Milestones
Milestones are a rich character progression mechanism which helps define the goals a character pursues and rewards them for doing so, helping to clearly express the character's motivations, and providing a built in character arc for the player and GM to bring into being over the course of play. They are powerful enablers of a narrative story telling style of play, but also provide quantifiable gamist benefits by tying concrete benefits to the application of Milestones to the emerging narrative.
Every major character (including player characters) should have one (1) or two (2) Milestone Sets that define specific Goals a character may pursue or accomplish during the course of play to gain some Reward. However rather than the 1XP, 3XP, 10XP model of Cortex Prime and Cortex Plus Heroic, this hack uses a templated reward model. To make a Milestone Set, three Goals are chosen from the options described in the Milestone Set Template below, and for each Goal the desired Reward(s) are selected.
Example Milestone Sets
For illustrative purposes, the following are a couple of example Milestone Sets made using the Milestone Set Template.
Milestones
Meatshield
Tougher than your allies, you deliberately put yourself into harms way to protect them. Despite this, you
are sometimes merely the last one to go down.
The first time in a session when you follow an ally into a conflict that you counseled against.
The first time in a session when you are in a physical conflict with 2+ allies and you are the only one of your group who is not stressed out.
The first time in a session when you take a hit meant for an ally that results in you taking Physical trauma.
+1 Plot Point, step down a Trauma
Vengeance Seeker
You seek vengeance against a specific individual. You will not rest until
you have tracked down your nemesis and taken your vengeance upon them.
The first time in a session when you discover a new clue or detail that will help you in your quest for vengeance.
The first time in a session when you stress out a minion or ally of your nemesis.
When you finally get vengeance upon your chosen enemy.
gain two (2) Advances, then retire this Milestone Set and choose another one
Milestone Set Template
The following template describes how to create a Milestone Set by giving it a name, an (optional but recommended) description, defining three Goals at the player's desired difficulty levels and selecting each Goal's Reward.
A player may choose any variation of difficulties for their Goals; a Milestone Set could have three Easy or three Very Difficult Goals or any combination the player desires. As the possible Reward of a Goal is determined by the diffulty of the Goal there are pros and cons to weigh; taking easy Goals offer short term benefits while more difficult Goals offer more lasting benefits or accelerated character growth by providing an opportunity to get more Advances.
This freedom of choice grants players agency to express their character progression preferences and more fully realize their vision for their characters. However a player who isn't sure how to leverage this option might simply pick one easy Goal, one difficult Goal, and one very difficult Goal as the first, second, and third Goals in their Milestone Set.
[MILESTONE NAME]
[OPTIONAL DESCRIPTION]
[select three (3) goals from among the following options]:
The first time in a session when you [DO SOMETHING RELATIVELY EASY]:
[select one (1) of the following when defining the Milestone Set]:
The first time in a session when you [DO SOMETHING RELATIVELY DIFFICULT]:
[select one (1) of the following when defining the Milestone Set]:
The first time ever when you [DO SOMETHING VERY DIFFICULT]:
[select one (1) of the following when defining the Milestone Set]:
[additionally, you also]:
Retire this Milestone Set and choose another one.