[DitV] Can someone essplain to me how Ceremonies work?

[Robert Bohl]

I read the section on Ceremonies but I really can't make sense of it.  It seems like invoking them just changes the dice size of the Fallout.  What's the deal?  What do they do?

[lumpley]

They allow you to raise against demons and the souls of the faithful, neither of which can you talk to, outrun, kiss, shove, punch, or shoot with a gun.

Yes, other than that they only change fallout size!

-Vincent

[Robert Bohl]

I see.  So by invoking these things you can get into conflicts with people's souls and demons, and the fallout size is changed for both you and the demon, or just the demon?

[lumpley]

Well, as always, your fallout dice have to match the blow you take. If a branch steward, say, uses ceremony on your soul, you take fallout dice of the appropriate size.

By default, the demonic equivalent to ceremony is ferocity, which you'll find under "possessed people" in the npc chapter. In your game, however, can demons use some sort of corrupt ceremony to inflict badness upon the Dogs? Maybe so!

-Vincent

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

What clicked for me was when I realized that Ceremonies are just examples of how you can see and raise, with fallout size listed.

If you had a game where there was, I dunno, mind reading and kung-fu, you'd have to figure out where they fit in the heirarchy, too, just so no one's surprised.

[Robert Bohl]

That is very helpful, glyphmonkey.  In fact I'm fairly sure I won't have a problem using them again in the future.

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

That is very helpful, glyphmonkey.  In fact I'm fairly sure I won't have a problem using them again in the future.

Rockin'. Let us know how it came out!

[Norbert Matausch]

Hi all!
I'm starting my first DitV game on October 29... but I have not quite understood how the Ceremony rules work...
I understand that I can use it against non-corporeal enemies, that it has Fallout,... that's all clear to me. But: What attributes do I use for Ceremonies?

[Robert Bohl]

glyphmonkey explained it perfectly to me.  When going after someone's soul or a demon, let's say:

Demon says, "Aah, your mother's here with us!"

You make the sign of the tree.

You then read from the Book of Life.

It howls as it takes the blow.

That's two ceremonies and you used them as your "turn", against a demon.

[Neal]

What attributes do I use for Ceremonies?

As I understand it, you use whatever dice you've already got on the table.  As the book says, "bringing ceremony into a conflict is NOT escalating.  You don't get to roll new dice -- unless you've got a Trait or Belonging that now applies" (DitV 44).  Ceremony is described as being "like a weapon," but unlike a weapon, you don't get any extra dice for it (just Fallout dice for your opponent).

An example might be if Brother Jeroboam were struggling with a possessed person, swinging hayforks and punches and suchlike, and he decided to make the Sign of the Tree as one of his Raises.  He'd just use the dice he already had on the table (the ones for a hayfork-swinging punchout), but if the possessed person Took the Blow, the ceremony would dictate its own Fallout dice.

Now, if Brother Jeroboam had "Very special jar of consecrated earth blessed by a prophet, 1d8" as one of his Belongings, and he used that in an Annointing ceremony, he'd get that d8 for bringing the jar into play (though not, strictly speaking, for using the ceremony itself).  Same goes for Brother Jeroboam's Trait of "Brother Archibald punished me for my forgetfulness by making me memorize, like, half the Book of Life, 1d6."  If he were Reciting from the Book of Life as a ceremonial Raise, I'd let him bring that die into play.

At least, I think that's how it's supposed to work.  I'm sure someone will correct me if it's not.

[lumpley]

Neal: right on.

-Vincent

[Norbert Matausch]

Thank you! This helps a lot!
On a sidenote: I can't wait to play Dogs with my group :-)