Dogs in the Vineyard: Point Hollow

Sunday morning was a game of Dogs in the Vineyard. John Stavropoulos was the GM. I played Brother Benjamin and Jim Cummings played Brother Seth. He had a disconnect problem, but caught on as the scenario proceeded. The odd thing isn't that he had a disconnect, but that DitV does not give me one.

John laid out bowls of dice, one each for d4s, d8s, and d10s, with two bowls for d6s. He gave us 3/4 generated PCs from which to choose, one from each of the five basic background types. Jim chose someone who was originally from outside the faith, while I went for a focused character, making him an intellectual from a rich family. We didn't do the initiation backstory step, and I don't think that was a problem. It might have given Jim a better idea earlier of how the system worked, but it would also have distracted from the actual scenario.

My PC Brother Benjamin, had a Strong History. He had specialized training, and most of his traits were predefined. I had a 2d10 trait I could define, and I named it "Let Me Explain It To You." Yep, Brother Benjamin was mighty fond of telling people what he thought they needed to know. I assigned the empty 2d8 Belonging to his Horse. He had a 1d6 Belonging of Something I inherited, which I defined as Fancy Writing Tools. The rest were already defined. The pre-defined traits and belongings were from old character sheets, with John using things that had proven useful before.

Stats were already divided into four numbers, but we got to decide which stat was assigned to which. So, I had 5d6, 3d6 3d6, and 2d6. I chose to assign my stats as follows:

5d6: Acuity
3d6: Heart
3d6: Will
2d6: Body

Brother Benjamin was an intellectual from a wealth family, but not the most physically fit specimen ever. His coat was elaborately embroidered, and everything on it was Symbolic. I figured Benjamin's sister had talked to him, and then to the rest of the relatives, letting them know what they should embroider on the coat.

Brother Seth was a convert to the faith, and his coat showed the pit of hell where sinners burned, and I think a representation of either himself or the archetype of someone saved being lifted out by the Faith.

John then put down a sheet with photos and description of the major NPCs and told us to use our relationship dice on these NPCs only. After all, during this four hour adventure, those are the NPCs who would come up. We did not have to spend all of our relationship dice at once, and left over relationship dice might be used more flexible, e.g., on NPCs who were not on the list. But, at least one of us needed a relationship with a young girl named Penance, as she was the one calling the Dogs in to check out Point Hollow.

The NPCs were:

• Query -- committing to the Mountain People, though born in the faith. She'd had a child out of wedlock. Jim decided that Seth was the father, and that he'd found his faith as she'd lost hers.
• Brother Rite -- Former Dog, thinks he should be Steward. There's some question about whether the current Steward named him as his successor. Regardless, Brother Rite doesn't want to wait to claim the position. He's the Dog who brought Brother Seth into the faith and trained him as a Dog. He had had to kill Brother Benjamin's Uncle Jobe for being an unfaithful Dog. Brother Rite had been a Dog for about a decade, which is unusually long.
• Brother Loss -- Brother Rite's adopted son, Mountain People, courting Brother Benjamin's sister
• Sister Jezabel -- Rite's wife, forgiven former adulteress, good with dynamite. She had had an affair with Brother Benjamin's Uncle Jobe.
• Colt Bromley -- Man from Back East, where Brother Seth came from, so Brother Seth clearly knew him.
• Brother Onus -- Dying Stewart
• Sister Grace -- Onus's wife
• Crossing Bear -- Leader of the Mountain People
• Sister Penance -- Angry girl. Brother Benjamin had rescued her and helped her deal with demons, or with a cult that dealt with or believed it dealt with demons. The exact details weren't relevant; the important thing was that the girl had written him a letter asking him to come to Point Hollow, saying, "It's happening again."

When Brother Benjamin and Brother Seth approached the town, they saw Penance beating someone with a sack over his or her head with a rock. This someone turned out to be Brother Loss, the man who was courting Brother Benjamin's sister.

The Dogs stopped Penance, who was relived to see them, especially Brother Benjamin. She had been convinced that Brother Benjamin would not come. She had attacked Brother Loss outside of town, convinced he was a demon or a cultist or somehow some kind of evil.

Brother Benjamin said they needed to bring Brother Loss somewhere for help, and Sister Penance suggested the old church, although she was convinced no one would want to help him there.

Now, usually, a town had one church, but the Dogs saw that Point Hollow had two. The old church was on the right side of town, which seemed quite poor. Indeed, the church itself was falling not just into disrepair, but into danger of collapse. The other side of town was overloaded with wealth and shone, especially the new church, which was under construction. Apparently, this new found wealth had to do with the silver mines, and the Mountain People worked those for the town.

The old church had the few townsfolk who followed the old Steward, the dying Brother Onus, who was lying in bed downstairs, where the parishioners were gathered. His wife, Sister Grace, tended to him. She was glad that the dogs had arrived, and horrified at the attack on Brother Loss, even though his adoptive father was striving to be steward while her husband was still alive and was the one responsible for building the new church. Sister Grace chided Penance for attacking Loss.

Penance: You told me not to do anything in _town_.

I forget the exact sequence of events, but the Dogs did go to Brother Rite, who was teaching the children of the Mountain People in the shiny silver church, not _quite_ saying that people who were poor were being punished by the Father of Life. The Dogs told him about the attack on his adopted son, somewhat clumsily on Brother Benjamin's part. Brother Rite was horrified, very concerned for Brother Loss, everything a good parent should be. He also wanted to know how Sister Penance would be punished. The Dogs managed to put him off on that front, and brought his wife, Sister Jezebel, to help look after Brother Loss, who was now settled back in the family home.

Meanwhile, the Mountain People were barricading the mine, and Colt Bromley was making his way up the mountain to them on a horse loaded with dynamite. Brother Benjamin went to deal with that.

Colt Bromley had been paid to get the Mountain People to stop barricading the mines, using whatever methods worked. He wasn't willing to tell Brother Benjamin who'd hired him, but he was willing to let Brother Benjamin outbribe the original briber. Brother Benjamin didn't quite have enough money to do that, as Colt had been paid a lot, and might not have done it even if he had. Matters escalated from talking to physical maneuvering to a gun fight.

Colt died, but Brother Benjamin took fallout. His fancy coat went from 2d6 to 2d4. His relationships dropped to d4 for the next conflict. He acquired a new 1d4 relations: Mountain Folk Saw Me Kill a Man Coming for Them. In addition to all of this, he acquired a Belonging of Bags of Dynamite, rated at 2d10.

Brother Benjamin continued up the mountain and spoke with the Mountain Folk. They were barricading the mine because they didn't like their people being converted to the Faith with promises of an easy life and lots of silver. Query was with them.

Brother Benjamin believed that the Mountain Folk would be better off if they joined the Faith, but on this day, he agreed that they were doing the right thing. The Faith is not easy and does not guarantee a life of wealth. Those who converted believing it did were not true converts, by his reckoning, but unfortunate folk who had been mislead. And the silver was dividing the town, as he could clearly see. There might be more trouble another day, but right now, he thought that the Mountain Folk were doing the right thing, and that Query was doing the work of the Father of Life by standing with them. Query disagreed, as she had forsaken the Faith, but Brother Benjamin wasn't offended. He knew that she was merely mistaken.

Brother Seth was not at all surprised when he learned that Brother Benjamin had had to kill Colt. Someone pretty much would have, sooner or later, he figured. But, Brother Seth had had his own conflict, although one that did not end so fatally or dramatically as Brother Benjamin's.

Brother Seth had been remonstrating with Brother Rite about the matter of two stewards. Brother Rite said that it was a problem, but it was Brother Onus's fault for not stepping down. After all, he obviously was going to name Brother Rite as Steward, as was only Brother Rite's due.

Brother Seth disagreed, and stuck to his guns, metaphorically speaking. He remained respectful of the man who had trained him. And, Brother Rite began to relent, after a fashion.

Brother Rite: Very well. I am not a Steward. I will return to being a Dog.

Brother Seth was not willing to allow this. If Brother Rite wanted to become a Dog again, that was well and good, and Brother Rite could apply to become one and go through the course of training again. But, he said, Brother Rite could not simply take up the mantel of a Dog again without doing so.

Brother Seth: You can't step in the same river twice.

Brother Rite conceded the argument and the conflict. This meant that the GM got to keep Brother Rite's two highest dice for a future conflict.

The Dogs suggested that Brother Rite and Sister Jezebel join Brother Onus's constituents so that the strife in the community could begin to heal, or at least, so that differences might be cleanly aired. Sister Jezebel went, but by the time the Dogs followed her, Brother Onus was dead, and Sister Grace was accusing Sister Jezebel of having poisoned him.

Sister Jezebel returned to her husband while the Dogs calmed down Sister Grace and the congregation. But, when they went to Brother Rite's home, Sister Jezebel was dead, having committed suicide. Brother Rite was in a rage, demanding justice, punishments, and so on.

The upshot was a three way confrontation in front of the entire town -- Brother Benjamin, Brother Rite, and Brother Seth who was torn between them.

Brother Rite had an initial advantage from conceding in the earlier conflict, and Brother Seth started out supporting him, while Brother Benjamin was in the difficult position of being the outsider trying to turn the town against the beloved would-be Steward. Brother Seth thought that perhaps Brother Rite could ensure that the wealth was shared with all of the town, iirc, and Brother Rite was willing to do this.

Brother Benjamin smelled the devil in Brother Rite, however, and realized that Brother Rite was, despite his words, furious that the Mountain People were barricading the mines. Gradually, Brother Rite's pride turned Brother Seth against him, and Brother Seth's support helped Brother Benjamin sway the town. I like that both Dogs were important here and that Jim had the ability to pick which side won. I think what nailed it was that Brother Rite did not simply criticize Brother Benjamin, but the entire Dogs hierarchy, explaining that this was why he had stopped being a Dog -- the Dogs were too arrogant and blind, assuming they knew best.

Sister Jezebel had indeed poisoned Brother Onus, and Brother Rite knew it. He knew all about what Colt was trying to do, and if he hadn't hired Colt himself, he had ordered his wife to do so. At this point, Brother Rite took out a gun, planning to kill himself.

This started a new conflict, as the Dogs tried to talk him out of this.

Brother Seth (showing the vision of hell that the player had described on the back of his Dog's coat at the very beginning of the session): This is where you go if you pull that trigger.

Brother Rite: Is this where my wife went?

Brother Benjamin (as Lisa remembers a piece of Mormon theology that Teresa Nielsen-Hayden wrote about): Did she kill herself because you told her to?

Brother Rite: Yes.

Brother Benjamin: Then, no. She was an obedient wife. (TNH said that women are told to obey their husband as if he were God. They have no moral responsibility beyond that.)

Brother Rite put down the gun, stripped off his rich robes, and groveled naked in the dirt, saying, "Judge me!"

And there we ended the session.

I learned that John usually had an index card with an X on it, although he hadn't used it for this game. If someone picks up the card, it means, "Stop now. I am uncomfortable."

One can have a discussion of lines and veils at the beginning of a session, of things that make one uncomfortable, that one would prefer elided or never coming up. But, as John noted, we don't always know something is going to make us uncomfortable. Also, there may be some things we don't necessarily want to discuss if we don't have to. Hence, the X card.

John stressed that if one holds it up, one does not have to explain why. The only question he would ask is, "Is there some way we can finish this scene without continuing to make you uncomfortable, or should we just stop and reshoot as needed?"