Dust Devils
Encyclopedia
Dust Devils is an independently published
role-playing game
set in the Old West, written by Matt Snyder
. It was voted the 2002 Indie RPG of the Year; it also won the Best Synergy of Game and Rules category, as well as placing in the Best Production and Most Innovative Game categories.
The game uses playing cards and Poker mechanics to resolve scenes and situations. Players create poker hands using their character's scores to earn cards. Then, they compare poker hands to see how their characters perform in a scene. The game was the first RPG to introduce a randomized narrator. In the game, whoever plays the highest single card during a scene becomes the narrator for how the scene ends and what happens in it.
and history. The new edition also included three different settings for the game.
Indie role-playing game
An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published outside of traditional, "mainstream" means. Varying definitions require that commercial, design, or conceptual elements of the game stay under the control of the creator, or that the game should just be produced outside of a corporate...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
set in the Old West, written by Matt Snyder
Matt Snyder
Matt Snyder is a Canadian football quarterback. He has played for the semi-pro London Silverbacks of the North American Football League and for the University of Windsor Lancers...
. It was voted the 2002 Indie RPG of the Year; it also won the Best Synergy of Game and Rules category, as well as placing in the Best Production and Most Innovative Game categories.
The game uses playing cards and Poker mechanics to resolve scenes and situations. Players create poker hands using their character's scores to earn cards. Then, they compare poker hands to see how their characters perform in a scene. The game was the first RPG to introduce a randomized narrator. In the game, whoever plays the highest single card during a scene becomes the narrator for how the scene ends and what happens in it.
New edition
Matt Snyder republished Dust Devils in expanded form in 2007. The new edition, called Dust Devils Revenged, includes updated rules, play advice, and a brief examination of the Old West in filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and history. The new edition also included three different settings for the game.
- Deathwish re-envisioned the game for modern spy action
- Ronin, by Jason Blair, altered the game rules for Feudal Japan
- Concrete Angels, by Jared Sorensen, altered the game for Neo noir crime