Story Design: Obsession Stories
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How can you add more danger and tragedy to your story of wretched excess?
Story Design Volume 18 - In an obsession story the protagonist goes too far with something¸ and bad things happen as a result. The object of their excess can be an actual physical or psychological problem like alcoholism or drug addiction; it could also be an unhealthy fascination with a goal¸ a person¸ or an object. Their obsession could result in an unhealthy pattern of behavior that they are unable to break¸ like gambling or pursuing a romantic interest. All of the protagonist's resources are turned toward the focus of the obsession.
Examples of the obsession plot include Breaking Bad¸ Brideshead Revisited¸ Fifty Shades of Gray¸ The Great Gatsby¸ The Lost Weekend¸ Othello¸ and Wall Street.
Story Design: The Obsession covers all of the elements you need to prepare in order to tell a story of discovery. It's based on concepts explored in Story Structure ¸ also published by Dancing Light Press. It's a big book that goes into greater detail on how to get the most out of the three-act structure¸ as well as developing a three-phase series (campaign¸ if you prefer) with a clear beginning¸ middle¸ and end. If you want to use your favorite roleplaying game system to tell stories with more depth than kill monster¸ get treasure¸ repeat (not that there's anything wrong with that)¸ it is worth looking into.
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