[Alternate Setting] Gods in the Vineyard

Hello all...

This is my first post on this forum and my introduction to all things DitV.

First (off-topic) - Vincent what an amazing thing you've created in DitV. I've been roleplaying for 24 years and this has to be the most innovative thing I've come across for more than a decade. Right. Enough gushing.

On topic. I have had huge problems in getting my gaming group to play DitV vanilla (maybe as one of the group is ex-seminary school), and so I have been looking for an equally good setting rich in moral complexity but more distant from the modern world. We plumped for the Greek theme.

I loved the idea of Thunder in the Vineyard when I read about it - but I think playing zealous priests of an alien religious would be a step too far for a first game of DitV. I went back to the literature (Homer mostly) and I altered the setting a little to suit our needs (to make it a little more familiar to the players).

The result is "Gods in the Vineyard" - and the players take on the roles of heroes of the Trojan war. Each has offended the God/s in some way, and is cursed to travel the ancient Greek world at the Zeus' whim (ala the Odyssey) righting wrongs (along Ignotus' excellent Hubris to Strife lines already described) until the Gods decide their punishment is over and they can return home. It's all set in the Greek 'Dark Ages' of 1200-800BC - Homer's age of Gods and heroes.

I changed the names of the stats to reflect the time period (Body becomes Might, Acuity becomes Insight, Heart becomes Honour, and Will becomes Resolve) but that's just personal taste.

Instead of a coat, each hero/dog has his shield. I stole the cultural importance of the shield ("come home with this shield, or on it") from later Spartan customs because I think it works so well. Anachronistic yes - but the players seem to like it.

We plan to run our first session of the game this week or next, and I'll report back then as to how it went. Cautious not to overstep my creative limits, I've decided to try and rework the recommended first-town of Tower Creek into a GitV 'island'. The second wife becomes a Trojan slave girl captured after the fall of Troy, the steward becomes the Tyrant of Tocrossos, and the Erinyes (Furies) and Hecate take the roles of the Demons.

I have a nice colour character sheet I put together if people would like to see, but I can't work out how to upload it on to this forum. It's in JPG format.

Thanks again Vincent and everyone for your ideas. I hope the island of Tocrossos is a hit with my gaming group...

Andrew.