Dogs in the Vineyard is about God’s Watchdogs, young men and women called to preserve the Faithful in a hostile frontier territory. The setting is a fantasy inspired by pre-statehood Utah, the Deseret Territory, in the early-mid 19th century. Player characters travel from town to isolated town, carrying mail, news, and doctrine, healing the sick, supporting the weary, and pronouncing judgment upon the wicked. Picture a landscape of high mountains, icy rivers and cedar woods, falling away westward into scrublands, deserts, buttes and swells. The summer skies are heartbreaking blue, but the winters are long and killing.

The system features a unique conflict-resolution mechanic, which weighs the "stakes" of the conflict against the temptation to escalate with violence. The book also includes copious amounts of advice for game masters.

Won the 2004 Indie Game of the Year award.

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