First Dogs game happening soon - Would this town work?

[14thWarrior]

I've finally got some people interested in trying out Dogs with me.  It's my first time running or playing the game.

I'm considering using Orchard Plains Branch, which is a town of my own creation - from a while back, as my town of choice for this first session.  It's written in such a way that there's really no choice but to get all the situation in the open right from the beginning.

ORCHARD PLAINS BRANCH

An unusual fungus has infested the town's apple orchard and is making people sick; the first to get sick were some young men who were offered some apple pie.  The townsfolk don't know the cause of the sickness, and all hell's breaking loose as a result.

*OPENING SCENE*

As the Dogs near the town, passing bountiful apple orchards, they see a crowd gathered around a large oak tree (presumably the Town Tree for folks using such in their campaigns).  A young, crying girl is lashed to the tree, the top of her dress torn away; a man stands behind her with a long whip.  Opposite the whip man is another angry man with rifle raised, poised to gun down the whip man.

==Something's Wrong:==

*PRIDE*

Sister Felicity, an eligible young woman, is the best baker in town; and she knows it.  Although she's often been caught saying prideful things; she really doesn't mean any harm or offense to any of the other women of the Village.

Sister Grace, the steward's daughter, is an available young woman too; just as is Sister Felicity.  Brother Meshach has been courting both Sister Felicity and Sister Grace.  Sister Grace has fallen in love with Brother Meshach and thinks she is the better woman for Brother Meshach; "Sister Felicity is prideful", she claims, "and will be nothing but trouble".

*INJUSTICE*

An unusual fungus has attacked the orchards this year; the weather conditions were ideal for the fungus to flourish.  The townsfolk haven't figured that out yet.

Brother Alden is Sister Felicity's father, and the town's apple farmer.  Recently, as the harvest season has approached, brother Alden has picked a few apples that have ripened early.

Sister Felicity used these apples to bake a fabulous apple pie, which she brought to a recent barn raising.  Brother Meshach was among the young men to whom Sister Felicity gave a piece of her pie; all the while innocently boasting that it was the best pie at the table.

Sister Felicity's boasting in such a public venue caused serious embarassment to Brother Alden, such that he could not ignore it.  Brother Alden's belt swung hard and fast that night, to beat the pride out Felicity.

Of course, the apples in the pie were infected with the fungus, so not long after Brother Meshach, and the other men who ate of the pie, fell ill.  Rumors began to spread throughout the village about how Sister Felicity's pride remains and that is the reason the men have fallen ill and remain so.

*SIN*

*Disunity*: Sister Grace has been campaigning to her father, Brother Josephus, to convince him that Sister Felicity is the root cause of the men's illness, and that she deliberately poisoned the pie to prevent Brother Meshach from marrying Sister Grace.

*Violence*: Feeling pressure from Brother Josephus' to make sure that Sister Felicity is acting like a proper woman of the Faith, Brother Alden has whipped Sister Felicity almost every night since the barn raising, claiming that if her pride were eliminated the men would have recovered.  Sister Felicity has acted like a model woman since her first beating on the night of the barn raising; Brother Alden has noted her good behaviour and is heartbroken at having to beat her, but knows that he would lose face with the townsfolk if they felt he wasn't respecting Brother Josephus' opinions.

*DEMONIC ATTACKS*

The Demons, feeding on sister Felicity's suffering, have taken the opportunity to make the orchard fungus flourish, and to hasten the ripening of the apples to accelerate the harvest.

As the apple harvest continues, apples are being shared around the community.  More and more people are falling ill.

*FALSE DOCTRINE*

The steward is becoming increasingly convinced of all of his daughter's claims. He believes that "The only way to save the town is to cleanse Sister Felicity of her Sin".  Of course, in this town, at least, a 'cleansing' means almost certain death for the one so cleansed.

*CORRUPT WORSHIP*

Brother Josephus knows that Brother Alden has been beating Felicity due to his pressuring; he's certain that Brother Alden would not agree to Sister Felicity's 'cleansing'.

On this fateful morning after the end of the apple harvest, Brother Alden has decided to head out of town for a bit of a hunt.  Brother Josephus takes the oppotunity to gathers a few townsmen and to perform the sister Felicity's cleansing in Brother Alden's absence.

The cleansing ritual typically consists of lashing the one to be cleansed to a tree, exposing their back, and whipping them until the cleanser (usually the steward) feels that the Sin has left them; usually, by this point, the cleansed are close to death and will die soon afterwards.  Such a death is, however, considered, since the person's soul is considered clean.

*HATE & MURDER*

Brother Josephus, whose distemper is exacerbated by his daughter words, is unlikely to stop the cleansing until Sister Felicity is at death's door.

However, Brother Alden, returns from his hunt just the cleansing is nearing its end.  Sister Felicity leans painfully against the tree, tears flowing down her reddened cheeks.  Her torso is bare for all to see; her back is horrifyingly lacerated.  A brisk, cold, autumn wind blows across her back, intensifying the pain.  Brother Alden is horrified at the scene, and in anger raises his rifle to Brother Josephus, demanding that he stop this nonsense immediately.

This is when the Dogs show up...


==What do the Townsfolk want from the Dogs?==

*Brother Josephus* wants the Dogs to sanction the cleansing, and allow him to finish the ritual.  he also wants the Dogs to cure the sick townsfolk.

*Brother Alden* wants the Dogs to recognize that Felicity has repented her Sins, to bring an early end to the cleansing, and to forgive and bless her, and heal her wounds.

*Sister Felicity* wants the Dogs to heal her, and forgive her Sins.

*Sister Grace* wants the Dogs to marry her and Brother Meshach.  She also wants the Dogs to let the cleansing be finished (so as to eliminate the competition in the pursuit of Brother Meshach's heart).

*Brother Meshach* (and the other sick tonsfolk) wants the Dogs to cure his illness.

==What do the Demons want the Dogs to do?==

The Demons want the Dogs to proclaim that Felicity is the root cause of the town's problem, and that she should be cleansed.  They want the Dogs to proclaim that Brother Alden should be cleansed for opposing Sister Felicity's cleansing, and threatening Brother Josephus.

They want the Dogs to proclaim that the illness are indeed the result of Sin, so as to keep their attention away from the real cause (the orchard fungus).

==What Would Happen if the Dogs Never Came?==

If the Dogs never showed up, Brother Alden would shoot and kill Brother Josephus.  The townsmen would tackle and subdue Brother Alden.

They would then finish Sister Felicity's cleansing; leaving her alive to suffer painfully for a few hours before finally dying.

After Sister Felicity's Cleansing, they would lash Brother Alden to the tree and perform a cleansing on him as well; also effectively killing him.

Several of the sick townsfolk would die of the fungal poisoning, which would worsen morale of the townsfolk.  The fungal poisoning would continue to claim lives, and the town's deepening paranoia about sin causing the illnesses would eventually destroy the town entirely.

Does it seem like it would be a good town for a first session?  Is there any special way of handling any aspects of the town that might help the first session run smoothly?  Any advice is appreciated.

[lumpley]

I hope someone else answers. All I can do when people ask this is point to the rules, which you followed.

If nobody answers, play it and let us know how it went!

-Vincent

[Glendower]

Absolutely, positively, kill someone. Someone that ate the pie, Brother Meshach seems a likely candidate.  Have Alden shoot him.  That puts it up to hate and murder, and creates one hell of a mess.

[Brand_Robins]

For me, playing in this town would depend a lot on the supernatural dial of our game and what we'd decided as a group. If we knew that in our Dogs world most things were caused by natural, scientific causes that demons either made worse or that demons really just were the mask human superstition gave to demons, then I could probably play in this town and have fun.

If, otoh, we were defaulting to a more magical/faith based Dogs game and we got to the end of the town and our Dogs had run things to ground based on their beliefs and we're then told, after it all, "Oh, BTW, it was fungus! Fungus, not sin!" I'd probably get up and walk away from the table.

In other words, make sure that the fungus thing fits in with the game your players are playing and isn't you tossing in a whammy-GM "gotcha suckers" or a theme destroying "see your faith made you stupid" twist. If you can avoid that, it should do. If you can't, I wouldn't.

[Tim M Ralphs]

Good sin progression, great set up. That opening totally thows me though.

If it was me I couldn't GM this town. Seriously, first scene has every Dogs and almost every NPC in quite a complicated set up, I just wouldn't know who to 'be'.

And it's the climatic scene isn't it? I can only see play winding down from that opening, rather than building up. If it was me, I might start with the Dogs finding a wounded Brother Josephus in the orchard, having tried to perform the cleansing alone and had Brother Alden show up and shoot him.

They're not really criticisms, just my own sensibilities as a GM. You say yourself that you want the whole situation in the open right from the start, and you've go that in spades. If you're confident you can hit the ground running then go with it, it's a very cool set up.

[14thWarrior]

Excellent!  Just the kind of feedback I was hoping to get.  Lots of food for thought.

For me, playing in this town would depend a lot on the supernatural dial of our game and what we'd decided as a group. If we knew that in our Dogs world most things were caused by natural, scientific causes that demons either made worse or that demons really just were the mask human superstition gave to demons, then I could probably play in this town and have fun.  If, otoh, we were defaulting to a more magical/faith based Dogs game and we got to the end of the town and our Dogs had run things to ground based on their beliefs and we're then told, after it all, "Oh, BTW, it was fungus! Fungus, not sin!" I'd probably get up and walk away from the table.

I suppose one key to making sure that the Fungus element doesn't become a GM "Gotcha Suckers!" is to get the knowledge of it out in the open quickly.  That way, the players can play it up however they like - and by extension zeroing in on where they want to set the supernatural dial.  If the fungus element gets disclosed quickly, they could call it as "this is just nature, but your superstition made y'all stupid", or they could go to the other extreme and say "these here apples are infected with demons".  But it'd be their call to make.  And that brings me to my next point of response...

And it's the climatic scene isn't it? I can only see play winding down from that opening, rather than building up. If it was me, I might start with the Dogs finding a wounded Brother Josephus in the orchard, having tried to perform the cleansing alone and had Brother Alden show up and shoot him.

This is a very good point; the action is ramped up to the intensity of the climax right at the very fist scene.  As it is now, the whole town would get resolved in that first scene, probably in pretty short order, and the rest is dénouement.  If, on the other hand, I take your (excellent) suggestion of having the Dogs find Br. Joe in the Orchard wounded from a gunshot, perhaps being kneeled over by Sr. Grace - crying inconsoleably, then it gives me an opportunity to still have the intensity cranked up; it also gives me the opportunity to introduce the apple fungus.

What's more, where the group decides to set the supernatural dial may in some ways influence who is really in the wrong; that'd complicate the situation a bit, making the resolution that much more interesting.

Alright, let me revise teh town write up a bit...

ORCHARD PLAINS BRANCH

An unusual fungus has infested the town's apple orchard and is making people sick; the first to get sick were some young men who were offered some apple pie.  The townsfolk don't know the cause of the sickness, and all hell's breaking loose as a result.

*OPENING SCENE*

As the Dogs near the town, passing bountiful apple orchards, they notice a young lady hunched over a man lying in the orchard.  The man is Brother Josephus, the young lady - his daughter Sister Grace - is crying over him; it appears he's been shot.  He lies bleeding and slowly dying from a messy gut wound.

==Something's Wrong:==

*PRIDE*

Sister Felicity, an eligible young woman, is the best baker in town; and she knows it.  Although she's often been caught saying prideful things; she really doesn't mean any harm or offense to any of the other women of the Village.

Sister Grace, the steward's daughter, is an available young woman too; just as is Sister Felicity.  Brother Meshach has been courting both Sister Felicity and Sister Grace.  Sister Grace has fallen in love with Brother Meshach and thinks she is the better woman for Brother Meshach; "Sister Felicity is prideful", she claims, "and will be nothing but trouble".

*INJUSTICE*

An unusual fungus has attacked the orchards this year; the weather conditions were ideal for the fungus to flourish.  The townsfolk haven't figured that out yet.

Brother Alden is Sister Felicity's father, and the town's apple farmer.  Recently, as the harvest season has approached, brother Alden has picked a few apples that have ripened early.

Sister Felicity used these apples to bake a fabulous apple pie, which she brought to a recent barn raising.  Brother Meshach was among the young men to whom Sister Felicity gave a piece of her pie; all the while innocently boasting that it was the best pie at the table.

Sister Felicity's boasting in such a public venue caused serious embarassment to Brother Alden, such that he could not ignore it.  Brother Alden's belt swung hard and fast that night, to beat the pride out Felicity.

Of course, the apples in the pie were infected with the fungus, so not long after Brother Meshach, and the other men who ate of the pie, fell ill.  Rumors began to spread throughout the village about how Sister Felicity's pride remains and that is the reason the men have fallen ill and remain so.

*SIN*

*Disunity*: Sister Grace has been campaigning to her father, Brother Josephus, to convince him that Sister Felicity is the root cause of the men's illness, and that she deliberately poisoned the pie to prevent Brother Meshach from marrying Sister Grace.

*Violence*: Feeling pressure from Brother Josephus to make sure that Sister Felicity is acting like a proper woman of the Faith, Brother Alden has whipped Sister Felicity almost every night since the barn raising, claiming that if her pride were eliminated the men would have recovered.  Sister Felicity has acted like a model woman since her first beating on the night of the barn raising; Brother Alden has noted her good behaviour and is heartbroken at having to beat her, but knows that he would lose face with the townsfolk if they felt he wasn't respecting Brother Josephus' opinions.

*DEMONIC ATTACKS*

The Demons, feeding on sister Felicity's suffering, have taken the opportunity to make the orchard fungus flourish, and to hasten the ripening of the apples to accelerate the harvest.

As the apple harvest continues, apples are being shared around the community.  More and more people are falling ill.

*FALSE DOCTRINE*

The steward is becoming increasingly convinced of all of his daughter's claims. He believes that "The only way to save the town is to cleanse Sister Felicity of her Sin".  Of course, in this town, at least, a 'cleansing' means almost certain death for the one so cleansed.

*CORRUPT WORSHIP*

Brother Josephus knows that Brother Alden has been beating Felicity due to his pressuring; he's certain that Brother Alden would not agree to Sister Felicity's 'cleansing'.

On this fateful morning after the end of the apple harvest, Brother Alden has decided to head out of town for a bit of a hunt.  Brother Josephus takes the opportunity to clandestinely perform sister Felicity's cleansing in Brother Alden's absence.

The cleansing ritual typically consists of lashing the one to be cleansed to a tree, exposing their back, and whipping them until the cleanser (usually the steward) feels that the Sin has left them; usually, by this point, the cleansed are close to death and will die soon afterwards.  Such a death is, however, considered pure and faithful, since the person's soul is considered clean.

*HATE & MURDER*

Brother Josephus, whose distemper is exacerbated by his daughter words, is unlikely to stop the cleansing until Sister Felicity is at death's door.

However, Brother Alden, returned from his hunt just the cleansing was nearing its end.  Sister Felicity leaned painfully against the tree, tears flowing down her reddened cheeks.  Her torso bare for all to see, her back horrifyingly lacerated, a brisk, cold, autumn wind blowing across her back, intensified the pain.  Brother Alden horrified at the scene, flew into a rage, raised his rifle to Brother Josephus, and shot him.  The gunshot struck Brother Josephus in the gut.

Brother Alden quickly covered Sister Felicity, unbound her and took her back to their home to have her tended to; he left Brother Josephus in the orchard to die.

This is when the Dogs show up...


==What do the Townsfolk want from the Dogs?==

*Brother Josephus* wants the Dogs to heal him.  He wants the dogs to sanction the cleansing, proclaiming him as having been righteous.  He wants the Dogs to bring Brother Alden to justice for having shot him.  He also wants the Dogs to cure the sick townsfolk.

*Brother Alden* wants the Dogs to recognize that Felicity has repented her Sins, to forgive and bless her, and heal her wounds.  He also wants the Dogs to strip Brother Josephus of his Stewardship for having unjustly performed a cleansing on Felicity.

*Sister Felicity* wants the Dogs to heal her, and forgive her Sins.

*Sister Grace* wants the Dogs to marry her and Brother Meshach.  She also wants the Dogs to finish Felicity's cleansing (so as to eliminate the competition in the pursuit of Brother Meshach's heart).

*Brother Meshach* (and the other sick tonsfolk) wants the Dogs to cure his(their) illness.

==What do the Demons want the Dogs to do?==

The Demons want the Dogs to proclaim that Felicity is the root cause of the town's problem, and that her cleansing should be finished.  They want the Dogs to proclaim that Brother Alden should be cleansed for opposing Sister Felicity's cleansing, and for shooting Brother Josephus.

They want the Dogs to proclaim that the illnesses are indeed the result of Sin, so as to keep their attention away from the real cause (the orchard fungus).

==What Would Happen if the Dogs Never Came?==

If the Dogs never showed up, Brother Josephus would certainly die from his gunshot wound.  Sister Grace in a fit of grief and vengeful rage would murder Sister Felicity and Brother Alden.

The sick townsfolk, including Brother Meshach, would die of the fungal poisoning; the deaths would worsen morale of the townsfolk.  Sister Grace, having lost her love would commit suicide.  The fungal poisoning would continue to claim lives.  The town's deepening paranoia about sin causing the illnesses would eventually lead to the town's burning, and the few healthy survivors would leave the area to settle in other towns elsewhere.

I think this revised write up helps keep the intensity high, but does so throughout, rather than presenting the climactic scene at the very beginning.  I'm really getting excited about this now.

Thanks for the advice so far; keep it coming.

[Valamir]

Still seems a little too "accidental" for my taste.

What if Brother Alden knew about the Fungus, but has a big contract to supply apples to some non-faithful...maybe to some territorial cavalry or some Mountain People reservation, so he conceals that fact...after all who cares if non-faithful get ill...

Then as part of the Barn raising there's going to be pie and Felicity simply has to bring a pie because of course hers will be the best and she wants Meshach to know it.  But Alden has forbidden Felicity from using the apples from his orchard.  So Felicity's sin is her disobedience in collecting apples anyway in order to bake her pie out of pride.

Of course Brother Alden knows why everyone is sick but he can't reveal it because of his own culpability and so his beating of Felicity for the sin of her pride takes on a somewhat darker tone...especially if the town healer could cure the sick people if she knew the true cause.


That way you have some real solid sin to latch on to in the town.  Alden's pride in wanting to be a town big wig and make a bunch of money selling apples to outsiders leads to the injustice of knowingly selling bad apples leads to the sin of covering up the truth when towns folk get sick.  Felicity's pride in her baking leads to the sin of her disobeying her father and loosing the sickness on the folk which leads to the injustice of her being blamed and beaten.


Especially for first towns, I think you need to have somebody who can be clearly said to be a "bad guy"...even a reluctant one. 

[14thWarrior]

Perhaps its too subtle, but the real villain in this town is Sister Grace.  Her prideful desire to win Br. Meshach's love, thus drawing his attention away from Sr. Felicity has lead her to feed her father's superstitious belief that Sr. Felicity is the cause of the illnesses.  If not for Sr. Grace, Sr. Felicity's mostly innocent prideful statement (of her pie being the best) would have gone mostly unnoticed, and Br. Josephus would be looking elsewhere for the cause of the illness.  Instead, Sr. Grace's selfishness snowballs an innocent situation into utter chaos.

Given the opening scene I presented in my revised write up, it shouldn't be too difficult for me to play up the fact that Sr. Grace is keen on marrying Br. Meshach.  The players are bright guys, they ought to figure out who the real villain is easily enough.

[oliof]

Leo,
even with Valamir's brilliant suggestions, this town is good for a second or third town. It's just not black-and-white-heres-the-bad-ones enough for new ones.

Oh, and the players should not figure out w ho the real villain ist. You should tell them. Maybe this makes it better.

Still love the idea about bad apples... I'll definitely use this town in one way or another.

[Valamir]

The decision is your of, course.

But a first town really ought to go all the way to murder hate and sorcery...take it all the way.  Let your players pass judgement when there's some really nasty big WRONG being done.

Then hit them with subtle a few towns down the road.

Subtle first towns fall flat more often than not.

[14thWarrior]

Alright then, what town, out of all the towns available from the Collected Dogs Towns thread would you recommend?

The reason I started this thread was to get advice from DitV veterans; so I see no reason to take that advice when it's offered.

I'm gonna start looking at the towns available through that thread, but it'd great of I could get some suggestions, to make my search for a suitable town a bit quicker.

[Glendower]

No way, use the town!  I like the town!  You got someone shot and dying, which is always great. If you include Ralph's idea regarding Alden KNOWING about the Fungus (and doing nothing about that knowledge) you got yourself one heck of an ugly situation for the Dogs to deal with.

[Warren]

If you do want to look for good "first" towns, I tend to go with Tower Creek from the book. It's a simple enough situation to get done in a short time (I've run a Con game, which had character creation + some very quick accomplishments + Tower Creek in a single four-hour slot -- just), but there is no clear way to make everybody happy -- and that's the essence of Dogs, to me.

I also ensure that all the Dogs have some kind of Blood relation in the town, and make the mother of the stillborn child the sister of one of the Dogs too, to make that a bit tougher. Open on the Dogs riding into town and that mother running up to ask them to name her baby...

[Falc]

Perhaps its too subtle, but the real villain in this town is Sister Grace.  Her prideful desire to win Br. Meshach's love, thus drawing his attention away from Sr. Felicity has lead her to feed her father's superstitious belief that Sr. Felicity is the cause of the illnesses.  If not for Sr. Grace, Sr. Felicity's mostly innocent prideful statement (of her pie being the best) would have gone mostly unnoticed, and Br. Josephus would be looking elsewhere for the cause of the illness.  Instead, Sr. Grace's selfishness snowballs an innocent situation into utter chaos.

Given the opening scene I presented in my revised write up, it shouldn't be too difficult for me to play up the fact that Sr. Grace is keen on marrying Br. Meshach.  The players are bright guys, they ought to figure out who the real villain is easily enough.

It's actually not too subtle, it was pretty obvious to me. Which is why I believe that, to run this town properly, you need to write it out COMPLETELY, keeping each instance of Pride and Consequences SEPARATE.

Sister Felicity is proud of her cooking.
There is probably injustice in her speaking out about it and (even unwantedly) demeaning the skills of the other women.
END

Sister Grace takes pride in being a suitable wife for Brother Meshach.
Sister Felicity suffers injustice because Sister Grace starts telling people how Sister Felicity's pride makes her a less suitable wife.
This is also the sin of the town, the disunity that is growing.
The disunity is exacerbated by the demonic attack on the orchard of Sister Felicity's father, which causes people to fall ill.
Due to this, a number of people start to take Sister Grace's words about Sister Felicity seriously, since it's her father's apples and all. A false doctrine  spreads through the town that "Sister Felicity is the cause of this mysterious illness".
A corrupt worship ensues when people stop praying for the illness to go away and instead start praying that Sister Felicity would be removed from their midst.
It turns into a false priesthood when more and more people start suggesting that the town should take action against Sister Felicity and not just sit by idle. Sister Grace is, as can be expected, at the front of this movement, though perhaps she's not overtly taking charge.
Sister Grace even finds that some of her wishes become true, like how she wanted Sister Felicity to trip in the street and fall face down in that puddle of mud. (Low-key sorcery... for now)
Finally, the town decides the time for words has ended and the time for actions has come. They drag Sister Felicity into the town square and start beating her. Her father shows up, enraged at the treatment of his daughter and shoots someone. Inevitably, other people start grabbing their guns. Hate and murder! You can keep your opening scene even, since Sister Grace's dad just got shot and she's the town sorceress, she's bound to have it raining brimstone once she gets over the initial shock and grief.

I think that the slight change of perspective helps make a few things clearer. You'll also note that the whole bit with the apples has been bumped totally into the demonic attack. This means that the reason for it lies in the sin, while the actual cause can be anything from a freak weather pattern to little gremlins poisoning the apples by hand. This depends entirely on your supernatural dial but it isn't actually important! The sin is still to blame for it happening.

[14thWarrior]

It's actually not too subtle, it was pretty obvious to me. Which is why I believe that, to run this town properly, you need to write it out COMPLETELY, keeping each instance of Pride and Consequences SEPARATE. <snip>

Awesome!  You've got me convinced to stick with Orchard Plains.  What's more, you've definitely showed me how to make sure the situation is crystal clear for when the Dogs get in town.

Also, you've illustrated what appears to be a great way to write up towns clearly; write up the Pride/Injustice/Sin progression for each and every named NPC.  I bet that write up technique would work well in a Table format.  I might have to give that a try some time soon.

Much thanks Falc.

And Warren, you can be certain that I was already planning to have some of the NPCs be blood relations of the Dogs in various ways.  So far it looks like I'm only going to have two players, and thus two Dogs; so it shouldn't be too difficult to set up some decent relations.  Maybe have one Dog related to Alden & Felicity, and the other related to Josephus and Grace; that'd really make things tougher.