The Character Tales (original) (raw)

I was one click away from posting a rant on this forum when I read the fine print...luckily, with a whole mess of fine gaming experience coming out of the last Dundracon, I didn't have to dig too deep to find something positive to say.

While recovering from the traumas I endured (in a good way) from an excellent LARP called Black Sun, White Light...why yes I am a kiss ass...but don't interrupt...where was I? Right, recovering in my Dundracon hotel room. Anyway, I had the privilege of playing Coppernicus Jones, one of Gods Watchdogs in a new (to me) rpg called Dogs in the Vineyards. 'Dogs' is set in an alternate Old West where each player is a holy enforcer of the 'Faithful'.

I highly recommend it. Your 'stats' are essentially based on your character description...which is constantly changing. So, Coppernicus was skilled as an ornery, suspicious, vengeful, hand of god. Who was an orphan with no blood ties, but with a strong hatred of the Mountain People. Each of those key words or phrases had their own rolls associated with them.

While delivering mail...yes all Dogs are mailmen in this game...we learned about a recent run of bandit attacks plaguing a small town on our route. Naturally bandit attacks meant corruption and corruption meant vile infestation by demons. Our job was clear, find the sin twisting this little town and smite it town (the sin, not the town). Oh and take care of those bandits.

Yadda, yadda, yadda...gunfights, tumble weeds, holy retribution...I could go on but I'll just give you a snipet.

One of the most memorable scenes was when Coppernicus and one of his fellow Dogs, Chavez, had finally uncovered the demon polluting the people of this town. Now Chavez was of a mind to exorcize the demon and save the woman whose body was acting as host...while I wanted to show the demon the fiery hand of god through the fiery hammer of my gun (you'll recall my description above). The mechanics of the game allowed the three of us to resolve the conflict by playing out this three way battle. In the end Chavez forced the demon to flee while a hail of lead from my pistol tore the room apart. Each of us played a part in describing the battle as we called our character traits into action. I technically lost the conflict, but it was the most fun I've ever had losing.

If you want to learn more about Dogs in the Vineyard, here ya go . I can safely say its the most fun I've ever had playing a Mormon-like Witch Hunter in the Old West.