Last night, we polished off chargen (the young couple needed gear, and the husband's character needed to clarify his Dogs relationship), did initiation conflicts, and got started on Buttercup Overlook. We had three players, the young couple and the insurance guy.

I'm definitely seeing Dogs is a great game for the young wife. Although the initiation conflict was the only conflict she ended up being in, this time round, she came up with her own raises and blocks with way less help than the last time we played.

Compared to the RQ game, or even the past D20 gaming, the attention level of all the players is way up. The insurance guy only nodded off once near the end, and that was my fault because I didn't manage to push conflict hard enough. In the last conflict, you could almost see the little lightbulb go on in the insurance guy's head. He was starting to ask me how sturdy a door was, and then realized he was free to just narrate kicking the door open.

Some bumps:

There are some typos in my writeup of the town. I also screwed up and had Constance bleeding instead of Eliza. Fortunately, that works just as well, if not better.

We went way too long without a conflict. I was really struggling to turn things to force a conflict. Of course looking back, there were plenty of things I could have done. Part of the problem was that I harped on Caleb's predjudice against Falling Bear which wasn't grabbing the players. I should have either escalated that, or dropped it. The ram also turned into a side track, I should have tied that into the situation more solidly.

The young husband got hung up a bit on investigation. I kept it from hanging up when he investigated the ruins of the Dunn house by right away telling him the fire was obviously set, and that there wasn't much else to find there (say "yes" or roll the dice!). He chased after the fruitless ram lead, to talk to the shepherds who aren't involved in the mess in town. I did at least recover by giving him some information about who was sleeping with who, but of course it was a dead end for conflict.

At the end of the session, I did mention to the players that they should feel free to call for conflict, as that was something I noted the time I played Dogs. The insurance guy did actually force the two conflicts we did.

An unfortuante bit of timing - we ended with a conflict between insurance guy (Josia) and Cabel, that will have a followup conflict (with Josia carrying over a 6). Of course that means the next session can start with a bang, after we have a short recap. Though I actually should consider forcing a conflict with someone else.

I definitely need to get some supernatural action going on, it's definitely up to 2d10 demonic influence. Ahh, a quick look at the rules, Eliza can definitely kick in with some posession action soon.

I'd definitely welcome any comments on the town before next session. I think I need to make the NPC's needs stronger. Hmm, also need to re-word what the demons want.

All in all, a good session, not a great one. I could get away with one slack session, especially as a first session, but next week, I need to deliver, and deliver hard. The players are ready for it.

Frank

What were the accomplishments like? Will you be able to pick up the thematic cues given to you by the players in the second act?

Accomplishments:

Young husband: banished a demon from his brother. Yup, this player wants supernatural mayhem and opportunities to banish demons and such. No surprise considering where all his trait dice are. He'll have his chance. The whole town is one giant bang for him... Though to be especially nice to him, I might pull in a werewolf or something.

Young wife: healed someone. No surprise, this player likes to play healers. When things ramp up, she ought to have a good chance. Plus there's Constance's bleeding that needs healing sometime. I was actually glad she didn't push for a conflict yet (she gave her some pain medication). I want that healing to be done with lots of demonic influence dice in play. I'm thinking Constance will wake up in the middle of the night, screaming bloody murder as her sheets are soaked in blood...

Insurance guy: put a bully in his place. This is one I realize I need to drop a good bang on, as his experience, he bumped a 2d6 "doesn't like bullies" trait up to 2d8. I'm thinking of having Patience bully the drifter, which will play nicely off his wanting to protect her.

Hmm, another question - how do you handle pulling in another NPC sheet? If we stick with the named NPCs, one sheet will be enough, but if anything else gets pulled in, I may need another sheet (depends on if they get into a conflict with the drifter or not). Do you only pull in the new sheet when you've used the last NPC on the first sheet, or do you pull it in when you know you're going to need it, but have only one NPC left on the current sheet?

Frank

I always make one more sheet than I think I need. This means I can easily make an NPC I didn't expect in addition to the usual suspects. Remember though, that you only need an NPC 'statted' out if and only if they partake in a conflict. If you want to have more people be 'active' in a conflict, you can pull them in as improvised objects, especially if they're only there to catch a bullet, or if they're possessed or somesuch.