Dogs in God's Vineyard: A Tale of the Old West

So, I got the idea for a Western RP that is based off of an somewhat obscure RPG.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_in_the_Vineyard

Wanted to see if I could drum up some interest before I put the game thread up. Here's the summary so far!

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This is the west that never quite was.

It's an alternate version of history, loosely based on Mormon life in the 1800's. I say loosely, because this religion, that I shall call "The Faith," is not really the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon preachers don't shoot sinners in the street. But you might.

You see, imagine a rocky desert like Utah, Nevada, and the like, with snaking rivers and impressive cliffs. Imagine indigenous mountain peoples ("Indians," if you will) living on the plains. Imagine a mighty city of zealots flanked by four huge waterfalls. Imagine a religious group that the United States territorial authority butts heads with often. Imagine cowboys armed with "The Book of Life" dragging out a whore by her hair and forcing her to repent or face the wrath of God.

Can you kind of see the picture here? Are you interested? Let me be more clear:

Who are you: The watchdogs of God. Your character is a cross between an inquisitor, a missionary, an exorcist, and a monk. You carry both scriptures and bullets, you bring both blessings and judgment.

What's going on: A lot. Mountain folk don't like white man encroaching upon their turf. Sinners don't like repenting. Towns don't like their dirt being pulled up for all to see. The Territorial Authority doesn't like the Faith's habit of foregoing standard trials for confession and repentance.

Where are you?: A beautiful rocky desert with a couple forests to the north and more than a few natural wonders. Lots of dust. Lots of grime and grit. Lots of blood, and lots of frontier justice.

When is all this?: 1800's. Think cowboys and westerns, complete with big hats, horses, six-shooters and Clint Eastwood.

Why are you doing what you're doing?: Because the King of Life or one of his counselors called you to be God's Watchdog, a defender of the Faith, the hammer upon which you beat men until they are purified. Maybe your character is a convert from the East and it's industrial worldliness and filth. Maybe you were raised by the Mountain people and are the token ethnic bad@$$ Native American "Aragorn" of the group. Maybe you were raised in the Faith. Whatever the case is, you are a Dog, and you work in God's Vineyard.

How do you do it?: Prayer. Faith. Exhortation. Blessing babies. Shooting sinners. It's difficult, but straightforward. What nobody tells you is that the hardest part of being a Dog is to keep believing you are really what you think you are. When bullets bounce off your coat and when you are calling the dead by name to draw breath once more, you might think you're preaching the truth. When you're bleeding on the ground, when farmer Jeremiah kills his wife, when you saw humanity in that sinner's eyes, you might lose your faith. Just remember, I'm not telling you if The Faith your character belongs to is true or not. I'll leave it to you.

THEMES

Redemption. Forgiveness. Fair enough.

Death, loss, grief, doubt. Dramatic.

Shooting, brawling, chasing on horseback. Good fun.

Is the Faith true? I don't know. Just don't be obvious, like have glowing miracles occur or demons appear or something. Play it straight. Pretend the world is like real life; as long as I'm talking about it, remember, no Rambo stunts, please.

Otherwise, just remember that I want this game to be DRAMATIC. I want tragedy. I want angsty characters (but if more than one person pulls the "my parents died" card I'm gonna be peeved). Your characters can be male or female, of any able age and marital status. The only tie that binds is your status as a Dog. This means you can declare doctrine. Yes you heard me, you can make up the religion's rules on the spot. Just keep it real, alright? No "sacrifice a donkey," let's play it like a psuedo-christian cult.

The Faith doesn't take kindly to loners; the Dogs work as a group. All Dogs have a long, patch-work coat worn at all times as an emblem of their position, a sturdy horse, a Book of Life, a jar of consecrated earth (holy dirt to sprinkle during rituals or something), and some form of gun.

Other Stuff

The Faith moved to the west to escape persecution. The Territorial Authority, although not at war with the Faith, is often at odds with it, as their goals are usually the same but their means differ vastly. The Mountain Folk don't like the Faith, but the Faithful like them enough to try converting them, with limited success. It is said that the ancestors of the Mountain Folk were once Faithful, but they fell away long before the white man came.

Your characters are expected to travel from town to town, bless babies, officiate at weddings and such, and purge sinners. The adventure style will be episodic, with each town having it's own "episode."

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Any questions? Anybody interested in playing such an RP?

I think this sounds like it could be pretty cool.

I am most definitely interested in this, it sounds awesome.

Glad to see I got 2 interested parties, at least! I'll try to get up an RP proper within the next few days.

I have to admit I am actually intirgued and would be willing to wait and see what you write up on this!

Okay, the RP proper is up now! Please post in the OOC thread to claim your characters! :D

roleplay/dogs-in-gods-vineyard

Le bump.

I'm in the mood to try and give this RP another go, if possible. I love the general idea, and while the old RP died out after while, I'd love to try and give this another go.

Any players from the old RP who want to resume their roles, or make new characters, are welcome. New players who weren't in the previous RP are also welcome.

I'd like a minimum of three players (myself included), and a maximum of no more than five or six people. And please, only join if you will at least try and see the RP through to the end, as it were. The last version died because, if I recall correctly, two of the players suddenly jut vanished, and I found it hard to continue without them.

So! That's the gist of it. Anyone interested in reviving this old RP concept? :)

Hmm...

Westerns? Fanatical crusader-types? Lever-action rifles and six-shooters? Yes. I am interested in this.

I too am interested. Sounds rather amazing.

Yay! Glad I finally got some interest here! :D

So, me, HighestLord, and Nekriist....three people is more than enough for a small group RP, I'd say. More people are welcome to join in the meantime, but as I've found, the smaller the cast of players, the less chance that the RP suddenly expires within a few weeks of its creation.

And here is ze new, rebooted RP:

roleplay/dogs-in-almighty-gods-vineyard

Post in the OOC if you wanna claim a character.

Le bump. The new RP is still ongoing, but I'm looking for two more players, if anyone is interested.

It's good stuff, so join us. Join uuuuuuusssssssss.