The case for Extrinsic power

Concepts

Player character power can be categorized according to wheter it is intrinsic or extrinsic. The borders between these states are blurry, but that does not negate the importance of the distinction.

Intrinsic power is that which belongs to the character. In D&D your proficiency bonus exemplifies the principle. It is inimically bound to your character and cannot be removed by any means. It empowers you in almost everything you do. 

Extrinsic power is that which is only conditionally at your disposal. It is the spells in the wizard's spellbook, the ally that joins the party temporarily or the magical blessing found by praying at a shrine deep in the dungeon. Extrinsic power is most often also fictional power.   

It is for humans an automatic reflex to treat anything which we have complete control over as intrinsic and to expand our identity to encompass the thing. My physical strength is part of me and I have to readjust my identity if it deteriorates. The borders of my lawn are in full rebellion and only nominally under my control, and my identity is as a consequence not changed even by great upheaval in the garden. The main difference between something being viewed as intrinsic or extrinsic is trust in the accessibility of the item.

Intrinsic powers

D&D 5e and many other modern games and media follow a paradigm of intrinsic power. It is the core trait of many PC RPGs, where character power is almost entirely determined by level, based on how long you have played. In these games, encountering a challenge you cannot overcome imediately is a sign that the developers intend for you to come back to face it when you have gotten stronger, although these games tend to only put you up against fake challenges that you can overcome without adjusting your tactics. Hollow Knight is an example of such a game, where all power rests in your character and the moves you have learned and your skill at utilizing them. Upon death you lose your position on the map and the carried currency, which represents playtime but does not meaningfully hinder your progress beyond that. The one piece of extrinsic power relevant to you is that your soul meter, used to cast spells, holds a smaller charge after death until you can defeat the shade that spawns near your death point.  

In Hollow Knight almost all your powers are protected inside the identity of your character

Extrinsic powers

This can be contrasted with games with an extrinsic focus. Among PC games, the strategy games tend to exemplify this style. In a game like Age of Empires your power lies in your economy, your production and your military power. Each of these aspects are represented on the battlefield as units and buildings that are vulnerable to disruption. Your troop production capacity can be broken by an enemy's attack, your fighting capability reduced by losing or mispositioning your troops. The main intrinsic power available to you is in the form of the resources you have accumulated and the tech tree of your faction. 

In Age of Empires your powers all have a physical location on the map and are vulnerable

In roleplaying games extrinsic fictional power comes most often in the form of items, allies and sometimes positioning. 

Items are special in that they can be intrinsic or extrinsic, and how they are treated reveals which paradigm one operates under. 

Let's look at D&D 5e. Intrinsic power is the ruling paradigm. A character gains their power from their class and their levels in that class, and to a lesser degree from their race. They also have tools at their disposal, but key here is that the tools are more for flavour than power. A rogue gains their power from their level of sneak attack, which comes from their accumulated character level. They can equip a two-handed sword, but their ability to deal damage will decrease because they are not proficient with the weapon. They can lose access to their weapons, but the game does not include any rule for being disarmed in such a manner or any advice for how to handle that kind of gameplay. The game is designed around the idea of power being something tied to the characters and relatively constant from moment to moment. The paladin wears heavy armour, but it is their ability to wear the armour rather than the armour itself that is the key trait. Once a set of plate mail is gained it is almost universally assumed that it is going to stay attached to the character. If it were to be damaged, that is considered unbalancing and an attack on the character, the barrier to decry "dick move" is low. The item is more a function of the identity of the character than a tool.

A typical level 11 D&D 5e party. Their might is largely uncoupled from their belongings

Despite this, the default state of items is to be extrinsic. They have a physical reality independent of the identity of the wielder which produces many emergent scenarios. At my work the things I produce are at least as determined by the hierarchies and systems built to support me as my own skills. When I travel home I do so on my electric bike. The speed at which I travel is determined by the bike, not by my own competency, and the same would be true for someone else who used my bike. 

I prefer extrinsic power

The whole reason I bring up this disntinction is that I think there are merits to the extrinsic approach to power in ttrpgs. I believe the approach leads to benefits in both balance and agency, but first  I will point out a couple of important benefits of intrinsic power.

1. It is easier to create a closely directed experience around. When a character has a set power level then any challenge they encounter can be predetermined by comparing it against that power level. For a game that aims at providing a power fantasy that does not require investing thought, it is beneficial to be able to know the tools the character has at their disposal so that the challenge can always be overcome. Shooter games moved away from conditional HP to intrinsic HP, making HP always regenerate so that a player is always at full health before each challenge. 

2. It feels good to be powerful, and personal power immediately available is the most tangible power around. For a game that aims at a power fantasy it is beneficial to evoke this simple truth. Permanent items always feel better than consumable items, even if they equate to equal levels of ability to affect the world.

3. Essentialism is a common theme in fantasy. Races are considered to carry some sort of essence that makes them special, that is inimical to them being of that race. Elves in LotR are very long-lived, not because of anything they eat or any special biology but because they are elves. Barbarians in D&D can evoke the Rage because they are barbarians, not because the rage is some force that anyone could learn to harness. Keeping this legacy reinforces the fantasy feeling of the narrative. 

Dynamic balance

The maybe biggest benefit of a focus on extrinsic power is the built-in balance it can afford a game. With external power, a core conceit is that power is never truly limited. A character can conceivably be as powerful as they need to by employing external solutions like specialized gear and help. 

This means that whenever the players encounter a challenge they always have an option for overcoming it: go and get more help and the right gear from somewhere else. The deciding factor is no longer whatever grants them their XP but rather what limitations prevent them from taking this power. 

Availability and Time are the two main keys that guard external power. A king's army will not serve any random vagrant and access to their powers requires extensive preparation. Time limits set the boundary for which acts of preparations are feasible. In strategy games these limits are employed aggressively with build timers, resource cost, number of builders, positioning of builders, tech trees etc. Logistics can be said to be a significant sub-aspect of availability. 

In video games following the internal power pattern dynamic balance is still sometimes created. Dark Souls and earlier Pokémon games are examples of such design where a player can grind content to outlevel it, thereby allowing an "easy mode" to exist in the game without changing any rule or setting. Dark Souls also includes some key extrinsic power factors in the form of rewards for exploration (like items and convenient bonfires) that can advantage a player. These items and bonfires effectively become intrinsic powers once found, since they remain accessible to players throughout the game. A midgame twist in dark souls deprives the player of a key bonfire and this loss acts as an attack on their identity, meant to evoke feelings of loss and wrath. Many players report that these moments where they discover previously unknown paths and bonfires are some of the best parts of the games, and I believe it can be pretty directly tied to the surge of ideas of new possibilities brought forth by the change in power dynamics evoked by these mechanics. 

Focusing on extrinsic power in TTRPGs

How to build TTRPGs focusing on extrinsic power is already known; the principle is pretty much the same as the one of building a good sandbox. Powers tied to items and features out in the world, factions with powers on a scale relevant to the players and challenges in general tied to the fictional world all help create an environment of dynaimc challenge. It is my hope that understanding in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic power can still be helpful in a GM's or designer's work. 

A small template for building a challenge in an extrinsic power framework:

1. The challenge: Something the players cannot overcome with their current power (intrinsic power + whatever they have access to at the moment when presented the challenge). 

2. A time limit.

3. The extrinsic factors. 

* Items

* Favors or opposition from NPCs

* Environment 

* Terrain

* Injury 

* Disease

* Magical blessings and curses

Each challenge should have a number of extrinsic factors available to the players (not necessarily directly, they only need to be reachable within the time limit to be available) that allow them to tip the scales in their favour. Advice for sandbox campaigns invariably encourage the GM to create many of these things, and they will thus by default be available to players even when they encounter emergent challenges otherwise too difficult for them. 

On time limits

Time limits are often maligned by players who dislike the pressure they bring to the table. This is a serious concern as it harms the goal of abnegation. For this reason it is important to consider the individuals at the table when deciding upon a type of campaign. An alternative to strict time limits can be procedures for attrition over time, as a softer "deadline" is often less stress-inducing. Still, time limits are essential for external-power challenges to function. With infinite time there is nothing but pride stopping the adventurers from fetching an army to defeat the single owlbear. When racing against the clock they are instead encouraged to be as efficient as possible, as more time allows for more opportunities down the line. This tension between the potential to solve any problem fully in the moment and retaining the opportunity to solve future problems produces a persistent and dynamic challenge. 

A game with a structure that motivates players to pursue adventure even without pressure can bypass the need for time limits. Such structures could be a linear campaign where players have agreed to follow the lead of the GM, character goals of heroism or other mechanics that reward aggressive play.