City of Mist vs Dogs in the Vineyard
Compare City of Mist and Dogs in the Vineyard side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| City of Mist | Dogs in the Vineyard | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern | Historical, Fantasy |
| Tags | Narrative, Investigation, Mystery, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Noir, Urban Fantasy, Drama, Tag-Based | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Tag-Based, Drama, Collaborative, Improvisation, Roleplay-Heavy, Social Combat, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + invoked tags. Characters have no numerical stats: instead they invoke narrative tags from their Mythos (legendary) and Logos (mundane) themes. 7–9 partial success, 10+ full success. Statuses replace HP on a 1–6 tier track. | Roll a d4–d10 pool from relevant Stats and Relationships. Players Raise with two dice and See by spending dice that match or exceed the Raise. Traits, belongings, and escalation add dice as they enter the conflict. Seeing with three or more dice earns Fallout. Giving concedes the stakes. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d4–d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Paid |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Community content (Cauldron of Mist) | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Son of Oak Game Studio | lumpley games |
| Year | 2019 | 2004 |
| Languages | English, Italian, German, Spanish | English, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want noir-style investigations in a modern city where characters channel mythological archetypes: balancing mundane lives with legendary powers. | Groups who want episodic frontier drama built around difficult moral judgments and arguments that can escalate into violence. |
| Highlights | Tag system makes every character unique, investigation mechanics are well-designed, layered interplay between mythic and mundane identity | Escalation supplies fresh dice at the risk of harsher consequences, making continued opposition a choice about what the stakes are worth. Fallout changes Traits and Relationships to carry conflict consequences into later play. The town-creation ladder builds crises from interconnected grievances without prescribing how the Dogs should resolve them. |
| Considerations | Tag-based resolution takes adjustment from traditional RPGs, heavily tied to its urban noir setting, two-book format can feel expensive, prep-intensive for the MC | The Faith's patriarchal theology supplies concrete grievances in the town-creation rules and needs deliberate rewriting for another religious framework. Conflicts abstract range and movement into narrated actions rather than measured positioning. The GM must challenge the Dogs' judgments without preparing a preferred solution. |