One open review call on G+, and my email is completely under siege with storyteller RPGs. Leave it to those designers to never miss an opportunity to change the narrative… Eh? All kidding aside, many of these indie products will be featured in the next couple of reviews, and I’m really looking forward to it.
A PDF of The Dig RPG was supplied by Shoreless Skies Publishing, well ahead of my recent request. I've always had a strange affinity for dwarves so an RPG which features my favorite iconic demi-race was hardly something I could pass on. Let’s delve…
The Dig is unique among narrative storyteller RPGs-both, for what it aims to do and how it goes about it.
There is no Game Master. Players create a dwarven character and select a House (or clan), which outlines a Motto and five Traits. Next, players select a Cog (class/specialty), which provides four additional traits and one Fear. Third, players define the appearance & history of their dwarf and mesh this with their House, Motto, and Cog with an option to select or discard Traits, ideally arriving on a number around 8 to 10. Last is assigning three skills: Social, Material & Craft, and selecting one modifier for each: +1, 0 and -1. And the story is almost ready to begin.
Players collaborate on a Venture or the type of story they want to craft. There is an excellent section and numerous samples, to help get the stones rolling in the right direction… But, it is really left open for players to decide. Within the book there is also a quick start Venture that outlines an entire scenario, which is essential for new players, as well as an example of play video on the seller page, (By clicking the affiliate page link, above). If you’d prefer to take a gander of a full run through of the game, click here (redirect to YouTube).
A story in The Dig consists of five rounds: Opening, Social, Material, Craft, and Finale. In each, the first player (or last to act the previous round) introduces and sets up the narrative of the Venture. On their turn, each player creates a narrative of the situation at hand and the character’s involvement, ideally achieving an advantage in what they are trying to accomplish, by utilizing their Traits and/or Skills, with the roll of the (d6) die. Ultimately, success or failure comes down to each player’s ability to narrate fluently, and team cooperation.
The PDF digitizing before the screen is 83 pages. Layout is standard double column format. Black line illustrations are minimal (of dwarves!), but excellent.
Even among storyteller RPGs the emphasis of narrative, character, and teamwork is certainly unique. This non-standard approach reminds me of Amber Diceless, and is very well done. The Dig, isn’t nearly as heavy on setting, but what is present is certainly adequate. If you consider yourself a fan of diceless as well as narrative systems, The Dig is certainly worth a look.
Disclosure: This review uses affiliate links.
