A character arc represents the motivations and inner drives of a character or any sentient, living being. Arcs are statements that reflect what’s important to a PC, serving as markers for their personal goals, ambitions, and dreams. These arcs are essential to the character’s journey, providing fictional direction and focus for what the PC strives to achieve. Because of this, an arc should always be an integral part of the character and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Mechanically, arcs are deeply connected to character development and progression. When a PC acts on an arc in a meaningful way during a session (i.e., drives gameplay to it and involves the other PCs and NPCs during the session), the player can mark an experience slot in their playbook. This system runs parallel to plot hooks – narrative goals introduced by the GM to propel the story forward. While plot hooks are tools the GM uses to shape the broader narrative, character arcs represent deeply personal aims that each PC holds, regardless of external events.
Together, arcs and plot hooks create a shared incentive for both players and the GM, establishing a sense of direction and purpose for the gameplay. As players pursue their arcs and engage with plot hooks, they’re rewarded with experience and insights, allowing their characters to grow and evolve over time.
When creating a PC from scratch, the player normally takes between one and three arcs to start with. During a session zero, further described under the section The Basics in the chapter Run the Game, the GM should encourage players to work on shared or interwoven arcs to help the players create a coherent group with similar interests.
Arcs in Play
An arc should be formulated from the character’s perspective in a way that suggests it urges the PC to resolve it in the narrative. For example:
- “I must protect my loved ones”
- “I must prove my craftsmanship”
- “I must hunt down evil men”
- “I want to explore new paths”
- “I need to reveal hidden knowledge”
- “I can’t allow the king to find the rebels”
- “I don’t want the sorcerer to be victorious”
- “I mustn’t allow the marshal to find my treasure”
Some arcs are burdens, and should be explicitly be marked as such. A burden is an arc with strong negative or dangerous effects on the PC, on a personal level, if it comes into play and the PC can’t help it. If a burden comes into play, the PC should desperately try to stop or overcome it, almost at any price. If burdens are allowed in the game (discuss and reach consensus in the group), and an extra enemy relationship is taken, the GM may allow to pick an extra ability when creating the character. Examples of burdens could be:
- “I must find and destroy the evidence of my treason”
- “I cannot let the betrayal of my spouse to be exposed to my family”
- “I can never reveal my true allegiance to the sorcerous Prince”
Arcs and Self-Fulfillment
After every session a PC acts on their arc or hooks, the player should mark an experience slot. This goes with both arcs and hooks, but “acting on” means the player should drive gameplay in a notable and meaningful way, i.e., the gameplay should revolve around their statements, in the narrative. Once all seven experience slots are filled, they are exchanged for an insight, which means the character may advance something in the playbook.
If an arc or hook is resolved in the fiction and the world and NPCs around the PC dealing with it, the relevant PCs will instead get to mark an insight, directly. When an arc or hook is resolved, the story around it changes, drastically. The sections from the worldbuilding can change and should do so if the arcs and hooks are tied to the world around them (which they should be). Read more about this under the section The Basics in the chapter Run the Game.
This means that the more the players involve their arcs and the hooks in their course of actions and so on, the quicker they grow as human beings. The rationale is that if a PC cares about something in their life, and makes sure to act on it, they become more experienced in dealing with things coming their way.
