The Potential (move)

The move The Potential was introduced on 4 July 2020 and submitted to the Canon on 5 July 2020.

Text

As game manager, Dominick submitted the move to the Canon with the following text:

Interwoven throughout the fabric of the inhabited worlds is a force of nature known as the Potential. It is by harnessing this Potential that certain species of intelligent being are able to perform acts of what we might otherwise call magic. Each member of those species possesses an organ called the auní which serves as the means for interaction with the Potential. In those with stronger auní the ability to make use of the Potential is stronger, but their susceptibility to it is commensurately stronger as well. Those rare individuals without functioning auní are referred to as unsensed (analogous to blindness vis-à-vis sight or deafness vis-à-vis hearing) and cannot interact with the Potential at all: they are both entirely incapable of using magic and entirely unaffected by it.

Trivia

• The Potential was the third move in the Greater Game. It was originally introduced with the title "Move 3", but it was not numbered in the Canon.

• The Potential was introduced by RavShimon. Unlike most other moves, RavShimon never gave the move an official name, nor did Dominick give the move an official name in the Canon. "The Potential" is an unofficial name, appearing only in this wiki. In fact, whether or not "the Potential" is the official name or a placeholder name for the force of nature itself was discussed during this move. However, so far, no alternative terminology has been set forth.

• During this move, the players discussed what was meant by "susceptibility". While not binding, the authorial intent was described as follows: "OK, to put it in D&D terms as a (very) rough analogy: say a certain spell does 1d4 damage. A more powerful wizard might do 2d4 damage instead, but would also take double damage if the spell were directed at him; conversely, a weaker wizard might do half damage and take half damage. The same would apply to healing spells, mind control effects, &c.... I envision the Potential as being akin to electromagnetism: it is a fundamental force of the universe(s), but it took centuries of dedicated study to learn what it is, how it works, and--perhaps most importantly for our purposes--what we can do with it."