Brother Brand says, "Right, first off -- have all of you played Dogs before?"

peaseblossom says, "Yes, but only the one time."

Mo has, a couple of times.

kleenestar says, "I've played one abortive session. I have read the rules pretty
carefully but haven't yet gotten to fluency with them."

Nancy says, "I've only played a one shot, but I’ve read the rules 'n stuff."

Brother Brand says, "That's better than most. Okay, so to start off with, why  
don't we talk about the whole gender thing. I mean, we've been over it a bit on  
the list -- but are there any issues, comments, concerns, etc about what we're  
doing?"

kleenestar says, "As I said by email, I don't want to play in a didactic game.  
 (Like Mo said - I don't want every conflict to be about Sister Patience
  rebelling against her gender role. Some is good, all is bad.) Beyond that,
  I'm pretty excited to be playing with all of you, as you seem really smart 
  and cool. That's not really a gender thing though!"

Mo says, "I think that we are playing a group of Dogs, in real Dog situations
 (not necessarily always gender-specific sitches) to explore the issues of 
 gender in the world."

kleenestar points at Mo. "Uh, yeah. That."

Nancy says, "I agree"

kleenestar says, "What she said."

peaseblossom says, "I definitely agree."

kleenestar says, "Also, I fully intend to refer to myself as a Bitch, assuming
that doesn't bother anyone . . ."

Nancy says, "As long as you don't do it IC :P"

kleenestar says, "I can't imagine that my character would ever allow the word
bitch to pass her lips, as you'll see later. :)"

Brother Brand says, "Good, sounds like we're all on the same page. My plan, as
GM, is to make towns that are good towns full of conflict. Some of that conflict 
will be about sex, and family, and God and money and some will be about gender.
But I'm not planning on doing anything specifically different than I would for a
normal game. I figure if anything is going to be different it will come from you
all and the dynamic between you. Does that sound fair?"

kleenestar says, "Sounds right to me, Brand."

peaseblossom says, "Totally fair, Brand."

Nancy agrees with Brand

Mo nods in agreement.

Brother Brand says, "Okay. In that case I think maybe we could go to supernatural
 dial, and where we want to set the "vazoom" level of FX. My preference is for 
"plausible deniability" -- that is to say there can be things that are faith 
based "magic" -- but they shouldn't be blatant or obvious. I like the focus to 
stay on the human drama."

kleenestar says, "I'm agnostic - no joke intended - when it comes to where we
 set the supernatural level. I don't have strong feelings either way."

Mo puts in her vote: "I prefer the supernatural dial of Dogs to be dialed right
 down, where you have to take the world on faith."

Nancy says, "I think it's a good idea to focus on humanity"

peaseblossom says, "I'm with KJ, I can go either way."

kleenestar says, "I'll put in a vote for mystery as well as humanity, then. I'd  
really like there to be weird things that one could explain naturally, by faith,
supernaturally, whatever - no matter where the dial gets set."

Brother Brand hmms. "Might I give an example and see where people vote on it?"

kleenestar says, "Sure!"

Nancy nods.

Mo says, "Shoot."

Brother Brand says, "The Dogs come into town, a woman is hanging from the center 
of the town well. The dogs cut her down: she's half dead, face blue, windpipe 
collapsed. The Dogs go to heal her, what is an appropriate pose (answer can be
either a letter or "this letter and above" and so on):

A) Bandage her up and save her like paramedics. They may pray, but prayer alone
 won't save her. 
B) Put her head in their lap and pray over her -- with a suggestion that maybe
 the prayer saves her, maybe having her windpipe straightened out does. 
C) Hold out your hand and command her to rise, and she does so. 
D) Glow brightly as you speak the name of God, and she rises to your prayers as  
 fresh as the say she was born. 
E) Call the angels to come and save her, which they do with harps and swords and
 everything."

Mo says, "A and or B"

kleenestar says, "A-C seem reasonable to me. D and E are probably a little  
further along the supernatural spectrum than I'd like to go, despite my claims
of agnosticism."

peaseblossom says, "I think in this case I vote for A."

Nancy says, "I'd fall between B and C, probably, where prayer definitely works,  
but isn't all-powerful or miraculous, or if it is it takes a huge toll and should
be done only in extreme circumstances"

kleenestar says, "I'd prefer B out of all of those, I like that there's mystery  
to it."

Brother Brand oh yeas, and notes his own vote would be for Bish.

peaseblossom says, "Although, I think that it should be clear that both the  
bandaging and the prayer are necessary."

kleenestar says, "Oooh, can I just vote with Nancy? I really like that."

Nancy says, "I could definitely go lower, though, if people want"

Mo says, "Could you do B Pease?"

peaseblossom says, "Sure."

Mo says, "That seems to be good common ground then."

Nancy says, "yeah, sure"

kleenestar says, "Sounds good to me."

Brother Brand says, "Plus we can figure out specifics as we go. There is an  
important rule to remember in Dogs: "It isn't good unless EVERYONE is happy with  
it." The most picky player has veto, so we always have to play to each other. So  
if we get too supernatural, pease, you can veto smack us."

kleenestar says, "What I like about that is that you can make characters who  
believe because, well, that's what their life has taught them - not because  
they've seen a demon or met someone raised from the dead."

kleenestar says, "It opens the door for characters with lots of different kinds  
of faith."
Brother Brand nods, "That's why I like it, KJ."

Mo agrees.

Nancy says, "hmm. so does 'magic' work because you believe in it or because of a  
stricture of the world?"

peaseblossom says, "Yes. I think that the opposite of faith is certainty, which  
is why very obvious miracles get in the way of it."

Brother Brand says, "typing response, Nancy"

peaseblossom says, "Which, of course, I realize I said earlier that I didn't care  
one way or the other, so I'm totally going back on that, I guess."

Brother Brand says, "I'd say that it's mostly not clear if the magic is magic or  
just the power of faith in the human heart and mind. After all humans can do  
amazing things when they believe. So did that woman just pick up the wagon and  
push it over because God gave her the strength, or because her son being trapped  
underneath it did? Both? If you give someone a blessing and they get healed, is  
it because God touched them, or because they believed they could get better?"

kleenestar says, "Ooh, faith healing, me likey."

Nancy says, "fair enough"

Brother Brand says, "The other thing about it is that I usually don't mind if  
poses from a characters POV have more than normal faith factor about them. So,  
for example, a very visionary character might say that she has seen the angels  
coming -- but does she really see them, or is it just a manifestation of her  
faith. How's that work for everyone?"

kleenestar says, "I'd like my character to be able to come to either conclusion  
and REALLY believe it. I as a player would rather not have an answer, so I'm glad  
Brand isn't giving us one!"

Brother Brand nods to KJ.

Mo says, "Works for me."

kleenestar says, "So does that take care of both supernatural and vazoom? Or is  
vazoom a separate thing we should address?"

Vazoom!

Brother Brand says, "Um, I think it gets both."

Mo says, "What's a vazoom?"


kleenestar says, "You got me. That's why I asked."

Mo says, "Oh! FX."

Brother Brand says, "Vazoom is magic power and specialness -- like if a Dog's  
coat can deflect bullets. But from what you've all said the Vazoom should fit  
with the "faith healing" level of reality."

kleenestar says, "Yes, agreed. Okay, I am vazoomed."

Nancy says, "yeah"

peaseblossom says, "I'm cool with all that."

Brother Brand says, "Excellent."


Brother Brand says, "So, I guess at this point its time to start talking about  
characters and such. Before we get to that, does anyone have anything they want  
to add, dispute, or bring up?"

peaseblossom says, "I wanted to ask if anyone remembers the movie 'Bad Girls'?  
The western with Drew Barrymore and Mary Stuart Masterson (ed)"

Brother Brand tells Mo to add it to their rental list.

kleenestar says, "HAHAHA I just made my boyfriend buy that. Still haven't watched  
it, but I needed some Bitch gear!"

peaseblossom says, "Not entirely on topic, it was just the first thing I thought  
of when this game was proposed."

peaseblossom says, "Mary Stuart Masterson. Mary Elizabeth Masterantonio. I always  
get those two mixed up."

Nancy says, "I don't have life issues that could be addressed in game, but I have  
*real* issues with ultra-conservatism as represented by this world and a lot of  
places IRL, so I could get really really frustrated with shit. That's part of why  
I want to play: to get over that in-game, to push myself to represent something  
that's so very contrary to my own nature."

Brother Brand nods to Nancy. "That's a fair statement. What do you need from us  
to help you with that?"

Nancy says, "I don't know, just be patient if/when I start fuming?"

Mo says, "Sure!"

Nancy says, "I also thought of something re: my issue; slap me down IC rather  
than OOC if I'm getting too hippy-liberal."

kleenestar says, "That's no problem for me! And, actually, it reminds me that  
there is something I wanted to bring up."

Brother Brand grins, "Okay. Bring up!"

kleenestar says, "This is not really germane to the setting-creation stuff, but I  
am told that I can be kind of oblivious. If I do something that bothers you,  
please just tell me explicitly."

Mo says, "Ditto."

Brother Brand says, "I think that should be a group rule in general. If I piss  
you off, tell me."

kleenestar says, "On the bright side, this means I have a LOT of tolerance for  
people fuming, ranting, whatever. As long as I don't have to worry that they're  
fuming at me!"

kleenestar says, "Awesome!"

Nancy agrees heartily

Mo says, "And if something gets to be too much, or you need extra support, put a  
flag up and everybody's all hands until it's through."

kleenestar says, "Excellent. I'm not sure exactly what that'll mean in practice,  
but I'm looking forward to finding out."

peaseblossom says, "You're all going too fast for me... I totally agree, and I  
hope you'll extend me the same courtesy."

Nancy says, "as an addendum, I have a pretty big vocabulary, so please ask if you  
don't understand!"

Mo says, "I don't think it'll be a problem in this group."

Nancy says, "I didn't think it would be, but it has been in others...."

kleenestar says, "Doesn't sound like it - but I won't hesitate to ask if  
necessary (about vocabulary or anything else)."


kleenestar says, "Oh, one more question:"

Brother Brand says, "It also brings up something else I'd wanted to say: online  
play can be slow, and if all the Dogs aren't involved in a scene it can leave  
players out of the scene ICly for more time than would happen around a table  
(I've seen it go to half an hour sometimes). So, to deal with that and to help  
each other and be involved with each others characters and stories, I like to  
keep up a large amount of talk about what it going on in a scene. I like  
suggestions from players as to what NPCs could do, I like comments about how you,  
as real people, feel about your own character and the character of others. How do  
ya'll feel about that?"

kleenestar says, "That's what I was going to bring up. Heh."

Nancy says, "sounds good"

peaseblossom says, "I'm fine with that."

kleenestar says, "I'm mostly against OOC chatter, but I find chatter about what's  
going on in the scene really energizing depending on how it goes. For example in  
my group there is a lot of applause during a scene, shouts of HARDCORE!,  
whatever. It would just be useful if there were a way to mark your text as OOC so  
that there's no confusion about who is saying what and in what context."


Brother Brand says, "It also helps me, as GM, to know what you're doing if you  
talk about your character (before, after, during a scene) -- I can be dense about  
motivations and such sometimes, so hearing people talk about it always helps me  
focus."

Mo says, "Any other issues, comments, concerns?"

kleenestar says, "I think I'm good for now. If I think of anything else, I'll  
find an appropriate point to ask that won't interrupt us."

Brother Brand says, "We have a nifty challenge handler application that we'll get  
to later. It was coded by Joshua RinglingbrothersandBarnembaily -- so hopefully I  
can remember all of its tricks. I've used it before, and it is nifty."

Mo says, "Characters!"

Brother Brand says, "Okay, everyone good to start talking characters?"

kleenestar says, "Yup!""

peaseblossom says, "Yep."

Nancy says, "yes! which character sheet are people using?"

Mo thinks we'd better let KJ talk first, else she might explode.

kleenestar says, "Am I THAT bad?"

Nancy lols

Mo giggles. "Just excited. ;)

kleenestar says, "Yeah, yeah. yeah. :)"

Brother Brand asides to Nancy, "I'm not using official ones. We can set our descs  
to our character sheets though, so we can keep a record of the characters where  
we can all see them."

Mo says, "If you want to use whatever sheets or just text notation, and send it  
to me later, at some point I'll make nifty sheets for you all..."

kleenestar says, "So, maybe I will present my basic concept, and people can say  
if it's cool with them, steps on toes, whatever, and then everyone can give their  
basic concept before we go into details on anyone? Or, Brand, did you have a  
different plan?" 

kleenestar says, "Ooh neato!"

Brother Brand says, "Sounds good to me KJ. I'm background boy at this point,  
y'all are in charge of the C-Gen show."

Nancy says, "sounds good to me, KJ"

kleenestar says, "So, here's my basic concept: (typing)"

peaseblossom says, "Okay, but I totally call the name Clementine."

kleenestar says, 

"She is the perfect illustration of a iron fist in a velvet glove. She is  
soft-spoken, gentle and patient, but with an incredible reserve of will and  
endurance underneath. She's likeable, kind, socially adept, perceptive, calm in a  
crisis, practical-minded and full of quiet competence. However, she can be  
condescending, convention-bound, self-satisfied and vain. It's also hard to  
change her mind; while she knows how to be obedient, she also knows how to get  
around the letter of what she's instructed to do, and she knows that a quiet  
resistance or manipulation of the situation can often get her what she wants.  
Finally, she is not a generous person, and is often willing to accept a poor  
explanation of someone's behavior at face value rather than give them the benefit  
of the doubt."

kleenestar says, "I'm thinking high Will & Heart, as she's good at being  
conventionally feminine but has had to do so in some pretty difficult situations  
(which I will go into if we get to the point of making background for her)."

Brother Brand says, "Someone had that ready to go.... ;)"

kleenestar says, "Well, some of it, yeah. :)"

kleenestar says, "I'm thinking Abigail for her, since the biblical Abigail rose  
to very high heights by being servile to men, humble and self-abasing - and  
that's definitely where she's beginning."

kleenestar says, "She's less into being a good Dog than into looking like a good  
Dog so she can make an excellent marriage."

kleenestar says, "And that's my brief summary. Reactions? Thoughts?"

Brother Brand will never play in a game with such a character! Never! Never!

Brother Brand is joking, of course.

Nancy says, "I think she could create interesting group dynamics"

Mo says, "Heh, if I play the character I'm thinking I might, we'll have some  
Trouble with a capital T."

kleenestar says, "Oh yeah, Mo, I saw that character picture. :)"

Mo says, "You don't know the half of it."

peaseblossom says, "I dig it."

kleenestar says, "Speaking of which, here's the pic that told me who the  
character was: http://www.replayable.net/pics/dog.jpg"

Brother Brand says, "You know, Mo says things like "Here's the pic that told me  
who the character was" all the time."

kleenestar says, "What's funny is that this is the first time in several years  
I've done that - and I probably wouldn't have except that Mo sent me a picture  
that got me itching to find one for me."

Brother Brand says, "That pic is awesome."

kleenestar says, "Can't you just see the smugness in her face?"

peaseblossom says, "Very evocative."

Nancy says, "well, Brand, I think you've landed yourself a bunch of  
immersionists, what more can you expect?"

Brother Brand grins, "Luckily I like playing with immersionists."

kleenestar says, "Anyhow, I can outline the character history (at least  
sketchily) and I've thought about traits, but I'd like to see other people's  
basic concepts first if that's okay with the group."

Brother Brand says, "I think we should do everyone's basic concept first."

Brother Brand says, "So who wants to go next?"

Nancy says, "I've got a few ideas, so want to hear others' first, if they're more  
concrete"

Mo can, if someone else is wanting to hold back.

peaseblossom says, "I have a quick question, if you don't mind..."

Mo says, "Shoot"

peaseblossom says, "I'm not sure I'm remembering right. Are Dogs chosen? Do they  
volunteer? How does that all work?"

Mo says, "Dogs are generally chosen, but can volunteer, but must be accepted."

peaseblossom says, "'kay. By whom are they chosen, and how?"

Brother Brand says, "Normally a Dog is "chosen by God." What that means in  
non-religious terms is that the branch Steward or another authority (maybe one of  
the Ancients, if they know the Dog's family) watches a young lady who is coming  
of age to see if she has the stuff to be a Dog. If she does, she'll be called in  
for an interview, and if she does well will be called By God through the  
authority, in order to become a Dog. After that they go to Temple to get trained.  
Some Dogs in other games I've played have been called directly by God, or had a  
parent get a vision and send the Dog off to Temple themselves. Those Dogs get to  
Temple and are accepted or rejected by the Elders there. (Obviously the PC would  
be accepted, else she wouldn't be a Dog.)"

peaseblossom says, "Okay."

Brother Brand says, "Oh yea: 

Steward = Minister/local leader
Ancient = High Level Leader, like a Cardinal or Archbishop
Elder = Local level authority, special Elders who are former Dogs teach Dogs to  
be Dogs at Temple"

peaseblossom says, "Would you like to go, Mo, or would you like me to go? I have  
a pretty basic concept, and the name."

Mo says, "Go ahead."

peaseblossom says, "What I'm thinking is a girl who grew up very happy and  
well-adjusted. Loving family, prosperous town. She loves her life and she loves  
God and thinks everything is good. She's a bit confused as to why she's been  
chosen to be a Dog - she's not the best at anything that she can tell - but she's  
completely willing to go where God leads her. She's naive, and trusting, and  
very, very good. Poor thing."

Brother Brand says, "I don't need towns. This group is going to kill each other.  
I love it."

Nancy says, "heh"

kleenestar says, "Oh dear. I fear for her - but I love it."

Mo giggles. "Clementine (as a name) so fits."

peaseblossom says, "I kind of liked Felicity, but for the stupid TV show."

kleenestar says, "Heh."

Mo says, "Felicity is a great DitV name."

Brother Brand kicks television for ruining good names.

kleenestar says, "So, that sounds great. Do you have more to add to the basic  
concept, or should Mo go?"

peaseblossom says, "Mo should go!"

Mo says, "OK, typing, this will take a few, talk amongst yourselves. The Italian  
Renaissance was neither Italian, nor was it much of a rebirth. Discuss."

Brother Brand kicks Michelangelo in the nose, and this is his contribution to the  
subject.

Mo says:

"When Momma died birthing me, Daddy lost the Faith. My Grandad took me offa him  
when he went Back East and turned his back on the King of Life. Grandad was a  
panner and we lived up in the hills far away from any of the major settlements. I  
never knew many other people when I was growing up, and what few of them I did  
were boys from the Mountain Clan. My Grandad did as well as he could, and I loved  
him dearly, but it turns out despite the three wives he once had, he really  
doesn't know much about women.

When I was thirteen, he died. I have him a burial the best I could. I tried my  
best to keep myself, but food was meager, and the days were long. I was down to  
bones by the time the summer came due, and when I got my first blood, I thought I  
was dying, so I packed up my life and headed in to the nearest town. I feel kind  
of stupid about that now. Turns out, I never should have left. I ended up being  
taken in by the Steward, his wife and six beautiful daughters, and life got kind  
of complicated. 

 I couldn't take the dresses and the lace, and the manners I could never manage,  
and... well, and the way they made me feel if I thought too hard about them. So I  
ran away two, three, four times till the Steward gave up and married me to a man  
from the Territorial Authority. He was hard and brash and mean and I've never  
been so terrified but to think of lying with him, so I ran, and stole a horse,  
and ran him half dead to get to Bridal Falls where I begged the temple to pray to  
the King to see if he'd have pity on me."

Brother Brand says, "Wow, first person and everything....Someone is a keener."

Mo says, "Her name is Chaste, her daddy hoped she'd stay so, and never have  
children that would kill her, but she prefers to be called Chase, as her Grandad  
did."

peaseblossom says, "Wow. Nice."

kleenestar says, "Yes, awesome."

Nancy says, "cool."

Mo says, "So I wanted to ask... I noticed a potentially dangerous area."

Brother Brand says, "Show them the picture!"

kleenestar says, "I'm already seeing lots of interesting interactions - Mo, you  
may squeal when I go a little more into my background."

kleenestar says, "Which is?"

Nancy says, "yes, Mo?""

Mo says, "Oh yeah... http://spaceanddeath.com/masks/Apache-Skies.jpg"

Mo says, "If you read my oh so subtle subtext, she has a certain same sex  
attraction, I'm not sure or not if she has an opposite sex attraction yet, but  
I'm probably going to take a complication trait on this. I was just wondering if  
anybody had flags around this in respect to their characters as players."

Mo says, "As in, concerns about playing it."

kleenestar says, "Nope, fine with me. I'm kind of hoping she develops a crush on  
Abigail, as I think that would well and truly fuck with Abigail's head, but my  
character might be too snotty for that. We'll see in play I guess!"

Nancy says, "no problems here"

peaseblossom says, "I'm fine with it."

Mo says, "That's why I said the trouble with the capital T. Cool!"

kleenestar says, "Oh dear. :)"

Mo hehs.

HARDCORE!

Mo says, "OK, Nancy?"

Nancy says, "well, and I think my character is starved for affection...."

kleenestar says, "Wow, I love these characters . . ."
                                                    
HARDCORE!

Brother Brand says, "I should never have taught you people how to @emit."

Mo giggles.

kleenestar says, "But how else are we going to HARDCORE!?"

Brother Brand kicks himself in the butt.

Brother Brand says, "Own your hardcoreness!"

Brother Brand narrows his eyes at Mo.

Mo says, "HARDCORE!"

kleenestar says, "H-"
kleenestar says, "H-"
kleenestar says, "H----"
kleenestar says, "HARDCORE!!!!!"

Brother Brand laughs.

kleenestar says, "Wow I am punchy."

Mo giggles madly.

peaseblossom is HARDCORE.

Nancy says:

"Well, see, she had a normal life until she was 15, living in a small town, with  
a large family and good community. Then she stopped her monthly bleeding. There  
were accusations flying that she'd been knocked up, but they proved quickly to be  
false. Her family tried everything they could think of: blessings by anyone and  
everyone who had the authority. Folk remedies. They even shipped her back East  
for a short while (properly escorted by her aunt and uncle of course) to see if  
the new-fangled "medical treatment" could "fix" her.

Nothing worked. In desperation, they even tried going to the Mountain People, but  
their wise-woman just shook her head and turned them away. By now no man in town  
would have her. There were whispers behind her back. People wondered what she'd  
done to make God turn his back on her by taking away her ability to fulfill her  
proper role in life. And they whispered to outsiders, too. So eventually, her  
parents shipped her off to become a Dog. And they took her in when no one else  
would."

Brother Brand whistles.

kleenestar says, "Woo. VERY interesting."

Mo wows.

Mo says, "We rawk."

kleenestar says, "HARDCORE!"

Mo says, "HARDCORE!"

Brother Brand loves the spread of the characters.

kleenestar says, "Nancy, what's her name?"

peaseblossom says, "Wow. Again."

Nancy says, "I fail in the name department"

kleenestar says, "Let's see, do you want suggestions or should we just point you  
to a list?"

Nancy says, "suggestions, please."

Brother Brand says, "Eve"

kleenestar says, "Hannah would be nicely resonant, biblically"

Nancy says, "this is always one of the hardest parts for me"

Brother Brand chuckles, "Hannah was next."

kleenestar says, "Heh."

kleenestar says, "Hannah seems more out-westy to me, somehow."

Brother Brand nods, "It does."

Mo says, "Bountiful"

Nancy says, "lol!"

kleenestar says, "Hepzibah"

Brother Brand says, "Oh heck yea. Bountiful was a total Mormon buzz word."

Nancy says, "so far I like "Hannah" best"

Brother Brand says, "Could always get nasty and go with Mary."

Nancy says, "yick"

Nancy says, "the whole virgin-birth thing did cross my mind and I really don't  
want to go there"

Brother Brand thinks Hannah works pretty good.

kleenestar says, "I like Hannah too, for what it's worth. Want us to keep going,  
or are you happy?"

Nancy says, "nope. 'Hannah' it is!"

Brother Brand says, "Coolio."

Brother Brand says, "Okay, so do we want to do C-Gen now and get it done?"
                                                                   
kleenestar says, "So what next? I've got a fairly extensive history that I'd like  
to run by you guys (which has some interesting commonalities with both Clementine  
and Chase, oddly enough) and I'm totally ready for chargen."

Mo says, "You have it typed out?"

kleenestar says, "Yup, I can paste it. I left the names of the town & of some  
major characters blank in case we want to tie them together in some way or if  
Brand wants to play around. It's so weird, I rarely write up character histories,  
but for this game I really wanted to."

Mo says, "Might as well... Brand?"

Brother Brand shrugs, "I'm good either way. Up to y'all."

Nancy says, "sure, shoot""

peaseblossom says, "Sure. I'd like to see it."

kleenestar says, "Here we go, then:"

kleenestar says: 

"Abigail grew up in the town of ???, where her father's family were wealthy  
farmers and pillars of the community. As the oldest daughter of the family, she  
took an important role in helping her mother care for the house and especially  
take care of the younger children. She was also a part of a warm and loving  
extended community which included aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, and the  
families of her father's business partners."
kleenestar says, "Until she was nearly fourteen, though, Abigail had never met  
her mother's family. She knew that they had a poor reputation, to say the least -  
dirt-poor, drunks, and even, a few of them, unFaithful. Her mother was very  
concerned with bringing her children up 'right' and so she never let her family  
near her highly respectable children. However, it came to a point where Abigail's  
mother's family needed help - and Abigail got sent to take care of things."

Her mother's brother, Brother ??, lived in a small shack in the mountains, where  
he supported his family by doing odd jobs for his neighbors, scratching out a  
vegetable patch, and hunting. However, his drinking problem got worse and worse  
until Abigail's Aunt Prudence had to take over most of his duties - including the  
hunting. Prudence was able to support the two of them and their two young  
children, until she had a hunting accident and barely managed to drag herself  
back to the cabin. While a visiting healer saved her life, Prudence was left  
barely able to walk. Someone needed to come take care of the drunk father, the  
invalid mother, and the two small children. That meant Abigail.

Abigail hated her responsibilities in Brother ??'s home. While she didn't mind  
the actual tasks she was doing, she resented being taken away from her community  
and her home. This was particularly bitter as she feels that she spent her prime  
courting years locked away from her community, and her brief budding romance with  
Brother Jacob (the son of a friend of her father's and a highly acceptable match)  
was cut off abruptly. She also despised the poverty and squalor of her aunt and  
uncle's life, particularly the fact that Prudence was so 'unwomanly' as to have  
to take up part of a man's role just to survive. She was repulsed by the notion  
that she could be related to these people. While she was determined to do her  
duty by them, it took willpower to always do so with a smile.

She ended up developing a good relationship with the children, who adored her  
simply because she was there, and fed them, and told them stories, and kept  
Brother ?? from drinking too much. She also was able to deal with Brother ??,  
mostly because she ended up taking an almost motherly role to him. She was able  
to keep him in line, manage his drinking, and help him take his Stewardship of  
the family back up. However, she had nothing but contempt for Sister Prudence,  
who clearly couldn't keep her man in line or control her family or behave like a  
good woman should in any way. In fact, she probably deserved to be crippled -  
that's what a woman gets for picking up a gun and acting like a man. Abigail was  
always polite, respectful, helpful and obedient to Prudence - but did it in such  
a way that every smile, every glass of water fetched, and every spoonful of soup  
was a slap in the face.

When Abigail was seventeen, the Steward of her town talked to her father and  
arranged to have her called home. It was perhaps fortunate that she was Called to  
be a Dog only a few months later, as she had a very hard time fitting back in at  
home. Instead of being the effective authority of the household, she was expected  
to work just as hard but not actually have the same kind of autonomy. Even worse,  
she had to see all her old friends courting - and some of them even married -  
while she had to reestablish all her social relationships from scratch. Her  
former suitor (or at least they'd made sheep's eyes at each other!) was engaged  
to an old rival, and her younger sister had taken over managing the children.  
Abigail felt old, ugly, abandoned and useless, as though her time of service had  
only injured her, not helped.

Then she was Called to be a Dog. While the younger Abigail would have been  
unhappy at being chosen, after her time away she was thrilled to have the honor.  
More than anything, being a Dog would give her a good marriage. She sees her duty  
to do a good job, as her teachers have instructed her, but she's more interested  
in what she can get out of it in the long run. Having come from a stable  
community, and having spent the rest of her time in a town so small it doesn't  
see a Dog once in ten years, she has no idea what she's really in for. Her notion  
of being a Dog is to preach sermons, do some social engineering, perform the holy  
rituals of the faith, and then move on to the next town. She isn't very excited  
about living rough again, but she has no idea what's coming . . . ."

kleenestar says, "And that's it. Sorry if that's way too much - as Mo said, I was  
so excited about this game that it was write lots of random things or burst!"

peaseblossom says, "I like it. You're like my evil twin. :)"

Nancy says, "heh. iiiiiinnteresting."

kleenestar says, "Yay evil twins!"

kleenestar says, "So if there's anything you want me to change, please let me  
know and I'll happily revise - but this is my sense of how Abigail got to be who  
she is."

Mo says, "God, you'll so hate Chase."

kleenestar says, "I will be polite and respectful to Mo, as is my duty. And  
underneath, yes, I will hate her SO SO MUCH. Are you okay with that?"

Mo says, "Yup."

kleenestar says, "Sweet."

Mo says, "Course."

Brother Brand says, "Righteous."

kleenestar says, "Awesome."

Mo says, "I'll probably be gritty and uncultured with Abigail the way no woman  
should, and underneath, conflictedly, guiltily want her. You Ok with that?"

kleenestar says, "I am so damn excited about it that I'm bouncing in my chair."

Brother Brand says, "Are we ready to step to C-gen, or do y'all have more to  
say?"

kleenestar says, "I'm ready for chargen."

Mo says, "HARDCORE!"

kleenestar says, "HARDCORE!!!!"

peaseblossom says, "I'm ready. Oh, and hardcore."

Nancy says, "ditto."

Brother Brand says, "Okay, then away we go... These are the background options,  
chose one and let me know which you want: 

Well-Rounded: For a character who is straightforward, balanced, and effective. 

Strong History: For characters with good educations, lots of experience, or  
specialized training

Complicated History: For characters with a troubled, dangerous, or challenging  
upbringing.

Strong Community: For characters who are socially adept and from strong, caring  
families.

Complicated Community: For characters from socially vulnerable backgrounds,  
broken homes, or destructive families."

kleenestar says, "Pease, I think I am going to be bitterly but very quietly  
jealous of you. This will be really fun."

Nancy says, "(sorry, simple planetary physics fried my brain)"

Mo might as well. Heh.

Mo says, "Complicated History, Me."

Nancy says, "yeah, same for me"

kleenestar says, "I'm thinking complicated history too!"

peaseblossom says, "That's okay. I forgive you. Strong Community for me."

kleenestar says, "Oh dear. :)" 

Nancy says, "KJ, why not strong community?"

Brother Brand says, "OR complicate community."

kleenestar says, "Because the time she spent taking care of her uncle and his  
family is more important to my conception of who she is than her time of happy  
community life."

kleenestar says, "I could go complicated community, but it's definitely  
complicated."

Mo says, "Kleenstar, you should so be well rounded."

kleenestar says, "Why's that?"

Mo says, "Because you know how to do every thing you're supposed to do."

kleenestar says, "Oooh. Yeah, that makes sense. I could definitely do that.  
Wouldn't mind the extra stats either."

Brother Brand's computer decides that cutting and pasting is to hard for it.  
"Typing."

Mo says, "Nancy... why Complicated History over Complicated Community?"

Mo is just curious.

Nancy thinks

kleenestar says, "You guys are right, I should go for complicated community or  
well-rounded. Decisions decisions!"

Nancy says, "actually, I think complicated community would be better"

kleenestar says, "Mo, Complicated History seems clearly right for you."

Brother Brand says, "Okay, so what's the final call?"

Mo says, "Yeah."

Nancy says, "since all the pressures were from her community, rather than  
internal"

kleenestar says, "So in that case, I'll go for well-rounded"

Mo says, "I didn't have a community, and it wasn't anywhere near normal."

Mo says, "Next!"

Brother Brand says, "Right, KJ, you get 17d6 in Stat Dice; 1d4 4d6 2d8 in Trait  
Dice; 4d6 2d8 in Relationship Dice."

Brother Brand says, "Mo, you get 15d6 in Stat Dice; 4d4 2d6 2d10 in Trait Dice;  
5d6 2d8 in Relationship Dice."

Brother Brand says, "PJ, you get 13d6 in Stat Dice; 1d4 3d6 2d8 in Trait Dice;  
4d6 4d8 3d10 in Relationship Dice."

Brother Brand says, "And Nancy you get 15d6 in Stat Dice; 6d6 2d8 in Trait Dice;  
4d4 2d6 2d8 2d10 in Relationship Dice."

Brother Brand says, "First up is Stats. You've got 4 of ‘em. Body, Heart, Acuity,  
and Will. Divide your dice between ‘em -- and if you want to know what they mean,  
call out."

kleenestar says, "Should we say what we think they mean to our character, too?"

kleenestar says, "For example: 3d6 Acuity - not book-smart, but moderately  
perceptive."
Nancy stole Albert's DitV book

Brother Brand says, "Actually, I'll just do this: 

Acuity: More dice in Acuity means a character who’s perceptive, alert, educated,  
clever, savvy or well-read.

Body: More dice in Body means a character who’s big, healthy, strong, wiry,  
muscular, tall, graceful, quick, or steady.

Heart: More dice in Heart means a character who’s compassionate, attractive,  
charming, gentle, courageous, enduring, faithful, or likeable.

Will: More dice in Will means a character who’s tenacious, aggressive, confident,  
unflinching, strong-willed, or unshakable."

Brother Brand says, "KJ, sure -- if you want to. It's good for tone."

kleenestar says, "Great!"

kleenestar says, "So, here's Abigail:"

3d6 Acuity -- perceptive, not brainy."
2d6 Body -- has spent most of her life in the house."
6d6 Heart -- charming, attractive, likeable, and very, very enduring."
6d6 Will -- will of steel."

Nancy says, "dude, you were really psyched!"

kleenestar says, "Well, I'm kind of making this up as I go, but she's a pretty  
unbalanced character so I know what direction to go in"


kleenestar says, "And that adds . . . to 17! Yay, got it first time. :)"

Brother Brand nods, "Bingo. She's also good at shooting people in the face."

kleenestar says, "So I hear."

Brother Brand says, "Anyone else ready yet?"

peaseblossom says, "Yep. 3d6 in everything but 4d6 in Heart."

kleenestar says, "Awww - you're so nice!"

Brother Brand says, "Fits the character pretty well, all evenly balanced and  
non-remarkable in any single thing."

peaseblossom says, "That's what I was thinking."

kleenestar says, "But she's extra nice!"

Brother Brand says, "Just a little extra nice."

kleenestar says, "Right. Unremarkably nice. :)"

Nancy says:

3d6 in Acuity because she's been places and seen things, but never formally  
educated.
3d6 in Body because she's helped out, but not extremely strong.

kleenestar says, "I like it so far, seems to fit the character very well"

Nancy says, "5d6 in Heart because it's taken a hellofa lot of faith to survive  
thus far."
4d6 in Will, for the same reason as Heart"

Nancy says, "I'm willing to take suggestions"

Brother Brand nods, "Makes sense Nancy. Looks good to me."

kleenestar says, "Nancy, I think it makes sense given her backstory"

Nancy says, "'k"

Mo says:

Body 4 - Rough and Tumble, Good with her fists.
Heart 2 - Socially backward and often uncomfortable. %R                 
Accuity 4 - Industrious and Clever, but not at all booksmart.%R         
Will 4 - Fiercely independent, tenacious and unaffected.                

kleenestar says, "Mo, I think you get one more die?"

Mo says, "Oh!"

Brother Brand just said that out loud. So jinx on KJ!

kleenestar says, "oh no!"

Mo says, "Body 5, you think?"

Brother Brand says, "She's the brick!"

Mo says, "Hey!"

kleenestar says, "It would make her a nice contrast to the rest of us, that's for  
sure. I think it works and it would definitely be interesting. What's even more  
interesting is that you're also the brains of the group - though not as  
dramatically. :)

Mo is?


Mo wows.

kleenestar says, "Yup, we've all got 3d6 acuity."

Mo says, "I didn't expect that."

Brother Brand says, "Okay, so we all down with Stats?"

kleenestar says, "Yup"

Mo says, "I can shoot some in the face, I'll tell you what."

Nancy nods

peaseblossom says, "Yep."

kleenestar says, "The difference between our characters is that you might do it!"

Mo says, "I may well."

Brother Brand says, "Okay, so next up is traits. Traits are all do it yourself,  
you make up your traits based upon the ways you want to win conflicts. So KJ over  
there is obviously going to have some traits based on being charming, and Mo will  
obviously have some punch, kick, run, kill traits. These can be the tough part,  
so if you get stuck, call out!"
Brother Brand says, "Also, the rule for assigning dice is you can put any number  
of your dice in a trait, but they all have to be the same size."
Brother Brand says, "And you either have to take a trait or a relationship in  
"I'm a Dog" -- which you do is up to you. (Though I'll tell you, being a Dog is a  
powerful ability, so chose based on that.)"

kleenestar says, "What's the difference between taking it as a Trait vs. as a  
Relationship (practically speaking)? I understand the mechanical difference, but  
what does that mean in play?"

Brother Brand says, "I actually think it would be cool if Clementine had a trait  
like "I'm as normal as can be 2d8""

peaseblossom says, "Heh. I have two dice in 'Average'."

kleenestar says, "The only thing I know for sure is that I'm going to blow my d4  
trait on "I'm good at handling drunks.""

Brother Brand says, "Relationships will end up defining what a conflict is about.  
So if you have a relationship with the Dogs, you'll move towards conflicts that  
are about your status as a dog and your relationships with the other dogs. If you  
take it as a trait, your abilities as a Dog will see you through the conflicts  
that you get into."

kleenestar says, "Oooh. I think Dogs are a relationship for me, then. Abigail's  
not really in such a good place with her Dog-ness.” Although, characteristically,  
she *thinks* she is . . ."

Nancy says, "yeah, I'm really not sure about Hannah...."

Brother Brand says, "Well, can Hannah shoot a gun? I'd recommend having at least  
a basic ability to shoot."

Brother Brand says, "Or at least to hold a gun like you mean it."

kleenestar says, "I think I'm going to go with the latter for Abigail - she can't  
actually shoot, but she can look pretty damn scary. How about: I once scared off  
five bandits with nothing but fast talk and an unloaded rifle 1d8?

Brother Brand says, "Sounds very cool! Especially as it contrasts with her  
"ladyness" and could lead to good conflict."

Brother Brand says, "Nancy, how you doing?"

Nancy says, "eh, all right"

Brother Brand says, "Want to chat about it? I know I have a killer hard time  
coming up with traits unless I get group help."

Nancy says, "I think I have to take "Dogs" as a relationship, even though that's  
where all her power is...."

Brother Brand says, "Hey, that's good. IF she's got a strong relationship to the  
Dogs she'll rock!"

kleenestar says, "Nancy, maybe you want to take a trait related to how much  
you've traveled?"

Nancy says, "well, I'm thinking "Always prepared, from so much traveling 2d6"  
and "She appears confident and sure even when she's not 3d6"

kleenestar says, "Nancy, I like both of those . . . I wonder if you want to  
specify "always prepared" though?"

Brother Brand says, "Nancy, those both sound good to me. Especially if the second  
one is a "I've had to hold my head high even when I felt like the lowest thing on  
earth, and I can 
keep it high no matter what" deal."

Nancy says, "well, I was thinking along the lines of she travels light, but  
always seems to have whatever someone needs"

Nancy says, "yeah, it is"

kleenestar says, "That makes sense, Nancy"

Brother Brand says, "I always have what I need in my bag."

Mo says, "Okay...

I can bare fist like a brawlin' backwoods boy: 1d10
I can wing a pigeon at 100 yards: 1d10
I'm a Dog and that's all I have: 2d6
Girls make me feel funny: 1d4
I stick out like a sore thumb 1d4

Brother Brand grins at Mo, "Pretty solid there."

kleenestar says, "Awesome."

Mo says, "oops! That's: Girls make me feel funny: 3d4"

kleenestar says, "Wow . . . that's even better."

Nancy says, "yeah, Mo, that will make life wonderfully interesting!"

peaseblossom says, "Would something like 'my faith is comforting to myself and  
others' be too broad?"

Mo says, "That's great, Pease."

Brother Brand says, "Pease, I think it's okay."

peaseblossom says, "I see her as being very centered and reassuring. Not that I  
want to end up being the cleric, mind."

Nancy says, "don't worry, Pease, Hannah's very faithful"

Brother Brand says, "Being centered and reassuring is a powerful thing in Dogs."

Nancy says, "hmm, yes, good rephrasing"

Brother Brand says, "So Clementine can center and reassure people while Chase  
shoots them in the face."

Nancy says, "lol"

kleenestar says, "While Abigail makes them think it was all their own idea in the  
first place"



Brother Brand says, "Making someone think it was their own idea to be shot in the  
face is a good trick."

kleenestar says, "Okay . . . well . . . maybe she'd have a hard time with that  
:)"


Nancy says, "I’m glad I'm not the only one!"

Brother Brand says, "It brutalizes me when I play Dogs. I'm telling you..."

Brother Brand says, "So how're we all doing? Looking real good so far -- what  
dice do we have unspent?"

Nancy says, "I have 1d6 and 2d8"

peaseblossom says, "Lots. I always dither about open-ended traits."

Brother Brand nods, "Need to chat about it PJ?"

kleenestar says, "I've got a tentative trait expenditure here:"

Brother Brand says, "Okay Jess, shoot ‘em and then we'll chat about the rest."

kleenestar says:

1d8 No matter how chaotic things get, I can always stay focused and calm
1d8 I once scared off five bandits with nothing but fast talk and an unloaded gun 
1d6 I'm good at making people think that it was their own idea
1d6 I have pretty, white, soft hands 
1d4 I'm extraordinarily good at dealing with drunks 

kleenestar says, "That leaves 2d6 unspent, which I'm thinking would be:

1d6 I'm a flirt and 
1d6 I'm an enthralling storyteller - but I feel like I haven't quite captured the  
character's charm even though this gets at her form of authority"

Mo loves: 1d6 I'm good at making people think that it was their own idea

kleenestar says, "Yeah, I love it too :)"

Brother Brand hrms and sees what you mean. "Ideas everyone? What's a good trait  
to give Abigail that certain something?"

Brother Brand says, "Maybe just a straight up Charming?"

kleenestar says, "I could do that. So scrap flirt and give her charming."

Mo says, "I know exactly what people want to hear."

Brother Brand says, "Oh, that one is nice."

kleenestar says, "Ooooh. Yes. That's perfect."

Nancy says, "or 'is well-liked wherever she goes and seen as a paragon of what a  
woman should be'"

Brother Brand says, "Heh, "I am the perfect woman 1d6""

Nancy says, "ooh, yes, I like that!"

kleenestar says, "Can I really take that?"

Brother Brand says, "Sure."

Mo says, "Should I take "I'm barely a woman 1d4?"

kleenestar says, "Okay, then I think I'm good - let me look over my list while we  
focus on other people and ponder, but I really like this"

Brother Brand says, "Okay, Nancy, Pease, whatchya got so far?"

kleenestar says, "Yeah, I want to be as helpful to you guys as you just were to  
me!! :)"

peaseblossom says, "I've shortened the previous to simply 'Centered' at 2d8."

Nancy says, "oops, I got Jess's confused"

peaseblossom says, "Winsome 1d4 and Trusting 1d6."

Nancy is embarrassed

kleenestar says, "Hey, it happens."

Brother Brand says, "No worries Nancy!"

Nancy smiles

Brother Brand says, "PJ, those all look good -- what do you have left?"

kleenestar says, "And what do you still want to convey about the character?"

Brother Brand says, "Give us a roundup of your stuff, Nancy?"

peaseblossom says, "2d6."

Nancy says, "I've added:

she loves even the worst people because otherwise she'd hate them all: 1d8

peaseblossom says, "I'm thinking something like:

Fair hand at gun play: 1d6

Nancy says, "She always has what she needs in her bag2d6"

Brother Brand says, "PJ What about a 1d6 in "I'm so normal that...." with  
something that you think the character would get a lot for it? Like so normal  
that everyone forgets about me, trusts me, overlooks me, whatever."

Nancy says, "and the confident one at 3d6"

kleenestar says, "What about 'Always in second place' 1d6?"

Brother Brand says, "For PJ, KJ?"

kleenestar says, "Yup"

kleenestar says, "Sorry, should have been clearer"

Brother Brand says, "Nancy, those all look good. What dice do you have left?"

Nancy says, "1d6, 1d8"

Brother Brand hrms, "Any good with a horse, or animals? That's something no one  
has yet.

peaseblossom says, ":) I don't really see it as something she would care all that  
much about. She's fine being average."

kleenestar says, "PJ, fair enough :)"

Brother Brand says, "Oh, good point PJ."

kleenestar says, "PJ - what about 'easily overlooked'? That could be a negative  
or a positive, i.e. for eavesdropping and the like"

Brother Brand says, "Though, it doesn't have to be something she cares about --  
it may be something she doesn't even know about herself."

peaseblossom says, "Birds come and sit in the palm of my hand like Cinderella  
1d6? :)"

kleenestar says, "That actually kind of fits with the character, PJ"

Brother Brand says, "Nancy, what about something directly related to her  
inability to have kids? Like "I know the pain of losing children" or something?  
Or is that too direct for the character?"

kleenestar says, "Nancy, what about something relating to medical knowledge,  
because she's been to a zillion doctors and herbalists and everything"

Brother Brand says, "Or, Pj, "Horses like me because I never spook them""

Nancy says, "hmm...now I'm waffling and may take:

I'm a Dog: 2d8 and switch the love to 1d6. Oh god, this is the part I'm so damn  
bad at! lol."

Brother Brand says, "Oh, that could be a good one too, Nancy!"

kleenestar says, "Well, we do get to switch Traits around in play, right?"

Brother Brand grins, "I know that feeling. Though let me say, don't worry about  
it too much. When you get into play traits will change fast! You can end up with  
your 3d4 becoming 4d10 in like 2 conflicts, or your 4d10 just going away in like  
three.

Brother Brand says, "This is just to say where your character starts the game at.  
Once you get into play, you get a lot of power to make your character go where  
you want them."

Mo thinks: "I'm wrong from the inside out" would make a great d4 trait for  
Hannah.

Nancy says, "yeah, but I don't have any d4's!"

Mo says, "Oh!"

Mo says, "Ah well."

Nancy says, "otherwise there are some like that which would be down in a  
heartbeat!"

Brother Brand says, "Doesn't have to be a d4"

Brother Brand says, "Things that sound like weaknesses can be strengths."

Mo says, "Oh, cool."

Brother Brand says, "PJ, did we say anything helpful at all? Any new ideas?"

peaseblossom says, "Yes, sorry. I think I will take some sort of way with animals  
trait for the last d6."

Nancy says, "I switched some dice around and added: God may have given up on me,  
but I haven't given up on life: 2d8"

Brother Brand says, "Nice one Nancy! So is that all your dice? I'm sorry, I lost  
track."

Brother Brand says, "What dice do you have free now?"

Nancy says, "Here's my final list, I think:

She always has what she needs in her bag: 2d6
She appears confident and sure, even when she's not: 3d6
She loves even the worst people, because otherwise she'd hate them all: 1d6
God may have given up on me, but I haven't given up on life: 2d8

kleenestar says, "I like it a lot, especially the last one"

peaseblossom says, "Cool! And I think I'm situated, as well."

Mo says, "ditto"

kleenestar says, "Me too - with one minor change so I'm gonna repost"

Nancy says, "Great, PJ!"

Mo says, "ditto"

Brother Brand says, "Can we see the list, PJ?"

kleenestar says, "

1d8 I am the perfect woman
1d8 I once scared off five bandits with nothing but fast talk and an unloaded gun 
1d6 No matter how chaotic things get, I can always stay focused and calm
1d6 I know exactly what people want to hear
1d6 I'm good at making people think that it was their own idea
1d6 I have pretty, white, soft hands 
1d4 I'm extraordinarily good at dealing with drunks 

peaseblossom says:

Centered 2d8
Trusting 1d6
Fair hand at target practice 1d6
Way with animals 1d6
Winsome 1d4

Brother Brand says, "Excellent! Next, Relationships: Name a couple of people with  
whom your character has a relationship, and assign some of your Relationship Dice  
to them. Don’t create very many, and leave most of your character's Relationship  
Dice unassigned! You can assign them to the people your character meets after  
play begins, so save a bunch of them for that. If you like, you can give your  
character a Relationship with the Dogs. If you didn't give your character “I'm a  
Dog” as a Trait, you have to. 

Otherwise just name a person or two, say who they are to your character, and give  
them dice. In play you can give your character Relationships with institutions,  
demons, places, and even sins, but for now stick with people. And seriously, save  
your dice on this one. I'd say like 2 relationships at most -- 3 if you're taking  
a relationship with the dogs.

kleenestar says, "The Dogs - 1d8; my aunt, Sister Prudence, 1d6, And I'm good.

Mo says, "Do we have to take any at all?"

Brother Brand says, "Nope, you don't. Maybe one is nice, for flavor and because  
it gives me a flag to play with. But you don't HAVE to take one."

Brother Brand says, "KJ, the blood ones at 1d6 are free -- so you don't have to  
spend dice for those."

Mo hmms.

kleenestar says, "Oh ok . . . in that case:

The Dogs - 1d8
Brother Jacob, a now-married ex-suitor - 1d6

Nancy says, "I think I'm going to take:

Dogs 1d10
Elijah, her mentor at the Temple 1d6

peaseblossom says, "My folks 2d8 and The Dogs 2d6, I think."

Brother Brand says, "All good."

Brother Brand says, "And how many dice does that leave free for y'all?"

kleenestar says, "1d8 3d6"

Nancy says, "oh, and sister Belize, the only woman in the community who wasn't a  
family member to put a stitch in her coat"

Nancy says, "at 1d8"

kleenestar says, "I love it!"

peaseblossom says, "3d10, 2d8, 2d6"

Brother Brand says, "3d10. Jebus."

Nancy says, "that leaves me with 4d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10"

Brother Brand says, "You two are gonna be monsters."

Nancy grins

Brother Brand just waits for the avalanche of d10s to hit the table....

Brother Brand says, "I'll have Exalted flashbacks."

Brother Brand says, "Mojo Jojo?"

Mo says, "Working on it"

Brother Brand types up the Things section for when she's done.

Mo says:

Steward Brown, you have such lovely daughters: 1d6
The Dogs: 1d8
And Man-on-the-Hill (MAY-AW-YAW ): 1d6

Nancy says, "did none of us take "Dog" as a trait?"

Mo says, "I did."

Nancy says, "As well as a relationship?"

Brother Brand says, "She took both."

Brother Brand says, "She's a twink."

Mo doesn't have to...

Brother Brand says, "Take both, makes sense for your character. Especially if  
later on you change it to "Loves Abigail like mad crazy!"

Mo cackles.

kleenestar giggles.

Brother Brand says, "Okay, Things. First thing first -- you all have to have a  
coat. Your coat should have a description. Your coat is special. It is the symbol  
of your authority as a Dog. It was made with all the love your family and home  
town have for you (or don't have for you) and tells the world what kind of Dog  
you are. Describe your coat and decide if it is a good coat or a crap coat."

Mo says, "This was the first thing I knew about my sheet."

kleenestar says, "So let's hear it!"

Mo says, "What's big but not good?                        

kleenestar says, "1d8"

Mo says, "I got me my Grandad's beat up, old leather panning coat, with the Tree  
of Life burned on it. 1d8."

Brother Brand says, "Here’s how you give a thing dice:

— 1d6 if it’s normal.
— 2d6 if it’s excellent. It’s only excellent if people meeting your character  
would notice and comment on it: “ooh, that’s a mighty fine horse.”
— 1d8 if it’s big. Similarly: “holy smokes that’s a big knife.”
— 2d8 if it’s excellent plus big.
— 1d4 if it’s crap. Crap plus big is still just 1d4."

Nancy says, "Coat - It is a plain, serviceable coat which was well-made, but  
there were not enough hands to help make it the glory of some of the others.  
There is a band in blue around all edges. She carefully sewed her name inside it  
and then snagged some scrap white cloth and sewed a second border of white inside  
the blue. She'll keep sewing more bands every time she gets enough cloth. 1d6"

Brother Brand says, "Excellent coat, both of you."

Brother Brand says, "And once you're done with your coat, think up a couple more  
things your Dog has with you. The Stewards at the Dogs' Temple make certain that  
every Dog owns a horse, a coat, a copy of the Book of Life, a small jar of  
consecrated earth, and a gun. They won't insist that your character take the  
horse or the gun, if for some reason he or she chooses not to. 

Your character might also own other weapons, other books, pen and stationary,  
some distinctive article of clothing like a hat or a fine dress, keepsakes, or  
anything else you think's interesting — provided it fits the game's setting and a  
person could reasonably travel with it on horseback. Write a belonging as you  
would a Trait or a Relationship: "big knife 1d8" or "excellent horse 2d6." Only  
bother with possessions you actually care about; you don't have to write down the  
provisions you're carrying or anything like that."

kleenestar says, "Coat: My mother made sure that my coat would resound to the  
credit of our family and community. It's thick wool, dyed red, and cleverly cut  
to fit closely without bulk. Green vines are embroidered up both sleeves and  
spread down the back to form the shape of the Tree of Life. Narrow bands of  
yellow wrap around the bottom, made of silk my father imported from all the way  
back east. My coat is finer than most girls' feast-day dresses. And it ends up  
rolled behind my saddle whenever I have the least excuse. 2d6."

Brother Brand says, "Keener." ;)

Mo says, "Keener!"

peaseblossom says, "Clementine's coat is put together by women who would, if they  
could, stop a bullet with their thread, and by men who would color it with gold  
if they had it, and by kids who were concentrating so hard on their work that  
their tongues were sticking out without their noticing. It's not pretty, but I  
think it's 2d8, if that makes sense to you guys."
                                                          
Brother Brand nods, "That makes sense to me, at least."

Mo says, "That's faboo!"

kleenestar says, "I love it."

Brother Brand says, "Because of the AWESOME"

Mo says, "Both of them."

Nancy says, "wonderful!"

Mo says, "My Grandad's prize Winchester Yellow Boy: 2d8 1d4"

Brother Brand says, "Okay, the big important thing is done -- so now whatever  
collection of guns, horses, bags, scriptures, and whatnot you want. My only  
guideline is to keep the list as short as possible. 2 to 4 things is usually more  
than enough."

Brother Brand says, "Gee, shoot in the face girl takes a gun. There is a shock."

Brother Brand says, "A BIG gun."

Mo says, "Hey, I've never been the shoot-you-in-your-face Dog before."

Nancy says, "Pen and stationary set from back East, very fancy, comes in a carved  
wooden box. 2d6"

kleenestar says, "I've also got an excellent copy of the Book of Life (2d6), a  
big, excellent set of cooking gear (2d8) and a crap gun (2d4) because I don't  
care for it properly."

Brother Brand laughs!

Mo giggles!

kleenestar says, "I'm scared of it! It might shoot me!"

Brother Brand says, "Well no proper woman would love a gun."

Nancy says, "lol!"

kleenestar says, "Exactly!"

Nancy says, "Hannah takes care of hers properly, but will never fire it so I’m  
not listing it."

Mo will clean it for you, Abby.

Brother Brand ahems.

Mo cackles and falls on the ground.

Sister Abigail can take care of it herself, but thank you. Perhaps you'd like to  
go collect some firewood?

Mo says, "Sure thing, Miss."

kleenestar giggles.

Brother Brand nods to Nancy, "No reason to, if'n it ain't important to ya."

Mo says, "I need a horse."

Brother Brand says, "Take a Pinto."

kleenestar says, "Mo, Chase's horse should be big. Not excellent, just big. And  
it should have a nasty temper and a really incongruously frilly name like  
Lucinda. :)"

Mo giggles.

Mo was going to call her Sal, but you know, that's not a bad idea.

kleenestar says, "Sal's good too, actually."

Mo says, "She's a Shire."

kleenestar says, "I like it!"

Nancy says, "you know, this is really interesting knowing character backgrounds  
OOC, but presumably not IC. It'll be really interesting to see how they behave  
and react"

Brother Brand nods, "Ayup."

Brother Brand says, "PJ, whatch'ya thinking for gear?"

peaseblossom says, "I'm not sure, exactly."

kleenestar says, "If you're good with animals, PJ, you might have an excellent  
horse?"

Brother Brand says, "Actually, in your idiom everything may just be normal 1d6s  
-- it's all normal and average."

Brother Brand says, "A normal Book of Life, a normal horse (though a good horse  
that looks normal could be cool), etc.?"

peaseblossom says, "I think maybe, although I like the idea of her having a big  
brute of a horse that nobody thinks she can control but that's actually really  
sweet."

Brother Brand says, "Oh that's awesome. You should!"

Nancy says, "totally!"

Mo giggles.

peaseblossom says, "Okay, so, normal everything else, really big horse."

Brother Brand says, "Excellent."

Brother Brand says, "Okay, so everyone good for gear and things?"

kleenestar says, "Yup, I'm all good."

Nancy says, "yep!"

peaseblossom says, "Yep."

Mo isn't sure if she should do this, but Brand is making her.

Brother Brand says, "I am "making" her."

Nancy says, "eep?"

kleenestar says, "?"

Mo says, "French postcards tucked into the back of a Book of Life. 2d6."

kleenestar says, "MWAHAHAAHAHA"

kleenestar says, "HARDCORE!"

Nancy says, "LOL!!!!"

peaseblossom says, "Oh... my."

Mo hangs her head in shame.

kleenestar says, "No, it's awesome."

Brother Brand says, "First time I've had a Dog take that as a Thing."

kleenestar says, "No shame, only THE HARDCORE!"

Mo hangs her head in hardcore.

peaseblossom says, "Ew. That sounds vaguely unsanitary."

Brother Brand spews coke.

Brother Brand must not read the funny while drinking.

Mo tries to breathe again.

Brother Brand says, "Okay. So now that we have porn, it's time to move on.  
Quickly."

Nancy says, "so Chase can watch us all bounce along?"

kleenestar says, "Clementine's breasts are perfectly average-sized."

Mo says, "Hey! None of that, now."

Nancy laughs

peaseblossom cracks up.

Brother Brand says, "Next thing we'll need is an Accomplishment. Something that  
you accomplished, did, or learned while you were at Temple. However, we can take  
some time to think about those, and work em out on the list so we can have them  
to start next game with Initiation Challenges."

Brother Brand says, "Speaking of which, when shall we do next game? Same bat time  
next week?"

Nancy says, "works for me"

Mo says, "You want our initiation challenges, or a finished initiation  
challenge?"

kleenestar says, "I could do this time, no problem."

peaseblossom says, "This time works for me, too."

Mo says, "Done!"

Brother Brand says, "I want your goal for the challenge. Like you'd normally do."

Brother Brand says, "On that, I'll post from the book:"

kleenestar says, "Is it okay if we pick a conflict we think we're going to fail?"

Mo says, "Does Faith have anything to do with my being a Dog?"

Brother Brand says, "Say something that you hope your character accomplished  
during initiation. “I hope that my character won distinction in the eyes of the  
teacher of scripture,” you might say, or “I hope that my character overcame his  
fear of blood,” “I hope that my character exorcised a demon,” “I hope that my  
character learned to curb her temper,” “I hope that my character solved a serious  
problem without resorting to violence,” or whatever grabs you. That  
accomplishment is what’s at stake.
Don’t choose something that’ll break your character if it goes the wrong way. “I  
hope that my character survived initiation” or “I hope that my character didn’t  
get sent home in disgrace” aren’t good.

Then next week we'll do the actual challenges to learn how to do the dice here,  
and then we'll off to the first town!"

Nancy whoops!

Brother Brand says, "You can pick a challenge that you want to fail. You can pick
one you think you'll fail and want to win. In either case, however, you don't get
to chose absolutely how it turns out. So don't pick anything that must go one way
or the other to keep you happy with the character."

kleenestar says, "Cool."

Mo says, "I hope I can find my faith by being a Dog."

Nancy says, "ooh, nice!"

Brother Brand says, "Awesome. And just because we're going to the list to do  
Accomplishments doesn't mean we can't chatter about them. If you find yourself  
stuck, or find yourself having slews of brilliant ideas, shout out!"

Nancy says, "will do!"

peaseblossom says, "Cool."

kleenestar says, "Hmmmm . . ."

Brother Brand says, "HMMMMMMM?"

kleenestar says, "Just pondering Accomplishments!"

Brother Brand says, "Mo is saying that hers will be to see Abigail nakie."

kleenestar says, "Can we at least save that for the second session??"

Mo says, "I did not!"

kleenestar says, "Girls these days. So forward. Always jumping to the nudity."

Mo says, "I already said mine: I hope I can find my faith by being a Dog."

Brother Brand hmms, "It's awfully big for an accomplishment challenge. Maybe  
something like "I hope I can start on the road to faith by being a Dog" or  
something smaller? Like "I hope I can do one act of faith."

Kleenstar says, "Or, 'I hope I can find one piece of scripture that speaks to  
me.'

Mo hrms.

kleenestar says, "I kind of want to fail my initial conflict, because I wanted
  to give my character more flaws as traits but I ran out of traits before I 
  got to things like 'vain' and 'overly conventional'.

Brother Brand says, "Well you could also take a challenge hoping to get the
  trait -- that is, playing against your character learning something."

Mo says, "I want something that kind of illustrates the idea that Faith really
 has nothing to do with her being a Dog, and will underline that kind of 
 fraudulent aspect of her role."

kleenestar says, "So, like, 'I hope my character avoided learning to shoot'?"

Brother Brand says, "You can say, "I hope my character becomes a
nastier person" for example."

Brother Brand says, "I hope I learn that being a Dog can be good, rather than  
just keep me safe?"

kleenestar says, "Mo, I don't really understand that last thing you said."

Mo hrms.

Mo says, "She's a Dog because it's her only option. This, marry the sweaty beast  
or go out East where the bastards live. She doesn't have much of a sense of  
faith, and I held off on making it a trait, because I figured my initiatory  
conflict would have it."

kleenestar says, "So, you're saying that you want to find one meaningful thing  
about being a Dog during your initiation"

Mo says, "No, I think ... oh!"

kleenestar says, "?"

Mo says, "I want to discover that I'm not Faithful."

kleenestar says, "Oh my."

peaseblossom says, "I think that's a good way to phrase that."
                                                         
kleenestar says, "That's much smaller stakes, and it leaves lots of room for good  
future conflict . . . no matter who wins."

kleenestar says, "I like it."

kleenestar says, "This rocks . . . and you are all HARDCORE!"
Nancy says, "pester away!"

Nancy says, "HARDCORE!"

Mo says, "Great time, girls, the bitches rule."

Nancy says, "hell ya, we do!"

Mo says, "Later!"

kleenestar says, "And this time next week, the bitches shall ride!"