6. moves and dice

Shit gets real (or is it that shit gets capital-F-Fictional?) in the 5th section of the Basics chapter of Apocalypse World: “Moves and Dice.” I have already said that this opening section, even though it’s an introductory chapter, never feels like you are wasting time as a reader before you get the meat of the matter. That is nowhere more apparent than in this section, which is the meatiest of meats and the matteriest of things that matter. Because the passage is long, I will work through it in chunks:

The particular things that make these rules kick in are called moves.

This is a reference to the final paragraph of “The Conversation”: “These rules mediate the conversation. They kick in when someone says some particular things.”

All of the character playbooks list the same set of basic moves, plus each playbook lists special moves for just that character. Your threats might list special moves too. When a player says that her character does something listed as a move, that’s when she rolls, and that’s the only time she does.

The name of the section isn’t “Moves”; it’s “Moves and Dice,” because moves are the only time that dice are thrown, and character players are the only players that throw them. Dice aren’t used during character creation. They aren’t used to make saving throws. They aren’t used to determine if a random thing happens. Dice are relegated to a very narrow function in Apocalypse World: resolving moves. Everything else in the game is determined by strict rules, the meta-game-level conversation between players, or through the Fiction itself. The limited use of dice has two effects, I think. The first is that every die rolls becomes exciting because every die roll will impact the Fiction and the future lives of the characters. The second is that it makes the players angle for moves, because let’s face it, we love to roll dice. Rolling dice is its own joy and we will work to be able to do it, which will then beneficially affect the Fiction, creating a cycle that ensures interesting things are always evolving through The Fiction.

The rule for moves is to do it, do it. In order for it to be a move and for that player to roll dice, the character has to do something that counts as that move; and whenever the character does something that counts as a move, it’s the move and the player rolls dice.

Who doesn’t love the simplicity of “to do it, do it”? Another write could have gone for the clinical and unambiguous description that says for a move to trigger, you need have your character make the move in the story itself, not just declare that the move is being made. That’s unambiguous and clear, but it is not exciting or catchy. “To do it, do it” has the advantage of being full of action—do it! It’s reminiscent of the Nike command to “Just do it.” Make you character’s actions bold and committed! Leave your mark! None of that is said or referred to, but it all lurks in the shadows of “to do it, do it.”

No matter how it’s said, this paragraph lays down the important law of Apocalypse World: The Fiction is the focus of the game. Everything that happens at the table is about creating that Shared Imagined Space, and everything we say and do needs to originate from and circle back to the Fiction.

Usually it’s unambiguous: ‘dammit, I guess I crawl out there. I try to keep my head down. I’m doing it under fire?’ ‘Yep.’ But there are two ways they sometimes don’t line up, and it’s your job as MC to deal with them.

First is when a player says only that her character makes a move, without having her character actually take any such action. For instance, ‘I go aggro on him.’ Your answer then should be ‘cool, what do you do?’ ‘I seize the radio by force.’ ‘Cool, what do you do?’ ‘I try to fast talk him.’ ‘Cool, what do you do?’

I love these examples and the way the MC doesn’t vary her response. It’s a gentle way to tell the player to put her action into the fiction and trigger that move. (As a side note, I like the way this turns “What do you do?” on its head. In this moment it is not about character agency or issues of protagonism—this is about being grounded in the fiction, which I had not thought about “What do you do” doing. The phrase is simultaneously a demand to contribute directly to the Fiction and a reminder that the character and her choices are the main focus of the story we are creating.)

Second is when a player has her character take action that counts as a move, but doesn’t realize it, or doesn’t intend it to be a move. For instance ‘I shove him out of my way.’ Your answer then should be, ‘cool, you’re going aggro?’ ‘I pout. “Wel if you really don’t like me . . . “’ ‘Cool, you’re trying to manipulate him?’ ‘I squeeze way back between the tractor and the wall so they don’t see me.’ ‘Cool, you’re acting under fire?’

You don’t ask to give the player a chance to decline to roll, you ask in order to give the player a chance to revise her character’s action if she really didn’t mean to make the move. ‘Cool, you’re going aggro?’ Legit: ‘oh! No, no, if he’s really blocking the door, whatever, I’ll go the other way.’ Not legit: ‘well no, I’m just shoving him out of my way, I don’t want to roll for it.’ The rules for moves is if you do it, you do it, so make with the dice.

Cool. These paragraphs not only clarify the relationship between moves and the Fiction, but they model the spirit of the conversation when AW is at the table. The MC never makes a declaration in any of the examples—they are all clarifying questions. Is this what you are saying? Is that what you want to trigger? Did you mean to do that? All of the players are responsible for making sure the Fiction is clear to everyone playing, otherwise it is no longer a Shared Imagined Space; it's just a fragmented collection of different ideas. The questions put everyone in the same space seeing the same Fiction.

I have always loved the “so make with the dice” line, not only because it sounds like a gangster’s line from a Coen Brother’s film but because it draws attention to the fact that all the characters’ troubles are brought upon themselves to an extent. If you don’t do anything, you don’t roll, and if you don’t roll, then the MC's hands are tied to a certain extent. That idea is addressed later in the text (and how to deal with players who try to avoid rolling)--and it seems silly that anyone playing AW would try to avoid complications--but that doesn’t change the design of the game: restrict what the MC can do and make the characters the driving force of the Fiction that unfolds.

That restriction is alluded to at the end of the next two paragraphs, after misses, weak hits, and strong hits are explained:

All the moves list what should happen on a hit, 7-9 or 10+, so follow them. Many of them list what happens on a miss, so follow those too. The basic moves, though, just tell the player to ‘be prepared for the worst.’ That’s when it’s your turn.

That paragraph is all about the limitations placed upon the MC. Do what the moves tell you and only what the rules let you do; eventually it’ll be your turn to say something awesome.

The rest of the section explains the terminology of taking bonuses forward or ongoing, sex moves (including the wonderful line, “For most of the characters, the special sex moves apply when they have sex with another player’s characters, not with oh just anybody, but for a few of them, oh just anybody will do”), and directions for where to turn in the text for more information, so I don’t see any need to quote it.

This entire section is about how the rules of AW mediate the conversation in ways that shape and propel the Fiction being created through play. For someone coming to the text from traditional games, the section is kind of disarming, greeted with a combination of “of course” and “what?!” The names of moves and other terms that haven’t yet been introduced to the first-time reader are casually thrown about, and if you are used to skill-based characters the whole notion of rolling to crawl from one hiding place to another or to push past a jerk at a club or to squeeze between a tractor and a wall to hide is bizarre because you are used to resolving tasks with the dice as opposed to resolving entire conflicts and interactions. But we’ll talk more about all that further down the road.