144. Battle Moves

We are moving into the Battle Moves chapter, and before we get to seize by force, let’s look briefly at the chapter’s introductory paragraphs:

These are moves that you or the players bring into play when the action of the game tips over into battle.

A battle can be between any number of combatants, starting with one-on-one. Most of the battle moves presume that there are two sides, but when you have three or more, you should be able to think them through and apply them anyway.

You can handle most battles quickly and decisively by using seize by force and its variations. Call on the other battle moves for large battles, or when you want to draw a battle out and play through it in tactical detail.

Always remember that during a battle, all of the basic moves are still in play. Remind the players to read a situation, and let them act under fire, help and interfere with one another, and even go aggro if they manage to get the drop on somebody.

I like the language in that first sentence: “when the action of the game tips over into battle.” The verb “tips” suggests that the default state of the game is such a charged state of interpersonal relationships that physical violence is just a nudge away from happening. Violence is not the usual occurrence, but it is always an option and a temptation.

When play does tip over into physical violence, the game offers a “quick[] and decisive[e]” move to throw the players back onto that tightrope, so that battle can happen in the span of one move and quickly return to the state of building tension. To linger longer in battle is a choice the play group has to purposefully make. This choice is both a matter of pacing and taste, dials that the whole group decides to turn together.

The final paragraph points out that even during battle, especially during extended battle, all the basic moves are still in play. What this means in game is that even when physical violence is the focus of the game, it doesn’t supplant the other ways of engaging with and understanding other characters and world, but coexists.

As a side note, I really like the tone of the second paragraph and the work it does. That final clause, “you should be able to think them through and apply them anyway” is a simple assurance to the players that the way moves trigger and work is driven by common sense, so don’t worry, you can’t work this all out. Rather than filling pages with expansive explanations of how to make the battle moves apply to multiple combatants on multiple sides, this single sentence assures the reader that it will work and leaves it in their hands. It’s much better than wasting room in the rulebook and simultaneously better than not addressing the issue, which would leave the reader to think that the rules are incomplete. It’s a clever solution, and effective.