Capsule Review: Dust Devils (PDF Edition) by Matt Snyder
Cover Art by Jon Hodgson; Interior Art by Rod Anderson
Published by Chimera Creative -- http://www.chimera.info
PDF Edition Copyright 2002 Chimera Creative/Matt Snyder
Contact the author/publisher at: matt@chimera.info
Review by Guy McLimore / guymcl@sigecom.net
If I had a nickel for everyone who claimed they had a "brand-new approach" to role playing games, I wouldn’t have to worry about feeding my HeroClix habit. But few deliver. Dust Devils by Matt Snyder does deliver, which in itself is pretty amazing. Better yet, it delivers within a gaming genre that has rarely been handled well, and does do for a fair return on your hard-earned gaming dollar. This was enough to impress me sufficiently to do only my third review for RPGnet.
I missed Dust Devils in the game’s initial print run release at GenCon. Apparently, I was about the only one who DID, however. No less a personage than Jonathan Tweet named it his Pick of the Con, and Ken Hite (in his Out of the Box webcolumn missed seconding that designation by the narrowest of margins. These two fellows are not known for lavishing such praise lightly, so when the opportunity to get an advance peek at the upcoming PDF edition of the game came along, I couldn’t resist asking Matt Snyder for a look. This review will deal with said PDF edition, but my understanding is that it is, for most purposes, identical to the 36-page digest-size print edition, so feel free to pick up either.
The first important thing to know about Dust Devils is, despite the fearsome (and truly intense) cover illo by Rod Anderson, Dust Devils has no supernatural components cluttering up the Old West flavor. There’s nothing inherently WRONG with combining the Old West with other genres, as long as it is done well. It is nice to see that a pure genre offering with no fantastic component can still be approached in a new and interesting manner, however.
"New and interesting" it is; "traditional" it isn’t. If you are wedded to the standard "plot-an-adventure, beat-the-bad-guys, win-the-treasure" sort of role playing experience, Dust Devils isn’t going to please you. If you want a set of game rules that cares about the difference between a Colt Peacemaker and an 1875 Remington, or settles the question of whether Johnny Ringo or the Sundance Kid was the Fastest Gun in the West -- this is ALSO the wrong game. Dust Devils is less about the hardware and personages of the Old West and more about the central psychology of the genre -- the choice of whether or not to use violence to solve problems.
The core theme of Dust Devils is laid out in the first line that opens the Introduction: "There comes a time when you got to shoot or give up the gun." The central mechanics of the game revolve around the dark secret that all classic Old West characters seem to possess, and the time when that secret, which has controlled and manipulated them all their lives, brings them to an inevitable confrontation with their inner darkness. The game refers to that secret as a character’s "Devil" If players can get into the idea of shaping their play around their character’s personal "Devil", they will easily slip into the groove with this game.
Setting up characters is easy enough. Players divide 13 points among four attributes: Hand, Eye, Guts and Heart, which represent (respectively) physical prowess, senses and intellect, health and courage, and social competence. The attributes are directly tied to spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts in a standard deck of cards, and the action mechanic is based around making and comparing poker hands. Players also choose two general Traits for their character, described as similes like "Tough as nails" or "Fast as greased lightning". Players also select several Knacks, which are simple skills such as "Shootin’", "Drinkin", "Ridin’", "Gamblin’" and the like.
Each confrontation requiring the application of a character’s abilities to a problem is resolved by a hand of poker. The dealer (this game’s version of a gamemaster) plays for non-player characters and the forces of nature and fate. How many cards (three to seven, normally) the Dealer will draw depends largely on the difficulty of the task and dramatic importance of the situation. The number of cards dealt to a player character is increased in situations where Traits come into play, and decreased when his personal Devil is involved. A character can redraw cards to try and improve his hand when he can justify using one or more Knacks in a given conflict.
Here’s where the conflict resolution system gets really interesting, and where Dust Devils departs from almost any other role playing game. Those who lose a hand (and hence fail in a conflict) lose points off their attributes temporarily -- but the way the story plays out depends most of all on who plays the High Card for the hand, regardless of the winner. The High card determines who will narrate the results of the given situation, and this is a powerful privilege indeed that takes the game beyond the usual gamemastered plot-fest.
When a player wins the narration, he (not the gamemaster/Dealer) decides exactly how to describe what happens in the scene. This means that the plotline can take a wild turn almost any time, with Fate sending the characters hither and you depending on the turn of that high card. The Dealer narrates only when he turns High Card, plus he is expected to try and keep the play more or less centered on the adventures of the players. But Dealers are encouraged not to create traditional plotliones and adventures. Instead, they set up interesting non-player characters whose stories are tied to the PCs, then allow those characters to pull the action back to the center in an interesting manner -- when they pull High Card. When a player pulls High Card, he can describe the outcome of the current conflict in any way that suits him (usually in a way that gives him an advantage). Thus, each player also serves as a sort of "gamemaster" when he holds the High Card for a deal.
This unique mechanic probably works best when the players are all equally secure in their roleplaying abilities and agreed that they are out to have an adventurous good time. On the other hand, it seems less well suited to munchkiny play or groups where insecure newbies are easily overshadowed by more boisterous or manipulative players. Even so, a good Dealer/gamemaster can even up a lot of inequities. It seems important, though, that all players know what they are getting into up front.
If everyone is together on the ground rules, this game offers a great way to explore the core concept of a person’s battle with his own deepest wounds and disappointments, which is perfectly expressed in the conventions of the Old West genre. It is important that players don’t get caught up in the conventions of standard RPG play, however. The goal of this game is not character advancement, heroic success, or racking up any sort of points. In fact, character survival is, itself, of only secondary importance. The primary goal is to guide your character toward an inevitable final confrontation with his Devil, which will happen (as fits the genre) when the character is at his lowest ebb and reduced to facing only this one, final choice. The mechanics of the game lead to this, in fact. When a character (as a result of the loss of points in failed conflicts) is reduced to zero in one Attribute, his next conflict requiring the use of that attribute will be that character’s last stand. How it plays out is largely up to the player, who automatically wins the narration for that conflict. The game’s outcome for an individual character is never a matter of whether or not he will face his Devil head-on -- it is a matter of how he will face it when it inevitably occurs, and whether he will "shoot or give up the gun". It is this storytelling opportunity that can make a character’s last bow a very satisfying experience indeed.
Snyder manages to collapse this unique mechanic and lots of atmosphere to go with it into 24 full-size pages (36 digest-size pages in the print edition) by sticking with the essentials. The game includes one sample "scenario", which is appropriately open-ended. If a dealer spends a lot of time writing out dialogue and making maps for this game, he’s doing it wrong. The players create the story as they go along, making Dust Devils perfect for the gamemaster who likes to improvise, and trusts his players to do so as well.
Dust Devils proves that there is plenty of room in the definition of the term "role playing game" for new schemes of play. This excellent marriage of familiar genre and unique systems approach is worth a look for anyone, and may be a great play experience for the group that is open to it.
The PDF edition of Dust Devils will sell for $5.95, and should be available soon from the Chimera Creative website and at downloadable game outlets such as RPGnet Mall. The print edition is available now in stores for $10.00 (plus $4.95 shipping & handling if ordered from the Chimera website).
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