[DitV Town] Widow's Willow

[Stefan]

Hi everybody,

I just finished my first town for DitV, and thought to get me some feedback. The town is designed to get my players in over their heads and will propably need two or three sessions. I'm not sure, however, if I got it "right"... Any suggestions and comments are most welcome.

Have fun,
Stefan

Widow's Willow

Not far from the foothills, surrounded by green grass and blossoming orchard, lies Widow's Willow. As most girls in the branch will gleefully whisper to anybody who cares to listen, the name is derived from the first stewards wife, who, according to legend, hanged herself at the willow tree in the town square, after she was proclaimed a heretic and chased off. If the story is true, no-one can say.

Recently Widow's Willow became a growing community. Some small treks of Faithfuls arrived last summer, and ever since the whole town is working to build new houses and, of course, a bigger church to praise the Lord of Life.

But in a place with some fifty men working, accidents are bound to happen. And so they did. Young Phineas Brody's Leg was shattered when a tree fell. He lived through a winter fever, but has to learn how to use crutches these days. His father, Herod Brody, is the Branch's shoemaker. The same winter fever which nearly took his son weakend the old man himself. Phineas is to inherit his business, but Herod would feel better if he knew Phineas in caring hands, preferably the hands of a wife. He encourages him to go courting ever since Phineas is able to leave his fathers house.

Something's Wrong

Pride: The Three Crones

So Phineas went a-courtin'. Three fine matches were in sight: Chastity, the Steward Judah Hamlin's daughter, Adelia, the shopkeeper Andrew Broad's daughter, and Maria, the daughter of Mark Jackson, a rich local farmer. All three father knew well, that the future tailor would provide well for their dear girls, even being a cripple.

Enter the Crones. Edna Hamlin, Bethia Jackson and Meredith Broad, three sisters and mothers to the three most valuable members of the congregation. They were soon to agree that no granddaughter of them was, ever, to mary a cripple. And giving it thought, no girl in town should be forced to wed Phineas at all. Not if they'd have a word.

Pride: Chastity

But what injustice began with those old women would only follow an innocent girl's sin. When Phineas Brody lay sick with fever, the Steward's daughter helped care for him and his father. Mercy turned to love, love to desire, and now Chastity is certain to be the only one to ever love Phineas  truly.

Pride: Phineas

Phineas is a broken man. He lost the chance to marry the girl he loves. He lost his daughter. If his fate is to suffer at the handy of his brothers and sisters, he wont have a part in their community anymore.

Injustice: Proposal refused

Edna, Bethia, and Meredith gave their sons a hard time. All three men turned Phineas down. Steward Hamlin said he could't do the work expected of a husband. Mark Jackson refused, saying his daughter loved another. Andrew Broad gave no reason at all.

Injustice: Work refused

Phineas and his father, Herod Brody, began leaving work undone. Especially work for the Broads, Jacksons or Hamlins, but their work is lacking in quality and punctuality, both. They believe to rightfully punish those who disgraced Phineas.

Sin: Desire and Lust

Chastity and Phineas shared a bed. Only once. Both are troubled and disturbed about it. A marriage could have righted the mistake, but this chance is gone. To make things worse, Chastity conceived and gave birth to a girl only a week before the Dogs arrive.

Sin: Disunity

Edna, Meredith, and Bethia conspired against Phineas Brody. But he is not their only victim. They think themselves rightful judges of marriage in Widow's Willow. Elias Turner, the blacksmith's son, will be having a hard time to find a wife, as he was proclaimed an ,,improper" match.

Sin: Violence

Ezra Turner, the blacksmith's wife, had an ,,accident" last week. She was shoved in front of a carriage after speaking out against the old women.

Demonic Attacks

One can imagine, the Demons rejoiced. At the moment, they are content to let Edna, Meredith, and Bethia go on. If they set their zeal on another young man, things will happen. The Boy will encounter bad luck and accidents, he will seem untrustworthy and seem a troublemaker. Parents will react protective (well, more than usual), even aggressive, if asked about their daughters. The Demons prefer subtlety to action, but this might change any time.

False Doctrine: Wise Women should look out, and know the best, for their grandchildren.

Corrupt Worship: People in Widow's Willow pay more attention to Edna, Meredith, and Bethia, than to their own judgement. Fathers ask them for advice, mothers keep their daughters away from declared ,,improper" boys.

False Priesthood: So, the Three Crones got themselves a following. And, accidentally, there's three of those old women...

Sorcery: So far, there was only one instance of Sorcery, when Chastity Hamlin's just-born daughter died only minutes after her first scream. The Demons stand ready to defend their ,,Priestesses", should they call for aid, but keep themselves in the back of things.

Hate and Murder: Chastity and Phineas lost their daughter. Many children from ,,improper" marriages are due to follow. For now, there is one unmarked grave besides the town graveyard.

If the Dog's didn't come: Edna, Meredith, and Bethia will establish their authority, controlling marriage and families in Widow's Willow. All ,,improper" people will be murdered, until there are not enough Faithful left to bring the branch over next winter. Widow's Willow will simply cease to exist.

People and what they want:

Phineas Brody wants to marry Chastity Hamlin. He wants to be treated just and as a member of the congregation. [Son of Herod Brody]

Herod Brody wants justice for his son. He'd like to see some people suffer for their actions, but wont take any violent action against them. [Father of Phineas Brody]

Judah Hamlin essentially wants three things. His daughters shame to be forgotten. His town to be quiet. And his Mother to shut up and leave him be, Lord be good. [Steward, son of Edna Hamlin, husbad to Lily Hamlin, father of Chastity Hamlin]

Lily Hamlin wants a fine match for her daughter, one her mother-in-law will consent to. Her daughter should be a proper young girl. [Wife of Judah Hamlin, mother of Chastity Hamlin]

Chastity Hamlin wants to marry Phineas Brody. She suffers deeply from the loss of her child, but is to afraid of her parents to speak out against her grandmother's friends. She keeps to the house these days, rarely finding any sleep, crying a lot. [daughter of Judah and Lily Hamlin, granddaughter of Edna Hamlin]

Mark Jackson wants to be left alone. He tolerates his mother's meddling, as long as his daughter is provided for by her husband. [Local landowner, son of Bethia Jackson, father of Adelia Jackson]

Adelia Jackson wants to marry Elias Turner. She wants the old women to keep to their business, and to leave Elias alone. [Daughter of Mark Jackson, granddaughter of Bethia Jackson]

Andrew Broad is worried by the events in Widow's Willow. But since Ezra Turner ,,fell" under that carriage, he is afraid of his mother and her followers. [Son of Meredith Broad, father of Maria Broad]

Maria Broad is unconcerned. She doesn't understand what's happening around her. She would like the Dogs to help her friend Chastity Hamlin. [Daghter of Andrew Broad, Granddaughter of Meredith Broad]

Jebediah Turner wants the Dogs to heal his wife. [Husband to Ezra Turner, father of Elias Turner]

Ezra Turner is unconscious from her accident. If healed, she'll urge the Dogs to do something about Edna, Meredith, and Bethia. The Demons are not like to tolerate that.

Elias Turner wants his bad luck to end. He's a good boy and wants his parents to be proud of him.

Edna Hamlin, Bethia Jackson, Meredith Broad want the Dogs to stay out of their business. After all, they know what's best for anyone.

What do the Demons want the Dogs to do: Leave, obviously. But if the Dogs suspect the wrong people (Chastity and Phineas, for example), they will work hard to keep them on the wrong track.

[Stefan]

No comments? Is this good or bad? ;-)

As my usual Monday night gaming session was canceled, I'll be GM tonight (7pm CET). We'll give this town a try, if you care, I'll write up how it went. Any suggestions in advance are most welcome.

Have fun,
Stefan

[Lagnath]

After looking over your town and mulling it over in my head I can't really find anything that stands out as "amiss" with your setup. I can't say how your group will handle this particular situation but it certainly looks like you have enough information to keep your characters exploring for a while.

Given the number of people in the town that characters might interact with I would make a double batch of proto-nps's but that's about it. I can't think of anything else I would do.

The only piece of information that I usually like to have in my head is who the first NPC is that's going to come to the dogs with their problem. I find that parties are overly trusting of the first person that you send toward them in a town. This probably comes from years of people playing "lead by a nose ring" style D&D where they are used to a NPC coming up and hooking them into the plot. If your play group behaves similarly you can use this either way to your advantage.

Hope play goes well with your group, I would be interested to hear how it plays out.

[Stefan]

Okay, here's my account of last nights game. Maybe I'm operating outside my English language proficiency here, so please, cut me some slack ;-)

We were five people at the table, Chris, Stephan, Tim and Sebastian as PCs, myself as GM. Chris and I had once before played Dogs at a local convention, the other three weren't familiar with the game (except from my ramblings how coll it was). We started a little later than planned and went right to character generation.

The four Dogs we came up with were:

Brother Ezekiel (Chris), an ordinary guy with a well-rounded background, strong in hid beliefs, but lenient in execution of his authority. Chris' accomplishment was to overcome his shyness in front of other people, which went well for him.

Brother Earnest (Sebastian), a boy orphaned after his parents were accused of heresy (by him, actually). A cold-hearted man, with an unbending will (Trait: ,,I stick to my decisions 2d8"). Accomplishment: ,,I hope I learn to care for other people." He failed. We named his Trait ,,I can't build a long-time relationship 1d6"

Brother Daniel's (Stephan) a native to Bridal Falls with a strong history of learning in the Faith. Eager to judge and only two major Traits (,,I know the book 3d8", ,,Searching for the truth 2d10"). His Accomplishment: He tried to learn not to butt in on things not his concern at all. He failed, too, and got the Trait ,,I'm a meddler 1d6".

Brother Matthaeus (Tim) came from a strong community, which cherished their children, and protected them from all harm. He had my favourite Trait: ,,I see other people's point of view". Fun. His Accomplishment was if he could help a friend lying sick with a fever. He succeeded and got the trait ,,I know how to treat sick people 1d6".

So far a nice collection of Dogs, perhaps a little to eager to punish, but this changed as we moved along.

We jumped right in, and after two or three sentences to give them a feel for the town they met with the Steward and were invited to stay with him and his family. After dinner the Steward told the PCs about recent events (Phineas' accident, Ezra Turners accident, Herod Brody's behaviour). So Early next morning the Dogs split up to visit the shoemakers and the blacksmith.

Earnest and Daniel met Herod Brody in his shop. Herod heard about the Steward's accusations, but replied it was typical, after shunning him and his son, to be accused by him and his friends. The Dogs promised to look into this, but pressed Herod for a confession. This was the night's first conflict, ,, Does he confess to his pride?". Even escalating to physical did not help the man, and he confessed to his pride, and promised to make it all up. He was left off the hook (for the moment).

Meanwhile, Ezekiel and Matthaeus went to see the blacksmith. At the smithy they met Elias Turner, who asked them to do something about his bad luck. The Dogs were taken aback, but did promise to look into this matters more closely. Then they went on to meet Jebediah Turner, the blacksmith. They were asked to see after his wife, the Dogs agreed, and Brother Matthaeus tried to help the unconscious woman.

Here I encountered my first problem as a GM. The book says to roll as much dice of Demonic Influence a s the PCs discovered up to the moment of the conflict. But it felt to easy to start a conflict Body and Heart of a Dog against 4d8, so I decided to roll 3d10 Demonic Influence into the conflict... The conflict itself was resolved, Ezra Turner healed, and the overall development of the narrative cool, but my call felt, hm, not ,,clean", if anyone can relate to this... Suggestions, anybody?

The Dogs met and talked about the events so far. Steward Hamlin was next on their list, so they went to the Steward's house for lunch and another conflict. Well, the Steward wasn't there, but after some remarks by Elias Turner about Chastity Hamlin being reclusive and silent of late, Brother Daniel wanted a word with the girl. He went in to the kitchen and was faced with an angry mother, Lily Hamlin. Conflict ensued, and Daniel was forced to retreat... Here I began having some fun with the Proto-NPC Traits. ,,My kitchen, my rule 2d10", poor Daniel never stood a chance.

But the other Dogs now wanted to know what Lily was hiding, and cornered her into another conflict. Three Dogs against the Steward's wife. Well, after a short conflict, she talked about Chastity's pregnancy and the dead child. The first definite sin discovered, Brother Earnest went to find Chastity somewhere in town, while his Brothers stayed to discuss what they found and spin some theories.

In town, Earnest met Maria Broad, who asked him if the Dogs could take care of her friend, Chastity. She talked about her suffering, crying a lot, seeming restless and depressed. I don't think Brother Earnest or the Player himself took her very seriously. Not having found Chastity, he returned to the Hamlins' home, only to find Chastity in her room... Yeah, one could have guessed ;-)

Chastity was faced by Daniel and Earnest. Two headstrong, unforgiving Dogs against a frightened girl. Strong stuff. As Stakes we declared ,,Does she give away the father?", and we began. I pulled every register, as Trait dice were concerned. ,,I'm a good girl 2d8", ,,I needn't trouble my parents 1d8", a 3d6 Relationship to Phineas, and a 1d6 Relationship to her dead daughter. I even escalated to physical when Chastity tried to run away, but Daniel's player escalated, too, and grabbed her arms. Finally, poor, poor Chastity had to give, but unto this point  she had gained 6d4 4d6 Fallout. I rolled a 12 for Fallout, and weakenend as she already was, I ruled this to be a 13 for dramatic reasons. Chastity fainted, just after giving Phineas  away, and was only barely saved in a follow-up conflict.

Now, this scene was grand. My players seemed pretty shaken afterwards, and it could have led to some intense character play. Sadly, it was very late, so the guys were more concerned with resolving the town, than their Dogs' conscience. Even so, Bother Daniel gained the Trait ,,I'm a Dog 1d4" through Fallout, justified by him being deeply hurt by his own actions.

Meanwhile, Brothers Ezekiel and Matthaeus found Phineas Brody. They confronted him with their knowledge about Chastity, and he spilled right away. He didn't justify himself, but swore that he loved her, and would marry her at once. Yeah, they could have saved Chastity some trouble.

Back at the Stewards house, the three old women were found, talking about marriages and, to the Dogs' minds, spreading gossip and Disunity. Conflict, four Dogs against three old women. Stakes: ,,Will they see their mistake?". Well, it was fun to see all four Dogs giving before the fury of three elderly women. I rolled them as a group of NPCs, Acuity plus Heart (7d6) for Edna Hamlin, and 2d6 for Bethia and Meredith each. After Traits and Relationships came into play, a whole lot of dice went against the Dogs. Some 11d6, 5d8, and 210, I believe. As the Dogs had very bad luck with their dice rolls, they had to give, one after the other. But they all consented that somewhere in the midst of sin and crime, they'd find those three ladies.

Sadly, it was later still, but we weren't inclined to stop, even though some had to get up early next morning. We hurried through the last part. Steward Hamlin confessed about his daughter, but denied any knowledge about disunity, especially with his mother and aunts involved. The PCs did not press the matter, so no conflict. The shopkeeper Andrew Broad was questioned, tried to get away, attacked Brother Daniel, was threatened with guns, but fell to his knees before Brother Earnest, when he confronted the man with the Book of Life. Fearing for his life, he confessed his mothers influence over him and his cousins. The Dogs made him stay at home and went to arrest the old women.

Final conflict in the streets of Widow's Willow, Edna, Bethia, and Meredith invoking the demons to kill Ezra Turner, while four armed farm hands tried to keep the Dogs away. The stakes were a bit blurry, and honestly, we were at the fifth or sixth raise when we realized we never set the stakes. We consented to name the stakes ,,Will Ezra Turner be saved?". Group conflict, 5d10 Demonic Influence (Hate and Murder all about), and I threw a lot of free dice into this one. In the end, the Dogs prevailed. But their Fallout was severe. Daniel went to 16 directly, Ezekiel and Matthaeus rolled 14 and missed their Body rolls. Only Earnest got lucky. 6d6 5d8, and only Short Term fallout... Some people just... Whatever ;-)

So, Earnest rushed to his comrades side. We pooled all injuries up to one single conflict, ,,Can Earnest save his comrades?". He succeeded by overcoming his aversion to other people, and taking a new Relationship ,,My fellow Dogs 5d6". Drama and suspense, but he succeeded. It was a narrow thing, mind you, but non theless.

Things were rooted out, judgement time. Edna Hamlin had been killed by a gunshot, her sisters Bethia and Meredith were burned as witches. Andrew Broad, Mark Jackson, and Steward Judah Hamlin were tarred and feathered. The Stewards' family had to leave town. Herod Brody received a beating for his injustice. Phineas was given a choice: Stay in Widow's Willow, or marry Chastity and leave with her. Well, they married. Jebediah Turner became Steward. All in all, some interesting calls.

In conclusion, I liked the session. But it would have benefitted if we'd just split it into two nights. Some calls were rushed towards the end, and the judgement calls were made while people were packing up to leave. Well, it was 2am by then... Overall, the town took 4 hours of play (not including character generation), but it could have easily taken one or two hours more.

That said, we had some great moments. My favorite was the conflict with Chastity. Poor girl. But considering my players gaming history, everyone seemed to be comfortable with the system after a short time. Some momentum was lost when they agonized over Traits and how to include them in a Raise or See, but it worked all along.

The complexity was okay. But even though the guys agreed that the number of NPCs was manageable, some people were never questioned. The Jackson family, for example. Ezra Turner was healed, but never questioned. Bethia and Meredith had a part in a group conflict, but were never singled out alone. This might be a side effect of our overall time problem.

I'll definitely need to read part of the rulebook again. I was wingin' it along the way and it work, but I'm not satisfied by my own performance. But everyone had a fun time, so everything worked out, right?

Okay, a long account, but I hope you'll like it ;-)

Have Fun,
Stefan

[Stefan]

@Lagnath: Yes, I prepared 12 Prot-NPCs. But I only needed five. Pretty fascinating, when you think about the number of NPCs, but it served for an awesome and fun game night.

[lumpley]

Stefan, I'm glad the game went well for you.

How did your players feel about your ad-hoc rules calls?

Are you going to play again with this group?

-Vincent

[Stefan]

Oh, they never suspected it, I think... I was the only one who actually read the rules.

Especially in the last conflict I got a few groans when using more free dice, but this might have been because of time, or the number of Fallour dice allready taken. I'm still waiting for feedback myself.

Speaking for me, I'll propably hold back on dice in future sessions. It's fun to invent Traits on the fly and throw more and more dice into a conflict. But a long conflict tends to bog down, and hold the game up. Central conflicts should be hard on Dogs, and escalating is a great way to force players into decisions (I still get the shivers, thinking about a Dog raising his hand against a 15 year old girl....). But some less important conflicts should be resolved quick, as long as the players handle the situation well.

I'm not sure if we will play again with this group. Monday's game was a filler, because our regular GM has some exam this week. One player filled in for other guys, so this is no regular assembly at all. I'd like to play some more with those Characters, though. I had some problems with Traits selected for Brother Daniel, so some changes there, perhaps, or, more likely, a new character.

Time will tell ;-)

Have Fun,
Stefan