Questions from recent play

[DevP]

First, the more mechanical questions that came out of the system.

(1) Conflicts without clear opposition: the 1st ed. text seemed to say this is a flat 4d6 + Demonic Influence as opposition, but in a conflict where DI hadn't amped up yet, this made for really easy conflicts. Am I missing something to make something more challenging / tense? (Example: In play, the conflict was "Do you prevent the crazy horses from crashing the carriage and maiming innocent people?". This is basically an environmental hazard, but was easily licked by two Dogs' actions.)

(2) Ghostly conflicts: what do you roll for a conflict against a purely etheral entity (that is nonetheless throwing down magic or sorcery or such)? We had a cool conflict here, but it was unclear where the opposition dice were coming from. I choose to pick one of the NPCs to represent the menacing ghost guy who was bringing down all the hurt on one of the Dogs. Does this sound right?

(3) Consider the following:

Villains raise: I shoot that innocent NPC you've brought with you.
Dog's raise: Ouch! I take the blow.

Does that result in d4 fallout? Because it does not directed the Dog herself in a physical way, but it is gun-related fallout nonetheless. If the Dog was taking d10 fallout here, then they may ultimately be "dying" as a result of the conflict, and although this can be explained in terms of emotional truama / etc., I'm not sure if that's how the system is supposed to go.

[Vaxalon]

Environmental hazards, when the demonic influence is low, are, indeed, cake.  Ramp up the demonic influence before using them if you want to make things more difficult for the PC's.

As I understand it, purely ethereal entities are never impersonal.  There's always a human being behind them.  If it's a demon, use the sorceror's dice; if it's a ghost, use the dice they had in life.

Unless the PC is being SHOT AT HIMSELF, he won't take d10 fallout.  A d4 fallout die is appropriate in the example you cite.

[Warren]

(1) Conflicts without clear opposition: the 1st ed. text seemed to say this is a flat 4d6 + Demonic Influence as opposition, but in a conflict where DI hadn't amped up yet, this made for really easy conflicts. Am I missing something to make something more challenging / tense? (Example: In play, the conflict was "Do you prevent the crazy horses from crashing the carriage and maiming innocent people?". This is basically an environmental hazard, but was easily licked by two Dogs' actions.)

As well as the standard 4d6 + Demonic Influence, you could frame this as a standard conflict. As Vincent notes in this Actual Play post you could frame a conflict between whoever caused the horses to go crazy (in your example), and the Dogs (maybe the Sorcerer that's in the town?), even though that person may not be there in person. That thread also has a couple of other suggestions on handling thematically important 'environmental' conflicts.

And if it wasn't important, then a 4d6+DI or just saying "Yes" should cover it quickly and allow you and the group to get onto the good stuff.

(2) Ghostly conflicts: what do you roll for a conflict against a purely etheral entity (that is nonetheless throwing down magic or sorcery or such)? We had a cool conflict here, but it was unclear where the opposition dice were coming from. I choose to pick one of the NPCs to represent the menacing ghost guy who was bringing down all the hurt on one of the Dogs. Does this sound right?

(3) Consider the following:

Villains raise: I shoot that innocent NPC you've brought with you.
Dog's raise: Ouch! I take the blow.

Does that result in d4 fallout? Because it does not directed the Dog herself in a physical way, but it is gun-related fallout nonetheless. If the Dog was taking d10 fallout here, then they may ultimately be "dying" as a result of the conflict, and although this can be explained in terms of emotional truama / etc., I'm not sure if that's how the system is supposed to go.

I agree with Fred's points here. That (I would say) counts as Escaltating to Guns, but would only cause d4 fallout with that Raise (and a potentially fatal wound to the innocent NPC, of course, depending on the specifics of the narration.)