Plot point (role-playing games)

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Plot point is a term used in role-playing games. It refers to any point given to a player character which can be spent to alter the plot of the game. The name is a pun on the TV and film term plot point.

In most commercial RPGs, plot points represent the heroic quality of player characters, which separates them from other people in the game world, and as such are spent to increase a character's chance of success in combat. Examples include Edge in MechWarrior, Fortune dice in Feng Shui or Force points in Star Wars D6.

In some RPGs, mostly indie RPGs, plot points are rather a way of involving the player in the story. They can be spent to introduce something into the game, or to add a previously-unrevealed fact about a character. Examples include story tokens in Capes or backgrounds in Dogs in the Vineyard

In Steve Jackson Games's role-playing game Toon, plot points are used as experience points, awarded for completing in-game objectives and used to increase a player character's statistics.