Plot point is a term used in role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

s (RPGs). It refers to any point given to a player character

Player character

A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...

 which can be spent to alter the plot of the game. The name is a pun on the TV and film term plot point

Plot point

In television and film, a plot point is a significant event within a plot that digs into the action and spins it around in another direction. It can also be an object of significant importance, around which the plot revolves. It can be anything from an event to an item to the discovery of a...

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Description

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 or other actions. Examples include Fate points in FATE (also RPGs based on the FATE system), Edge in MechWarrior

MechWarrior

MechWarrior is the title of a series of computer and video games set in the fictional universe of BattleTech-Games:In these games, players take control of a single BattleMech and combat other BattleMechs, tanks, infantry, and more, from within the cockpit of their machine. A third-person alternate...

, Fortune dice in Feng Shui

Feng Shui (role-playing game)

Feng Shui is a martial arts-themed role-playing game, designed by Robin Laws, published first by Daedalus Entertainment and now by Atlas Games. The game shares its setting with the collectible card game Shadowfist. The system is simple, with most detail being in the game's combat system. Combat...

or Force points in Star Wars D6 and D20

Star Wars Roleplaying Game (Wizards of the Coast)

On June 5, 2007, Wizards released the Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Saga Edition. The game was streamlined to be easier to play and a greater emphasis was placed on miniatures. Some of the major changes include:...

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In some RPGs, mostly indie RPGs

Indie role-playing game

An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published outside of traditional, "mainstream" means. Varying definitions require that commercial, design, or conceptual elements of the game stay under the control of the creator, or that the game should just be produced outside of a corporate...

, 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

Retcon

Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...

 about a character. Examples include story tokens in Capes

Capes

Capes is a role-playing game by Tony Lower-Basch, independently published by Muse of Fire Games. It is a superhero-based role-playing game played in scenes, where players choose what character to play before each new scene. The game is a competitive storytelling game without a GM...

, the seven types of Narrative privileges (Privilèges narratifs) in the 2nd edition of The Last Chronicles of Erdor (Les Chroniques d'Erdor, in French) or backgrounds in Dogs in the Vineyard

Dogs in the Vineyard

Dogs in the Vineyard is an independently published role-playing game based on the history of the Mormons. It was written by D. Vincent Baker and published by Lumpley Games....

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In Steve Jackson Games

Steve Jackson Games

Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...

's role-playing game Toon

Toon (role-playing game)

Toon is a role-playing game in which the players take the roles of cartoon characters.It is subtitled The Cartoon Roleplaying Game.-Development:...

, plot points are used as experience points, awarded for completing in-game objectives and used to increase a player character

Player character

A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...

's statistics.

The first role-playing game to incorporate plot points was Top Secret

Top Secret (role-playing game)

Top Secret is an espionage-themed role-playing game written by Merle M. Rasmussen and first published in 1980 by TSR, Inc.-Top Secret :...

by TSR, Inc.

TSR, Inc.

Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....

which gave each character between 1-10 luck points. Each luck point allowed a player to reverse the consequences of a single roll.