My life is going to the Dogs

I've been hearing so much about it, I finally had to buy [[http://www.septemberquestion.org/lumpley/dogs.html|Dogs in the Vineyard]] from the small, small press of [[http://www.septemberquestion.org/lumpley/lumpley.html|Lumpley Games]]. Dogs is an odd little game, based in the Mormon communities of pre-Civil War Utah. The PC's are the "dogs" of God's "vineyard," riding from town to town, tending to the flock and weeding out the bad influences. With large-caliber six-shooters if necessary.

Dogs is among the new breed of avant-guard games exploring alternate conflict resolution systems and rules-light play, which is why I was interested in it. I've not had the time (due to school) to really follow the discussions at [[http://www.indie-rpgs.com/|The Forge]], though I'm hoping that changes now that I'm about finished with school.

What's interesting is, not only did I find the resolution system to be intriguing, I found the whole thing to be very interesting. The basis of all the conflict is relational, and because of the Dogs' role in the story of moral and just judges, the PC's are strongly encouraged to begin conflict with talk and avoid escalating to guns unless absolutely necessary. The whole setup is ripe for conflicts between friends and relatives, all set in the context of sin and religion. And the kicker at the end… something that seems so obvious when I read it, but hadn't occurred to me: take what the characters came down in favor of ("sinners deserve a second chance") and tighten the screws on the characters' principles in the next setting ("_this_ sinner, this sin, does he deserve a second chance".) Force the character into deciding a tougher case, where mercy or judgment isn't nearly so clean-cut as it was in the last town.

Oooh, the thought of it makes me shiver with gamemasterly delight.

And I think the bit of the setup that really makes it work is that the Dogs are "above the law" of the town, so to speak. They interpret God's law, and though they are under Elders that oversee their work, nobody in the town can effectively argue with them. In a sense, they are God's hand at work in the towns they visit, and it's an incredible responsibility. And it's such a perfect roleplaying setup… the characters aren't freelance mercenaries, out to get whatever then can from the world. They have a specific job, tied into a strong moral code, and they have to be loyal to the King of Life and their interpretation of scripture. They have to be good (they wouldn't have been chosen as Dogs if they weren't), but they're in tough situations that may result in needing to shoot a heretic among the Faithful in order to save a town from demonic oppression.

My wife thinks it has a post-apocalyptic feel. I think it could work very well there.

Now I need to go read Sorcerer and Trollbabe. I have zero interest in the setting of the latter, but I hear so much about the conflict resolution system that I want to see it.