Using The Limiting Bolt In Your Games

Roleplaying games, by-and-large, move in a linear fashion. Your characters will overcome obstacles, fight enemies, gain XP, and increase their powers. Whether they gain levels, or buy their abilities piecemeal the way you do in non-level-based game, characters tend to start small, and grow tall. It's because of this that so many PCs start as newly-minted graduate wizards, farm boy heroes, and street-level toughs... because what else could they be?

For those who want to try something different, there is a method I mentioned back in Your Story Doesn't Have To Be Linear (Even If Your Levels Are) that I wanted to talk about today. Something that most readers will be familiar with, even if they don't know it by this name. I call it the Limiting Bolt.

And if you haven't seen this show, what have you been doing with your life?

For those not familiar with the above image, it's a shot from Farscape. The character on the left is Ka D'Argo, a Luxan. Luxans are huge, physically powerful, tough, capable of falling into berserker rages, have a venomous tongue that can punch through your head, and can scent out their target. And D'Argo boasts a sword that also fires energy blasts, so he hits all the marks of a badass character. However, note the rings fitted into his collarbones. Those rings had a chain run through them, and that was one thing that kept him in check. An attempt to break the chains would also snap his own bones, killing him. While he still had his physical abilities, those rings bound and limited him as long as there was still a chain through them.

That is what I mean by a Limiting Bolt. It is something that, for narrative purposes, limits a character's full power and potential until the narrative moment comes for that roadblock to be removed. Because mechanically your character might just be leveling up and gaining access to new powers for the first time... but if you've wanted them to have been a badass this whole time, then one of the simplest ways is to simply introduce a Limiting Bolt that was keeping a hand tied behind their back.

Don't Be Afraid To Get Creative With It

Limiting Bolts come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some of them are physically implanted, some of them are inked or burned onto someone's skin, and others are literal limiting pieces of gear that are bound to the character. In some cases a Limiting Bolt might actually be a curse the character struggles under, a geas that holds back their full potential, or it could be an affliction that saps their strength and powers.

It's entirely up to you, and the DM you're asking to approve your mechanism, what form it takes. As long as the Limiting Bolt is a real force that affects your character, and you have to struggle against it to get some of your power back, then it should serve.

It may be as simple as proving your worth all over again.

 

For additional examples of Limiting Bolts you might want to try out, consider some of the following.

- Korak Vars was one of the strongest of the Bone Crunchers. It was why this orc raider survived the battle with the demon Vasanthis. Though he lived, the demon's blood and infernal weapons siphoned away much of his strength. Its corruption left his veins blackened, and reduced him to a shell of his former self. Still a skilled warrior, he is no longer capable of the legendary feats he could have easily accomplished before that fight.

- The Dread Evoker Lianaran Kasatherwithe was a terror to behold, able to raze entire armies to their boots with a wave of her hand. Though she was slain by the sorcerer Philianor, she was reincarnated into another form. Though life flows through her again, her mind feels foggy, and her fingers clumsy. She still knows names and dates, faces and lore, but there are blank spots. Dark places in her own mind that she has yet to truly unlock that she's sure contain her real power.

- Harshwen Godslayer burned with the blood of the heavens, searing the flesh of demons that would touch him. They could not slay him, but they could lock away the powers of his forebears, cutting him off from his own blood. Cold iron script tattooed onto his hands, his feet, his face, and across his back and chest, stripped from him the blessings of his god and his line, making him mortal... for all intents and purposes. While still a potent warrior, able to summon holy lights to heal allies and harm his foes, he is a lantern with a hood dropped over it. As the iron curses burn away, though, his powers begin to return to him.

No matter which version of this trope you end up using, it's important for your character to have an existing reputation that the Limiting Bolt undermines. Whether you were a great champion, a powerful spellcaster, or a deadly assassin, make sure you give clues to who you used to be so that others can figure out who your character is... or, rather who they were. More details on how to do this in Character Reputation in RPGs: The Small Legend.

Making Limiting Bolts Work in Your Game

The key to a Limiting Bolt is that you need to know specifically what capabilities of your character it limits, and how you need to overcome them. Because mechanically the answer is, "Gain XP, level up, get one step closer to the heinous badass your backstory says you were," but you should have some idea of what you need to do in order to remove the story constraint you've put on yourself.

If you were cursed, then have the curse break away in layers at dramatic moments. If you dishonored yourself before your god, show their favor returning in small ways over time (you can even combine this one with the previous suggestion, if you wish to). If you were poisoned, or succumbed to some disease, show yourself getting better in some way. Even if it's something like, "Being struck by the searing sword named Creatial seems to have burned away some of the contagion within you." If you acquired that weapon, this could be a way to more strongly story-bond your PC to it. Because sure, it's just a +1 flaming burst scimitar, but it's part of your story now.

This is the point where you should really work with your DM. Because some Limiting Bolts just come off at story appropriate moments (you slay a potent demon, and the curse of the Thousand Hells grows a little lighter on your shoulders, for example), and sometimes you have to do specific things (seek out the Guardian of Gwydion and have her anoint your brow as proof of your sincerity). Both are workable, and while the second one can often act as a driving force for your PC to go do things, it also requires more hands-on efforts from the DM.

Make sure your DM is willing to work with you on that, and ensure that your story of overcoming your limitations isn't going to constantly overshadow what the rest of the party is doing... unless, that is, you all have a similar Limiting Bolt, and you're all trying to overcome it!

Additional Reading

If you're looking for some useful reading that might get your ideas flowing, consider the following:

- 100 Random Oracular Pronouncements: Small pieces of lore and predictions of the future, this collection is filled with ominous portents that could easily be a part of curses and geases.

- 100 Unusual Aasimar: Whether individuals who can provide heavenly blessings, break portions of curses, or tell someone how to remove the taint of a fallen blade, these NPCs are handy to have around for dealing with Limiting Bolts.

- 100 Tieflings To Meet in Your Travels: For those walking the left hand path, tieflings often have forbidden knowledge that can be quite useful. How to break fell pacts, undo demonic curses, or to snap infernal bindings are things many of the NPCs in this collection may know just how to do.

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you enjoyed, and if you've used this tactic successfully in your games why not leave a comment below?

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