Dogs in the Vineyard FAQ

Intro

This FAQ answers most of the questions or situations that have cropped during my own sessions of running Dogs in the Vineyard the roleplaying game. This is not an official resource by any means, but is helpful for my group to track our past issues.

Stakes

Read "stakes" to mean the thing at stake itself, not the possible outcomes. "What's at stake is where I go," for instance; "what's at stake is my survival;" "what's at stake is her trust." The winner of the conflict gets to resolve the stakes: resolve where I go, resolve my survival, resolve her trust.

The people on each side of the conflict may feel free to name their characters' preferred resolution of the stakes. Strictly, however, you aren't committing to that resolution if your side wins. You're speculating how you might resolve the stakes if you win, that's all; idly speculating.

But now here's a nuance: you can name the stakes implicitly by only speculating how you might resolve them. "If I win, he chops your head off with his axe," for instance - what I'm really saying is that your head is at stake.

Once everyone in your group can read the stakes implicit in a declaration of intent, there's no need for any especial formality. Formally, explicitly naming the stakes is useful as a learning tool and when you require absolute clarity; otherwise, feel free to play casual.

GM Goals for Setting Stakes

Givable Stakes

You're after two things: Follow-Up Conflicts and Givable Conflicts.

Since you want good Follow-Up Conflicts, the right Stakes can go either way without creating a dead end or a dull patch. Pushing Stakes smaller will tend to make them less make-or-break.

The right Stakes will make it so that escalating, Taking the Blow and Giving are all roughly equal. Set the Stakes too large and Escalating is always worth it, but small enough and Giving vs. Escalating becomes a real question, as does Giving vs. Taking the Blow.

Conflicts always end with a Give. It doesn't have to be because one side has used every single last die. It can be as soon as one side sees which way the wind's blowing - but that won't happen if the Stakes are too grandiose.

Hedged Stakes

As the GM, don't put up with hedged Stakes. "Do we get him to repent?" is fine. "Do we get him to repent without spilling blood?" is not. Think outcome, not method; the method comes from play.

Cutting Your Losses

When you Give instead of Raising, you get to Cut Your Losses. Grab your highest remaining single die and set it aside. If there's any Follow-Up Conflict, roll your Stat and Relationship dice as usual, then add this reserved die to the mix. Don't reroll it! This represents the advantage you keep by ceding the previous Stakes on your own terms.

Follow-Up Conflicts

A Conflict resolves the Stakes, and resolved is resolved. You absolutely must name new Stakes for a Follow-Up Conflict. Changing the participants automatically changes the Stakes - except when it doesn't. Not to worry, you'll be able to tell the difference.

Another handy approach, is to have whoever lost the Conflict decide whether there'll be a Follow-Up, but whoever won the prior Conflict choose the Follow-Up's Stakes:

GM: "He gets away! You guys want to follow up?"

Players: "You know we do!"

GM: "Okay, Stakes are does he murder Sr. Martha before you figure out where he went?"

Latecomers to Conflicts

Define who's in the conflict when you define the stakes. No latecomers.
If circumstances are such that people would barge into the middle of the conflict, as the GM suggest both of these solutions and pick the preferred one:
1. a) Play time games ("crunch time! All Sees and Raises must happen in the instant between hearing Thad's footsteps on the porch and when he throws open the door!")
2. b) Use the latecomers in Sees and Raises, as though the latecomers were improvised Belongings. Don't forget to roll any Relationship dice as well.

When an NPC helps a PC

If an NPC takes a PC's side in a conflict, it's exactly as though the NPC were joining a group. Give the PC +2d6 to Stats, plus a Trait representing the NPC's role. You choose the Stats. For the Trait, use your Free Dice or make it 1d6, it's up to you.
When an NPC is a latecomer, treat the NPC as an improvised Belonging.

Medical Attention

The healer rolls his Acuity, and the patient his Body
Traits from both healer and patient apply as normal
Only the healer takes Fallout, usually d4s, and is in charge of running the Conflict
Escalate if you can work it into your Raises and Sees; Heart dice are easy to get

Needs Medical Attention or Dies

As the GM, you can call for a Conflict where what's at Stake is "does he get medical attention in time?" There's no mandated passing out or anything like that. As the GM, you're allowed to say, "You pass out." If the player doesn't want the character to pass out, the player will respond with "no way. What's at stake is: do I pass out?" This is the rule for everything and it goes both ways!

Multi-Way Conflicts

Reversing the Blow

If you See twice (or more) in a row, and Reverse the Blow, keep the die for your next See. For example, Farmer Fub Sees a shot with a 6 and keeps it, then Sees a nut kick with the same 6 and keeps it again, Sees a club with the same 6 and keeps it still again, and then spends it for half of his Raise too. If the nut kick had been an 8 instead, Fub would have gotten the 6 and only had to spend a 2 to Block or Dodge.

Highest Roll

Highest Roll remaining goes next. Give everyone a counter that they turn in after their Raise, to track who has yet to act. Everyone must Raise once, before another can Raise again.

Using Relationships

When and how does a Relationship add its dice to your side of a Conflict?

With a Person

The person is your character's opponent
The Relationship with the person is at Stake
The person comes to your character's active aid in a Conflict already underway

With an Institution

Your character's opponent is a person with authority in the institution
What's at Stake is your character's status with regard to the institution

With a Place

Your character is at the place
The place is what's at Stake

With a Sin

Your character has committed the sin and it's relevant to the Conflict
Your character's resisted committing the sin and it's relevant to the Conflict
What's at Stake is someone's commission of the sin - your character's, your opponent's, or someone else's

With a Demon

The demon is your character's opponent, via a sorcerer or possessed person
The demon is what's at Stake
If your character has a Relationship with a demon, he or she can ask the demon for help at any time. Add the situation's Demonic Influence to your side, with supernatural special effects. This makes your character a Sorcerer; what that means to your character's soul is, as always, in your hands.