Players Creating Their Own Opposition

[dmkdesigns]

Is it possible for players to create opposition for each other in an atmosphere that is cooperative?

I've been playing with the idea of rewarding players for creating interesting opposition for each other but I don't want it to turn into a competition to screw each other. Ultimately the players will be working together against a common opposition (even though they will be playing both parts). I want both the player creating the opposition and the player receiving the challenge to be excited about it. I'm just not sure exactly how to do this effectively (maybe by somehow rewarding both).

Are there any other games that do this? I'm specifically interested in what kind of reward system would encourage players to want a challenge for themselves and for other players.

I think that this is doable. It's been done in many games, some mentioned here.

It's something I'm planning to do in my Of Legends and Legacies game so that the PCs are always generating challenges based on things their Players are interested in pursuing. I will use Legend Points as a currency for the Players to buy challenges/duels (big scale challenges) which they or the GM (if there is a GM in the game) will then narrate.

I think I see how this can work on a short-term scale for your game. How would you balance the number of challenges, their intensity, with all of the PCs, the story pacing, and long-term goals in a campaign or multi-session setting to ensure that every Player got spotlight time both from challenges and rewards?

Do you have dice or Players determine fallout for winning or losing against the opposition?