thread: 2006-02-20 : Open House: Ask a Frequent Question, pt 2
On 2007-03-02, Hans wrote:
Vincent, I'd like to repeat back to you what I think you have said (here just now and elsewhere), regarding action and consequence in IaWA, to ensure I understand it.
* "Taking the blow", "totally sucking it up", etc. are all synonyms for "the challenge happens in the fiction as stated". If the challenge is "I stab you in the throat" then taking the blow means saying "Yep, you stab me in the throat". No more, no less.
* As the challenge happens as stated both with giving and doubling, there is no difference between the two with respect to the challenge itself.
* Any consequence specified in the challenge itself (i.e. "I chop your head off") is at most a suggestion of what the actual consequence of the challenge will be, and is in no way binding on the person receiving the challenge ("You cut my neck, but my head is still on my body").
* The only real difference between giving and doubling is that with giving there is "only" the narrative outcome of the challenge as interpreted by the receiving player ("Yep, I'm stabbed in the throat, that hurt a lot") but with doubling there is the narrative outcome ("Yep, I"m stabbed in the throat, that hurt a lot...") and also persistent and binding (mechanical or otherwise) consequence ("...and I've lost a die size in Art and can't use my 'Siren's Voice' mastery for the rest of the chapter").
