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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9023085" data-attributes="member: 7035894">I quite like your initial character arc prompts. I would just encourage the players to choose one as a starting place but then see what that looks like as their adventures change and mold the character.Think of Luke Skywalker - he starts out wanting to become a Jedi, like his father. But then he finds out that his father is Darth freaking Vader! So that really complicates things! Ironically, he doesn't wind up becoming a Jedi like his father; in fact, his whole heroic struggle is resisting becoming a Jedi like his father, so that he can finally become a Jedi like his father should have been. That's a heroic journey.Edit: So I suggest the best way to encourage a heroic arc is to mess with their initial end goal! Add a serious complication, and let the player decide what to do with it. For example, revenge: &quot;your goal is completed when you enact that revenge on the creature that wronged you.&quot; Okay, so as DM, I might make use that knowledge to add in-game reveals that make realizing the goal less black and white. Maybe the character learns that the creature that wronged them had good reasons, from their perspective (c.f. The Last of Us Part 2). Or maybe they learn that the creature that wronged them has grown and changed. Or maybe they have done terrible things but also good things. Or maybe they have innocent dependents. What if the heroic arc winds up actually being that the character chooses not to take revenge when they have the opportunity? How awesome would that be?Throwing complications like that at the player will allow them to create the heroic arc...or maybe it becomes a villainous arc. Or something in the middle. But I bet it'll be way more satisfying as a game experience than something plotted out in advance.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 9023085, member: 7035894"] I quite like your initial character arc prompts. I would just encourage the players to choose one as a [I]starting place[/I] but then see what that looks like as their adventures change and mold the character. Think of Luke Skywalker - he starts out wanting to become a Jedi, like his father. But then he finds out that his father is Darth freaking Vader! So that really complicates things! Ironically, he doesn't wind up becoming a Jedi like his father; in fact, his whole heroic struggle is [I]resisting[/I] becoming a Jedi like his father, so that he can finally become a Jedi like his father [I]should have been[/I]. [I]That's[/I] a heroic journey. Edit: So I suggest the best way to encourage a heroic arc is to mess with their initial end goal! Add a serious complication, and let the player decide what to do with it. For example, revenge: "your goal is completed when you enact that revenge on the creature that wronged you." Okay, so as DM, I might make use that knowledge to add in-game reveals that make realizing the goal less black and white. Maybe the character learns that the creature that wronged them [I]had good reasons[/I], from their perspective (c.f. [I]The Last of Us Part 2[/I]). Or maybe they learn that the creature that wronged them has grown and changed. Or maybe they have done terrible things but also good things. Or maybe they have innocent dependents. What if the heroic arc winds up actually being that the character chooses [I]not[/I] to take revenge when they have the opportunity? How awesome would that be? Throwing complications like that at the player will allow [I]them[/I] to create the heroic arc...or maybe it becomes a villainous arc. Or something in the middle. But I bet it'll be way more satisfying as a game experience than something plotted out in advance. [/QUOTE]

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