Tests of Character, Looking for Roleplaying ideas

[Zog]

Avoid obvious Divine Intervention/Quests...

Make them tests of Ethics / Priorities.

Choose A or B - and make sure you plan for the player who tries for C, or goes for A&B. If you've read Wheel of Time, think of the test the Initiates go through, 'the way back will come but once' - that is a good example. Just remember that in the book the characters finished hoping mad and wanting to kill something for making them make such choices!

Some Players might object to Divine quests - or the type of 'you did the wrong thing, you loose' or 'fight the immpossible fight and if you pray you will win' type of things.

The tricky part of this style of challenge is making sure the players have enough information at the start, and you aren't spoon feeding it to them as they flounder/need it. In other words - when you first describe the situation, it should have all of the info they need to 'pass the test', and you are not giving them hints as they go along. If you do, it becomes not a challenge of the character, but a test of the player's ability to weedle info out of the GM. And that is less interesting.

Also - with 4 PCs, have all of them facing their tests at the same time. Talk to one of them, then jump to the next, then the next - trying to leave each of them in an interesting spot, with something to think about. This makes it more interesting for everyone, as they can watch the other's trials, and gives everyone more time to think without everyone else getting bored or building dice towers.

 

[Bob Aberton]

Its El-airah, by the way...

How about:

Gawain and the Green Knight?

Take inspiration from that...

Or try any number of tales in the 1001 Arabian Nights

 

[Voadam]

Thanks Bob,

I read it in junior high but listened to it on audio tape a couple of months ago.

I don't remember how he wins but it might be helpful for moocow.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Thanks Bob,

I read it in junior high but listened to it on audio tape a couple of months ago.

I don't remember how he wins but it might be helpful for moocow.

Well, he doesn't "win" exactly. He passes a chastity test, and gets sort of a C-minus on test of the duties of a guest. So the Green Knight lets him live, but gives him a gash on his neck for his less-than-good-faith to his host (who was actually the Greek Knight).

 

[Voadam]

No, I remember how Gawain "wins" I meant El-airah. btw I thought there was another syllable in his name. El-airah is from Watership Down for those not in the know.

 

[Infinite Monkey@Work]

I think that you should make sure that they won't fail, but think they can.

For example, to expand upon what some of the others have said, give them a choice, e.g., save the world or save an innocent. Either choice 'passes', but the weapons / armour are given different powers depending on their choice.

For example, if they choose to save the innocent, give them armour with powers of healing, and if they save the world, give them armour with magically enhanced spikes or something.

 

[MutantHamster]

jesus monkey! Another 'chosen-by0the-gods-to-save-the-world' campaign? Whatever happened to the good old campaigns where all the pcs did was go around raiding dungeons and killing animals for farmers? Now adays everything is all epic and big and exciting! I mean, in my campaign, there is the chance that the world will be destroyed, but the PCs aren't saving it, they're just killing cultists cuz if they killed other stuff like puppies, people would get mad.