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Dust Devils

Three Days in Hell!

A Con of You

2007-11-03

I had the great pleasure of participating in a small get-together of story game fanatics called "A Con of You." It was organized by the guys behind the Swedish game blog A Game of You.

During the event I played Dust Devils Revenged for the first time. I had translated Daniel Hosterman's unbelievably cool and explosive situation "Three Days in Hell!" to Swedish and brought it along with me. I offered to be the Dealer (gamemaster) and Arvid, Johan and Jonas each created a protagonist. I had only gamed with Jonas previously.

I didn't feel as insecure as you sometimes can when you run a game for strangers. We had already spent some time together and we like the same type of games; that is story games.

I had prepared to run Dust Devils and felt that I mastered the rules fairly well. It helps that the rules are so good and easy to teach, plus I had prepared a summary in Swedish for the players.

The Situation

In the town of Brownstone, Montana, the newly appointed local sheriff has just arrested a vicious killer and gang leader – James "Widowmaker" Elliot. It will be three days before Federal Marshals arrive to take Elliot away. It will be 2 days before the Widowmaker's gang rolls into town to set him free. Somehow, you're tangled up in this mess.

• James “Widowmaker” Elliot: Locked up in Brownstone's jail. Killer, gang leader, bad-guy.
• Leona Chase: James' girl. Sweltering, manipulative, deceitful.
• Zachary Hayes: Newly appointed Sheriff. Proud and hard, with a chip on his shoulder.
• Charlie Pierce: James' second in command. Ambitious, treacherous, vengeful.
• Bartholomew Elliot: Mayor and James' father. Compassionate, torn, fatherly.

Read the antagonists' descriptions.

The Protagonists

A Part of the Situation

The players got to choose how they were involved in the situation by picking two elements each from the following lists:

From list 1 the players had to select unique elements, that is no only one player per element. List 2 had no such restrictions and picking the same element as another player should even be encouraged.

Read the protagonists' descriptions.

Summary

Arvid created Franco Vasquez, a teenage bandit whose devil was wrath. He is in love with Leona, James' girlfriend. Johan was Archibald Elliot, James' brother and the apple of father Bartholomew's eye, as the one "who'll actually make something of his life." Archibald's devil was greed, and he owed Charlie a fortune. Jonas created Hank, a gunman whose devil was cruelty. He was in town to murder James, and is also sleeping with Leona.

As you see, the characters are strongly tied to each other and the situation, something that is required to generate conflict and interesting, thematic play. Franco is in love with Leona, his gang leaders boss and also the woman Hank is sleeping with. Archibald is James' brother, whom Hank wants to kill. Finally, Archibald owes Charlie a fortune, and Charlie is above Franco in the gang. You can already see the suffering coming right?

The goal in Dust Devils is to see if the protagonists can redeem themselves or succumb to their inner demons. In the game the protagonists' inner demons take the shape of their Devils. This is a very powerful premise and one that Dust Devils tackles with flying colors.

The Story

I asked the others if they had any ideas for the opening scene of our game, because otherwise I had one. My brother once played a character that had a temper problem, and Franco's wrath felt like a perfect fit to zoom in on at the start of our game. It had the potential to lead to immediate action.

Franco is standing at the crowded bar in the Bottoms Up Saloon drinking whisky. A cowboy pushes his way up to the bar and with the heel of his boots he steps right on Franco's toes. "Get out of the way little, seems like your done drinking anyway," says the cowboy while draining Franco's whisky glass. Franco grabs the cowpoke by his neck and rams him face first into the bar, blood sprays everywhere and as his limp body hits the floor he spits up both blood and teeth.

Lovely! Arvid responded just as enthusiastically as I had hoped, and we had a nice solid conflict in our first scene. This is always a good confidence builder for the gamemaster. Arvid's goal was for people to respect Franco and he earned it in violent fashion. I picked a Draw Poker hand as you do for Hazards in the game, I didn't stat the cowboy at all.

Sheriff Zachary Hayes comes into the saloon and tells the young Franco that it's probably best that he withdraws for the evening

As I recall this was just free and clear play, no actual conflict.

Archibald Elliot was also in the saloon, and recognized Franco as a member in his brother's gang of bandits and, worse, one of Charlie's minions. Archibald looks slightly desperate, as if he hasn't slept well lately, and his greasy hair gives away that it's been days since his last bath. He walks up to sheriff Zachary Hayes and talks to him with the authority of being the mayor's son. Archibald demands that the sheriff does his just duty, shows that he's the one in charge, and throws Franco in the lock-up. Zachary's pride makes him give in with a sigh, and he leaves the saloon to find Franco.

A very fun scene. Johan played with a lot of intensity and did actually look appalled when as the mayor's son he requested the sheriff to do his job. So the conflict forced the poor sheriff to take an action he was hoping to avoid.

The sheriff's about to lock up Franco in the cell next to James when Hank walks in. Hank is there to torment James, but James manages to get a hold of Hank and pulls him hard into the bars of the cell.

I seem to recall that this was our first three-way conflict and that Franco had a goal as well, but I can't remember for sure. I know that I invited Johan to play James, as I was playing the sheriff, and that worked out very well. Johan played James as if he didn't have a care in the world and was just trying to ignore Hank. James didn't even take the opportunity to insult Hank. This should've earned James a poker chip, but I didn't remember that antagonists could earn poker chips until after the game.

James won the conflict with a spade flush. This meant that Hank took nothing but physical Harm. So Hank's Harm was reduced to zero in his first conflict and he was now at The End. This is a very cool aspect of Dust Devils. No matter your goal in a conflict, the suits of your poker hand determine what kind of Harm you cause to your opponent. In this case we were all surprised that James took to physically hurting Hank.

By the way, we didn't play out Franco being arrested. We simply framed to that scene and there he was being locked up.

Once locked up, Franco asks James a bunch of intimate questions about Leona. He then masturbates loudly in order to psych out James.

Holy cow! This was the first time I'd seen masturbation used as a tool in a conflict. The wrathful teenager psyches out his gang leader by getting his mind off kilter. Franco won the conflict, and James probably didn't sleep well after that.

"Excuse me Mister Elliot, but Miss Chase is here to see you Sir," quips the maid, peeking into the study where Archibald is sitting in a large armchair with a snifter of cognac. Leona confides in Archibald that she knows where James has hidden his loot, and she will split it with Archibald if he helps her recover the fortune.

Leona wants to trick Archibald into doing all the hard work of recovering James' fortune and then get rid of him. Archibald wants his hands on the money; if his intent was to pay of his debt to Charlie we won't ever know.

Early next morning Leona leads the way out to the old quarry. Archibald puts his back into it and digs with desperation to find the fortune where Leona says it's buried. When his shovel strikes metal, you hear a loud bang. Leona stands over him with a smoking derringer. She pushes Archibald's body out of the way and grabs the cash-box.

Back in Brownstone, Leona finds Hank, her lover. He is asks for her help in getting James out of lock-up, but Leona manipulates Hank into forgetting about James and leaving town with her while they have the chance. She admits to having James' money and that they should leave now and start a new life together elsewhere.

Jonas and I had a moment where we couldn't agree to the stakes of the conflict. Perhaps he felt that my stakes where too hard as Hank's goal was to murder James. We did quickly come to terms though and continued playing.

Hank and Leona are in a back alley off of Main Street where they have just stuffed James' money into the saddlebags of their horses. Leona does of course have a hidden a bundle of cash in her underskirt. Hank helps Leona up into her saddle the same moment Franco turns the corner into the alley, having recently been released from lock-up. Franco realizes that Leona doesn't even know who he is, even though he loves her dearly. In anger he decides that if he can't have her, then no one will!

Conflicts with more than two parties are very interesting in Dust Devils. You have to state your Goal and any who Oppose it up front. Then you play a round of "Dust Devils' Draw Poker." The single highest card played in the conflict determines who becomes the Narrator and gets to describe all the action. If your hand beat all your opponents, then the Narrator must include your successful accomplishment of your Goal, otherwise the fallout of the conflict is left to the Narrator.

Franco yanks Leona off her horse and stabs her in the face with a knife. The sound of the knife cutting through her upper jaw and teeth makes a sick, wet crashing noise. Hank grabs Franco and beats the crap out of him. Leona crawls away in panic, blood flowing from her face. Hank doesn't notice, he's to busy tormenting Franco, and continues way past the point where Franco still begs for mercy.

Archibald is seen staggering down Main Street, Brownstone. His earlier black suit is now caked with gray dust, and his shirt is red-brown with dried blood.

Leona crawls on all fours, urgently looking for help. She grabs a boot and a pant leg, and uses them to pull herself up pleading for help. She gasps when she sees Archibald looking down at her. She tells him that the money is on the horses in a nearby alley.

I believe this last scene was just free play and no conflict.

Archibald reaches the ally, but finds nothing but a bloody and badly beaten Franco sitting against a wall. Archibald is getting desperate. He demands to know where the horses are and who took them? Franco spits some blood, grunts, and points towards the town's lock-up. Archibald sees the horses' tracks.

Pretty sure this was nothing but free play again.

Hank is asking sheriff Zachary Hayes to turn over James to him. He uses his tongue of gold to get the sheriff to understand that Hank can "solve the problem" for the sheriff. He also adds that Charlie's boys are already on their way into town to spring James. The sheriff reluctantly agrees and hands James over to Hank. Hank ties James to Leona's horse and sets off toward Whitewater cemetery.

What a great conflict. The poor sheriff just didn't know what to do. I seem to recall Jonas using a couple of poker chips to ensure himself of victory.

Archibald arrives at the lock-up, but finds his brother gone. Zachary Hayes tells him that James is in Hank's care, and that they headed in the direction of Whitewater cemetery. Obsessed with the idea of getting his brother's ill-gotten loot, Archibald forces the sheriff to hand over his horse. Archibald gallops away after Hank.

The sheriff's Scores were quite low by now, and his Eye was at zero.

Charlie rides into town and bumps into the battered Franco and the bleeding Leona. Charlie asks Leona what has happened, and she doesn't hesitate to give up Franco. He tries to get Charlie on his side by explaining that Leona found James' loot, and how Hank now has it. Charlie coolly shoots Franco on the spot, and rides towards the lock-up.

This conflict was between Leona and Franco. Yup, Leona won.

You hear shots ring out from the town lock-up as Charlie walks out, and behind him you see Zachary Hayes' body on the floor.

So the sheriff finally checked out. This was just a cut scene, something I described, but without any play. We were gearing up for The End.

Hank drags James behind his horse the last part of the way to the cemetery. They reach it by dawn. Hank cuts James loose, throws a gun on the ground and says, "pick it up."

I'm no longer certain, but I believe we actually played out a conflict with Hank trying to break down James by dragging him after his horse.

James "Widowmaker" Elliot is hardly conscious and on his knees in the cemetery. He conjures up what reserves he has left and grabs the pistol, but Hank shots him through the hand. Hank tells him to reach for it again, and James tries with his left hand, but Hank shoots him through it as well and brutally kicks him to the ground. James crawls across the cemetery grounds, but Hank forces him back up to his knees and puts the barrel of his gun to James' forehead. James pleads for mercy and asks what he's done to Hank? Hank states that James and his gang burned the ranch where Hank used to work, and showed nobody any mercy. Hank pulls back the hammer.

It's quite, apart from the prairie winds whistling through the underbrush. The sun is rising over the cemetery. The morning birds' song sounds almost cruel in contrast to the scene taking place.

Hank lowers his gun, mounts a horse and rides off into the sunrise without looking back.

Wow! What an end to Hank's story. He redeemed his cruelty. He gained the insight that being just as cruel as the person he wanted revenge upon, made him an equally bad man, and Hank didn't want that. The conflict was very fruitful and could've gone either way. This was Hank's last scene, as he had to use his Devil's rating instead of his 0-rated Scores.

After Hank has disapeared on the horizon, James straggles to his feet and climbs into the saddle of the second horse. He takes off after Hank. Blood is dripping from both hands, and he will surely not get very far.

When Archibald arrives at the cemetery he can clearly see that a gunfight has taken place there. He is intently studying the scene and wondering how he'll get the money now, and doesn't notice Charlie and crew riding up behind him. Charlie wants his money. Archibald tries to sell out his dad, stating that he knows the combination to his safe and can help Charlie get the riches in it. Charlie doesn't feel like he needs any such help and shoots Archibald, who topples backwards over a gravestone and falls limp to the ground.

When Johan started selling out his dad, the rest of us could barely keep from smiling, it was so perfect. He lost the conflict though.

Franco appears. Angry as a trapped bear he wants to take his wrath out on Charlie. He throws himself on Charlie and gets him off of the horse. A couple of gunshots echo out and Franco's life is over. Archibald staggers up to his feet with a drawn gun, but is cut down by Charlie's gang, who empties their guns into Archibald. His body convulses from all the lead that hits him, before he finally hits the ground for the last time.

Say what a contrast to Hank's end. This made his seem like a fairy tale ending. The contrast was something we all enjoyed immensely. The contrast made each scene more powerful and was something we all appreciated. Archibald and Franco's chances in their last conflict where slim from the start. They both lost to Charlie and paid with their lives.

Actual Play Reflections

Dust Devils is a heck of a good game when every player embraces their Devil. Jonas acted out Hank's cruelty in every scene, Arvid's Franco was always filled with wrath, while Johan's Archibald was driven by his greed. The same applies to our antagonists. For instance Leona who was manipulating everyone she came in contact with.

It also worked beautifully to take turns playing the antagonists. All of us got the chance to play the sheriff, James, and Leona at least once. It was great how their personalities where naturally expanded upon through play. It worked out much better than it ever would've had only I, as the Dealer, portrayed the antagonists. It also made the scenes more interesting and the wait for your turn in the spotlight shorter.

I forgot to give the players any poker chips from the start. We should have followed the advice in the rules and let them start with 3-4 chips. A couple of scenes in we agreed that each player should take a poker chip, but a few more would've been good. If you aim to play a Dust Devils one-shot, hand out 3-4 chips to each player from the start.

During my regular game sessions, I try to keep notes. Normally I scribble stuff down during breaks from the game, and sometimes I even request a moment, but for this session I kept no notes at all. That is why I can't recall all the specifics.

It was interesting to note that during the start of our game we made some huge poker hands. We saw a straight flush, and I even had a five of a kin as the game uses two jokers. However, towards the end of the game you could win a conflict with just a pair.

I hope this session report brought some joy to you. Personally it was a great experience to play in this game. We all had a fantastic time, and that's why I wanted to document it with this session report.

Come on now! Play Dust Devils, or give up the game pardner,

Yoki Erdtman

Links

• Review.
• Actual Play Report.
• Players' Pitch.
• The official Dust Devils Web site.

PDF Play Aids

• Three Days in Hell! PDF Scenario (633 KB).

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