The other night in my Blades in the Dark game, the players were looking for information and trying to fill a clock to reach their next clue. I asked one of the players what they wanted to do, and they clearly described an action their character wanted to take, but I could not see how that action would progress the clock they were working on. After a bit of discussion, I came to understand their intent and realized that while the action they stated would not directly move them closer to the clue, their intent would. Understanding their intent, I was able to reframe their action and the mechanics in a way that would help them carry out their intent. We played out their turn and moved closer to the clue. 

The takeaway from this is that in TTRPGs, actions matter, but intent might matter just a bit more. So let’s talk about it.

Action vs Intent

An action is what the character does in a given moment or turn. It could be swinging their sword at the guard, pushing over a stack of boxes, or asking where the person was last night. Actions can lead to making rolls, such as a combat check or a skill check. 

Intent is the outcome that the player hopes their action will achieve either directly or indirectly. The sword swing is intended to kill the guard, knocking over the boxes is intended to make crossing the room more difficult, asking where the person was last night is intended to catch them in a lie. The intent is the outcome that the player wants to see in the fiction. 

We say intent, not outcome, because often actions require a check of sorts, and that introduces randomization. The action may or may not deliver the intent. 

Why are both important to the narrative?

It is possible for a player to just announce an action on their turn. It happens all the time in games. Most times, a player knows the intent but just states the action. For some games and for some styles of GMing, this works fine. There are reasons why knowing and even saying the intent can be important. 

In Powered by the Apocalypse games, sometimes the intent is the difference in what move gets triggered. Take, for example, a game of Dungeon World where two characters are in combat:  a Fighter and a Wizard, and they are fighting an Ogre. The Ogre has closed with the Wizard and raises their club to attack the Wizard (with the intent of killing her). The player of the Fighter announces their action is to rush up to the Ogre and attack them. In this situation, there are two closely related moves that could be triggered. The first is Hack ‘n Slash, to simply attack the Ogre. The second is Defend, where the Fighter protects the Wizard from taking damage. Each move has its own rules for how it resolves. How the GM knows which one to apply depends on the Fighter’s intent. Are they there to kill the Ogre before it can attack the Wizard, or is their intent to prevent the Wizard from taking damage?

Another reason for understanding intent is for the GM to understand how to resolve an action within the mechanics of the game. Let’s go back to the example of a character wanting to knock over a stack of boxes. The GM may not even need the player to make a check; knocking over the boxes is easy enough, but did the player intend to just make the room more difficult to cross? In which case, knocking the boxes over is an action that should not need a roll, since timing is not critical; once the boxes are scattered, the room is harder to traverse. Or does the player want to knock the boxes onto someone trying to enter the room and knock them down? In this case, a roll may be required to get the timing right. The action has not changed, but the intent informs the narrative, which helps the GM adjudicate the action.

Finally, another reason for understanding intent is to help the GM understand how to describe the outcome when the check resolves, especially in the case of failure. When a roll resolves in the player’s favor, then the intent was carried out. In our boxes example where the player wants to knock the opponent down, a successful roll informs the GM that the character did indeed knock over the boxes and the opponent is now prone on the floor, while the character is unimpeded and unharmed.

In games that use a partial success, that intent is important because the player still gets their intent, but it may be reduced in effect or come with a consequence. Back to the boxes, the character knocks over the boxes and does indeed knock the opponent prone, but in doing so throws themselves off balance and is also knocked prone. 

With a failure, understanding the intent allows the GM to narrate how the intent was not carried out and how it might be worse. The boxes once again, this time the character knocks over the boxes but misses the opponent, who dodges out of the way. The GM says that the boxes spill over the room, now making the area difficult terrain for everyone in the room, including our character.

Intent adds a depth to the action. It is not something that should be kept secret and should be understood. What can everyone at the table do to make that happen?

GM’s: Make sure you know the intent before they roll

When a player declares their action, make sure you understand their intent. Sometimes it will be obvious, like an attack roll, but other times it might not be clear. When you are unsure of their intent, ask. Often the player will be able to clearly explain their intent, but there will be times when a player draws a blank or gets stuck. They may not be sure how to articulate their intent, or they may have just blurted out an action and not considered intent. In these cases, take a moment and bring clarity to that intent. When you both clearly understand the intent, then you can adjudicate how you want them to take their action, and then you can interpret the outcome framed with the intent.

Players:  Know Your Intent

As you are thinking of your upcoming action, make sure that your intent is clear. If the action on its own will be clear, then state your action. If you are not sure the action informs the intent well enough, then when you declare your action, also state your intent: “I want to knock over that stack of boxes so that I knock the opponent prone.”  In doing so, you will help to speed up the turn, help your GM to figure out how to adjudicate the roll, and help guide the outcome in the fiction. 

If you know the intent but are unsure of the action, you can also say that to the GM, “I want to knock him prone when he enters the room; is there a way I can do that?” In this case, the GM can now work with you in the confines of the fiction to find an action that could achieve your intent. Depending on the game you are playing, it may be a different move, or perhaps you need to spend a resource to narratively create the stack of boxes to knock over, etc. When you express your intent unsure of your action, you are creating an opportunity for you and the GM to find a way to bring that about in the game, which will be more satisfying for you than if you were to switch to another action because you did not know how to carry out your desired intent. A good GM will know how to use the rules to create the opportunity for your intent.

I Intend to Finish This Article

Players take lots of actions, and each action has an intent. By expressing the intent clearly with the action, the GM and player have an opportunity to make the action interesting and meaningful, regardless of outcome. As a GM, make sure you understand your player’s intent with each action, and players make sure you can communicate that intent, even if you don’t know the action that needs to be taken. When has knowing the intent of an action contributed to a great scene in your game?