So in my game this weekend, one of the Dogs kept raising with "I tug on my coat, and say..." to bring the belonging into a conflict. One of the other players called him on this, stating that this was "lame". I had tried to impress upon the players the idea that the coat was important, as a symbol of authority, as a sacred object, and as a tie to the Dogs family. So they want to bring it into conflicts, but seem to have difficulty working it into their narration. I thought it might be useful to have some good examples to share with them, but I'm having a little difficulty come up with good ones.

What is the best raise with a Dog's coat you have seen? I'm especially interested in uses in social situations, but I'm curious about physical and supernatural narration as well.

On a similar note, what "I'm a Dog" raises have you really liked? That also has the potential to grow repetitive, and I'm interested in hearing about cool or unusual applications.

The best coat raise I've heard of - I wasn't there - had the Dog putting his coat around the shoulders of the woman whose life he'd just ruined.

Here's a really good post about bringing traits into play: excuses aren't narration.

-Vincent

"The bullets thump off the quilting on my coat."

"I tie up the wound with my coat."

"The wind blows my coat around me - now she knows I'm a Watchdog."

When I demo'd Dogs at DEX, I happened upon a really nice way of describing things.  I just flat out told people "These 2d10 here, they're your 'I'm a Dog'.  Right now you're talkin' to yer brother, it's family.  You can have those 2d10 any time you want, just for deciding that it's not just about family any more, it's about you bein' a Dog."

Everyone I said that to, one and all, gave those 2d10 this real nervous look, like I'd put a scorpion down on the table near them.  Then, in play, some of 'em chose to use them and some of 'em chose to take massive fallout instead.  Given the stakes, nobody was too keen to Give, but on lower stakes I could totally see people who would Give before making it about them being a Dog.

Since then I've decided that I'm pretty much fine with any trait-use that makes me think "Oh man... I am shocked and a little appalled that he would decide that trait is relevant to this situation."  And, of course, I steer players directly at those choices now, 'cuz they're so fun and empowering.