determines whether or not the NPC likes the PCs. There are 3 possible outcomes:

Fondness: Likes the PCs. This means she will try to help them.

Meh: Has no strong feelings about the PCs.

Enmity: Does not like the PCs. This means she will try to harm them.

Compatibility of Interests: This determines the degree to which the NPC sees the PCs as working toward common or irreconcilable goals. There are 3 possible outcomes.

Harmony: The NPC sees the player characters as pursuing goals as consistent with her own. This means she will try to facilitate their actions.

Neutrality: The NPC is not concerned with the goals of the player characters.

Discord: The NPC sees the player characters as pursuing interests contrary to her own. This means she will try to stop them.

Cross-referencing the outcomes provides for 9 total possibilities:

Fondness-Harmony: The NPC will try to help the party in any way possible, going considerably out of her way to do so if necessary.

Fondness-Neutrality: The NPC will try to help the party in any way that is convenient.

Fondness-Discord: The NPC will try to minimize any harm she does to the party while neutralizing their current efforts. If violence occurs, she will pursue her own interests, but under such circumstances the NPC will be especially open to negotiations, bartering, or truce.

Meh-Harmony: The NPC will try to help the party in any way that is convenient.

Meh-Neutrality: The NPC will will either ignore the party or help them at a price.

Meh-Discord: The NPC will seek to stop the party in its present course of action. Whether or not she inflicts harm upon them is irrelevant.

Enmity-Harmony: The NPC will seek to help the party accomplish its goals while undermining their status and health. Ideally, they will succeed in whatever they are doing with their last breath.

Enmity-Neutrality: The NPC will take no interest in the immediate goals of the party, but she will seek to harm them at the first possible opportunity.

Enmity-Discord: The NPC will do anything she can to harm the party and to stop them from accomplishing their goals.

Assessment of Attitude: How is this assessed? During the course of the conversation, the GM will record note points of affinity and opposition. She may record the creatures perceptions of the party, reducing everything to its positive or negative implications. The old slash-counting system will do just fine. This may begin with obvious trait relations. NPCs will not always know the traits present in a given party, but will for example know that orcs are "Brutes" and Dwarves are "Stalwart," both of which imply a relationship of opposition. Likewise, a human with the trait "Fair" will know that she has a relation of affinity to an elf, because elves carry that same trait. There is no need to take this to the level of an exact science or to count with precision, but whenever the balance of the player characters seem clearly to match one of the NPCs traits or its opposite, this should result in a plus or a minus.

Now, as the conversation unfolds, a GM take note of other things. Should the NPC become aware of trait relations over the course of the conversation, these too can be noted. If a player character displays compassion, for example, an NPC with the trait Cruelty will look with disdain on her and her party, resulting in a slash in the negative column. Traits manifested during the course of a conversation will be noted, even if they are not representative of the party.

The GM should also take note of any clear relations of affinity or opposition through social relations. If key members of a party clearly serve a noble to which the NPC swears allegiance, this too should count as a positive. If they clearly serve an enemy of the NPC, then this will result in a negative.

When the GM decides that the NPC has enough information to make a judgment about the party, the total balance of positive versus negative perceptions provides a measure of the NPCs general attitude to the party.

When the GM decides that the NPC has enough information to make a judgment about the party, the total balance of positive versus negative perceptions provides a measure of the NPCs general attitude to the party. The possible outcomes are as follows:

Enmity: If the balance is negative the NPC does not like the party. The more negative the balance the more contempt it feels towards the party.

Meh: If the balance is 0 through positive 2, the NPC holds no strong impression towards the party.

Fondness: If the balance is a positive 3 or higher, the NPC is positively disposed towards the party. The higher the number, the more the NPC likes them.

Assessment of Goals: This is straight up judgment call. The GM should take into account any advanced information the NPC may have as well as the statements of the PCs themselves.

Other Adjustments: The following adjustments may be aded to the mix when the Gm feels they are appropriate:

- NPCs of a cruel or evil nature may add 1 or 2 points to the negative score in determining attitude (as these characters may be prone to see cause for contempt.

- Prior Knowledge: The GM may bias the attitude by 1 or 2 points based on the reputation of the party and/or the NPCs prior encounters with them.

- A character with the special ability "Diplomat" may add 1 or 2 points to the positive record (depending on whether she has the minor or the major version of this ability ) used in determining attitude.


...okay, that's rough. It's a rough sketch of the idea. Whether or not I will actually use it is quite up in the air at this moment.

Hi Norm.

1. If your players are having fun, we can assume it's grabby enough.

2. Well, it's not a very difficult problem to solve right now. Out goes Paul and in comes Jacob. The places you might have play is in how people react to the Dogs attempted switch and who suffers any consequences. Any way to suggest, especially to Zachary, that Paul might actually be worth redeeming?

3. The initiations looked cool. Did they get any cool traits from their initiations? Btw, Ada could definitely have escalated to physical if she had narrated appropriate physical actions in the courtroom.

4. Those ideas are all interesting. As for the Demons, keep pushing for "what would happen if the Dogs didn't come." Also, I didn't see What the Demons Want in your write up. What do they want?

Ran my first Dogs game last night and it went down GREAT!  I'll spare you the details, but I'd love to share a couple highlights and get feedback on a rules call.

Players: Jonathan Tweet (Brother Zebediah), Clint "Ogre" Whiteside (Brother Shadrach), and Richard Garfield (Brother Uriah). 

The primary town situation was inspired from the parable of the prodigal son.  Lots of internal family drama which Uriah solved pretty-much single-handedly by confronting the family patriarch during family dinner.  It was a good thing I took the advice from y'all and "went deeper" during town creation or the ending would have been too short and anti-climatic.

Fortunately for the story, the prodigal son had returned home with "a friend", Brother Harland, who turned out to be possessed by a very lustful demon who was charming various women and young ladies about town.  This was my version of "the community under attack by demons."

This ultimately led to a boss fight right in the middle of town out on main street. Harland was hanging out at the school yard during recess, watching all the young lasses awkwardly try and flirt with him. The school marm, also overcome with lustful desires, approached Harland just as the Dogs strolled up.  There was no question what was about to happen, the conflict went directly to gun fighting.

It was vicious.  All three PC's took gunfighting fallout damage, which resulted in "long term" for Shadrach, "injured" for Zebidiah, and "badly injured" for Uriah.  I was sweating bullets, I really didn't want to kill off two of the industry's leading game designers in their first session! Fortunately everyone made their healing rolls. Whew.

There was one call I made which I'm not sure was exactly legal or not so I'd love to get feedback on it.  After the second round of combat (when the villain raised with a 17 and everyone took damage!) when it was Ogre's raise Brother Shadrach put out a strong raise of 13, "leveling my rifle right where his heart is --- or where it would be, if he had one."  He thought he had me 'cause I was running low on dice.  But I decided to give the villain relationship dice for the women and girls he was seducing with his demonically-enhanced seduction skill and rolled 2d8.  The result, a 14.

How do you block a bullet with a relationship?  <evil grin>

Oh yes I did!   "Brother Shadrach, your aim was true, the bullet went straight to the chest. Unfortunately, 'brother' Harland pulled the school teacher in front of him as a human shield and she absorbed the blow, and is now slumping to the ground, quite dead."

Technically legal or not?  Either way, it was the highlight moment of the game for sure.

The table was stunned. Ogre had that look of shock you only rarely see in a player's eyes, especially valuable when encountered on the face of a player as experienced as those of us in the indie RPG scene.  Of course Jonathan Tweet had to immediately rub it in. "Wow, Brother Shadrach, I'm really impressed with how you put down that school teacher to get to the demon. Don't think I'd a had the heart to do that."

Even better, the school teacher's husband was a blood relative of Shadrach. Shadrach now has a new trait, "Killed my cousin's wife in a gunfight.  2d8"

Not to let it drop easily, during reflection Tweet observed, "I think I like Ogre's character a little less now..."

Goddamn I love this game.

--Peter

Quote from: Heikki Hallamaa on May 25, 2010, 10:48:08 PM
Secrets:
Specialization (Jarkko De Badeh)

Really, what more needs to be said? He should have that generic adventuring crunch from the last chapter of WoN, though.

You remind me of something with these great NPCs - it might be worthwhile to make some colorful NPCs with interesting crunch for TSoY at some point as a collection of sorts. The nature of the game is such that the largest bit of scenario-prep is actually in creating NPCs, and even that is relatively arbitrary as long as the NPC cast has strong convictions about whatever it is they do. I could see running a campaign off a "thousand faces" type collection of these people of Near myself. I'll have to remember this if I have some spare time for TSoY at some point...

I've never had Dracula travel to England, but it's certainly a constantly looming possibility in the scenario. I wouldn't hesitate to swap settings mid-run when I run out of ideas for Transylvania if I were to play this thing in multiple-session length, for instance. Harker's fiance Mina could get introduced as more than voicemail, Van Helsing would have even more reason to hang around, Dracula (read: his minions) could tussle with civilization, he could get a new minion out of Renfield or whatshisname (if that one went right, I must conclude that I'm obsessed with this novel)... lots of opportunities.

When I'm running this as a demo I don't bother the players with customizing Wants and Needs and such - those things are there to guide group Master creation, which I'm not doing in a demo anyway (that's why I'm doing Dracula in the first place, right?). Let's see, I'll find Dracula's sheet... here's my default Dracula, although I'll usually have the players make changes to the more interesting bits if we're playing more than a couple of scenes.

Count Dracula, Master

Type: Feeder
The vampire count is preternaturally vitalized by ingested human blood.
Aspect: Beast
His intense gaze and languid movements are remindful of a great hunter.
Need: Blood
Dracula needs young blood to keep up his ancient existence and inhuman appeal.
Want: Control
Forced to face a world on the brink of modernization, the count clings to power.
Demesne: Castle Poena
A medieval battlement Dracula rules by right of conquest, the castle is a memento of his life.
Outsiders: Civilization
Fearful yet fascinated, the count is determined to master this new world.
Village: Arefu
A backwards place near castle Poena, mere remnant of Dracula's former domain.
Fear 3
He is Vlad Tepes, Son of the Dragon, ancient ruler of this land and beyond.
Reason 3
It is year 1897, and most of the world is illuminated by the light of Reason.

As can be seen, my default set-up is very obvious and canonical, which I find desirable in a demo scenario. Still, that blood-sucking thing is usually something of a background matter in actual play; I wouldn't be ingenious if I wrote Need: Corruption on that sheet, considering the antics my Dracula gets up to. He likes torturing his flesh-puppets psychologically and enticing them with the cold flesh of his female companions; he hates the Church and hounds the priest of Arefu; he seduces young women; his usually very staid castle erupts in wild bacchanals on some nights, when all forces of hell join him in celebration - the blood-sucking thing might come up, but what my beastly Dracula really gets off on is corrupting and controlling people. This comes in stark contrast to his skin-deep civilized flair; Dracula likes to think of himself as an epitome of culture, even though as his mores and knowledge of the world come to be more and more anachronistic, causing him great anxiety.

QuoteSo say the PCs are trying to escape Pirate Island, and as GM I don't want them to - I have a brilliant idea for a plot twist that needs them to still be on the Island. So the PCs get in a ship, and I have it attacked by a giant squid. The players have to roll, but they manage to beat the squid, so I have a second squid attack them

"But a good GM wouldn't do that!/Only a dick GM would do that!"
Sorry, just my warped sense of humour, parroting the all too common behaviour of sanctioning someone for actually playing the system while also giving up on mechanical system design. No, I'm not saying that, just joking!

QuoteIt's an extreme and perhaps absurd example, but I think it reflect the fact that GMs railroad PCs by simply forcing them into an increasingly narrow set of options. What I'm *trying* to come up with is a system that allows the GM to still do all of the above if he wants, but he will be constrained by having to invest some of his finite resources in order to do it.

If I understand you, I agree that if a GM has unlimited resources, then whatever you do is at his whim. Even if he doesn't railroad you and you go the way you want, it's because at a whim he decided not to deploy his unlimited resources. In a way your only ever doing what he wants when he has unlimited resources/your always railroaded into what he wants (I think that's why people grope at 'oh, he'd be a dick to do that' as some sort of social currency, but it involves actually calling people names/threatening to call names as part of regular gameplay...*brrrr*).

I think finite resources will make a significant difference on the matter. Just writing a supportive post on the matter! Hope you don't mind!

Hello all.

This is my first session of Dogs in the Vineyard. I have repositioned my questions up top here, as putting them at the bottom and not including DitV in the title seems to have prevented anyone from responding. First the concerns, then  the character bios, then the town.

Here are my concerns:

1. Is the town grabby enough? My players are having a blast, and everyone thinks its absolutely wonderful how messed up Zachary's family is, and how central they are to the plot.
2. Did I make Jacob too good to be true? Would I have been better off not having a solid candidate the Dogs can get behind, or is this to my advantage? After all, he is not well known in the community, and many parishioners support the Martin's handling of things.
3. Did I handle the initiations well enough? I noticed after the fact that the choice of initiation necessarily limits what stats and traits the characters can call on, and so in some ways hedges the bet. For example, an exhibition played to Hezekiah's strengths, and so he easily used his traits to overcome my limited dice pool, likewise with Zachary. On the same hand, Ada was restricted, being unable to escalate beyond just talking within the confines of a courtroom. (admittedly I realize she had some applicable traits, but we both missed it). Any suggestions on how I could have handled these better?
4. How should I proceed at the Martin's? I have an idea that Daniella and David should confront the dogs, and that Paul will more or less shrug them off and refer them to his wife and son. The Sunday service is in two days, and Ada plans to be officiating instead of Daniella. There is going to be obvious tension. So far I hadn't determined how the demons are attacking the town, so maybe another fire is in order once the dog's intentions are known? Or an angry congregation demanding the dogs leave well enough alone? Any ideas for the demons? How they could attack the town, and how I could embroil the dogs? Also, is the love triangle between Cox, Blackburn and Daniella juicy enough, or does it need something more, like an unexpected pregnancy?

The PCs:

Brother Zachary
Zach has a Complicated Community background. While he was explaining his background, he needed suggestions,so I offered broken family, which he liked. After some discussion, he settled on one of my off hand suggestions: drunkard for a father and a sorceress for a mother. He later developed his family a little further to involve a troubled brother, whom he is at odds with for usurping his Father's role in taking care of the family. This was especially helpful, since I wanted a drunken steward with a sorceress wife for my town already. Now it was all interconnected! The relationships reflect this, and the time he spent in the Territorial Association's Militia has made him into a grim man.

Sister Ada
Ada has a complicated history. As a child she was stolen by cultists and raised to follow their demonic practices. She was rescued by a group of dogs early enough to spare her the worst traumas, and brought to Bridal Falls City to be raised there, where she became a dog out of a strong desire to be righteous (her family was unknown and lost, so she had nowhere to go).  Having no family makes it difficult for me to get people she is interested in for the town, but her relationships and traits focus heavily on demons, cultists and such, so as long as something like that is involved (and isn't it always?) I should be fine. She has a great many traits and relationships devoted to demons and former cult members that she knew, hoping to come into conflict, not return to her former ways.

Brother Hezekiah
Hezekiah is a proud man born to a proud family. He is endowed with many gifts and excels in his position as a dog, his only flaw being his very pride. He has taken plenty of traits and relationships with his horse and guns to make him a bit of a loner character, but he sticks with the dogs, and tends to try to be a leader, since he's the natural choice of course! He has the Strong History background. Also, he has a family complication in which he gets along well enough with his extended family, but his immediate family could barely wait to send him off to Bridal Falls, glad to be rid of the fellow.

The Initiations;

Cain wanted Hezekiah to learn humility, so I set up an exhibition of skills at the training grounds, in which the experts would show him up, and teach him that he still has much to learn. interestingly, I rolled horribly, and managed my dice just as poorly. They handily bested him in sharpshooting, but he took home the prize with his horsemanship, and is now even more proud than he already was, though a little sore about meeting a better gunman.

Cat wanted Ada to have rid herself of her dark past, to be seen for the virtuous woman she was. I devised a court setting in a nearby territorial alliance city, where she would testify against some of the cultists she had formerly been a part of. She rolled poorly, and I rolled ridiculously well. The attorney easily sullied her name, drawing to light her own former cult membership, and calling her authority as a Dog into question, sending her back to Bridal Falls in shame and humiliation.

Nick wanted Zachary to learn the truth about his sister's mysterious death. She had come down sick while he was in the military, and suspected his brother's hand. Outside of the game he informed me that he wanted his brother David to have poisoned her. So I set up an initiation before he left for training, where he confronted his brother about his suspicions. They started off just talking, and neither could gain the upper hand, slinging insults and accusations back and forth. Finally, both of them running out of dice, Zachary escalated to combat, and punched his brother for one of the insult. His brother attacked with the ax he was holding (just the blunt side), but ultimately lost due to Zachary's military training. Sobbing, he admitted to killing his sister as a means of preserving the family. She had become troublesome after Zachary left, and it was all he could do keeping his father and mother in line, that he had to get rid of her somehow. He claimed the poisoning was meant only to weaken her, not kill her, but he knew and Zachary knew that such was a lie.

Double Bridge City
The Steward is none other than Paul Martin, Brother Zachary's Father. He was only recently appointed steward (an interim one until someone arrived to appoint a new one) two weeks after Zachary left for training as a dog, as the old steward had died mysteriously in a fire. He was a drunkard before, but seemed to have cleaned up his act. After bearing the load of steward for a few weeks he went back to the drink, and his wife Daniella and son David have been tending to his duties and offering services ever since. Many of those in the congregation approve of them, and believe them to be doing an exemplary job, given the circumstances. Daniella wants to be stewardess herself, and this is indeed another cult following (as she has already cleaned up her act once). Daniella is also Hezekiah's Aunt. Not only does she want to be stewardess, but she believes she deserves a better husband, a righteous man, and has chosen the younger Michael Cox, a local farmhand who is indeed somewhat righteous. He is not aware of her desires. His only vice is his illicit relationship with Adelei Blackburn, the wife of Caleb Blackburn, a man with a savage temper, and another local farmer.

What everybody wants
Daniella Martin wants to be named Stewardess, and to consecrate her marriage to Michael Cox. She secretly wishes (but is not actively praying) for the death or dis-involvement of Adilei in his life.
Paul Martin wants his wife to be named stewardess and to be left alone to his drunken contemplations
Daniella Blackburn wants her husband's anger (and abuses) to stop, and to be allowed a quiet dalliance with Michael.
Michael Cox wants the Blackburn's marriage nullified, and to marry Daniella himself.
Caleb Blackburn wants Michael dead for sullying his wife.
David Martin wants his brother to leave, and never come back, leaving management of the family in his "capable" hands.

What's Happening
Once we got into the town, the first thing that became apparent was that a drunken steward wouldn't do. So, instead of going to meet the steward (and thus learning of all the juicy things going on) they started interviewing people to be the potential new steward. Speaking first with Adelei, they learned of Michael, whom she recommended as steward, despite his young age. Upon finding Michael, they read him as mostly righteous, with a little something off, and he nominated Caleb Blackburn, whom he admires and sees as a righteous, if somewhat angry, man. Michael's father backs up his choice, but also mentions Jacob Miller, a recently widowed farmer who hasn't been doing well of late, keeps to himself, but is a devout follower of the King of Life, and quite the knowledgeable sort. (this is an NPC I made up on the fly, who ended up being everything a good steward should be). Upon meeting Jacob, the dogs come to pretty much that conclusion (he even humbly suggested that Paul would make a fine steward, if he could just give up the drink, or perhaps Caleb, if his temper could be curbed). The session ended there, with the Dogs on their way to the Martin Household, to confront the interim stewards.

Thanks again for any help,
--norm