Escalation Prototype

Two hour prototype of an escalation conflict resolution system inspired by D. Vincent Baker's 2004 tabletop roleplaying game Dogs in the Vineyard.

In Escalation Prototype you are locked in a conflict with another person who both want something from the other. All conflicts begin in the Convince state.

When the Roll button is pressed, both players roll dice equal to their stat matching the current escalation state. Rolls of 6 are worth three points, rolls of 4 or 5 or worth one point, and all other rolls are worth nothing. After each roll, the currently-losing player may choose to either Accept the current result, in which case they suffer a consequence related to the current escalation state, or they may Escalate the situation, gaining access to additional dice and raising the stakes. For the purposes of this prototype, ties simply cause a stalemate and a game reset.

I may or may not do anything with this system in the future, but I wanted to experiment with it now. It's not hard to imagine a version of this embedded in a larger game where the consequences of a conflict ripple out to other systems, but for now, this is what it is.