S/Lay w/Me question about the Match

[Brand_Robins]

Heya Ron,

Stupid question, and I still don't understand how I got confused about it, but the Match starts in the Go where one of the key conditions to start the match happens, right?

That is to say, its my Go, I act as the Monster, at the end of that Go I roll a die, correct?

(As opposed to, its my Go, I act as the Monster, we start the Match, and in Goes after this one we roll dice when we do the key actions, but I do not roll a dice at the end of this Go because it was the Go that started the Match, but not itself part of the match.)

As I said, probably dumb, but it became an issue the other day for no apparent reason save my brain breaking down its ability to parse logic.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Brand,

Your paraphrases in the post are correct. Let me lay out all the various categories, which is a little bit more than what you're asking, but might be helpful.

1. The first contributions by each player are not Goes. They set the immediate location and the events/moment of the adventurer entering that location.

2. Everything after #1 is made of Goes, all the way until playing this adventure ends. (The only content constraint is that "my" first Go must include the Lover.)

3. Within #2, the Match is a subset that may or may not include the initial Goes. If "my" initial Go does not include the Monster, for instance, then (i) I get no dice and (ii) the Match has not yet begun. Sometimes the Goes proceed for a while before the Match begins, and sometimes the Match starts right away.

Similarly, ending the Match does not stop the back-and-forth of Goes. Play pauses for a moment while "you" indicate your choices from the list, but that's all.

4. Even during the Match (#3), not all Goes earn dice (the dice rules are very explicit about how this works). In practice, I've found that once a pair of players gets used to the game, they begin to play with this particular point very creatively.

Best, Ron

[Brand_Robins]

Thanks Ron.

I think all that was pretty clear in the book. Somehow, however, I still managed to turn a small point into an issue. I'm amazing that way.