[DitV] For the kids!

[Malcolm Craig]

There's a group in Edinburgh called the Open Roleplaying community which exists to bring new blood into the hobby and give a place where younger gamers can flourish. All ages are represented, but the vast majority are under 18. So, I was wondering they would take to Dogs, their previous experience being mainly in the realm of D&D and so forth.

So last Saturday, I pitched up and sat down with 6 players. Only one was over 20, the average age being about 15 - 16.

Character Creation

My concerns abut running a game like Dogs for such a young group vanished during character creation. They really got in to it, developing their characters as they went along, collaboratively exchanging thoughts and ideas. For most of them, this was something new. Ideas were flying around, realationships between the characters were created and conflicts already began to take shape. One player knew that the other characters would be taking a dislike to Brother Damien, but he loved it!

Play

Due to time constraints, the game itself only lasted about 90 minutes, but what a whirlwind of conflict and good roleplaying! The 6 dogs arrived at night, in a rainstorm at the township of Broken Oak, a previously Faithful-only settlement, now overcome by settlers from the East.

So the party split. Two immediately went to the only bar in town, determined to show the incomers that this place was firmly under the rule of the King of Life. Lets put it this way, they were made to feel less than welcome. Sitting themselves down at a table of card players, they produced a holy book and immediately began to berate the gamblers for their sinful ways. Needless to say, the card players were not happy at this and one of their leaders immediately started behaving in an antagonistic fashion. The conflict went brilliantly, with one player taking the lead and the the other acting in a supporting role. The book was spat on and eventually urinated on by a card player, a demonstration of Godlessness that the Dogs couldn't let stand. Eventually, the unbelievers face was literaly rubbed in the piss-soaked book and they people were left in no doubt that Gods law was being brought to Broken Oak.

Meanwhile, two other characters visited the local steward, a former Dog and man of high regard. He warned them of the sin and degredation that they would find and the player roleplayed their characters brilliantly, laying down their mission and assuring the steward that all would be well. As their main mission at this time was to find somewhere to stay, the steward kindly offered them room in a bunkhouse, and they thanked him profusely for his kindness and charity. Then they left to round up the other Dogs and bring them the good news.

A lone Dog had wandered off to scout around the town, just to check out the lie of the land. Behind a shabby house, he found a member of the faithful fornicating with a woman who was not his wife (a prostitute, in fact). Challenging him, the sinner fled but was easily chased down by the Dog and dragged, begging for forgiveness to the mian street, a sea of mud and lashing rain.

The final Dog had taken it upon himself to rouse the faithful and attend up upon the Dogs to hear about their mission. The good people were duly alerted to the presence of Gods Watchdogs and were ready to bear witness to the acts which followed...

The six Dogs, plus the now wailing sinner and distressed prostitute, had assembled in the main street, soaked to the skin and splattered with mud. What happened next was a conflict that I thought, at first, would be impossible to control, but worked out really well.

A massive debate broke out amongst the Dogs as to how they should treat hte sinner. One wanted to hang him there and then as an example to all. The other were less inclined to mete out justice there and then and advised waiting until sunrise. Here the players were coming up with justifications from scripture as to why (or why this should not) be the case, they really got into the spirit of the thing. Numerous dice were stacked up round the table, raises and sees were flying, a couple of Dogs backed out of the conflict as it escalated all the way up. Until one Dog summarily shot the sinner in the head as an example of his faith in Gods justice.

Then the Dogs turned on their errant Brother, who realised that his actions were not going to be popular. He fled, only to be gunned down by his brethren and, in the final conflict of the game, dispatched to wait upon Gods mercy.

Conclusions

The players all got to grips with the system, escalation and backing down extremely quickly. They learned how conflicts could spiral out of control end up far more serious than they could have at first imagined. The 6 person conflict actually proceeded quite smoothly, every taking their turn, pitching in with their own ideas and character decisions.

All in all, it was a vastly enjoyable gaming experience. For such a young group, unfamiliar with the more narrative style of play, they collectively put in a splendid performance.

Cheers
Malc

[Judd]

What kind of Accomplishments did you see during character creation?

[Malcolm Craig]

What kind of Accomplishments did you see during character creation?

An amazing variety, to be honest. Some examples:

"I want to turn a young sinner back to the path of righteousness."

The trainee Dogs encourntered a young boy scurrying across a field, carrying a sack laden down with apples. He collars him and asks where he is going in such a furtive manner. The boy protests, saying that the Dog has no right to stop him, he has be purchasing food for his family and now must return home quickly, for his father will be angry if he misses evening prayers. The Dog is not convinced and once more asks the boy is he is being truthful, reminding him that lying in the sight of God is a terrible sin. As the conflict progressed, the boy eventually cracks and admits the sin of theft, compounded by his lying. The trainee Dog instructs the boy in the wickedness of his ways, but reminds him that confession and reptance are worthy acts in the eyes of God and he should remember his wicked deeds, but also reflect on Gods mercy.

The Dog then gained the trait of "Encourage sinners to repent".

"I want to resolve a situation through violence"

This was kind of an interesting one. Rather than wishing to have resolved a situation by reasoning and debate, the player wanted his character to have sorted things out by striking down a sinner and making an example of him. So, it transpired that the trainee Dog accused another trainee of sneaking out to visit women of ill repute. The NPC was furious that his secret had been discovered, and blustered that it was not he who was sinful, but his accuser. Fists were eventually thrown and the sinner reduced to a blubbering mess in front of all the other trainee dogs, wailing his confession to the assembled masses whilst calling down Gods wrath on his unworthy subject.

The player choose the simple trait "Brawling" for his character.

Others included "I want to resist the temptations of the flesh which have plagued me in the past" (from the one Dog who was a convert to the faith), "I want to come to terms with a sorrowful loss" (an older Dog who had lost his family) and "I wish to show that I shall not harm Gods creatures" (the Dog was a farm boy with a strict moral code of not harming animals).

Cheers
Malcolm

[Judd]

An amazing variety, to be honest. Some examples:

"I want to turn a young sinner back to the path of righteousness."

"I want to resolve a situation through violence"

Others included "I want to resist the temptations of the flesh which have plagued me in the past" (from the one Dog who was a convert to the faith), "I want to come to terms with a sorrowful loss" (an older Dog who had lost his family) and "I wish to show that I shall not harm Gods creatures" (the Dog was a farm boy with a strict moral code of not harming animals).

For some reason, my Spidey Sense detected that kids would really take to accomplishments and come up with good ones.  They are such great scenes at one-shots and con games for setting the tone with your character.

Thanks for sharing.

[Judd]

Malcom,

I am fascinated with this idea of kids playing dogs.

What was the post-game chatter like?

Sometimes with the games I have run, there is this heavy feeling and I know I have done right because they feel the weight of the King of Life's Mandate and how awful it would be to have that kind of responsibility.

But what was the vibe with the kids?

[Malcolm Craig]

The post game chat was really good. For one, they were enthusiastic about the experience and keen to tell other groups about it. The other two tables being run that day were both D20 games but interestingly, the chat was not an "our game is better than yours!" kind of thing, but a genuine enthusiasm for the kind of game they had played and a keeneness to talk about it. They also talked with delight about the character creation system: many of them though it was great from the point of view that, even though they were putting dice numbers down on a page, it really encouraged them to think about and develop their character as the process went on.

As regards chat about the themes of the game, this was also interesting as they displayed a good understanding of the whys and wherefores of the characters and why they were the way they were (if that makes sense). Comments included stuff like the game was far more "serious" than others they had played. Even the player whose characater was killed by the others was full of enthusiasm. In fact, he was delighted it had come to pass: he had set up his character from the beginning to come into conflict with the more hardcore dogs and enjoyed the fact that this conflict was allowed to develop, rather than there being a "never kill another member of the party!" vibe about it. It was interesting when the characters had been created to see the players discussing how their characters would relate. For example: the three more zealous, hardcore dogs were likely to be allied in the game, vene though they had differing viewpoints. The players started to talk about how and why their characters act around each other.

In the final walk back to the centre of town, the players were still talking about the game and were super keen to play again at some point.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Kirk Mitchell]

I'm always really interested in hearing about how to run games for younger players, because at the moment the only other roleplayer in the area is my little brother, who is thirteen. Did you have much trouble getting them to act in a vaguely mature manner?

- Kirk

[Malcolm Craig]

I'm always really interested in hearing about how to run games for younger players, because at the moment the only other roleplayer in the area is my little brother, who is thirteen. Did you have much trouble getting them to act in a vaguely mature manner?

- Kirk

Hi Kirk,

In answer to your question, the players did (in the main) act in a responsible and mature fashion. The pre0game discussion focussed on what the game was about, the themes and the characters they would be playing. I was very pleased to see that during character creation, there were no inappropriate (i.e.: just plain silly) traits or relationships thrown in. They approached the entire thing with a remarkable level of seriousness. There was one player who insisted on butting in when other people were asking questions or making a contribution, but I quietly and politely asked him to let other people have their say and he could make his contribution when they were finished. he was very well behaved after that.

In-game, they also acted in a mature manner. Even during the scene where one Dog found a member of the faith fornicating with a prostitute, there was no 'nudge nudge, wink wink' moment, salacious comments or anything of that kind. I thought that would be the one scene (if there was going to be one) that elicited an immature response. I was pleased that it didn't.

Overall, I felt like they appreciated the way in which I treated them from the outset like they were going to act in a mature fashion and they reciprocated this by behaving in an appropriate way.

Cheers
Malcolm