Posted on June 30, 2009 - by jamie

Vegas the Dawg

KoDT #150

I’ve long been a fan of the Knights of the Dinner Table comic, ever since the days of the late, lamented Shadis Magazine. For those who don’t know, KoDT shows us a group of roleplaying gamers sitting around the table. It could almost be described as a very geeky-soap opera comic strip, showing us what’s going on in the game and in the lives of the Knights.

One of the strips long ago revealed how Game Master B.A. Felton created his own RPG that was such a colossal failure that it ended up in bargain bins at game stores across Indiana. It was the chance to roleplay the lives of man’s best friend: Dawg: The RPG. The fictional game has come up again over the years, all the way up to more recent stories in which Bob Herzog uses it as a chance to run an RPG for his niece and nephew.

In a recent, kick-ass double magazine celebrating a staggering 150 of the Knights, Kenzer & Co. actually gave us Dawg. And I cannot help but be charmed with a fun little RPG that I’m very tempted to try out in the near future. In Dawg you can play everything from a pure-breed French Poodle all the way to a mongrel junkyard stray. The inspiration for games can come from Lassie to Air Bud to other crazy pooch-centric stories. Just check out this list of dog movies!

Being a dog-lover and dog-owner, I immediately thought about how my best friend, a golden retriever named Vegas, would translate into Dawg: The RPG. I read through the rules and gave it some quick thought, so here we go!

Vegas

Vegas

Breed/Type: Golden Retriever/Hunting Dawg
Lifestyle: Pet
Size: Medium
Traits: Brawn 40%, Hustle 55%, Dodge 50%, Alertness 55%, Human Handling 40%, Animal Magnetism 45%
Tricks: Beg, The Mighty Sniffer
Disadvantages: Canine Compulsion 30%, Happy Tail, Neutered

Vegas is a golden retriever who’s been with his current family for years. Though he’s entering his doggy middle years, he gets as excited as a puppy and still has lots of energy when something interesting is going on. A complete pacifist when it comes to humans, he dislikes arguments and conflict and is known to bark and try to get in-between people who are fighting. Vegas is friendly and agreeable with others dawgs, but will defend himself if pushed too far.

Though content with his family, Vegas is extremely curious and has little caution when it comes to wandering off with other dawgs or to follow the sound of children playing. He loves to play fetch but isn’t always great about actually giving the ball or toy back to the owner once he trots back with it.

Maybe I’ll get together a little one-shot game of Dawg sometime in the future. It would be fun to make my players deal with situations without opposable thumbs to fall back on.