hey all,

I've recently played my first ever game of DitV, and it was a blast for all involved. I'll be posting the actual play a little later today for critiquing, as I could use some advice. For now, I wanted to ask if anyone had thought of or used a rule that let a player pass their chance to raise. I could see it being beneficial if the PC could pass their chance to raise, taking a strictly defensive roll in the conflict, or perhaps being low on dice and needing to "hold out" until someone can come to their aid, like another dog. Obviously this could be abused if it were coupled with aiding another character, so perhaps it shouldn't work in that instance. Any thoughts?

Also, has there been anything else written on how much demonic influence to use and when? The rules as written say that you only get the demonic influence of what the Dogs have discovered or witnessed, even if the sorcerer is explicitly calling on help. In some ways this surely makes sense, but I want to understand why the demons are more reluctant to help when their power is greatest, simply undiscovered. Is there some unspoken rule about demonic activity, such as "Only act overtly when your presence is suspected" kind of trying to hush things up? Is this a grey area, where as GM you do things as you see fit, but most of the time follow the rules as written?

Thanks for your help folks.