Writing Every Day 23: Unity of Purpose

The games I run tend to follow a pretty standard story arc, with branches based on sidequest the players want to pursue. Once in a while the night's game has nothing to do with the plot of the campaign. We just do something that sounds fun. But largely it abides by storytelling conventions, because that's the kind of game that I enjoy running.

Our games often follow the course of a single story, usually with characters united in some thematic way. I've done pirate games, where the characters are members of the crew. Law enforcement games, where they're officers pursuing the same case. Sometimes even survival games, where they're trying to outlast some horror that will destroy their sanity or consume their flesh. Each of these games have a sort of common purpose built into the characters. The PCs work together well because they share a unity of purpose, be it their professions or ultimate objectives.

Establishing this kind of unity is also helpful for games with much more open character creation. Getting a crippled interrogator, self-centered nobleman, war-weary barbarian, and demon-blooded rogue to work together isn't an easy task. Yet Joe Abercrombie did so seamlessly with his book The Blade Itself by providing them all with a common purpose when he needed them to work together. Seriously, guys. Check out his stuff. I'm a big fan of his books.

Joe pulled it off by using a character I think of as the Recruiter. This is typically an NPC, but you can certainly hash out a PC version of the concept if you don't want to feel like you're leading the players by the nose. The purpose of the Recruiter is to find individuals suitable for a particular task or role. This character collects all of the PCs and sets them on their journey to rescue Princess Leia or form the Avengers, or whatever.

Another way to establish unity among disparate PCs is by giving them a monumental task to complete, and give them a reason to complete it. The Lord of the Rings is a classic example of this. The Fellowship are unified by the goal of the One Ring's destruction, despite the vast differences between them. They do this because they're trying to forestall the apocalypse, more or less. Feel free to sub in lesser apocalypses (the loss of the community center in Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo is the stupid example that came to mind) for greater ones (like the extinction-level event brought on by an impending asteroid strike that only the PCs, a plucky group of off-shore drillers can prevent). You can also transition between the Recruiter example into the unifying task, as Star Wars did when the race to rescue the princess transitioned into the destruction of the Death Star.

One downside to hinging the group's dynamics on a unified purpose is choosing what to do once the goal is achieved. Sometimes the group sticks together because they become fast friends on their journey, and the players are okay with keeping the group together and the campaign going. Other times one or more characters will decide that their part in the story is over and fade from the campaign.

I wouldn't advocate pulling the unified purpose idea for multiple campaign arcs in a row. While it keeps the game going, it begins to strain belief that the PCs are the right people, at the right place and time, to deal with every single impending doom in your game world.* Essentially, sequels are hard. You need to find a decent reason for the characters to keep coming together and working together. Sometimes the initial thing that brought them together suffices. The Avengers Initiative is an ongoing thing that requires the participation of its members, both old and new. Other times it isn't enough.

When I can't think of a decent reason to continue a campaign after the death of the Big Bad, I'll put that storyline on a shelf. Once a cool idea comes to mind I'll pick it back up again, letting the players step back into the role of the characters they've played before.

So. Another somewhat rambling post for today. At some point I bet I'll return to this subject. There are more, smarter words to be said on the topic. Hopefully by then I'll know what a few of them are.

*As an aside, at some point I want to write about the PCs as a part of a dynamic world. A world where things happen outside their immediate vicinity with consequences based on what they choose to pursue versus what they leave alone.