[Mortal Coil] Passions, Second Salvo

[Brennan Taylor]

OK, I have been thinking about this some more, and I decided to repost to the forum here and see if anyone can help me with this part of my system. Mortal Coil is a diceless game, and the Passion characteristics of a character allow him to get a little boost to individual actions. I designed this in an effort to bring some dimension to the characters and directly tie the things they care about into the game.

The problem I am having is that, in play, these Passions aren't coming out as very dynamic. In fact, they seem a little boring. How can I juice these up a bit? Is it a matter of tying Passion generation more strongly into the overall game (and if so, how do I do that)? Something is missing here. Do I need a stricter guideline on changing point values in Passions?

Passions
There are several dramatic passions a character possesses as well. These should be used in play to bring a bit of drama to a character, as well as to define her motivations and connections to other individuals.

The Passions
These passions describe some powerful emotion the character possesses:

Duty: A passion for duty indicates something that the character feels obligated to do, for whatever reason, but does not truly enjoy. Duty is generally pursued out some sense of higher responsibility, a feeling that some things take priority over emotion. Duties could include such things as diverse as family, the priesthood, service to another individual, loyalty to one's organization, a principle (journalistic integrity, for example), etc.

Fear: A passion of fear is some area where the character is completely terrified and motivated quite strongly out of aversion. Fear motivates the character to avoid the object of the fear, or, if that is not possible, to cower or bargain in attempt to avoid perceived harm. Fears can include phobias, other individuals (often the case with servitor beings in the spirit world–they fear their master rather than love him), or more abstract fears such as loneliness, abandonment, etc.

Hate: A passion of hate motivates the character through his loathing and longing to destroy something. This passion is similar to fear, but the character is motivated to act rather than avoid acting. The character will do what he can to harm, hinder, or otherwise damage the object of his hate. Hate could be directed at an individual, the mob, drug dealers, one's self, certain nationalities or skin colors, the police, etc.

Love: A passion of love is someone or something that the character cares deeply about. Like duty, a character is motivated to act selflessly toward the object of her love. Love can also inspire jealousy. Regardless, the character is motivated to help and protect the object of her love. The character will willingly make sacrifices on behalf of her love. Love can be directed at an individual, a group, an activity, some abstract concept (art, for example), one's self, etc.

You can have more than one of the same type of passion (a love for more than one thing, for example).

Starting Passions
All characters must spend five points on their passions. These points should be distributed among the things the character cares about. It is rare for an individual to have only one passion, and really rather unhealthy. The rankings of the passions are listed below:

1: Mild. The character has a great interest in the source of this passion, and will devote time and emotional energy to it whenever she feels she is able.

2: Strong. The character's passion is beyond an interest and is now a calling. This passion motivates her on many levels, and she will go out of her way to make time for this passion.

3: Profound. The character devotes most of her time and energy to the pursuit of this passion. This passion has become the main focus of her life, but she still has room for other things.

4: Feverish. The character is nearly consumed by this passion. It is constantly in her thoughts, and she rarely takes action unmotivated by this passion.

5: Obsessive. The character is completely ruled by this passion. She thinks of nothing else, and every action she takes is considered through the prism of this passion. Passions of this level are extremely pathological
and unhealthy.

Calling on Passions
During play, a character can call on her passion when performing some action. If the action has a direct and positive relationship to the character's passion (she is attempting to help a person she loves, for example), she gains a free passion token to sacrifice on the action. This passion token may only be used for the action in question, and is lost if
not used. The character's score in the passion indicates how many times per session she can call on her passion in this way.

Conversely, if a character's action directly contradicts a passion (she is trying to face the object of her fear, for example), she must commit an extra action token just to perform the action. The GM can rule that a character must do this a number of times per session equal to the character's passion score.

Passions in Play
The higher ranked the passion, the more likely some conflict involving the passion is going to come up. Characters with five points in a passion are unlikely to take any actions that do not directly relate to the passion.

Passions are not static. Players can choose to move points from one passion to another during play. New passions can be created and old ones retired in this way. If some event has taken place in play which the player
believes will change his character's passions, he must merely announce his intention to move points. With GM approval, he can do so.

[TonyLB]

Maybe a character should only benefit when one Passion works against another?

Like, if you're really, really vainglorious and attempt to gain honor at every turn (Duty) that doesn't really help you on its own.

But if you're scared to death of dead things (Fear), and your honor presses you to face a ravening army of ghouls anyway then you get bonusses.

[Satyrblade]

Something that might help focus the idea:

A passion isn't really an emotion - and in any case, you can't really play an emotion convincingly. Rather, a passion is a MOTIVATION - it's not what you FEEL, it's what makes you ACT.  

By phrasing your passion trait section with "this passion is what drives you to do things" rather than "this passion is what you feel," you give the player something to hold on to.

From there, give each passion a conflict - something the character must do in order to overcome his usual motivation. Then seed the story with times and places where the passion can either get the character into trouble or lead him to glory.

For example, a passion of Fear drives a character away from tense situations. Since RPGs are filled with tense situations, the player has her work cut out for her whenever the object of fear appears. Let's say that the character is afraid of heights: naturally, something in the plot will force her to confront that fear. Since her passion motivates her to get the hell out of Dodge, and her circumstances demand that she face the fear, a conflict within the character must be resolved. (Think of the movies Vertigo or Cliffhanger.)

Depending on the themes and systems of the game, this resolution might involve a Will roll or whatever; intense roleplaying; a WIll vs. Passion roll; or whatever suits your game. Either way, however, the player ought to have some say as to how the passion manifests, and how the character can overcome it.

The passion can work in a character's favor, too, by giving her a bonus when circumstances bring her passion to the fore. The scared-of-heights character, for instance, might be able to run faster than usual to get off of a falling bridge (as she's terrified by the idea of pitching into that abyss...). Additionally, the character might receive a bonus Will point or something if she successfuly works past her passion during a conflict. The character in question might get a new point of Will if she grabs someone off that falling bridge despite her fear of heights. This way, you offer the player several active choices when a passion comes into play.

Hope this helps! :-)