Terminology | Ability Burn | Action Scene | Aspiration | Bane | Boon | Breaking Point | Character Sheet | Credo | Dice Rolls | Downtime | Exploration Scene | Initiative | Influence | Impediment | Multi-action Penalty | Obsession | Positioning | Pivotal Event | Range | Round | Surge | Turn | Treasure | Zone
Breaking Point
A character that suffers a breaking point has had their world turned upside down, mind shattered, or heart broken. They gain a special long-term aspiration called an obsession based on the nature of the breaking point and cannot gain surges or temporary surges from any other source until this obsession is removed. If a character has more than one obsession at a time, they are completely unable to gain surges or temporary surges.
Once an obsession has been fulfilled, the player has an opportunity to modify their character's appearance, descriptors, occupation, role, abilities, and limitations, as determined by the GM based on what would be appropriate based on the breaking point. They then lose the obsession and gain a surge.
A character that refuses to fulfill an obsession must deny it at least 3 times over the course of at least 3 days in which a different pivotal event occurs on each of those days. If they do this, they learn to cope with their traumatic experience and lose the obsession without changing their character. They then gain 1d6 surges.
| EXAMPLE: |
| A young hero witnesses the murder of his older brother, causing a breaking point and imposing an obsession to reign down vengeance upon the killers. He ruthlessly hunts them down and begins violating his oath as a hero (credo) by resorting to torture and killing them (fulfilling the obsession). Because he did this, he's no longer the kind-hearted fun-loving comedic relief he once was but becomes a brooding, dark, and nihilistic anti-hero instead. He could have resisted the urge to violate his oaths and his previous nature and instead overcome his obsession, refusing to use it and struggling to get by without surges. If he successfully resists the temptation to fulfill the obsession across three pivotal events involving his brother's killers, he learns to cope with his brother's death in a healthy way, returning to his previous self, losing the obsession and immediately gaining 1d6 surges. |