84. Things to Say

I had an odd confluence of media lead me to an unexpected proposal: character sheets are simply a collection of what we need to know in order to play our part in the conversation of a roleplaying game. To use the language that recurs in Apocalypse World, the character sheet gives the player things to say.

In Apocalypse World, the phrase “gives you things to say” only appears in reference to the MC. We are told of the MC moves, “Whenever there’s a pause in the conversation and everyone looks at you to say something, choose one of these things and say it” (2nd edition, 88). The tags on weapons and gear serve several functions, one of which is they “tell you, the MC, things to say when the character uses the thing” (12). Elsewhere we are told “the game’s rules give you things to say” (92), and “your threat map gives you things to say, too” (93). Finally, “remember that the purpose of your prep is to give you something interesting to say when the next session starts” (121). Because the MC in Apocalypse World has to be completely reactive to the actions of the PCs, the game needs to give the MC the necessary tools to uphold their side of the conversation, “things to say” no matter what unexpected thing might happen.

Of course, the other players who are driving the narrative in Apocalypse World also need things to say, and those things are found in their playbooks. Since the stats are tied to specific moves, each stat tells us not only something about the personality of the character but what approach they would be more likely to take when solving a problem. The gear and crap tells us how the character can interact with the scene and others. The look and features gives us things to say when we present our character in a scene or react to the other players’ characters. The moves we choose tells us not only what the character can do, but they also tell us something about the character. A Savvyhead with Things Speak and Deep Insights is inherently different from one with Bonefeel and Oftener Right. As I observed in my post on Sex Moves (#22), the sex moves tell us things about how our character handles intimacy, what they observe and what they give away in those intimate moments. And whether you ever trigger a sex move or not, that fact is sitting right there on the sheet. The harm clock tells us at a glance how injured we should play our character and whether they are getting better or worse. Hx gives each of us a quick detail of a past with at least two other players’ characters and a score for the rest of the players, telling us how they generally interact with others. Some of that information may have mechanical purposes, but they all give us things to say to participate in the conversation. At the end of character creation, we are given everything we need to start creating scenes and reacting to each other and the world around us.

Now take a game like early D&D. You didn’t need to know anything about your character’s past or personality because your main purpose was to kick ass and take experience and gold. Your part of the conversation is where do you go in the dungeon, how do you try to keep alive, and how do you try to overcome the obstacles before you. Stats, saving throws, armor, thac0, your weapons, and your basic equipment were everything you needed. Alignment is the closest thing to a character trait or a guiding principle of behavior, and that often feels like a useless, half-developed appendage.

And what about Primetime Adventures? The players are responsible for a much larger part of the conversation. They set up scenes. They interact with each other dramatically to reveal who the characters are. They need to know who their character is within the world (their role), who their character is in relation to the other protagonists (their relationships), what they are striving for (their issue) and how they express themselves when that issue is at stake (their impulse). They need to know how far into the spotlight they should step, which the screen presence tells them. Then they have notes about their personality and manner or speech to know how they are going to say what they have to say. Their personal set even gives them a default location to set a scene. The character sheet is full of things to say!

A well-designed RPG gives the players the tools to have a dynamic, exciting, and meaningful conversation, and to do that, it needs to give the players things to say when it is their turn to speak. A poorly-designed RPG doesn’t give the proper tools to create and sustain the conversation it wants to create.

I realize there is nothing remarkable or probably even impressive in this observation, but seeing the character sheet as a resource for your part of the conversation is something of a revelation to me. It remains to be seen if that approach bears fruit or clears up murky waters.