D&D 5E Is it right for WoTC to moralize us in an adventure module?

[Oofta]

If I were to run this I'd give the PCs another option

Spoiler

Copy the ledger and change details. You could even work with the warden on this, change things just enough so the information is useless.

 

[Reynard]

If I were to run this I'd give the PCs another option

Spoiler

Copy the ledger and change details. You could even work with the warden on this, change things just enough so the information is useless.

Right -- the bad guy says she wants X. There's nothing saying that's the PCs' oy option.

 

[Steampunkette]

The "Good Ending" isn't "Give this criminal information." The "Good Ending" is "Get the Treasure".

Giving the criminal information is one way to do that. You can also just recognize that the tattoo is the key and study/copy it without giving her anything.

The "Bad Ending" is committing murder and/or mutilation in order to achieve your goals on a person who is trapped and cannot flee from your violent choices. This alienates your client and costs you the reward.

... Yeah. I'm fine with that.

You know what else I'm fine with? The "Good" and "Bad" ending being specifically relative to each other.

Also worth noting: It may not be a matter of Morality at all. And just a "This ending is better/nicer/good while the other ending sucks as hard as Alien 3" could be a judgement of story quality rather than moral weight.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I should also add killing her only costs you the Reward from the Golden Vault. The Dwarves who hire you will still pay.

 

[Emoshin]

The "Good Ending" isn't "Give this criminal information." The "Good Ending" is "Get the Treasure".

That feels incomplete isn't it? The good ending is not "Get the treasure (no matter how)"? There has to be a qualifier there, for it to be "good".

I don't see any "good" ending in the adventure as written, by my definition of good.

Which isn't to say that everyone needs a heroically good and morally correct ending spelled out in the adventure, but since D&D is not grimdark genre for everybody, I submit that a well-written D&D adventure ought to offer one. (And ya, my subjective preference is spilling out here)

Also worth noting: It may not be a matter of Morality at all. And just a "This ending is better/nicer/good while the other ending sucks as hard as Alien 3" could be a judgement of story quality rather than moral weight.

Ya I did mention upthread that I think the adventure's conclusion could have been written and/or presented in a more broadly appealing way.

 

[CleverNickName]

You're asking if it's right for Wizards of the Coast to make moral assertions in their work...
...but "right" and "wrong" are also moral assertions.

(I have nothing to add to the discussion, it just made me chuckle.)

 

[Emoshin]

You're asking if it's right for Wizards of the Coast to make moral assertions in their work...
...but "right" and "wrong" are also moral assertions.

(I have nothing to add to the discussion, it just made me chuckle.)

You are 100% right, that was intentional wordplay. Glad you noticed and enjoyed it

 

[pukunui]

I should also add killing her only costs you the Reward from the Golden Vault. The Dwarves who hire you will still pay.

I was a bit confused about that actually. It seemed to me like it was an either/or thing - if you're using the Golden Vault, you only get their reward (or not); if you're not using the Golden Vault and have been hired by the dwarves directly, then you get their offered reward (or not). Do you think it should be both if you are using the Golden Vault?

 

[pukunui]

I don't see any "good" ending in the adventure as written, by my definition of good.

I think the "good" ending is the one the players come up with themselves that doesn't involve a) aiding a criminal mastermind or b) murdering said criminal mastermind.

The adventure does posit one option: the PCs can subdue her, break her out of prison, and take her back to the clan she betrayed. No easy feat given how powerful she is, but if they succeed, there's no harm done to anyone else. They could even make sure she is returned to Revel's End afterwards.

Another option could be to subdue her in the prison and then make a copy of her tattoo without gaining her cooperation first.

Someone else suggested working with the warden to create a false set of prison records in order to dupe her into cooperating.

I'm sure a savvy group of players could come up with other ways to do it.

 

[Shiroiken]

How about "it's not right for an adventure writer to dictate what the 'right' course of actions are to 'win' a scenario?"

It depends on the presentation. If it's from the perspective of their employers, then having the ideal solution and other acceptable solutions listed is fine. This lets the DM know how their employer will respond to the players' actions. If it's done from a moral perspective, that's problematic to me, largely because it's a waste of page space (I really don't care what some adventure author feels is the morally superior decision, and neither should you).