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Framing the Uncertainty

MovementDeath

Before asking reality for an answer, something must first set the Situation in motion, then the table must know what that movement can genuinely put at stake.

This first phase gathers steps 1 and 2: Movement for Intention, Death for important consequences.

1. Movement​

State the Intentions​

What are the Protagonists, Forces, or other involved actors actually trying to achieve?

An Intention is not a menu action or the name of an ability. It is what a Protagonist, Force, or other actor is trying to obtain.

Not everything involved in a resolution carries a will of its own: a storm, distance, or injury may matter without having an Intention.

Intention gives the Situation a direction. It does not yet state the exact question the dice must decide: that question will be brought into agreement when the table sets the Focus.

2. Death​

Make important consequences visible​

When significant consequences of a choice are not obvious but the Protagonist could reasonably know them, Time states them before the roll.

This is not about predicting the whole scene. It is about letting the player decide while genuinely knowing what is at risk.

If a fall may be lethal, a ceremony puts a relationship at risk, or failure leaves a village to the enemy, say so before resolving when the Protagonist could reasonably know it.

State the danger​

A few simple phrases may be enough:

  • “This could cost you dearly.” — serious injury, loss of an important object, a broken bond, ruined reputation, or another heavy consequence;
  • “Failure could be fatal.” — the Protagonist's death is genuinely at stake;
  • “Chaos is waiting for you.” — a transformation, a Breach, or an irreversible consequence is possible.

These phrases are not a mechanical scale. They make the risk understandable before the player commits their Protagonist.

Let the player reconsider the Intention​

Once the danger is understood, the player may keep the same Intention, change approach, or reduce the goal.

A Protagonist who wanted to kill a Lunar general might decide instead to hold them back long enough for an escape. The Focus, Bets, and possible consequences change with that new Intention.

Resolution therefore does not trap a player inside wording chosen before they knew what it would genuinely commit.

Death is not an ordinary result​

Death ends one way of following a Protagonist and often transforms several relationships around them. It should therefore be coherent with what was genuinely committed in the Situation.

An ordinary roll that nobody understood to be lethal should not suddenly become a death sentence.

At this point, the Situation has a direction and its important stakes are visible. The table can now weigh what matters in the precise question it wants to ask reality.