Advice on demoing DitV for one player

[Andrew Morris]

Does anyone have advice and/or experience running Dogs in the Vineyard for only one player? It seems that the system would lose some of its luster without multiple players, but I'm really just guessing.

A friend is interested in some of the indie games, and DitV was one of the two games he mentioned wanting to try out. So, it would probably only be for a half hour to an hour, not a full session.

I'd like to know if there's something better than just running through a few conflicts to show how the mechanics work, because that's all I've got at the moment.

[lumpley]

Jason M has experience: [DitV] One Dog in Fort Lemon

My advice is, start with character creation, and when his character's made, play a town! If you run out of time before the town's done, quit. It'll probably go just fine.

-Vincent

[Andrew Morris]

Fair enough. I thought the lack of other players and short timeframe might detract from it, but, as stated, I was just guessing.

Thanks for the link, it's useful information.

[Jason Morningstar]

In my case it was not a problem at all.  I think the system really shines with 2 or 3 Dogs, but having no viable backup adds a certain frisson to decision-making.  It really didn't make much difference mechanically.