Dilemma

A dilemma is a difficult personal choice for your character, or the band as a whole. Dilemmas offer an opportunity to really play the role of your character, and to explore just who that character is when under pressure. Usually there is no check involved, but there is always a consequence to the game world and the characters making the choice. Don't mistake every choice for a dilemma. A good rule of thumb is if you can easily guess what decision the players will make, then it's just a choice and not a dilemma.

Example: Rebels against a tyrant begin to murder innocent people to prove the tyrant is weak, and they plan to continue doing so. The tyrant has discovered the rebel's location and is planning an assault that will wipe them out...plus dozens of innocents in the same area. Do you intercede to save the innocents, which allows the rebels to escape and wreak further havoc? Do you take on the rebels yourself, sparing the innocents but doing the tyrant's work for him? Which is more important to you, fighting the tyrant or saving the innocents?

Dilemma Design

A well designed dilemma will have two roughly equal choices. Each choice will offer a mixture of positive and negative consequences, and it's up to you to choose which your character believes is the lesser of two evils. Your choice won't just affect you, but also a small group of people you care about, or a large group of other people. It is key that the consequences of your choice are clear. There may be minor surprises, but nothing that should undermine the original selection. Not every dilemma will be optimal. Many will have more than two choices, or not every choice may be equal. Some will seem easy, with the entire band agreeing that one option is better. Even a lopsided dilemma may surprise you with what everyone chooses and why. Likewise if the players find or create a new option that diffuses the dilemma, don't try to force it. Embrace the new creative solution for what it is and reward it appropriately.

Dilemma Consequence

It is essential to incorporate the consequences of the choice made. Be prepared to do this regardless of the choice made, and especially if no choice is made at all. Usually there is an immediate effect, but the most memorable dilemmas have ripples that are referenced later. Not every consequence has to be dramatic or mechanical to work. Just meeting someone affected by the decision and whether it made their life better or worse can have significant impact. The more an early dilemma choice is referenced and reinforced, the greater the weight later dilemmas will have.

Dilemma Goals

Dilemmas are tied into goals in a very specific way. Each choice should be tagged with one of the available goals. If you select a choice tagged with one of your loyalties then you gain focus. However if you select another choice then the goal you chose against becomes disabled. Mark a line through it, and you no longer gain focus from that goal's focus condition. If you achieve the goal or choose it in another dilemma it reactivates the goal instead of giving you normal credit. Since this is a consequence of your decision you should be fully aware of the goal effects before you choose. This choice affects the entire band, members may not abstain to avoid consequences, however if you can't participate you don't suffer consequences. Note also that it is entirely possible for a dilemma to force you to choose between your own two goals. During a respite you may switch a new goal into the deactivated goal's slot. If you switch back in the goal is normal, you don't need to track that it was deactivated.

Dilemma Escalation

Since the primary purpose of a dilemma is empowering role-playing, really put some thought into why your character is making the choice and express it as best you can. But once you've expressed your choice, don't always try to get your way. You have to balance the needs of the other players against your own, so conceding some dilemmas early can give you more favor when you decide a dilemma outcome is particularly important to you. Only invoke a dispute or a battle over a dilemma as an extreme last resort. Once a tagged goal has won a dilemma, the referee should escalate further dilemmas to make other options more attractive. This should push you as a player to have to make harder and harder decisions about what really matters to your character, and to find those lines you just won't cross (if such a line exists).

Mixing Dilemmas

It's possible to mix a dilemma with other encounter types, or choices may start different encounters or only be available based on encounter results. In a battle you could face a dilemma of which side to choose if any, or how to treat a captured antagonist. A dispute can be about a dilemma if the band can't agree how to resolve it, or if they need to convince other personalities to accept the decision.

Version 2.5.1
©2014 Frameworks Games

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