Luck as a Unique Ability

writing
#1

I’m working on a story with a pretty common trope. My MC has the ability to get advances on his luck. Generally, this means that in life and death situations, he will survive. But, he will have a proportionate amount of bad luck until the balance is repaid.

Possibly, there’s a point where his luck is taken so far in advance, he is drowning in bad luck as he rebalances. At some point, the advances in luck are counterbalanced with more than just minor negative consequences.

I’m curious what might fit this idea in terms of a unique ability and critical flaw?

#2

Hmm.

It sounds like what you’re describing is a character whose playing with the quad containing the dynamic pair of fate/destiny:

From the definition for Fate:

The distinction between Fate and destiny is an important one. Destiny is the direction one’s life must take, Fate is any given moment along that direction. So whereas one can have many Fates, one can only have one destiny. Fate describes a state of situation and circumstance that exists at a particular point in time. In other words, Fate is something of an outcome, or perhaps a step - just one of a number of Fates along the path of one’s destiny. Characters often either make the mistake of assuming that they have only one Fate and are therefore stuck with it, or they mistakenly believe they can achieve their destiny without “passing through” unattractive fates that lie along the path. The nature of a Fate is that no matter how you try to avoid it, it tracks you. All options that you might exercise still lead to that Fate. That is what also defines Destiny as the limitations on free will that force you to arrive at your Fate no matter how you alter what you do or what kind of person you are. If we all knew the future, there would be no freewill.

So in other words, your character has a destined balance of luck. He can take advances on his luck, but he cannot change his ultimate fate to arrive at the “correct” balance eventually.

Whether fate/prediction/interdiction/destiny are your MC’s UA or Critical Flaw largely depends on the role he plays in the overall story. Remember, the UA is what makes your MC uniquely qualified to aid in the achievement of the Story Goal. So does your MC’s ability to manipulate his luck have an impact on the efforts at achieving of the OS goal? If so, is that impact positive or negative?

If your MC’s ability to manipulate his fortune has no impact on the achievement of the OS goal, then that ability is not his UA, even if it is a nice piece of storytelling.

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#3

Thanks. My first Storyform was in the very quad that you mention. I’ve been bouncing all around those concepts. It originally started out with the MC being the unluckiest person in the universe… he couldn’t die because it would end his misery and that might be considered lucky. I’m just not sure how he could have made it from point A to point Z in my story because it isn’t intended to be a failure story.

So I twisted it a bit to this…

In its current form, it isn’t so different from all magic has a price.

#4

Do you have any other story points locked in that narrow down your options for what the Unique Ability can be? Or are you trying to start your storyform by locking in the Unique Ability first?

#5

I think it is really going to require knowing more about your MC and story, but here are some other options

Certainty, Effect, Nonacceptance - more focused on the fact that he has never been tested, like a gambler who has been cursed with always winning or a guy who doesn’t know how good he really is because his luck keeps interfering

Inequity, Unending - more focused on his karmic debt

#6

There’s very little Storyform wise that I am certain of; I don’t have much locked down on this one. I suspect the following – but nothing in stone:

  • There’s no Timelock; it is an Optionlock story.
  • The MC is Steadfast.
  • The PS Style is Intuitive.

Here are some of the concepts that exist within my story:

  • MC a gumshoe blessed/cursed with luck manipulation.

I have a trio of IC candidates (or a group IC):

  • a soldier with De Costa’s Syndrome/PTSD;
  • a historian with Dementia/memory loss;
  • an underage android with pheremonal nymphomania induced by the DNA of the MC.

I also have antagonist candidates :

  • a zombie ex-girlfriend that refuses to stay dead;
  • a drunken mother;
  • an absentee father.

Some random pieces that I have:

  • A kidnapping disguised as a forward or a dedication.
  • Story Driver: Action
  • The MC is abducted by aliens and taken out of his normal setting.
  • A historical mystery that relates to the kidnapping and the current situations of all of my characters.
  • Destiny vs. Fate

It’s all still percolating. However, I think dark comedy, sci-fi/fantasy, mystery/detective. No problem, right?

#7

Sounds pretty cool. I think I’d have a lot of trouble deciding the UA without having the options narrowed down quite a bit.

I like that you’re going for a Holistic detective. I’m not suggesting this is what you were looking for, but I’m wondering if the gumshoes manipulation of luck might come from his/her holistic method of balancing things in order to solve problems. Is that a connection you were trying to make?

#8

Another question, are you trying to find the storyform that matches this idea, or trying to find a storyform to mold this idea around?