#RPGaDay2025 - 19 Destiny


Destiny plays a major role in popular culture stories, regardless of when they might be set, in ancient eras, medieval fantasy, modern urban fantasy, sci-fi…and since it’s such a common part of pop-culture, it’s naturally a part of roleplaying games.

I’ve got a mixed opinion of the idea of destiny, especially because I like the idea of sandbox games. Destiny feels like railroading, it feels like forcing the story along preconceived notions and plotlines. However it can be played with like a stereotype or trope (because after all, it is one), a destiny doesn’t need to be specific and I actually find it can be better if it’s vague. Maybe the destiny links to a specific place but doesn’t specify the time, or vice versa, either way makes the destiny more flexible and adaptable for the story. The important thing about a destiny is that something is going to dramatically change the world and this change has been foretold. It might be accurate, it might be misunderstood, it might be mistranslated, but either way the prophecy of the destiny is there.

Total non-sequitur….well, maybe,

How about the idea of whether destiny works in the real world, and if we’re trying to simulate the real world in our games is it worthwhile including elements such as destiny into our games. Maybe. I’m a big believer in the idea of the self-fulfilling prophecy. As soon as a destiny has been revealed, numerous people often claim to be the focus of that prophecy and will go out of their way to convince the wider world that they are the “chosen one”. Think about the religious prophecies that have shaped history and politics of the world for centuries, the Biblical book of Revelation and the way it’s apocryphal allusions have been translated time and time again. Is this destiny, is it something else? I don’t know, but it’s definitely an example of the world’s belief that a narrative of predestination exists…. and in that direction, that’s where you find cults.  

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