Does Your Character Have A Cause?

Motivation is one of the most important factors when it comes to figuring out your character. In fact, it's so important that a while back I wrote an entire supplement titled 100 Character Goals and Motivations just to drive it home. However, in addition to their personal goals and motivations characters may have causes they champion, or which they strongly believe in. And while they aren't a necessity of your character (after all, how many people do you know in your day-to-day life who strongly support a cause?), they can add a lot of depth and dimensions to your character all the same.

And much like how religion isn't just for divine casters, causes are something anyone can support, and be part of. Though it does help if the cause you pick is actually part of the campaign you're playing.

After all, conflict only matters when we see it!

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Something Bigger Than Yourself

The difference bwetween a goal and a cause, in this case, is the scale of the thing, and who it benefits. Goals might benefit other people, but someone does them primarily for themselves. Also, goals are often small, and personal things such as finding a lost relative, paying off a debt, or getting revenge. However, a cause is something that, while it might benefit the character, is bigger than them. When one supports a cause, they do it because that cause is more important than their personal reward or benefit, even if they do have some skin in the game.

For example, a prince fighting to depose his ururping uncle to take back his rightful throne is a goal. But ending the practice of slavery (whether in the kingdom, or throughout the world) is a cause. It is something that is bigger than one man's ambitions, and it affects so many more people. Now, a prince who was fighting for the cause of freedom could facilitate that cause by retaking his throne, and all the power associated with it, but even then the cause affects so many more people, and so many interests beyond purely his own.

One step for a man... one leap for mankind.

The other difference between goals and causes is that goals tend to be achievable. Goals have definite parameters, and even if they're difficult you can still (usually) manage to achieve them. Causes, though, tend to be more ephemeral. For example, you might have the goal of eliminating the bandits currently plaguing the North Ridge Pass. That is something that can be done. However, a cause might be to protect travelers along that highway from dangers. That is significantly harder to do, and likely requires the formation of regular patrols, a network of watch towers and shelters, and taking measures to ensure that as many dangers as possible are negated before they become an issue.

Because causes tend to be things that are either very large in scale and scope, or they might not have an actual end point. And even if they do have an end point, it isn't likely to happen within the lifespan of the person who took up the cause... even if that person is an elf.

So ask yourself what kind of causes your character believes in, which ones they're willing to fight for, and which ones they want to see come to fruition. Some of those might be:

- Freedom from slavery

- Cures for known diseases (and the means to give them to the masses)

- Preservation of knowledge, history, and literature

- Protection of children

- Punishment of the guilty

The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. A cause is more than just an ideal where a character happens to think this or that is a good or noble endeavor; it should be something they are (at least in part) dedicated to. The reasons they are dedicated to it might be lofty, or they might be deeply personal, but all that matters is they can be moved based on their belief in a cause.

For example, your rogue might be a hard bastard who does nothing for free... but he believes children must be kept safe. In small ways, this could motivate him to help rescue young kidnap victims who are being held for ransom. In a bigger way, though, it might lead him to oppose entire faiths, or societal systems that rely on child soldiers, exploitative labor practices of the young, ritual sacrifice, etc. Do they do this because they have very few moral lines in the sand, but this is one of them? Is it because they were abused by a system of child labor, or because they were a "big brother" in a gang of street youths? Did they lose their own children to circumstances beyond their control, and they aren't willing to stand aside and let it happen to others?

There are all kinds of causes that can motivate people. Most people may only help in small ways, like donating money or supplies, allowing use of their home or property, or casting a vote... others, though, are willing to lay down their lives for what they believe in if that's what it comes down to. So take a moment and ask what cause your character believes in, and what lengths they would go to if it meant they were able to further that cause?

And if you're looking for some handy supplements to help fill in your backgrounds, I would strongly recommend picking up copies of 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters, as well as 100 Dark Secrets!

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