[DitV] Help with town: Bitterroot Mill

[Brian Newman]

I'm trying to make my first town, and I'm getting stuck right away.  Here's what I have so far:

- - - - -
Town: Bitterroot Mill

Pride: Brother Barley thinks he knows better than the Steward.  Brother Samuel took over the position of Steward from his father, who was a stern and unforgiving man – Samuel is soft-spoken and reads passages from the Book of Life as his form of giving practical life advice (which usually doesn’t help).  When Brother Barley gives advice, it’s always useful.  When Brother Barley spreads gossip, it’s always true.

Injustice: Brother Samuel’s position as Steward over the congregation of the town is being subverted.  Husbands’ positions as heads of their households are being subverted as the wives follow Brother Barley’s advice rather than their husbands’.

Sin: Sister Madeline, the wife of Brother Dameron the Miller, is seeing young Brother Penshaw behind her husband’s back.  Other women are doubting their husbands, talking back to them and so on.  Many folk are falling away from the ways of the Faith as they pay less and less attention to Steward Samuel.
- - - - -

I know what effects I want to have for the Demonic Attacks: whispering voices on the wind, even when the air is still, the wind gossips.  But I have no idea what kind of Demonic Attacks leads to that, or what kind of False Doctrine, Corrupt Worship, or False Priesthood that could lead to.  Does that mean I should stop there and call it done? 

[fmac]

Well, does the town *feel* done to you? Do you think you have enough conflict and to keep the Dogs busy for a couple of hours? If it does, then figure out what everybody wants from the Dogs, and call it quits. Otherwise, keep going. Not being sure where to go with it doesn't necessarily mean that the town's finished.

Looking at what you have there, it looks to me like you already have Demonic Attacks and False Doctrine of a sort, and lots of fodder for the rest. They're just not explicit yet. See how, right there in Injustice and Sin, you have a large-scale, infectious problem that's pulling other members of the community into a certain pattern of sin? Well, that's not just injustice and sin, that's the stuff of false doctrine right there. So where to go with it? Here's one possible way to spin it, making it all explicit:

Demonic Attacks: The voices on the wind, whispering - among other things - nasty things about the steward and responsible husbands. There are people in the town who resent being told what to do, Barley and Madeline among them . . . Well, now every time they step outside with resentment on their minds, the wind whispers that the steward's an incompetent, that Dameron's a jerk, that their husband's a buffoon . . .
False Doctrine: The Faithful do not need the guidance of stewardship.
Corrupt Worship: One of the townspeople (Who? Maybe Madeline, maybe someone new.) has taken the voices on the wind to be the voices of the angels, or the King of Life himself. He (or she) consult with it before giving advice and prayer, and have invited the other townpeople to join in prayer circles among themselves in addition to - or instead of - Samuel's services.
False Priesthood: The prayer circles become popular. Aside from giving prayers, reading from the Book of Life and open discussions on the Faith are mixed freely - or, more often, quickly degenerate into gossip. At least 3 people are involved.
Sorcery: If you want.

. . . Rough outline. Completely ignores the important parts, being who's doing what and what they want. And all the juicy sin!

Actually, I might use it myself, with a bit more development . . . :)

[Brian Newman]

Excellent, that's exactly what I needed to get over the hump.  Thanks.