I want to have a recurring element in my campaign where my players enter a portal by themselves and I hand that player a note. I only have one note right now here it is:
You are still. Motionless and senseless, no sights, sounds, feelings. All at once a bright flash takes over you and you can see an endless swirl of various shades of purple in every direction. You are not standing on any surface, floating in a never-ending sight of color. Your motions are slowed. Hands and legs moving at half-speed. Any sounds that exit your mouth are silent. You hear a voice. It is unnaturally high-pitched, indiscernible from gender. It speaks to you, calling out to you by name. “Garland the True caused the gate to open. It gave him power. With that power, came arrogance. You have the ability to return the gate to its previous closed form, taking all given strength away from Garland.” Immediately, inside of your mind you are presented a choice, as if you already knew the information.
As the DM would explain: After you exit the gate, Garland will be weakened. He will not be as strong as he was previously. In the fight against Garland, you can make it so your allies’ damage against him becomes 0. They will not be aware of this. They will still make attacks and I will tell them they deal X amount of damage, however, I will not reduce his health at all. In addition, Garland will only target you, as long as he is able. This will be explained as, he will know you were the one in the gate and be so enraged that he will target you with each of his attacks. This would make it, essentially, a 1 on 1 battle, that your allies will think they are contributing to.
If you choose to accept these terms and are able to defeat Garland the True, you will receive a magic item that is rare for your level (though not broken for your level). You will “happen” across this magic item.
If you choose to reject these terms, the battle against Garland will be a normal battle and he will not know who entered the gate.
No matter which choice you make, your character’s memory will be erased and he will have no knowledge of this decision, therefore you will not have to lie or come up with a story to tell the others of what happened inside of the gate. There will be more gates like this, so I’m sure everyone will get to open at least one and know what it’s like.
So then they will decide, I wipe their memory and we carry on. I want to have this be a recurring theme, but need more ideas for what the other choices could be. Anything is fair game, you could give them a reward, you could have them attempt to avoid a punishment, literally anything! Please help!
I notice the title of your post is "Creating difficult player choices," here are some things I would do if it were my campaign:
* I would start by taking a look at what they value as a player so you can find something that actually makes a difficult choice for them:
Some people are very involved with their backstories and you can force their character to choose between their adventuring party and an NPC from their backstory.
Some people are all about power gaming and getting their character the best weapons/powers, and they don't care at all about the story of the other members of their party. The only difficult choice for them is between two equally bad ass items. If you ask them to choose between a magic item and the party/story, they will choose the item every time.
Some people really like exploring, so maybe give them a choice between two or three cool worlds to visit next, but make it more intense by closing off the other worlds forever.
* I would rethink what you have right now.
Firstly I think that the first part of the card you should read out loud, because that is an awesome description that everyone would have fun hearing, just keep the question private. Secondly I would try to think up a more intense choice for them to make, because it's essentially just asking them if they want a bonus challenge. Some people will accept without a second thought, and others will turn it town without a second thought, it's not really a 'difficult' choice. Thirdly I would find a different way to implement the battle. The player will totally figure out that something isn't adding up, and if you don't tell them what you are doing they will either think you are just ******* with them or you are doing the math wrong. Just put them in an arena or something and have the other characters watch the fight. The secrecy doesn't really get you what you are going for when used like that.
I'm leaning toward what FriendlyGM has said so far. As a player, if we happened upon the 3rd gate or so, I'd pretty much walk by it because there's no reason to be interested. The other folks who entered vanish for a moment, come back, can't remember what's happened, and we move on. The most difficult choice would be whether or not I enter the portal in the first place.
Given that you want to present the players with a personal dilemma, do exactly that, make it personal. And don't limit it to the characters, if you know your players, then cater to them as well. If you have a character that you know will jump at a new magical toy no matter what choice is in front of them, but you also know that the player has a soft spot for animals, you create a dilemma where they have to choose between the local puppy orphanage going up in flames, or that really fun war mage staff.
To make the rest of the group interested in entering the portals, you need a result that is both recognizable, and immediate. Oh, you chose to close the gate? You're going to do the fight one on one? As the group enters the battle, that voice pops up, a specter, something, to announce the decision. Even if it's cryptic, the group will recognize that the decision the player made in the portal has had an effect on what's happening. Then make it apparent, the result of the decision, so that the players know how significant that decision was.
This is a difficult choice, the result must be as significant as the choice, otherwise it's an unbalanced exchange.
As you enter the portal you feel the weightlessness, you become immediately disoriented, and the vibrant colors almost make you nauseous. The world around you swirls like a kaleidoscopic nightmare and a grating, high pitched voice assaults your ears from inside and out.
"I present you with a choice."
The image of a woman wielding a knife pops into your head, you know this scene intimately because of the magics in this domain. She is about to kill a man, she is homeless, she is destitute, hungry, and this man has money. She will be caught, tried, and hanged for her crime.
A new image, again it is known to you. Before you a blacksmith presents a newly crafted suit of armor to a royal courier, the suit of armor is heading to the local monarch. The road to the monarch is treacherous, you know that the courier and his companions will die and the armor stolen.
"Choose who to save."
*POP*
The portal closes with an odd sound, and your companion is laying on the ground.
At this point in time, present the reward,
Choose the girl and a satchel of gold is in your possession, the girl will recognize you from a dream in the next town you visit.
You find, in the next appropriate location, the body of a dead man, the courier and a destroyed wagon and crates.
Choose the courier and you find the armor, courier, and dead bodyguard in the next appropriate location, a token of the kingdom is earned, and during the next visit to said monarch's town, a reward.
In the next town you visit, you arrive just as the hanging of a murdering thief girl is enacted.
I want to have a recurring element in my campaign where my players enter a portal by themselves and I hand that player a note. I only have one note right now here it is:
___________________________________________________________________________________________
You are still. Motionless and senseless, no sights, sounds, feelings. All at once a bright flash takes over you and you can see an endless swirl of various shades of purple in every direction. You are not standing on any surface, floating in a never-ending sight of color. Your motions are slowed. Hands and legs moving at half-speed. Any sounds that exit your mouth are silent. You hear a voice. It is unnaturally high-pitched, indiscernible from gender. It speaks to you, calling out to you by name. “Garland the True caused the gate to open. It gave him power. With that power, came arrogance. You have the ability to return the gate to its previous closed form, taking all given strength away from Garland.” Immediately, inside of your mind you are presented a choice, as if you already knew the information.
As the DM would explain: After you exit the gate, Garland will be weakened. He will not be as strong as he was previously. In the fight against Garland, you can make it so your allies’ damage against him becomes 0. They will not be aware of this. They will still make attacks and I will tell them they deal X amount of damage, however, I will not reduce his health at all. In addition, Garland will only target you, as long as he is able. This will be explained as, he will know you were the one in the gate and be so enraged that he will target you with each of his attacks. This would make it, essentially, a 1 on 1 battle, that your allies will think they are contributing to.
No matter which choice you make, your character’s memory will be erased and he will have no knowledge of this decision, therefore you will not have to lie or come up with a story to tell the others of what happened inside of the gate. There will be more gates like this, so I’m sure everyone will get to open at least one and know what it’s like.
____________________________________________________________________________________
So then they will decide, I wipe their memory and we carry on. I want to have this be a recurring theme, but need more ideas for what the other choices could be. Anything is fair game, you could give them a reward, you could have them attempt to avoid a punishment, literally anything! Please help!
Published Subclasses
I notice the title of your post is "Creating difficult player choices," here are some things I would do if it were my campaign:
* I would start by taking a look at what they value as a player so you can find something that actually makes a difficult choice for them:
Some people are very involved with their backstories and you can force their character to choose between their adventuring party and an NPC from their backstory.
Some people are all about power gaming and getting their character the best weapons/powers, and they don't care at all about the story of the other members of their party. The only difficult choice for them is between two equally bad ass items. If you ask them to choose between a magic item and the party/story, they will choose the item every time.
Some people really like exploring, so maybe give them a choice between two or three cool worlds to visit next, but make it more intense by closing off the other worlds forever.
* I would rethink what you have right now.
Firstly I think that the first part of the card you should read out loud, because that is an awesome description that everyone would have fun hearing, just keep the question private. Secondly I would try to think up a more intense choice for them to make, because it's essentially just asking them if they want a bonus challenge. Some people will accept without a second thought, and others will turn it town without a second thought, it's not really a 'difficult' choice. Thirdly I would find a different way to implement the battle. The player will totally figure out that something isn't adding up, and if you don't tell them what you are doing they will either think you are just ******* with them or you are doing the math wrong. Just put them in an arena or something and have the other characters watch the fight. The secrecy doesn't really get you what you are going for when used like that.
I hope that was useful. Have a great day!
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I'm leaning toward what FriendlyGM has said so far. As a player, if we happened upon the 3rd gate or so, I'd pretty much walk by it because there's no reason to be interested. The other folks who entered vanish for a moment, come back, can't remember what's happened, and we move on. The most difficult choice would be whether or not I enter the portal in the first place.
Given that you want to present the players with a personal dilemma, do exactly that, make it personal. And don't limit it to the characters, if you know your players, then cater to them as well. If you have a character that you know will jump at a new magical toy no matter what choice is in front of them, but you also know that the player has a soft spot for animals, you create a dilemma where they have to choose between the local puppy orphanage going up in flames, or that really fun war mage staff.
To make the rest of the group interested in entering the portals, you need a result that is both recognizable, and immediate. Oh, you chose to close the gate? You're going to do the fight one on one? As the group enters the battle, that voice pops up, a specter, something, to announce the decision. Even if it's cryptic, the group will recognize that the decision the player made in the portal has had an effect on what's happening. Then make it apparent, the result of the decision, so that the players know how significant that decision was.
This is a difficult choice, the result must be as significant as the choice, otherwise it's an unbalanced exchange.
As you enter the portal you feel the weightlessness, you become immediately disoriented, and the vibrant colors almost make you nauseous. The world around you swirls like a kaleidoscopic nightmare and a grating, high pitched voice assaults your ears from inside and out.
"I present you with a choice."
The image of a woman wielding a knife pops into your head, you know this scene intimately because of the magics in this domain. She is about to kill a man, she is homeless, she is destitute, hungry, and this man has money. She will be caught, tried, and hanged for her crime.
A new image, again it is known to you. Before you a blacksmith presents a newly crafted suit of armor to a royal courier, the suit of armor is heading to the local monarch. The road to the monarch is treacherous, you know that the courier and his companions will die and the armor stolen.
"Choose who to save."
*POP*
The portal closes with an odd sound, and your companion is laying on the ground.
At this point in time, present the reward,