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<blockquote data-quote="Deset Gled" data-source="post: 9019302" data-attributes="member: 7808">True, a character arc is not &quot;here is my list of successes&quot;.&nbsp; But it's also true that the OP specifically asked for mechanics that promote actual progress of the arc.&nbsp; These &quot;inner-journey items&quot; are, at best, orthogonal progression.&nbsp; It's time not devoted to arc, but to something else.&nbsp; 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 &quot;failure&quot; as &quot;progress&quot;, you might as well call &quot;death&quot; the ultimate mechanic to progress the character arc.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; I was trying to think if there were any spells in D&amp;D that promote story arc development.&nbsp; The only one that I think really fits the bill is Wish.&nbsp; 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).&nbsp; My DM pulled this on our group a couple of months ago.&nbsp; We were stuck facing some trials inside a sealed tower.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; We could solve the problems of any of the NPCs, or spend it any other way we saw fit.&nbsp; What we did with the Wish determined how we progressed in the trials.&nbsp; But it was also a character defining moment to see how each PC wanted to spend the Wish.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Deset Gled, post: 9019302, member: 7808"] 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. [/QUOTE]

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