[DITV] Shepherd's Find Branch - a 4-5 hour town?

[Andrew Craig]

Hey all,

My first game of Dogs is coming up soon.  There're two other players; neither of them has played before either.

We want the first town to be resolved in the first session, so I designed Shepherd's Find (below) to play out in 4-5 hours, including character generation.  And that's the issue I'd like feedback on:

1. Is this a 4-5 hour (inc. chargen) town?

2. If not, how do I make change it to make it one?

(3. If that's too difficult, what's a good Hate & Murder town to use instead?)

Any other comments are very, very welcome, but those are the things I'm particularly interested in.

Cheers,

Andrew Craig.



SHEPHERD'S FIND

1. PRIDE: Brother Obediah is a farmer and occasional doctor.  When he was sick last year, Sister Abagail's husband helped him with the harvest.  Sister Abagail's husband died a couple of months ago, though, and now she wants Brother Obediah to help her with the harvest.  He's not having it.

INJUSTICE: Sister Abagail's ticked off, and won't let her daughter (Sister Grace) marry Brother Obediah's son (Brother Elijah).

2. SIN: Brother Elijah is angry and frustrated, and he's releasing his anger and frustration by beating up his siblings.

DEMONIC ATTACKS: Brother Elijah's foul mood has spread to the town's unmarried women.

3. FALSE DOCTRINE: Brother Obediah has concluded the problem is inherent in unmarried women, and sees those men already married know how to control their wives.  His solution is to marry the town's unwed women to men who're already married, whether they're sufficiently righteous or not.  (He'd like Sister Abagail to be married to him.)

CORRUPT WORSHIP: He's preaching his theories to the town's married men after service.

4. FALSE PRIESTHOOD: He's got a following, including Brother Enoch.

SORCERY: Demons struck down the Steward's daughter with illness.  Brother Obediah won't help her until the Steward starts authorising some marriages.

5. HATE AND MURDER: Brother Enoch can see where this is going: the Steward will get aggressive and cause trouble.  To warn the Steward off, Brother Enoch lynches the Steward's 12-year-old son.


THE PEOPLE:

Sister Abagail doesn't know about Brother Obediah's ideas.  She just wants the Dogs to make him help with the harvest.

Brother Elijah wants to marry Sister Grace in a Faithful way.

Sister Grace wants to marry Brother Enoch any old way.

Brother Obediah wants the Dogs to start marrying those women off, starting with Sister Abagail.

Brother Enoch wants the Dogs to get back on their pretty little horses and go home.  He's got things under control.

The Steward wants to kill Brother Enoch.


THE DEMONS:

They want Brother Elijah to keep beating his siblings.

They want all the unwed women to be forced into marriages with unrighteous men.

They want the Steward dead.


IF THE DOGS DIDN'T COME:

The Steward tries to kill Brother Enoch, but is killed.  Brother Obediah becomes a false Steward, and puts his ideas into practice.  Brother Enoch starts looking around for the next potential troublemaker.

[oliof]

I think in a first game, you'll probably need some time for character generation and accomplishments - with practice this can be done in an hour for three to four characters. If you heed the advice in the rule book (actively reveal the town, say yes or roll the dice), almost any town can be played in four to five hours.

Additional advice: cut out healing conflicts in the accomplishment conflicts - they'll just cost too much time. Really try to say yes whenever possible. If you have four players, four conflicts in addition to four accomplishments means a lot of time goes into rules application. Look out for one cool inter-party conflict, one cool 'reveal everything ... for a cost' conflict and an awesome 'final confrontation' conflict for the first game. Show people that giving and cutting one's losses is a viable strategy - it will keep the conflicts crisp and running. Have a look at John Kim's strategy notes as well.

Oh, did Obediah try to help Sr. Abigail's husband when he was sick? If he did, and failed, once could build a secondary structure off that part ..

[Andrew Craig]

Thanks, this is helpful advice with some good stuff I hadn't read before.

Look out for one cool inter-party conflict, one cool 'reveal everything ... for a cost' conflict and an awesome 'final confrontation' conflict for the first game.

I'd intentionally set up this town so that there are no big secrets, mainly to stop myself from instinctively stonewalling.  It looks to me like that basically rules out a 'reveal everything...for a cost' conflict.  If so, is that a problem that needs fixing?

Oh, did Obediah try to help Sr. Abigail's husband when he was sick? If he did, and failed, once could build a secondary structure off that part ..

I hadn't considered this, but it's a good idea.  I'll think I'll go with he did, and failed, but it was unintentional.  (Intentional would be cool too, but would sort of introduce a second progression of sin - starting at the Sin level - that I worry might complicate things too much).