Character Motivation
This character motivation system is a variant of one I created a long time ago for my 2300ad game, but lost the actual data for. This document is an attempt to recreate it. In a way, this system is the reverse of others I have seen...with it you determine the motivations of the character, then you derive the personality to go along with those motivations. You can have a truly evil bastard who is doing it all for love!
The key to the system is the idea of separating the actual form of the motivation from the "direction". This allows us to compress over a hundred possibilities into a small space. Granted, some combinations would make no sense, so the die rolls for random generation are picked to only generator those I think are valid. However, if you feel a combination is possible, feel free to use it anyway (and send me your reason -- I'm always interested in making this more complete).
The use of "keywords" makes any roll open for interpretation to provide hooks for the players or GM.
If you believe I have missed some directions or forms, please let me know.
| 111-134 Activity |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
either some specific activity or task,
or an activity in general. |
| 111-112 | To Gain |
| 113 | To Promote |
| 114-116 | To Keep |
| 121 | To Protect |
| 122-123 | To Lose |
| 124-125 | To Destroy |
| 126-131 | To Avoid |
| 132-134 | To Prevent |
| 135-153 Belief |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
some belief system or faith in an
entity or organization. |
| 135-136 | To Gain |
| 141-142 | To Promote |
| 143-144 | To Protect |
| 145-151 | To Destroy |
| 152-153 | To Prevent |
| 154-214 Control |
|---|
| The character is motivated by the
control over others by some person
or group, or by some outside
force's control over him. |
| 154-155 | To Gain |
| 156 | To Promote |
| 161-162 | To Keep |
| 163-164 | To Protect |
| 165-166 | To Lose |
| 211 | To Destroy |
| 212-213 | To Avoid |
| 214 | To Prevent |
| 215-236 Environment |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
some sort of living, working or
natural environment. |
| 215-221 | To Gain |
| 222 | To Promote |
| 223-224 | To Keep |
| 225 | To Protect |
| 226-231 | To Lose |
| 232 | To Destroy |
| 233-235 | To Avoid |
| 236 | To Prevent |
| 241-253 Event |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
some man-made, natural, or un-natural
event. |
| 241-242 | To Gain |
| 243-244 | To Promote |
| 245-246 | To Avoid |
| 251-253 | To Prevent |
| 254-312 Fame |
|---|
| The character is motivated by fame
(or infamy). |
| 254-255 | To Gain |
| 256 | To Promote |
| 261-262 | To Keep |
| 263 | To Protect |
| 264-265 | To Lose |
| 266 | To Destroy |
| 231 | To Avoid |
| 232 | To Prevent |
|
| 313-331 Friendship |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
friendship in general or by a
specific friend or group of friends. |
| 313-314 | To Gain |
| 315 | To Promote |
| 316-321 | To Keep |
| 322-323 | To Protect |
| 324 | To Lose |
| 325 | To Destroy |
| 326 | To Avoid |
| 331 | To Prevent |
| 332-352 Group |
|---|
| The character is motivated by or for
some group of people or some
organization. |
| 332-333 | To Keep |
| 334 | To Promote |
| 335-341 | To Keep |
| 342 | To Protect |
| 343-344 | To Lose |
| 345 | To Destroy |
| 346-351 | To Avoid |
| 352 | To Prevent |
| 353-414 Influence |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
influence over some person or
group, or by their influence over
him. |
| 353-355 | To Gain |
| 356 | To Promote |
| 361-362 | To Keep |
| 363 | To Protect |
| 364-365 | To Lose |
| 366-411 | To Destroy |
| 412-413 | To Avoid |
| 414 | To Prevent |
| 415-425 Justice |
|---|
| The character is motivated by the
forces of justice or by a sense of
justice. Alternately, it could be
vengeance that motivates him. |
| 415-416 | To Gain |
| 421 | To Promote |
| 422-424 | To Avoid |
| 425 | To Prevent |
| 426-435 Knowledge |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
some fact or information in general. |
| 426-431 | To Gain |
| 432 | To Promote |
| 433-434 | To Avoid |
| 435 | To Prevent |
| 436-446 Life |
|---|
| The character is motivated
specifically by life or survival. |
| 436-442 | To Keep |
| 443 | To Protect |
| 444 | To Lose |
| 445-446 | To Destroy |
| 451-465 Location |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
some location or site. |
| 451-452 | To Gain |
| 453 | To Promote |
| 454-456 | To Keep |
| 461 | To Protect |
| 462 | To Lose |
| 463 | To Destroy |
| 464 | To Avoid |
| 465 | To Prevent |
|
| 466-524 Love |
|---|
| The character is motivated by the
love of or for another, or for the
idea of love in general. |
| 466-511 | To Gain |
| 512-513 | To Promote |
| 514-515 | To Keep |
| 516 | To Protect |
| 521 | To Lose |
| 522 | To Destroy |
| 523 | To Avoid |
| 524 | To Prevent |
| 525-544 Object |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
some object. |
| 525-531 | To Gain |
| 532 | To Promote |
| 533-534 | To Keep |
| 535 | To Protect |
| 536 | To Lose |
| 541 | To Destroy |
| 542-543 | To Avoid |
| 544 | To Prevent |
| 545-554 Person |
|---|
| The character is motivated by or for
some person. |
| 545-546 | To Gain |
| 551 | To Promote |
| 552-553 | To Avoid |
| 554 | To Prevent |
| 555-614 Pleasure |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
entertainment or some pleasurable
activity. |
| 555-561 | To Gain |
| 562 | To Promote |
| 563-564 | To Keep |
| 565 | To Protect |
| 566 | To Lose |
| 611 | To Destroy |
| 612 | To Avoid |
| 613-614 | To Prevent |
| 615-634 Reputation |
|---|
| The character is motivated by his
or her reputation. |
| 615-616 | To Gain |
| 621 | To Promote |
| 622-623 | To Keep |
| 624 | To Protect |
| 625-626 | To Lose |
| 631-632 | To Destroy |
| 633 | To Avoid |
| 634 | To Prevent |
| 635-651 Violence |
|---|
| The character is motivated violence
or danger. |
| 635-636 | To Gain |
| 641-642 | To Promote |
| 643-645 | To Avoid |
| 646-651 | To Prevent |
| 652-666 Wealth |
|---|
| The character is motivated by
wealth, either cash or other assets. |
| 652-653 | To Gain |
| 654 | To Promote |
| 655-656 | To Keep |
| 661-662 | To Protect |
| 663 | To Lose |
| 664 | To Destroy |
| 665 | To Avoid |
| 666 | To Prevent |
|
Direction Descriptions
The directions indicate both the current state and the motion based on that state. Note that "state" and "property" are used here as a condition rather
than a political entity or real estate.
To Gain
The character does not have the property or state but wishes to gain it for themselves. "To
Gain" can also be takes as "to find" or "to discover".
To Promote
Similar to "gain", but in this case the character is motivated to help others gain the indicated
motivation. This aid may or may not be desired.
To Keep
The character has some state or property and wishes to retain it. Obviously, some external
force or internal conflict is causing the state to lessen or leave. "To Keep" could also be
taken as "to maintain".
To Protect
Similar to "keep", but the character is motivated to help other retain their state or property.
Again, this may or may not be desired by the other party.
To Lose
The character has some state or property and wishes to rid themselves of it. It is possible that
some external force is trying to keep this state with them against their will. "To Lose" can
also be take as "to reduce".
To Destroy
Similar to "lose" except that the character is trying to make someone else lose the state or
property. This may be with or against their wishes. "To Destroy" can be taken as "to
inhibit" or "to contain".
To Avoid
The character does not have some state or property and is trying to keep from getting it.
There may be some outside force trying to impose it on him.
To Prevent
Similar to "avoid" except that the character is trying to help others avoid the state or
property. This may or may not be desired by that other person. Can also be taken as "to
deny" or "to stop".
Burton Choinski
