(Cross-posted with RPG.net)

The most useful book on running games/designing scenarios I’ve ever encountered is Dogs in the Vineyard. I’ve adapted its town creation system for just about every game I’ve run since; it helps me build dynamic, compelling situations for the players to interact with in a way that addresses a bunch of my personal flaws as a GM. Off the top of my head I’ve used it for Dogs in the Vineyard, Ars Magica, Diaspora, Burning Wheel, Paranoia and am currently applying it to my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign.

For those who don’t know, the Dogs process involves taking a town’s inhabitants through a series of steps: Someone is prideful. Pride acted on leads to injustice, injustice leads to sin/crime, sin opens the town up to demonic attacks/dangers from outside, and it goes on from there. While the language the system uses is fairly specific (the next steps involve false doctrine and sorcery), the core process can be applied to pretty much any setting where humans are doing the dumb **** humans do.

As I mentioned, one of those steps is committing a sin or a crime. This doesn’t just mean explicit law breaking like stealing or assault or fraud, but social and cultural mores as well. Like in Warhammer’s Empire, there may not be an explicit law forcing a commoner to show respect a nobleman, but he damned well had better or else there will be trouble, right?

Lure of Power (I think) and some 2E stuff discuss the actual laws of the Empire or provinces, but I could use suggestions on what the unwritten social laws are, especially ones that are particularly Warhammer-ey. The obvious ones have to do with Chaos and cults. For Dwarfs there are probably sins about oath breaking… what else?

Betrayal: lord, town, church, friend, etc.

Inter-province stuff: spying

just for starters

Just downloaded and skimmed it. What an interesting concept (and one that would fit in perfectly with my deadlands campaign!), I'd have to read it further to offer the suggestions but I could definately see this as a motive generator for murder mysteries or to further exagerate the roles in which NPCs have in an adventure. Good stuff, never would have found this by myself.

Glad to help. Like I said the scenario builder has been very useful (I even refer to it when writing fiction), and it put into words a couple pieces of GM advice that I sort of knew but never nailed down: "Say yes or roll the dice," and "Escalate!"

Plus, it's an awesome game with a cool die mechanic and completely rocks if you have the right players for it.

Dogs in Vineyard is cool, and his other game In a Wicked Age rocks. Both his games reflect a good principle of "plots revolve around people and what they want" not "item macguffins or monsters".

On this point, if you really want the SIN stage to be WFRP, then what's important is not that it's "sin" but that it's "Ruinous Power Attracting".

At the point where you are lead into behaviour that a Ruinous Power finds tasty/promising (the behaviour whose emotional warp residue is the foundation of that Ruinous Power) then the supernatural fun begins. Bloodthirsty slaughter or merciless killing, gluttony or sexual decadence - lusting after someone you shouldn't, overturning long held practice/custom or otherwise pursuing radical change are all examples of such conduct in the WFRP context. These map many but not all conventional sins (stealing per se isn't very interesting to ruinous powers for example).

The Ruinous Powers will be likely candidates for the "Demonic Attack" steps which is later. The "sin" is just any transgression against laws or mores which will, eventually, bring about ruin or Ruin.

In my experience, it's helpful not to be too literal in translating the steps from Dogs, and to keep in mind that the "Demonic Attacks" is just code for Outside Influence. So in Warhammer I'd want it to leave open all the foes… Chaos, Greenskins, Skaven, Undead… why limit oneself?

But back to the real question, let me rephrase it like this:

In the Empire, what are the things people could do that would have someone else yelling, "By Sigmar, no!" or "You did what? You fool!"

Again, from my obvious examples prior, things like getting involved in cults, talking back to a noble, handling warpstone…

But what sort of thing am I missing? What is really important in the Old World? What are people warned not to mess around with?

Buying pies from Tileans.

Wearing Altdorfer pantaloons while in Stirland.

Playing "Hide the Sausage" with the landlords daughter…

RARodger, keep in mind Dogs in the Vinyard focuses on a very specific narrow culture and so it is much easier to make a black and white list of things that are "wrongbad". This doesn't work as well in Warhammer as while there are a certain amount of Imperial customs, there are also many shaded or additional ones based on province and religion. Then there is a genuine metaphysical line of hardecore sin that attracts the attention of the Ruinous Powers.

Not that it can't be done, but I think you just need to grab Sigmar's Heirs and try to do each town in the spirit as best as appropriate.

i think there is so much in warhammer that is illegal….would be faster to say what is NOT a sin (in the eyes of the witchhunters!)

but to go for something that could also be used for PCs: witchcraft and hedgemagic

and of course, necromancy.