# Dogs in the Vineyard tags: #game/rpg/ditv ![[Dogs in the Vineyard (cover).jpg|600]] **Dogs in the Vineyard** is D. Vincent Baker's 2004 indie masterpiece — a fantasy Wild West dripping with Mormon-inspired vibes, minus the actual Mormons. You play "Dogs," teenage gunslinger-preachers with a divine mandate to ride from town to town, sniff out sin, pass judgment, and occasionally blast demons or heretics. It's a game about moral dilemmas where you're both judge and jury in a dusty, faux-Utah setting that's equal parts gritty and sanctimonious — and it's been out of print since Baker pulled it over its controversial ties to real-world religion. The heart is its conflict resolution, a dice-rolling poker game as innovative as it is fiddly. Every conflict — sermon or gunfight — starts by setting stakes. Characters have four stats (**Acuity, Heart, Body, Will**) plus traits, relationships, and gear rated in dice (d4s to d10s), and you roll a pool based on the conflict type. Your dice are your hand: players take turns making a **Raise** (put forward dice and narrate an action), and the opponent must match or beat the total to **See** it, narrating their counter. Can't match? You **Take the Blow** and suffer fallout, or **Give** and concede the stakes. The kicker is **escalation** — losing an argument, you can escalate to physical, then to guns, adding dice but raising the stakes. It's a system that forces brutal choices, and it's a direct influence on the **[[Blades in the Dark]]** engine, which credits *Dogs in the Vineyard* among its acknowledged touchstones. One edition from 2004, plus the 2019 genericized **DOGS** rework (same dice mechanics, no Wild West faith). If you want the full morally fraught experience, hunt down the original. ## References - [Dogs in the Vineyard - Lumpley Games](http://www.lumpley.com/dogsources.html) - [Dogs in the Vineyard Review - RPGnet](https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10855.phtml) - [DOGS Generic System Review - Cannibal Halfling Gaming](https://cannibalhalflinggaming.com/2024/06/11/dogs-review/) - [Dogs in the Vineyard - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_in_the_Vineyard)