Circles of Power
term goal and one medium
A rookie magic user you may
be, but one thing you
understand. In order to get
where you want to be, you
must expand your Circle of
Power.
Start by drawing a circle, in the
middle of the circle write your
character’s name. Inside the
circle write the things that are
inside their Circle of Power.
Maybe they are adept at
casting cantrips and have one
or two major spells they are
good at. Perhaps they have a
close friend they can call on
for help or skills such as lock
picking, lute playing and
access to an ancient magical
library. Anything inside their
circle is something they can
use easily, but they need to
expand this circle to
accomplish new things.
As you create what lies inside
the Circle of Power you should
make a few separate notes on
an index card about the
character. These are prompts
for their personality and
backstory that will help you
get into character, this defines
who you are but not what you
are trying to do.
Next, we will explore what the
character lacks and what they
want to accomplish. Choose 2
or 3 things your character
wants to do. There should be
one short term goal, one long
term goal. Place these goals in
their own circles, around the
Circle of Power. These goals
are outside your character’s
the Circle of Power, meaning –
they can’t do them easily.
The player and the GM then
agree what actions/missions
need to be done before the
player can bring that goal
inside their Circle of Power
and complete it. Goals can be
mundane and simple such as
‘pay my rent’ or large and
complex such as ‘found my
own magical order’. They
could even be in the form of
juicy story prompts like
‘rescue my elder brother’.
Draw a number of small circles
(like stepping stones) between
your circle of power and your
goal circles. Each of these
small stepping stones
represents an action or a
mission your character needs Power you should create more A game seed by Becky Annison
to accomplish in order to goals according to the loose for Refraction Jam 2020
reach the goal. When all the ends created so far in the story
small circles leading to the and anything the GM or player #RefractionTTRPGJam
goal AND the goal circle have would like to see explored in
been coloured in (or marked the game.
off in some way) then you can
bring the outcome of the goal
inside your Circle of Power.
E.g. now you have secured a
regular means of paying your
rent you will no longer suffer
complications such as being
chased by your landlord.

As GM you use the goals to

direct the action of the game,
the direction of the story and
to advance the character’s
powers, abilities and influence
in the world around them. Use
the stepping stone to pace the
action.

As goals are achieved and

brought inside the Circle of