Presenting challenging decisions

[Dwimmerlied]

One of the best ways to draw characters in is to put them in situations where they need to make meaningful or difficult choices, be they personal sacrifice, moral dilemmas or simply gambles. This can be just good fun, but if played right, can sometimes draw out the latent role-player in the most recalcitrant gamer, if just for a moment.

I'm trying to incorporate a little of this in a new campaign, so I'm looking for some inspiration. So, who uses this technique? What dilemmas have you presented that have really come off well? Has it ever fallen flat, or just not worked out how you intended (for better or for worse)?

 

[Ahnehnois]

I think meta-level choices are interesting. Giving the players a choice, for example, between taking one path that they expect to gain them levels and/or treasure and another that amounts to "doing the right thing". Choices that play on expectations they have based on previous campaigns. Then again, the purely in-character choices are important too.

In my mind, for their to be a real choice, the options must be known to the players, they must be meaningfully different, the players must be able to make reasonable inferences about where each option will go, and the DM must be prepared to pursue all possible avenues and follow through even if the players don't do what he wants or expects. Sounds simple, but it isn't in practice. There are a lot of false choices in gaming.

Has it ever fallen flat, or just not worked out how you intended (for better or for worse)?

Frankly, players screw up my plans all the time, and often the dramatic choice I wanted them to make is avoided, abrogated, or made without thought. Just reason to keep going and try again in my eyes.

 

[delericho]

Well, at the simplest level, just present them with two things they want, but only allow them to choose one of them.

To take it to the next level, present them with two (or more) options, each of which have both positive and negative consequences, and have them choose between them. But be sure to arrange it such that the good and the bad go together - the key is to make it a tough choice, not an exercise in having your cake and eating it also.

But the next level beyond that is to present them with a choice of options that have both positive and negative consequences, where the PCs don't know all the consequences, and know that they don't know all the consequences! And thus, they have to try to make the decision based on inherently incomplete information.

But that's just cruel.

 

[Rune]

Ah, one of the classic tools of the Rat Bastard DM: the difficult decision.

First, you need to determine what kind of difficult decision you want to confront the players with: a choice between right and wrong, or a choice between wrong and other wrong.

Second, lay out the pieces for them to discover on their own. If you just pull it out of nowhere, the players probably won't feel too emotionally attached to their predicament, or if they are, they'll probably be upset at how cheap it feels. If, on the other hand, the elements of the predicament are discovered through their own investigations, it will be much more satisfying. So much the better, if the difficult decision arises out the PCs' own actions.

Third, be prepared for the PCs to completely bypass the predicament. Have an idea what consequences will arise from their failure to confront the issue. Of course, you should also have an idea what consequences will arise if the PCs do confront it and choose one path over the other...

 

[pemerton]

I'm trying to incorporate a little of this in a new campaign, so I'm looking for some inspiration. So, who uses this technique? What dilemmas have you presented that have really come off well?

This is my default approach to the game.

Here are some links to actual play reports:

• The PCs went to a dinner party at the invitation of the Baron with whom they were trying to build a relationship, and discovered that another guest at the dinner was the Baron's advisor, who was also their arch-nemesis;
  
  
• The PCs interrogated a prisoner, and ended up being bound by a promise to spare her life that no one had wanted to give and keep;
  
  
• The PCs had promised to return the Baron's missing niece, and to do so they had to negotiate with Kas to spare her life, even though they had discovered that she was a Vecna-worshipping necromancer;
  
  
• One of the PCs made a deal with a strange, otherworldly being that ended up leading to the destruction of the duergar stronghold where the PCs were guests.

 

[Kingreaper]

First, you need to determine what kind of difficult decision you want to confront the players with: a choice between right and wrong, or a choice between wrong and other wrong.

Personally I love when you can pull off a choice between right and other right.
ie. Rather than "Choose which innocent dies" it's "Are you going to take out the young dragon, or the orc army's new leader"

It's harder to do, but it's really rewarding.

I like to present at least one difficult choice per story arc, when I can't I find it much harder to run a fun game.


The kind of choice to present depends on the level of the campaign. Things like "The villains want help shutting down a cult that is trying to destroy the [insert proper scale here]" are always a nice standard.

Never give a choice between identical options; always give some meaningful difference in them.
Having three options is a fun twist, things like "go over the mountain [tiring] under it [dangerous] or around it [slow]".

 

[steenan]

Sometimes the hard part is deciding what really is right and wrong. For me, that's the most fun type of dilemmas.

If a minor misunderstanding gradually escalated until is caused bloodshed, which side is guilty for that? Maybe neither, or both?

If an old villain that was never defeated and went into hiding is now a helpful member of her community, should she be forced to pay for her crimes, or left alone?

If the party captured a member of a cult that's trying to cause a cataclysm, what methods are justified in getting necessary information out of him? Offering him safety and freedom, despite his earlier actions? Torture? Magical domination?