Hold and Spend

Some moves tell you to hold a named currency — Readiness, Preparation, Stock, Power, Loyalty, Acumen, and so on. Track how much you hold; spend it as the move describes.

Think of held currency as permission to do something awesome, now or later. When you spend it to do something, you just do it — even if it interrupts the flow of play, even if the action would normally trigger a move. Spend a Readiness to strike back at an attacker and you just deal damage; Clash doesn't fire.

When you spend, say what it looks like in the fiction. If you can't describe it, don't spend it.

Different moves grant currency in different ways: a set amount per trigger (Piety), an amount based on a roll (Silver Tongued, Defend), or an amount based on fictional details (Bolster, Prepare a Welcome). Each move says when held currency is lost — usually when the scene's pressure ends, when you switch focus, or never (it's permanent until spent).