Keep your cool

This is the move for “When you keep your cool and act despite fear”. Avery writes, “The trigger for this move is admittedly one of the most subjective in the game.” We’re only three moves in but two-thirds of them make do without a clear trigger.

This move sits at an interesting kinda tangent to two common moves/mechanics in pbta games: the generic risk/act under pressure move, and the information-gathering move. It’s neither/both those things. In most pbta games, the emphasis is on the action, the pressure and the risk: AW‘s “when you do something under fire”, Monster of the Week‘s “when you act under pressure”, etc. People complain about these moves but they serve a dramatic purpose in the game that I take to be pretty obvious. MH, concerned with teenagers and their feelings and images, cares about the fear you act despite, and whether or not you keep your cool.

On a 10+, you gain insight about the situation and can ask the MC a question. This is one of the only ways the game will let you learn things on your own terms (the other is to Gaze Into The Abyss, which carries its own risks); there’s no Read A Sitch, etc. You learn by facing your fears. That’s sick, more games should steal it.

One thing I notice that’s interesting about the way these moves are described: none of them explicitly tell you whether you do the thing or not. Like, this is the text for this move:

You keep your cool, but do you succeed at whatever action you were attempting? (The descriptive text in the book emphasises the action part, “your character needs to be proactively doing something in the scary or tense situation before this move is triggered”.) By way of contrast, here’s Act Under Fire from AW:

Here’s Act Under Pressure from MotW:

MH doesn’t say anything like “on a 10+, you do it” or “do what you set out to”. It’s silent on whether you do what you wanted! It’s silent in the same way on whether you Turned Someone On or Shut Someone Down; the moves only describe their mechanical effects. So far, I don’t think there’s been any general rule introduced that says on a 10+ or on a hit you succeed; maybe that’s implied? I think I’ve always taken it that way in play. But maybe it’s up to the table or the MC to decide, based on our shared Agenda or the MC’s principles or whatever. Or maybe there’s ultimately no difference between those two possibilities.

Sometimes I think trying to closely read an rpg text like this, finely examining something that’s intended to be rough and quick enough to use at the table, is pointless. Maybe this distinction is pointless. I am still enjoying poking at my favourite game, though.