How to Display Consequences? Pain

• Pain is a Tool.
• It allows you to manage Emotional involvement.
• To make Relationships evolve.
• And to create new Stakes.

Summary – How to use Pain to display Consequences?

1. Establish a Pain Scale.
2. Make use of this Scale to create a Progression.
3. Use different types of Inflictions to Characterize Situations.
4. Display the diversity of Consequences through Pain.
5. Place new Trials in front of your Characters.
6. Continue to manage the Story’s Rhythm through Pain.

• Always ask yourself…
• Do you need More Pain?
• If Pain is inflicted Constantly & Evenly it becomes Numb.
• You need Variations.



The Pain Scale

• Individual Scale
• On an Individual Scale, pain could increase like this:
  1. Hits & Blunt trauma
  2. Wounds & Slashes
  3. Amputation
  4. Bodily Invasion
  5. Bodily Desecration
  6. Reification
  7. Death

• Group Scale
• On an Group Scale, pain could increase like this:
  1. All the above inflated to another
  2. Death of another
  3. Inner Dissension
  4. Voluntary Separation
  5. Involuntary Separation
  6. Group/Organization Extinction
  7. Species Extinction
• As a group Characters Share the Pain.
• Destroy others is destroying oneself.
• Empathy should be displayed in Crisis.

• Brutality & Fear
• Violence affects the Characters Behavior.
• It creates Panic.
• Immediate Change create intense Panic in the present.
• And Hesitation in the Future.
• Brutality amplifies the impact of Fear.
• In some cases, you’ll want your Characters to barely survive.
• It sustains the Surprise.
• Leaving the Characters not knowing what to expect.
• It Develops the Characters caution.
• Violence force characters to look for Alternatives.
• Violence & Brutality are narrative tools.
• They are only to be used Proportionately.
• You’re not here to be vindictive.
• You’re here to deliver an Experience.

• Creating Fear through Escalation
  1. Place your Characters in a Room.
  2. Seal the Room.
  3. Let a Liquid Fill in.
     • It may be water.
     • It may be another liquid, like Chloridic Acid.
  4. Let a creature get in the water.
     • Which creature is it?
     • Are there multiple ones?

If you want to know more about writing Painful Scenes.



Madness

• Origins
• The Madness of a Characters is often rooted in an intense pain.
• It could accumulate gradually as Frustration gains the Characters.
• But the Brutal option is easier to implement.
• The Brutality must be clear.
• If you use the aforementioned Scale, the damage intensity necessary oscillates from 4 to 6:
  • Bodily Invasion
  • Bodily Desecration
  • Reification

• Insanity & Perception
• The Madness itself can be the result of Illnesses.
• Or be amplified by a pre-existing Illness.
• Whichever way, the Pathologic Condition should be clear.
• And distinct from the Sane Condition.
• Even if it is only on the Macroscopic level.
• The Character’s Behavior must Change.
• She may be afraid for her own safety.
• And develop a form of Paranoia.
• How is it depicted?
• There may be some place for Comedic display of madness.
• Though be careful if you try to create Relatability.
• Most situations will end in the Horror & Drama sphere.

• Consequences
• The Character may be inclined to inflict pain onto others.
• This includes: Invasion, Torture & Reification.
• The Character may be lost after insanity reaches her.
• Or it could be a Reversible State.
• Death is an option.
• But, like your Characters, try to look for Alternatives beforehand.

If you want to know more about displaying Change in Relationships.

Illness

• Origin
• Illnesses have diverse Origins: Infection, Poison, Toxin, Deficiencies, Hormonal Imbalances…
• So, diversify.
• In most cases you’ll need to Introduce a Damaging/Pathological element in the Character.
• Or Remove something Essential from her.

• Effects
• Pain generates Irritability.
• If anything else, the Character should be Angrier.
• Use simple Mood shifts: from Anger to Fear to Sadness.
• Depict the Frailty of the Character.
• Display the Bodily Weaknesses.
• As well as the Mental Weaknesses.
• Make use of Time/Space dephasing.
• Create Confusion.
• Illnesses & Malady should leave your Character at Lost.

• Perception
• Illnesses can be perceived as Curses.
  • Or Blessings.
• And therefore create Ostracism.
• Choose a Symbol inked to the type of Infirmity.
• Exterior elements should see the Character as Contagious.
• Or Undesirable, and begin to Reject her.
• Another way is Pity.
• The Character may be seen as fragile and in need of Projection.
• Or she can be seen as incapable entity.
• A last way is Empathy.
• Empathy is not Sympathy.
• Feelings of Sympathy can develop for the Character.
• And should only if the Character has enough likelihood to be considered sympathetic.
• Affinities are essential in this last case.

• Consequences
• Due to the Illness the Characters may not be able to continue the Story.
• She may Need to rest.
• Definitively.
• Healing her is a way.
• And the recovery may be either Full or Partial.

If you want an Example of how to create an Illness.



Death

• When to Kill a Character?
• The Death of a Character leads to Grief & Loss.
• Whichever the Character is.
• The structure of your World will be altered by Death.
• Death invokes feelings of Injustice & Fairness.
• The Death of a Character should be prepared.
• Characters can be Forgotten.
• You can design a Location to let their memory perennate.

• How to Kill a Character?
• Main Characters deaths must appear as a Necessity.
• They should die in a Specific manner.
• In a moment Specific to their Story’s advancement.
  • Or conclusion.
• The Location should be picked to focus on the Character’s death.
• The Issue & the Stakes should leave little to no other options.
• Leading to the awaited Resolution.
• Of course, you can reverse the situation and create a Brutal death.
• Violent death have their own use.
• Unfair deaths will generate frustration and it may be your objective.
• The irreversible character of Death can be amplified by Numbers.
  • ex.: Killing the last members of a Species.

• Why Kill a Character?
• Death can be used as a mean of Conclusion.
• A Story can end with the Death of a Character.
• Or through the Death of a Character.
• Death may be a way to achieve their Goal.
• In some cases Death is the Goal itself.

If you want to know more about Characters Death.