Game Mechanics Which Encourage Character Arc Progression

[Umbran]

That's a bit hard to follow in a post,

Yeah, I know. It is pretty solidly integrated into the system. The questioning of values has immediate mechanical relevance by giving the player extra dice in the action of the moment, it has medium term relevance in changing the character's values, and long term relevance by effectively giving them XP. That's a lot to go over in a post.

but it sounds pretty cool. I'll have to check it out too!

Cortex Prime is quite a toolkit, and they've done some interesting things with it in this particular game.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I should thank you for starting this post @Gradine because I've been struggling with how to mechanically reward character arc progressions. This is what I had, but I suspect I have a lot of modifications to do in order to be happy with it lol

 

[Deset Gled]

@Deset Gled , goals and flaws are 100% inner-journey items. A character arc is not, "here is a list of my successes."

True, a character arc is not "here is my list of successes". But it's also true that the OP specifically asked for mechanics that promote actual progress of the arc. These "inner-journey items" are, at best, orthogonal progression. It's time not devoted to arc, but to something else. At worst, they can be a major setback to the arc.

To put it another way, if you're going to be so flexible in language that you can redefine "failure" as "progress", you might as well call "death" the ultimate mechanic to progress the character arc. After all, it's undeniable that when the character is removed from the game, it is the completion of their story.

Anyway, back to the main topic. I was trying to think if there were any spells in D&D that promote story arc development. The only one that I think really fits the bill is Wish. If you give a character access to a free Wish (especially at lower levels), they are given a chance to progress whatever they believe is the most important arc (whether that's an immediate victory, a permanent power up, or something else is entirely up to them). My DM pulled this on our group a couple of months ago. We were stuck facing some trials inside a sealed tower. As one of the trials, a powerful being presented us with three tragic NPCs and gave us one free Wish to do with as we pleased. We could solve the problems of any of the NPCs, or spend it any other way we saw fit. What we did with the Wish determined how we progressed in the trials. But it was also a character defining moment to see how each PC wanted to spend the Wish.

 

[Kannik]

If I were looking for examples of game mechanics that help facilitate and encourage the progression of a player character's own character arc, where would you all point me to?

Mouse Guard has an interesting mechanic with it's GM/Player turn split (each being about half a session), where on the latter the players take the reins and often pursue things that are either character defining or character development. Even if they are taking care of a negative hanger-on from the GM's turn (a condition they are trying to clear, or cleaning up a mess from a failure or mistake), the how and narrative of how they go about it becomes illustrative of the character and their overall story.

(Another part of this mechanic is that players earn 'checks' during the GM's turn, each of which allow a player to pursue something, and earning those checks can also be an impetus for character development or highlighting. And since there's a discrete number of checks, it helps prompt the players to pursue something. The game gives some options, which include making new friends or contacts, training a skill, seeking something out, tying up loose ends, and etc.)

In addition, at the end of session you review your character's Beliefs, Goals, and Instincts, and those are used to generate the game's meta currencies. So the review not only keeps them present for the players, but also mechanically rewards players who play to their character.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Giving this more thought, I don't really like how I had it up there mechanically. Failing at your goal is just as productive as adhering to it, oftentimes more so. It's a pretty common trope to have a major setback, and then recover from it greater than before. Now I gotta figure out how to model that mechanically.

Maybe something like....

"Whenever you encounter a scenario or situation where a choice or action impacts your arc, if you choose a behavior that runs counter to your arc, make (an ability check or something). Failure means you've encountered a setback. You are unable to acquire heroic points. If you make choices counter to your arc and fail three times, you undergo a transition. Your Character Arc changes to that of the new behavior, and you begin to acquire Heroic/Villain points when you engage in behavior that reinforces that new arc. However, if you have failed a check and before you undergo a transition and make a choice/action that reinforces the original arc, you will be called to make a check at a -X penalty (-1for each failure you had to date) to that check (recovery is hard). If you succeed, however, you are not only back on track, but you gain a heroic point for each Chapter level you are in immediately, and all future checks are made at a bonus."

Just thinking out loud...The challenge here as I see it is how to do something mechanically that doesn't take away from player agency.

 

[grankless]

Beam Saber's (a Forged in the Dark game of war drama and mechs by Austin Ramsay) Drive Clock mechanic is the one I'm most facing. At creation, your character has a Drive - some major goal they want to accomplish. You add ticks to the clock by either pursuing that goal in missions or through downtime activities. As an example, one of my players is playing someone who has arrived from another timeline in to the current timeline, where he is dead. His drive is "reunite with the boys" (that is to say, his old heist crew). So far he's pursued this by doing a mission for a racing gang to get one of his living buddies' contact info, but he's put actually contacting the guy on hold because he's so busy with everything else. If he fills out that clock, he can technically spend it on a variety of rewards, not just his goal - but by making it his goal, those clocks are the only way he can fulfill that. (There's also the Beliefs, which are descriptions each PC writes about other PCs and change over time and add up and it's just so tasty).

There's also Armour Astir Advent, by Briar Sovereign. In that game, you can create "Gravity Clocks" with a number of subjects, whether those be NPCs, PCs, locations, or objects. You write a sentence describing the relationship there, and as you roll with those subjects, you can add to the Gravity Clock. When it's filled, you can recontextualize it, end the relationship, or any number of things. (Mechanically, each time you choose to keep it filling, you get to use the number associated with the clock in place of a stat if it's involving the subject).

 

[Clint_L]

Character arcs and relationships are tied into the mechanics of Monsterheart, if high school/light horror (think Buffy) are your thing.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I am going to have to keep my eye out for Spire and Heart, though, those sound pretty cool.

If you want to check either out, each has a PWYW Quickstart available in PDF.

Spire Quickstart

Heart Quickstart

Heart has some cool goal oriented mechanics in Beats, which are player chosen goals for PCs and means of power progression. It also has Zenith Advances, which are like endgame abilities for characters.

Very cool stuff, for sure.

 

[GMMichael]

Okay, but you don't need rules to do anything in a TTRPG. At all. That why I asked for examples of mechanics that specifically encourage the progression of character arcs.

How do you define "character arc?"

To put it another way, if you're going to be so flexible in language that you can redefine "failure" as "progress", you might as well call "death" the ultimate mechanic to progress the character arc. After all, it's undeniable that when the character is removed from the game, it is the completion of their story.

" Progress" is moving forward. You can also call it "moving toward a goal," but that isn't as useful for a discussion of "character arcs." Because, well, not all characters achieve their goals, and some of them transform just based on the world around them. They still have arcs.

A character arc that doesn't progress is one that doesn't change. Experiencing setbacks or failures is still character arc progress, as long as it transforms the character.

 

[AnotherGuy]

In the context of D&D, anything that increases, removes or amends Traits, Ideals, Bonds or Flaws develops the character and is thus included within the character arc. Rewarding XP solely on moves within the fiction that affect the above encourages a more character driven game.