CONFLICT THESAURUS

FACING A CHALLENGE BEYOND ONE'S SKILL OR KNOWLEDGE



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HELPFUL TIP:

Conflict is your story’s secret sauce, supplying tension, relationship friction, and complications to a character’s journey. It comes in a million different forms, so identify the obstacles and problems that will hit your character the hardest by using the Character Builder to uncover their primary insecurities, fears , and desires. Don’t forget to include everyday conflict scenarios that will frustrate them and keep the pressure high.
CATEGORY:
increased pressure and ticking clocks, failures and mistakes, duty and responsibility, loss of control, no-win scenarios, ego-related conflict

EXAMPLES:
Leading people to safety
Delivering a baby in an emergency
Surviving a natural disaster
Treating a wound or performing emergency surgery
Surviving a home invasion
Navigating the wilderness when lost
Troubleshooting a vehicle breakdown
Providing aid as the first to arrive at a car accident
Escaping one's abductors
Talking someone out of committing suicide
Stealing a car or breaking into a building out of necessity
Saving someone's life
Evading dangerous pursuers (a car or foot chase)
Needing a specific skill (hot-wiring a car, knowledge of explosives, musicality, self-defense, swift-footedness, writing, etc.) to achieve a goal

MINOR COMPLICATIONS:
Having to put other plans or needs on hold
Shakiness from an adrenaline rush
Losing the esteem of friends and allies when the character can't deliver
Discomfort with the task at hand (possibly dealing with blood and exposed bone, having to break the law out of necessity, feeling vulnerable and exposed, etc.)
Suffering an injury while trying to navigate the situation
Making a political misstep
The character overestimating their abilities and publicly looking like a fool

POTENTIALLY DISASTROUS RESULTS:
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RESULTING EMOTIONS:
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POSSIBLE INTERNAL STRUGGLES:
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PEOPLE WHO COULD BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED:
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NEGATIVE TRAITS THAT COULD MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE:
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IMPACT ON BASIC NEEDS:
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WOUNDS THIS COULD LEAD TO:
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POSITIVE TRAITS TO HELP THE CHARACTER COPE:
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POSITIVE OUTCOMES:
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