Story motivations • 2016 supplement

It’s a device I’ve invented for sessions of classical RPGs where the main themes of the story were really important and I wanted them to be seen in every character’s behavior. This rule makes RPGs more similar to story games.

The idea is simple: the Game Master creates a set of cards with motivations written on them. These motivations should be connected to the main theme of the story, not to the characters’ goals and personalities. For example in a game about loyalty and treachery they can look like this:

-I’m doing it to fulfill my ambitions.
-I’m doing this to protect my friends.
-My honor demands I do this.
-If I didn’t do this somebody would be disappointed.

Each motivation can be written on 1, 2 or 3 cards depending on the number of players. The motivations serve to tell a story with a coherent main theme so there shouldn’t be too many of them.

Each player gets three random cards. When his character does something that can be described by one of the cards he gets a moderate bonus to the test or a chance to reroll. That way players are rewarded for pursuing the story’s themes.