Say my Objective Story goal is that everyone wants to better their futures. How can only
one character be Help if more than one character wants to help another?
There is one character who provides direct assistance to the Protagonist pursuing the Goal. This is the character with the “Help” element. Other characters may pitch in, but in different ways: Support, Faith, or Conscience, for example. By differentiating the cast’s approaches to the Goal, you round out your argument.
“Help” can show up in other ways, such as the OS Problem / Solution, or Symptom / Response – a source of inequity, or a reaction to the inequity. In these scenarios your entire cast would be dealing with “Help.”
In the Assign Characteristics window, my character with the Pursuit element would be the main drive towards the Story Goal, so even though he’s not an archetypal Protagonist, the Help character would be helping him in pursuit of the Story Goal right?
I’m confused by this menu, since more than one character must want to do things to ensure a better future. Does Pursuit go to the character who works hardest to go after the goal? What if the characters have different goals but of the same type, for instance each has a different better future that they’re working towards?
Correct.
Even here, you should differentiate how your cast attempts to bring about separate (but thematically connected) futures. One character tackles their goal straight on, ala Pursuit. Another Helps others, in hopes he/she will receive help in return. Yet another seeks to build community relationships that will Support him/her with the means to accomplish the goal.
So even if there isn’t one single goalpost, it will feel redundant if every character seeks a better future with the same tactics.
Thanks, that makes sense.