Hello, I had a look at the Report Dramatica Story Engine Settings.
STORY and RELATIONSHIP sections show Catalyst/Inhibitor settings.
MC and IC sections show Unique-Ability/Critical-Flaw settings.
Are Catalyst and Inhibitor “just other names” for Unique-Ability and Critical-Flaw, but have been chosen because the semantics differ in the sections STORY & RELATIONSHIP vs. MC & IC?
Thanks!
…Kind of. The Catalysts of the Overall and Relationship Throughlines spur the story on, while the Inhibitors hold it back. So for an example, in a story I was analyzing, the characters were racing each other. The Catalyst was Desire, and the Inhibitor was Skill. So whenever the characters wanted to get a better position, they’d squabble and fight for first place, whereas whenever it was most clearly evident who was the most skilled, there wasn’t any point to fighting, so they’d stop.
The Main Character Unique Ability is what gives the Main Character the capacity to solve the Overall Throughline, and the Critical Flaw is what keeps them from successfully doing that. So for my example, the Main Character’s Unique Ability was Worry, and their Critical Flaw was Security. So their tendency to worry about their strength was what kept them vying for first place, but security in their position led to them putting their guard down.
The Impact Character Unique Ability, on the other hand, is what gives the Impact Character the capacity to make the Main Character change, for better or ill. So for my example, the Impact Character had the Unique Ability of Threat and the Critical Flaw of Confidence. The way they threatened the MC’s chance at victory forced the MC to reconsider their tactics, but being overconfident left them open to the MC tricking them.
I hope that shows you what I mean. The Catalysts and Inhibitors just make the story go forward, while the Unique Abilities and Critical Flaws actually affect the resolution of it.