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Dust Devils: a truly gritty old west roleplaying game
- GenresRole Playing Games
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 18, 2017
Matt Snyder’s Dust Devils came to my attention early in my research into indie RPGs at the beginning of the century. Many designers I follow have been inspired by the game or have at least sung its praises, so I knew that I wanted to read it. The book is unfortunately not available in print anymore, so I got a PDF instead. I have not played the game yet, so this review is simply about the text.
Dust Devils is a sharply designed RPG to create western tales like Unforgiven and Once Upon a Time in the West. Like any successful genre-focused RPG, Dust Devils focuses on a specific type of story, derived from analyzing the sources of inspiration and searching out the heart of the stories. Every main character has a “devil” that whispers in their ears. The players can choose to follow their devil or fight against it, with advantages and disadvantages for both, but in the end, as the character gets tossed about by the events of the tale, the character will have to decide who wins, the devil or the character. The thing that you are playing to find out when you sit down to play Dust Devils is whether you character will find redemption or not, and there are a lot of temptations to not. It’s a great focus for the game and allows the players to play their characters hard to create a lively tale.
Character creation is both quick and meaningful, giving the player a ton of hooks to play the character, but each narrative detail also has a mechanical effect in the game. My particular favorite feature is the past and present. Each character has something they were or did in their past and something they are or do when the story begins. It’s a small detail, but it is in keeping with all the western movies. The flavor is rich, and it is such a simple way to create a character with a complex past. Similarly, the devil chosen is single in its focus, but by allowing the player to give in to it and fight against it, the devil becomes a spectrum or behavior, very similar to what Robin Hill tries to create in his Hillfolk game. The game also recommends you tie the devil to the fulcrum between past and present, the cause of the change in becoming who you did. It creates rich character with only a few strokes. Very impressive.
Conflict resolution is a clever version of poker, in which each stat gives you a card pool (a “hand”) instead of a dice pool. You get an initial deal, extra cards if one of your traits is relevant, a single discard and draw phase, and an opportunity to bid chips, which can then be spent for a number of effects. You then play your hand against your opponents and the narrator works out the specifics of what happened narratively by interpreting the cards. It’s not only thematically appropriate, but looks like a fun way to settle conflicts, especially once you get the hang of it and can move quickly without the conversation getting shipwrecked against the mechanics. I’m not a huge fan of the bidding for narration rights, but I know that that was a big focus for games at the time.
There are a handful of rules that are not crystal clear (such as when you bid chips during a conflict), and there are no mechanics for anything other than conflict, but I really like the look of the game. The text is well-written and easily followed. Moreover, the game comes with three hacks at the end of the book to tell you how to adopt the system for a game of your own. The hacks are not particularly interesting to me, but I like that they are there.
Of all the western RPGs out there, this is the one that seems like it would be the most fun and engaging to play. I hope to be able to get it to the table sometime soon.
Dust Devils is a sharply designed RPG to create western tales like Unforgiven and Once Upon a Time in the West. Like any successful genre-focused RPG, Dust Devils focuses on a specific type of story, derived from analyzing the sources of inspiration and searching out the heart of the stories. Every main character has a “devil” that whispers in their ears. The players can choose to follow their devil or fight against it, with advantages and disadvantages for both, but in the end, as the character gets tossed about by the events of the tale, the character will have to decide who wins, the devil or the character. The thing that you are playing to find out when you sit down to play Dust Devils is whether you character will find redemption or not, and there are a lot of temptations to not. It’s a great focus for the game and allows the players to play their characters hard to create a lively tale.
Character creation is both quick and meaningful, giving the player a ton of hooks to play the character, but each narrative detail also has a mechanical effect in the game. My particular favorite feature is the past and present. Each character has something they were or did in their past and something they are or do when the story begins. It’s a small detail, but it is in keeping with all the western movies. The flavor is rich, and it is such a simple way to create a character with a complex past. Similarly, the devil chosen is single in its focus, but by allowing the player to give in to it and fight against it, the devil becomes a spectrum or behavior, very similar to what Robin Hill tries to create in his Hillfolk game. The game also recommends you tie the devil to the fulcrum between past and present, the cause of the change in becoming who you did. It creates rich character with only a few strokes. Very impressive.
Conflict resolution is a clever version of poker, in which each stat gives you a card pool (a “hand”) instead of a dice pool. You get an initial deal, extra cards if one of your traits is relevant, a single discard and draw phase, and an opportunity to bid chips, which can then be spent for a number of effects. You then play your hand against your opponents and the narrator works out the specifics of what happened narratively by interpreting the cards. It’s not only thematically appropriate, but looks like a fun way to settle conflicts, especially once you get the hang of it and can move quickly without the conversation getting shipwrecked against the mechanics. I’m not a huge fan of the bidding for narration rights, but I know that that was a big focus for games at the time.
There are a handful of rules that are not crystal clear (such as when you bid chips during a conflict), and there are no mechanics for anything other than conflict, but I really like the look of the game. The text is well-written and easily followed. Moreover, the game comes with three hacks at the end of the book to tell you how to adopt the system for a game of your own. The hacks are not particularly interesting to me, but I like that they are there.
Of all the western RPGs out there, this is the one that seems like it would be the most fun and engaging to play. I hope to be able to get it to the table sometime soon.
July 28, 2021
Osittain jaettua pelijohtajuutta käyttävä lännenroolipeli, jossa isossa osassa ovat hahmon menneisyyden demonit. Konfliktit ratkaistaan pokerikädellä: paras käsi ”voittaa” ja korkein kortti määrää kuka saa kertoa miten se ”voitto” tapahtui. Ominaisuudet ja taidot auttavat saamaan lisää kortteja pokerikäteen. Siinäpä se.
Kääntäjä Eero Tuovinen on lisännyt peliin hyviä lännen konfliktien historiasta kertovia kuvatekstejä ja loppuun vielä erinomaisen selvennysosuuden säännöistä.
Pelissä on hyviä ideoita, jotka kaikesta yksinkertaisuudestaan huolimatta on esitetty vähän epäselvästi. Lisäksi itse haluan, että roolipelillä olisi vähän enemmän lihaa luiden ympärillä, vaikka onkin pieni tarinankerrontapeli. Enkä puhu nyt tuotantoarvoista vaan ihan pelin sisällöstä.
Kääntäjä Eero Tuovinen on lisännyt peliin hyviä lännen konfliktien historiasta kertovia kuvatekstejä ja loppuun vielä erinomaisen selvennysosuuden säännöistä.
Pelissä on hyviä ideoita, jotka kaikesta yksinkertaisuudestaan huolimatta on esitetty vähän epäselvästi. Lisäksi itse haluan, että roolipelillä olisi vähän enemmän lihaa luiden ympärillä, vaikka onkin pieni tarinankerrontapeli. Enkä puhu nyt tuotantoarvoista vaan ihan pelin sisällöstä.
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December 3, 2024It didn't blow me away or anything, but this is a solid little game, with basically every mechanic feeling intensely on-theme, with its cards and poker chips and the character's 'devil' hanging over every interaction. Zero-percent chance of my players being interested in a western game, but in some mythical future, perhaps I find a use for this.
March 8, 2018
Most interesting element of this story-telling game is how the narrator is decided. Determined by a high-card mechanic (or by a player opting to spend chips), the narrator tells how the conflict is resolved. The narrator need not be the player who "won" the conflict.
July 25, 2013
An interesting Western game with rules designed to create and heighten conflict right from the get-go. The fact that you decide who "wins" a contest by playing poker adds a lot to the flavor of the game as well.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews