The promised ones – 8. Paths and Tasks, and where the characters' motivations come from.

Game Design Log #8

In the previous post I discussed how I wanted to stay away from the concept of “class” because I considered it to be an “end-point” of what the characters are, predefining the utility/meaning of the characters in the game/world. Which, in my opinion, was a missed opportunity in a genre like fantasy, where the search for a place, utility and meaning is so integral for the genre.

In TPO I created paths as the toy-tool to explore the position of the character in the world, and I transformed these into adventures, which at first seemed right. 

But then I realised that this approach only establishes external motivations, and does not crystallise what the characters are or care about.

So I changed the name of what paths were in TPO to tasks (because in a way this is what they are, but maybe I should find a better cooler name for them) and then I reserved the name of path for something different, for something that will guide the goals and internal motivations of characters.

I juggled with various ideas. I was trying to find a way to integrate these concepts into the system, and make them playable. One more toy in the box. 

But then I realised that I was stepping into that dangerous territory of over-abstracting something until it was loosing its substance and narrative meaning. 

So I stopped. 

I decided that paths would work best as initial motivations. As a way to say, look!, these are the things your character could be looking for and caring for. Strokes of what kind of things people in the shoes of the characters would be willing to search/work for. 

This is less novel. This form of paths has been used repeatedly in games, and even in games like DnD 5e there is something like this in the form of Backgrounds (Vampire The Masquerade does it with nature/demeanor, Vaesen with motivations, etc…)

However, in games like DnD 5e most of the heavy lifting has been done by the familiarity players have with the concept of the “adventurer”, and the tropes of the fantasy genre. Making backgrounds more of an optional tool than a necessary process to engage players with the game.

I think that in a game where the world and the system are not tied to something that is familiar for players, a simple definition of what things are important for their characters is crucial. 

This is something that for me is of the most critical importance. Because if players cannot find in the book something that shows them what they could experience in the game, if the referee doesn’t have something to point at when trying to convince their friends to play the game, then the game will not be played.

That's why I decided that paths will be a simple flavour text, with some question for the player. These questions will specify how these motivations have affected and driven the characters' lives.

Currently, these are the default flavour text for the paths in TPO (I just wrote them last night, so these are the first ideas I have for them and I still have to define their questions): 

Devotion to the great spirit: Your path is to search for the great spirit that bestowed on you the power you have. You desire to understand their will and serve them. Even if you haven't started jet your journey toward their dominion, everything you do is to prepare yourself for that encounter and that journey.

Understand the past: You know a little or nothing about the reason why you were promised to a great spirit, but you desire to understand more, maybe to forgive your progenitors or at least to be able to look them in the eyes.

Love and revenge: You were cut out from the bliss of love. You had a story of passion and love with someone from your origin, but after people discovered the true about you they took them away from you, maybe by social pressure, by invoking duty and betray, or maybe by force. You are waiting to get revenge and get your love back.

Power over will: You have the taste of power, you have felt it in your body, as the will of the great spirit transforms into a gift inside you. You want more, you don’t care about its source, only the things you can obtain with it. 

Will over power: You see your condition as a curse, you understand the fear people have of those who are like you. You seek to cut your ties with the great spirit to whom you were promised. You think that if you learn enough, you could find a way to do it and, maybe, return to your old life.

Learn to understand: You desire to learn everything you can about the secrets of the spire and the obelisk, of how everything became what it is today. You think that if you learn enough, you will understand your place in the world. 

Pride and superiority: You think that what was bestowed upon you is a blessing. You believe that destiny has chosen you, that the ones like you are on a path to godhood. But how this path looks like is not clear to you, it could be to follow the will of the great spirit or to overcome it to take your right place above the great spirit and the common mortals.

Responsibility and protection: You believe that the power you were bestowed with gives you the responsibility to wilder for the good of others. You don't care about its source, but you only see possibility and responsibility behind it.

In TPO you will have to select two or one of these paths, and share one of them with at least one other player, so the motivations of some characters are aligned.

The idea is that in the character creation process, players will discuss which of these paths they are interested in following together, and then, after that is set, players can decide to choose an additional path that is secret. 

I think that this may help players to understand what they could experience in the game, which, in combination with this list,

will help to set players' expectations.