CONFLICT THESAURUS

BEING IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME



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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, relationship friction, duty and responsibilities, moral dilemmas and temptation, loss of control, no-win situations, miscellaneous challenges

EXAMPLES:
Witnessing a crime (a robbery, murder, counterfeiting operation, etc.) 
Overhearing sensitive or dangerous information 
Discovering something about a loved one that casts them in a negative light
Discovering someone's plans to overthrow, take over, or otherwise disrupt an institution, system, or operation
Witnessing abuse, neglect, or discrimination by someone who could cause trouble for the character 
Uncovering a terrorist plot
Witnessing a personal moment of vulnerability that the sufferer doesn't want others to know about
Discovering a friend or family member's affair 
Crossing a street and being hit by a car
Mistaken identity (that leads to being blamed, targeted, or held responsible for something the character didn't do)
Being caught between two clashing forces
Being in a specific location when something terrible happens (an earthquake, terrorist event, a shooting, the testing of a biological weapon, an equipment malfunction, etc.)

MINOR COMPLICATIONS:
Being detained or delayed because of the situation and missing a meeting or appointment 
Losing time dealing with the aftermath (giving a police statement, waiting to be checked over by a paramedic, being held for processing, etc.)
Frustration over having to repeatedly explain what happened
A relationship becoming strained when the character knows something they wish they didn't (especially if both parties are aware that the secret is now known)
Damage to the character's property 
Being injured
Being threatened
Freedoms being impacted (being held by police, being restrained or taken away until everything can be sorted out, etc.)
Being quarantined or kept in a hospital for observation
Having to take tests and wait for the results to come back
Having to go into hiding until the threat has passed
Having to hire a lawyer to straighten things out
Being pestered by the press
The character losing their privacy
Being pressured to "forget" what the character saw

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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