A new batch of Dogs rides out

[Blankshield]

My slavish fanboy raving has convinced some locals to try Dogs.  We got together and did character creation last week, and they're quite hooked.  Next week they'll hit their first town.  In the meantime, here's the dogs:

Archibald
Strong History

Archibald is from a good strong family in the faith, with a rich history and a dedication to the roots of the faith.

A:4d6 B: 2d6 H: 2d6 W: 5d6

Traits:
I've met your kind before -3d6
I can usually figure it - 2d8
The Temple was my first home - 2d10
I've been called to serve - 1d10
Don't make me do this - 2d8

Relationships: 1d4 3d6 2d8
Temple Steward Isaih - taught me to be a steward and a dog 1d6
Sister Celiah - blood sister who prayed in the evenings with me 1d4

Belongings:
Large Hand Cannon 2d4
Jar of earh from the Temple gardens 2d6
Book of life (half a backpack by itself) embossed in many colors 2d8
Patchword coat done in black brown and grey.  Each square is embroidered with passages from the Book of Life, rising suns, verdant fields and mountains.  The bottom of the coat fades into purples and dark colors as though stained by demonic taint. - 2d6

----
Arianna Young
Strong Community

Arianna is daughter to Dogs, and sister to Dogs, and not entirely certain why she's a Dog.

A:3d6 B:2d6 H:5d6 W:4d6

Traits:
Voice of an Angel 2d6
Brutally sarcastic 2d8
high expectations of her skill 1d4
graceful like running water 1d6

Relationships: 2d6 4d8
The Dogs are like an extended family to me 3d10
immediate family 2d6

Belongings
Oversized thick wool coat that had been her fathers, deep red with bands of gold and rays of gold down the back with scores of white angels wings brocaded on 2d8
beautifully wrought pistol 2d6+1d4
old & well-cared for hymnal 2d6
Iron ring with engraved tree of life 1d6
dantakerous horse "Sinner" 1d4
----
Issac
Complicated history

Issac was a foundling by a Faithful family on their way west.  His family had settled in the 'middle' territory between East and the Faithful, and didn't survive.  He did.

A:3d6 B:4d6 H:5d6 W:4d6

Traits:
I'm God's watchdog? 4d4
Survivor 2d10
One place is much the same as any other 2d6

Relationships: 5d6
Steward Jeremiah who raised me 2d8

Belongings:
Dad's pocketwatch 2d6
otherwise nuthin' special.
----
Lazarus
Complicated Community

Lazarus has the dubious honor of being someone who's seen the King's light with his own eyes, having come much too close to death before getting brought back.  Sickness took the rest of his family

A:4d6 B:3d6 H:3d6 W:5d6

Traits:
Scripture 1d8
I'm a Dog 1d8
Friend of Death 3d6
Has seen the divine 2d6
Healer 1d6

Relationships:1d4 2d6 2d8 2d10
Steward Elijah who tended my illness 3d4

Belongings:
Balck horsemans coat with silver stitching on the back depicting the moment of death 2d6
Book of Life 2d6
other books of the Faith 1d6

This is running long and I'm running late, so I'll post their accomplishments tomorrow.

James

[ScottM]

Cool characters.  I like the way the d4s point toward issues they'll want to work on... like Archibald's Sister Celia, Arianna's high expectations of her skill, and Issac's I'm God's watchdog?  Lazarus's Friend of Death 3d6 isn't a d4, but it certainly sounds like an interesting trait-- maybe problematic, but a useful problem solver.

I'm looking forward to seeing what initiatory conflicts you came up with.
--Scott

[Mike Holmes]

I'm looking forward to seeing what initiatory conflicts you came up with.
--Scott

What Scott said. Got a town in mind yet?

Mike

[Blankshield]

Accomplishments:

Arianna wanted to reconcile her dad and her brother.  Eric, the player, said that he wanted both to be Dogs, but dogs that weren't on speaking terms, and hadn't been for years.
With that to go on, I set the scene: Arianna's brother was in Bridal Falls in between circuits, and they'd just finished catching up in her room when a knock on the door was followed without much pause by her dad walking in with her coat and letters from home.  He cut himself off in mid-sentence on seeing the brother and turns to leave.  Arianna brings in her brutally sarcastic trait in a block/dodge right away: "Gee Dad, it's great that you brought the letters.  Would have been nice if you brought your love, too, but you can't have everything, I guess."  The conflict went around a couple times, mostly with her dad, and it turned out that her dad had no truck with her brothers methods and her brother wouldn't listen to a damn thing her dad said.  She smacked down her dad hard with a raise I couldn't match: "Do you honestly think his methods are wrong?  That they don't come from the King of Life?  Are you trying to tell me my brother isn't a Dog?"  I gave, and her dad mumbled a "no, that ain't it".  The scene closed with them not exactly at ease with each other, but exchanging words for the first time in years.  Arianna got the trait "I brought a bridge to my pa and my brother".

Archibald's player wanted him to learn compassion; Archibald was coming off as kinda stone-hearted.  Isaac's player wanted him to help somebody.  I was able to tie these two together by doing them in the other order.
I set the scene: Isaac had gone off to meditate and be by himself in the foothills above Bridal Falls for a time, and just as he was settling in, heard a scream of pain and cry for help.  He went after it and found one of the other Dog candidates with his leg broken at the bottom of a scree slope.
Stakes were "Does Isaac help him?" Isaac got him over his horse and back into Bridal Falls, and it wasn't until almost there that he figured out the packs and such like meant this guy had been quitting and sneaking off.  The teachers came out and took charge, and over the next few weeks the candidate was back in class, but his heart was obviously not in it.  Isaac took him aside one day and gave him a talkin' too.  For the life of me I can't remember what Isaac said, but it turned the kid around, and he eventually became a Dog, albiet one with a permanent limp.  Isaac got the trait "He may walk crooked, but he's on the right path."

Archibald's scene was set as "you see Isaac coming into temple with another initiate over his horse, with a broken leg", the stakes were "Do you learn that it was compassion made the difference?"  Each of my raises was an interaction between Isaac and the candidate, with an additional perspective.  The first one was "Would have been kinder to hide his bags so the teachers didn't see he was runnin'" which was blocked with "Wouldn't be right to hide what he was doing".  It went along like that until the last scene which was Archibald overhearing some temple workers (not Dogs or former Dogs) gossiping about how the candidate should have just been turned out on his own, and he'd never make a good Dog.  Archibald ran out of dice, stormed in and chewed them out for gossip.  His trait that he picked up, which I absolutely frickin' LOVE is "There's sin here, and it's YOURS!"  He also gave himself as fallout a temporary 1d4 trait "Short-sighted".

Lazerus' player wanted him to gain something tying him to life to balance out all his death stuff.  We set the scene as a bunch of candidates learning to ride outside Bridal Falls.  More candidates than horses, so there was idle talk while waiting for turns.  Stakes were "Does Lazerus get drawn out of his own little world"  While waiting his turn, with some others who are chatting, Lazerus is not paying attention and gets caught off-guard by a pretty young candidate who turns to him and says "What do you think?"  He doesn't quite ignore her, but evades, and lets an awkard silence grow until his next turn.  Nothing changes over the next few weeks except that the girl takes a distinct pleasure in poking at Lazerus whenever the opportunity arises.  At this point Arianna's player sticks up his hand and says " Oooh  ooh! That's so me!" Everyone nods.  I keep playing her for the duration, but we agree that it's Arianna doing the poking.
This culminates one day at lunch when she plucks the book of life from his hands and says "what are you reading in here every day, anyway?"  Lazerus quotes her something about being alone in faith with only the King to guide and she counters with a quote about how we grow from each other (can't recall this one, exactly).  Lazerus reaches for his "other books of the faith" and there's peanut gallery comments about "going to the Apocrypha to answer that one!"  Arianna puts her hand on his before he can get it all the way out of his bag and says quietly "Sometimes the answers aren't in a book."  He gives, and takes that as his trait.  They also gave themselves relationship dice to each other.

Have I made it clear how absofrickinlutely I LOVE Dogs?

Mike: I don't have a town specifically in mind, but I'm thinking something to do with the chain of Stewardship.  This crew doesn't have anything to do with the hierarchy of the Faith per se, but when I look at their sheets I see issues about responsibility just screaming at me.  "Don't make me do this" "I'm God's Watchdog?" and the fact that *everyone* has either a relationship to a Steward or the Dogs, bigtime.  I'm half tempted to throw Colorado City Branch (ii) at them, actually...

James

[lumpley]

This is great.

-Vincent

[Paul Czege]

This is great.

I agree. When I'm rushed at work reading The Forge, and it's a DItV thread, I skim for the Traits. But Arianna's "daughter to Dogs, and sister to Dogs, and not entirely certain why she's a Dog," "Voice of an Angel 2d6" and "Brutally sarcastic 2d8" totally hooked me. I read the whole thread and was late for a meeting.

Paul