What kind of dice pool do I use for Conflicts that have no one to struggle with the Dogs? For example, the Dog comes upon a wounded child about to die (this example is used in the book but doesn't really explain the dice...), what are the dice against him if no one else is around?

Does it work like a Dog who is injured? Do I use the child's Body and the Dog's Acuity? And roll using the Fallout dice (just make it up I guess...)?

Or, what if it isn't a type of check involving another person at all? What if the Dog wants to tame a wild stallion, or shoot bottles off a fence post, etc... How do I determine how many dice I roll against the Dog as a GM?

Its in the text somewheres. If there's no clear opponent, the Dog rolls against the general situation of the town, which is embodied by the Demonic Influence dice. The GM gets a certain number of dice depending upon the worst thing that has been revealed in play so far. So, if you've only seen pride, the GM gets less dice. If you've seen murder, or sorcery, the GM rolls more dice.

I believe healing contests are just a subset of this general rule...darn, now I gotta go get the book...one sec...OK, Demonic Influence page 75. GM gets 4d6 plus Demonic Influence when there's no clear opposition (hate and murder = 5d10). For healing, GM rolls all the fallout dice (or 4 dice of size appropriate to the circumstances if there are no fallout dice) plus demonic influence.

One further clarification: Use healing conflicts when a character is hurt and the Dogs are trying to heal them. It doesn't have to be a Dog that is hurt.

Thanks guys! That helps a lot.

I did notice on the "spreadsheet" that's floating around out there that generally 4d6 is the default starting dice pool for the GM.

Sounds good to me.

The rule for conflicts with no clear oppposition is on page 76 (the section on Demonic Influence in conflicts), and Life or Death conflicts are explained on pages 89-90.

However, I advise to avoid those general opposition "unopposed" conflicts when possible. Most of the time in such situations it's possible to identify some indirect opposition. Say, who wants that wounded child to die? The local Sorcerer? So, in fact the Dogs are in conflict with the Sorcerer. It doesn't matter he's not around, you just need to account for his absence in your Raises and Sees. The same goes for breaking horses, shooting bottles and crap. Who in the town, present or not, doesn't want the horse to be broken or the bottle to be shot? If there is such a person, that's who the Dogs are in conflict with. If there isn't, why does it matter whether the Dogs succeed or not all? Most likely, it doesn't matter, and consequently it isn't worth rolling the dice, so you simply say yes.

Filip wrote:
The rule for conflicts with no clear oppposition is on page 76 (the section on Demonic Influence in conflicts), and Life or Death conflicts are explained on pages 89-90.

However, I advise to avoid those general opposition "unopposed" conflicts when possible. Most of the time in such situations it's possible to identify some indirect opposition. Say, who wants that wounded child to die? The local Sorcerer? So, in fact the Dogs are in conflict with the Sorcerer. It doesn't matter he's not around, you just need to account for his absence in your Raises and Sees. The same goes for breaking horses, shooting bottles and crap. Who in the town, present or not, doesn't want the horse to be broken or the bottle to be shot? If there is such a person, that's who the Dogs are in conflict with. If there isn't, why does it matter whether the Dogs succeed or not all? Most likely, it doesn't matter, and consequently it isn't worth rolling the dice, so you simply say yes.

Filip wrote:
If there is such a person, that's who the Dogs are in conflict with. If there isn't, why does it matter whether the Dogs succeed or not all? Most likely, it doesn't matter, and consequently it isn't worth rolling the dice, so you simply say yes.