Hello. I finished reading the last third of the rulebook over the last two days. Getting my head around the much vaunted town creation rules stretched my mind a bit. Looking back over conflict and fallout, following the running example with my own dice, it comes together nicely. I'm grooving much better on fallout.

The separate sheets that shipped with the book are really stellar. I was thinking, ok, time to write a one-page rules summary like I have to with every other game .. Oh, shit! He already did it. The layout is great; just the right amount of stat space to reference material (which is delightfully relevant).

Some of the finer points are still soaking: helping out, groups, ceremonial fallout, sorcery. I was under the impression that sees and raises of ceremony added dice like traits or belongings, but no; they determine the fallout die type. Which I don't get. I mean, they're cool for color, and the text says how they're relevant is letting you respond in kind. But that isn't gelling, for me. Help?

The running example of initiatory conflict makes so much more sense after completing conflict and fallout. Sorry to repeat myself; it's just such a strong impression. New eyes, y'know.

I'm not clicking yet on the "something's wrong" progression with my first town creation attempt. Here it is:
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1A: Pride. Brother Mitchel neglects his work because farming is mundane and menial. Sister Beatrice, his wife, nags him mercilously and witholds her love.
1B: Injustice. Their family goes hungry. Beatrice fails to fulfill her wifely duties. Debtors harass the farm and make threats.
2A: Sin. Mitchel escapes the turmoil at the gambling tables in vain hopes of winning the money to pay his debtors. Beatrice takes to whoring for money and to feel some spark of life.
2B: Demonic Attacks. Demons rig the games to make Mitchel a big winner. Prostitutes flock to him and he wastes his winnings on sex, alcohol and smoking. They also possess the lechers who take Beatrice to bed, savaging her and refusing payment.
3A: False Doctrine. Mitchel consoles himself with the belief that he'll make it back tomorrow night.
3B: Corrupt Worship. See above.
4, 5: Skipped.
6A: Brother Mitchel wants the Dogs to piss off and not jinx him. He's got to win this next hand. Sister Beatrice wants the Dogs to condemn her husband and overlook her new profession as consequences of her circumstance.
6B: The Demons want to advance this cycle throughout the town. They want the Dogs to .. piss off? I don't know.
6C: Beatrice ritually murders her would be customers.

Mitchel eventually drinks and smokes himself into poor health, loses everything at the tables and dies from consumption and exposure in an alley.
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I imagine a malevolent gambling hall operator, sucking in the profits. He's probably the sorcerer, and saps like Mitchel and Beatrice are cattle. Or should they be the sorcerers? I like the idea of Mitchel's neglect being the seed that started it all and that addressing that, potentially, is the most elegant fix. So I'm kind of muddled. Any suggestions?

on the Ceremony thing. Think about it like this. Ordinarliy ceremony doesn't do much but when you're up against a supernatural foe, Demon, possesed person or Sorcerer, ceremony lets you deal higher fallout to that opponent than just talking would normally entail. (Up to D8's as opposed to just D4's! ) Plus, its just about the only way to affect non-corporeal demons.

Trevis

I think the problem with your town design is that its contained to one family. The Dogs are really about saving the whole town; single families are the Steward's job. Start thinking along the lines of: Do Michael's winnings make other members of the town jealous? How do the wives/families of the men Beatrice sleeps with feel about this? Stuff like that.

Also, the way ceremony works is really perfect for dealing with demons. I had my players fighing a ghost, and those d8s for Three in Authority were killer in a follow-up conflict.

Trevis:

I get that. Like, you could walk into a saloon and see a Faithful ordering a whisky, and what's at stake is whether he takes that drink. You could See by Singing Praise, reminding him of the One True Path. The d6 Fallout reflects the greater impact of a Dog in Authority.


FlamingMoose:

I noticed the same thing. Yes, his crazy winning does make them mad; mad enough to savage a whore.

That's a clever use: ceremony for follow-up.

** ** **

I dug into town prep a little deeper. Here're some more townpeople:


• Brother Thomas is the town steward. He operates a gambling hall out of his barn as an open secret. A little harmless indulgence is okay on occasion. And if he makes a profit, well, he doesn't make enough for the things he wants, anyway.
• Eliza is not of the Faithful. She came West to seek adventure. The young men of Bitter Creek are so unspoiled and handsome; she must try them all. She lets them play if they buy her fancy dresses, but once they mention love or marriage, she's off to the next one.
• Brothers Virgil and Wiley have always been competitve, whether hunting birds or racing horses. But their passions have been tempered by friendship. Until now. The beautiful lady, Eliza, from back East, catches their eye when her carriage pulls into town. And they both swear they will win her. Though she is not Faithful, they pursue her with vigor.

Virgil woos her with harvest baskets and jewelry boxes. He brags to Wiley of her carnal favor.

One day, Virgil cannot pay his due at his father's home. After receiving a stern lecture, he turns to Eliza for comfort. When he refuses to entertain her with purchases at market, she sends him away.

Heartbroken, Virgil resolves to seek her out, only to find her on the arm of Wiley, wearing a new sun bonnet.



Working through the town sheet has helped me to to ingrain the progression of "something wrong." I'm sure now: Mitchel and Beatrice are the sorcerers. Mitchel commands his demons to give him profit. Simple enough. Beatrice commands hers to possess men to mistreat her, justifying their murder; which is truly a ritual of rage against her husband's neglect. For the rule of three, I guess I name Thomas as the third. But it's like the funhouse in Pinocchio; anyone who's willing to neglect their wife and family is elligible for cult membership. I see Mitchel and Thomas as being boobs. Beatrice, however, ensorcels knowingly.

Though the demons love her, Eliza is more of a free agent. No sorcerous technicality there.

I had a breakthrough right around False Doctrine and Corrupt Worship. For me, it was a format thing; I wrote False Doctrine as a character quote, stating belief, and I wrote Corrupt Worship as a command or instruction. For some reason, that made it work for me.


False Doctrine
• Thomas: "A little indulgene is okay; I deserve the profit since I'm underpaid."
• Mitchel: "I just need another win to pay off my debts, and then I'll stop."
• Beatrice: "Since my husband fails to provide, I have to whore to make money. And if a man tries to brutalize me or skip on the money, he deserves whatever my anger gives."
• Eliza: "I'm honest about who I am and what I expect. Love was never part of the deal."
• Virgil: "Wiley stole Eliza with money, but I'm entitled to her since we've shared our love."
• Wiley: "I'll be the one to make Eliza happy. Virgil failed, but I won't let this beauty get away."

Corrupt Worship
• Accept congregation money that the Faithful should use to manage their holdings as payment for worldly indulgences.
• Gamble to pay debts.
• Whore to buy wares. Kill men that rape you or refuse to pay for sex.
• Buy gifts for women to get them to have sex with you. Accept sex as a promise of marriage. Kill men who court your intended.
• Court those not Faithful if they are of exceptional beauty.



Suddenly I see potential. Just imagine if what's at stake is "you sleep with Eliza." There went your moral authority.