Dogs in the Kitchen (7/6/2024)

GMs: Karen Twelves, Dale Horstman, Sean Nittner, and Matthew Klein
Players: Karen Twelves, Dale Horstman, Sean Nittner, and Matthew Klein
System: Dogs in the Vineyard (rethemed to Kitchen Nightmares)

After having just a whole lot of fun playing Mountain Witch, we decided to pick up another oldie-but-goodie indie game, Dogs in the Vineyard. We didn’t want to play Mormon lawbringers, however so we discussed a bunch of different settings that would map well the the Dogs chassis. Specifically a setting where the players represent an authority that can (and will) be challenged and that they are part of the community they are helping. We opted to riff off the Kitchen Nightmares show with the premise that at least one of our DOGS (Dining Overhaul & Gastronomy Services*) is connected to the people at the restaurant (friends, family, former co-workers, etc) and that we’re not staging it as a reality show, just a service that comes to help restaurants get back on track.

Hack the System

The first thing we had to do, once we settled on the theme and setting, was to look at the rules and figure out what changes were needed. I checked out the generic version of DOGS, but it actually felt like more work to build “up” form that system rather than to move “laterally” from the original game. I had done it before with Jedi in the Vineyard so I felt pretty confident we could do it again together.

Here’s the areas I identified for us to review, and what we came up with together:

• Backgrounds could more or less stand as is. We swapped “History” for “Culinary Education” and “Community” for “Family”. Otherwise the dice pools and descriptions all worked as is.
• Stats (Acuity, Body, Heart, and Will) all still worked as is.
• Conflict times need only minor changes
  • Just Talking (Acuity + Heart) – no change
  • Physical, not fighting (Body + Heart) – no change, but notably includes cooking
  • Fighting (Body + Will) – only slight changed to be fights (probably verbal, but possibly also phsical) that were kept internal between the people in the conflict)
  • Gun Fighting (Acuity + Will) – changed to be fighting that called on higher authorities (food critics, health inspectors, the boss, DOGS HQ, etc). This is the way people can get fired, restaurants can be shut down, etc.
• Traits stayed pretty much as is. “I am a Dog” remains.
• Relationships. You get a free 1d6 if you’re family or if you have strong history together (worked together, etc)
• Belongings. Guns (including their +1d4 mechanic) are changed to Phones (but alternatively it can be clipboard, it just need to be something that records something permanently). The dogs coat is changed to their tools (knives, etc). We added a polo shirt, but it doesn’t have the gravity that the Dogs coat does.
• We reviewed duties, authority, ceremonies, and the people and felt like we’re on the same page enough that we don’t have to document those all now, but we’ll come up with them in play. Here’s some of the things we did come up with for duties:
  • Restore/improve the restraints reputation
  • Train employees
  • Fix up the resturaunt
  • Resolve disputes
  • Change the menu as needed
  • Review books (accounting)
  • Interview staff
  • Adjust workflow
  • Review physical layout and workspace
  • Experience the restaurant as a customer
  • Evaluate the morale of the staff
• And based on that, we came up with a couple of specialties that we might take (inspired by Queer Eye):
  • Management
  • Kitchen
  • Food
  • Service
  • Ambiance
  • Books
• Progression of Sin. Only a few adjustments were needed
  • Pride manifests as Injustice, which leads to
  • Apathy, which manifests as Attacks (quiet quitting, stealing from the till, bad service), which leads to
  • Distrust, which manifests as Sabotage (bad reviews, suppliers cutting off deliveries, infighting between staff), which leads to
  • Misery, which manifests as Shutting Down (terrible food and service, losing the heart of the restaurant, customers abandoning it)
• Signs of suffering. We identified a few ways this might look:
  • Bad vibes, aesthetic, or ambiance
  • Sales declining
  • High turnover
  • Low morale
  • Health code violations
  • Losing a Michelin Star
  • Going into dept, unable to pay bills.

That feels like a pretty good start. We’ll make up more stuff as we go, but when we did achievements at the end of character creation it all held up well!

Character Creation

We’ve decided to have rotating GMs. I’ll run the first restaurant and then after that we’ll trade off, which means we all made characters together and ran achievements for each other, so we all got a little practice GMing conflicts in advance of play!

• Reuben Robertson (played by Matt), a chef that things have come easy for (Strong Culinary Experience). Traits and relationships:
  • I am a Dog 1d10
  • Amicable Divorce 2d6
  • I am a certified Sauce Master 2d10
  • I fed the Obama family 1d8
  • I fear insects 1d8
  • I have an MBA 1d8 (was 2d8 before the fallout from his acheivement)
  • Everything Joel says is gospel 1d6
  • Abigail Robinson, from the NYT is my ex 1d8
  • Dr. Marjorie Thurm, my therapist 1d4 (came from achievement)
• Mary Theresa “Mara” Lucchesi (played by Dale) ran he family restaurant until she decided to close it and go into consulting (Strong Family)
  • Don’t push my buttons 1d4 (came from achievement)
  • Accomplished Chef 2d6
  • Thrives in chaos 1d6
  • Easy conversationalist 1d8
  • I worked at our family restaurant since I was 12 1d8
  • Culinary school dropout 1d4
  • I learned to reign it in 1d6 (came from achievement)
  • DOGS might be my calling 1d8
  • Chef Mario Granuci, my mentor 1d6
• Tess “TK” Kensington @justtess (played by Karen) is a food blogger who brought awareness to small restaurants and now she’s stepping it up as a Dog (Strong Family)
  • I launched successfully on TikTok 1d6 (came from achievement)
  • Certified Vibesmith 3d6
  • My review are honest and just my opinion 1d4
  • I’m here to help 1d8
  • I’s a Supertaster 1d8
  • Yup, I’m a girl 1d4 (came from achievement)
  • Do I need to be a Dog? 1d8
  • Owner of the first restaurant I saved 1d6
• Joel Geller worked at Le Bernardin (with Reuben) and earned them a star, but it killed him (Complicated Culinary Background)
  • I left the restaurant business with distinction 1d6 (came from achievement)
  • I earned a Michelin Star 3d4
  • I’m a big guy 1d4
  • I can cook like the devil 2d10
  • I’m from New York 2d6
  • Burns from Le Bernardin 1d4 (came from achievement)
  • All I have left is being a Dog 1d8
  • Reuben doesn’t know shit 1d8
  • Dr. Marjorie Thurm, my therapist 1d4 (came from achievement)

As you might be able to tell from some of the overlap, we’re already up in each other’s business. I can’t wait for our first restaurant!

* That’s our current name idea. Were’ still workshopping it.