Plot Coupon That Does Something: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
In general, recent [[RPG
This trope describes what happens when X is ''also'' a key plot point. Those things you [[Gotta Catch Em All|have to find all of]]? Maybe there's a special one that could save or destroy the world. Maybe each time you get a [[Plot Coupon]], it comes with some new spells, abilities, or commands you can use. The point is, a single concept is central to both the gameplay or customization ''and'' the narrative at hand.
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** ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', GFs.
*** The Draw ability is also integrated: Selphie heals an unconscious Zell in a cutscene by pulling a cure spell out of his body.
** ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'': during the first bulk of the game, [[The Dragon]]'s goal is to master the Eidolons, the game's [[Summon Magic]]. {{spoiler|For the last half of the game, he tries to master Trance, the game's [[Limit Break
** ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'': The Aeons.
*** ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' also has a much more subtle one. One of the recording spheres you find of Braska's pilgrimage shows him stopping to touch a Save Point as he's talking to Jecht and Auron.
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* The time suit that gives you your time-bending powers in ''Timeshift'' is also central to the plot, as a similar time suit was used by the [[Big Bad]] to alter history and create the dystopian future you spend the game fighting through.
* The plasmids in ''[[BioShock (series)]]'' that serve as the game's "spells" are also the major reason the city of Rapture was transformed into a nightmarish hellhole in the first place.
** [[Geneforge]] [[Older Than They Think|did this earlier]], with the twist that the "canisters" you're using as [[Heart Container
* ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''. Writing wishes in The Sacred Tome is not only what the whole story's about (Zetta using it to recover his netherworld) but is also a central part of the game as it's used to create new facilities, random dungeons, reincarnate characters and unlock bonus content.
* In the ''[[Ar tonelico]]'' RPG series, music is both a technological power source (that actually ''shattered'' the world once!) AND the source of the game's magic spells ("songs".) Further, the process used to learn Songs (a form of ''very creepy'' virtual reality psychotherapy) is also an important story element.
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** Similarly, the hero has a pet mouse named Munchie, which spends the entire game in his pocket and can eat various types of cheese during combat to produce magical effects, as well as passing through conveniently placed mouseholes to retrieve small items a few times. After completing the game and starting the [[Bonus Dungeon]] content, Munchie is {{spoiler|revealed to be the hero's grandfather, a shapeshifting dragon, who finally explains the hero's mysterious backstory and indirectly the curse immunity mentioned above.}}
* The ''[[Resident Evil]]: Outbreak'' series integrates [[The Virus]] into the gameplay for the first time in the series. All of the players are infected, and the infection (represented by a %) ticks up to force the players to keep moving, and increases very fast if they are grievously wounded.
* In ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'', and ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', your Star Powers are tied directly to the [[Plot Coupon
** In ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'', collecting a Pure Heart doesn't give you any extra abilities in gameplay, it just opens a door to the world where you can find the next one. However, at the end, the whole set is needed to give the main characters the [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]] required to defeat the [[Final Boss]] and save the multiverse.
* ''[[Astro Boy]]: Omega Factor'' integrates its stage select system into the plot, in the form of time travel. {{spoiler|The majority of the game is spent going from stage to stage, fixing all the disasters which happened in the first playthrough.}}
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* The most obvious example from ''[[Billy vs. SNAKEMAN]]'' is the Witching Hour, which centers around your ability to [[New Game+|loop]], but there are numerous subtler examples, even without resorting to [[All There in the Manual|reading the manual]]. [[Word of God]] claims that ''every last'' gameplay detail means something in the story.
* Eight magical orbs in [[Silver]]. Ultimately used to destroy the ''[[Big Bad]]'''s source of power but also work wonders (literal and very harmful wonders) on the ordinary enemies.
* Many quests in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' involve bringing items back to a questgiver NPC who asked you for them, whether to prove you killed the target or because it's something valuable to the NPC. Probably more than 90 percent of these are nothing but [[Plot Coupons]]; they can only be picked up if you have the quest and they can't be used for anything or even sold to a vendor. However, a few here and there can be
* For something even more fundamental, the [[Experience Points]] in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] 2''.
* In an early cutscene in ''[[Baldur's Gate]] 2'', [[Big Bad|Irenicus]] and Imoen are arrested by the Cowled Wizards for using arcane magic, which is illegal in the city the game takes place in. Noticeably, this law is ''not'' restricted to that cutscene, and you will actually come into conflict with the Wizards if you use arcane magic in the city. It is mentioned in certain dialogues that it ''is'' possible to freely use arcane magic if one has a special license, which you can buy.
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