Dogs in the Vineyard is phenomenal at what it does. It makes players feel like outsiders, and then gives them responsibility that they don't quite have the tools to bear. The game screams at them to escalate: to shove someone, to punch them, to pull out a gun. The rules reward players that throw caution to-the-wind and overcomplicate every encounter. And it does it all without a modicom of judgement.
Dogs is not for someone who wants to hack a system, or blend mechanics. It does what it does and it does it INCREDIBLY thematically, and very very well. What I will be taking from this game into future RPGs is how to set up towns, how to drive toward conflict, and how to actively reveal the story to players.
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