Mechanic questions

[Shoo]

Recently I had a chance to play DitV as a player (I also GMed once before, so this is my second time).
The game was good, but there were a couple of situations where we didn't know what to do mechanically.
Could anyone please check if we used the system in the right way?

1) My character starts a conflict with an NPC. Initially it was just talking, but at some point my character pulls out a gun and threatens NPC with a gun. We decided that since he is not yet trying to hurt her with a gun, but just threatening, this is still talking, but he gets dice for a gun. Was that correct?

2) Later in that conflict, another NPC interferes, rolls dice (can NPCs enter conflict in progress as characters and not as tools/traits?) and escalates to physical. I escalate too, and we punch each other several times.

3) At that point, another PC enters conflict (again, is this possible?), rolls dice, but does not escalate and tries to calm everyone down.

4) Fight temporarily stops and there is some talking again (could this happen?). Some charactes take blows and we consider fallout dice to be at the escalation level of the one who inflicted the blow - correct? Also, since we are talking again, do blows still inflict physical fallout?

5) So, currently there are two PCs against two NPCs. We Raise in order, but sometimes it seems illogical or inappropriate to Raise for that character at that point, so we allow him to pass. Is it ok to use arbitrary order?

6) Since my character entered conflict early, his dice are depleted and he has to Give. The second PC, on the other hand, wins the conflict. The stake was "make her (first NPC) respect our authority". Does the fact that my character Gave affect the outcome of the conflict?

Thanks in advance!

[Motipha]

I'll take a shot at this, though of course there's a good chance I'll mess something up.  If so, Vincent, my abject apologies.

1) Sounds about right.  The arena is still "non-physical" but you've brought in the object, so you get the object's dice.

2)  As part of framing the conflict, you frame who or what are involved.  As such, no new characters can be introduced as "being involved" but become part of the narraration.  As such, you would roll relationship dice for them, or treat them like a tool.  So I don't think this was done right.

3)  This is most definitely not right.  Once a conflict has begun, no PC can enter the conflict to fight in their own right:  They can only help the PC already involved.  As I understand it, the PC that is involved (if the player interfered on their behalf) rolls for the relationship with the helping character marked on their sheet.  If no relationship exists, then the helping character is used like an object.

4)  Everything that takes place must raise the stakes, there's no de-escalating a fight.  So if you go from gunfighting to talking, you better be saying something as unignorable as a gunshot or something that forces the opponent to react.  If you are just talking, the fallout for taking a blow is just talking fallout.

5)  Dunno about this one.  My gut is no, but I tend to get overly feisty about this sort of thing.

6)  I would say the NPC respects the second PC's authority, but not the yours.  You after all capitulated, and were unable to convince him.

[Andrew-UK]

Totally agree with Motipha, but slightly different take on 5 and 6.

5) There is a post here somewhere (can't find it now.. sorry) where Vincent explicitly states that if someone can't raise they are out of the conflict (effectively giving). I know what you are saying about it sometimes feeling illogical, but I can normally find a way to make it work.

6) This comes back to the previous points. You cannot leave a conflict in progress, it has to be resolved in some why. What you have here is a separate conflict which is entirely new and everyone would start fresh. If its not going your way, giving in the previous conflict would let you keep your best dice as a bonus.

If you lost the initial conflict, and the NPC really does not respect the dogs, perhaps the pair of dogs corner the NPC some time later and a new conflict is started. This time its two on one, the NPC will definitely respect the dogs authority. Some great story to be had here

There is always a chance I am wrong, if I am it would be great to know just where so I can correct it.