Morality Puzzles in TTRPGs

 Cool rains mist the Meadow of the Witch-Hares, the grass stands to attention in brilliant emerald amid dead flowers. Something is bounding amidst the new life...

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The idea for this post has been rattling around in my head for a while, but Magnolia Keep's post on slavers being perfect enemies for elfgames (see here!) made me want to tie this one together. But first! Some housekeeping:

1. I'm working on a short story about a transfemme Gawain. The submission date is coming up at the end of this month (I'm not panicking YOU'RE panicking) and if I'm unsuccessful I might just upload the whole thing here, or to a similar site (AO3? I've never been a big fanfic head, recommend me something)

2. I'm going to join the Mystic Woods game jam put on by RedMageGM on Itch.io! Please do join using the link here if you are an OSR creator and interested.

I'm going to assume you are already familiar with the trolley problem. Being a popular meme format means a lot of the nuance of the problem gets kind of glossed over (okay now you are tied the tracks on your own and some asshole moves the train to run you over to save the lives of other people. Not such a utilitarian now are you fucker?). I bring it up because it is a basic example of what I'm calling a Morality Puzzle.

I like a good riddle in a D&D game, but I do think they often run into the issue of 'guess what I'm thinking'. Often they are too hard and players disengage or so easy that players are taken out of the moment. A lot of puzzles can also need moving parts that are difficult to translate to theatre-of-the-mind play and mean you basically get out a second boardgame in the middle of your D&D. For the right kind of friend group that's exciting, but for many there will be annoyance that they came to play D&D and are now dealing with whatever the hell this new game is.

Morality Puzzles are fantastic because they get your players thinking and debating like you always dreamed they would, but without the flaws of more traditional puzzles. Here is an example:

The party is on the trail of a gang of slavers. They come to a cave being used as the base of operations and fight their way to where the captives are being kept. Clearly outmatched, the leader of the slavers grabs a random slave within reach and takes them hostage. "You can free the other slaves, heroes. But me and my boys get to escape with this one, and if you try to stop me they die!"

This is a re-flavouring of the aforementioned trolley problem. Assuming the players have no other way of preventing harm to the hostage, they are left to make a choice. Let the slavers go and free all but one of the captives, or take the opportunity to stop the slavers permanently at the cost of the hostage's life. As a side note, I would make the options as I see them as a referee clear to the players whilst inviting them to pitch other approaches in a situation like this. It makes the stakes clear so the players feel they are making an informed decision.

The answer you come up with to this puzzle doesn't have a win/lose state like a traditional puzzle. A riddle only ever has one solution, but a morality puzzle has multiple solutions that are equally valid because they can be justified, depending on your moral framework. On a purely utilitarian level there are two valid answers:

1. Spare the hostage and save the captives, let the slavers go. No-one dies and there is an opportunity to catch up to the slavers later and rescue the hostage in more favourable conditions.

2. Let the hostage die but kill the slavers now to free the captives. Yes, you definitely exchange one life for others, but you also prevent future potential suffering by preventing the escape of the slavers, who would obviously continue their evil trade if left to go free.

Magnify this through the lens of playing to a character who may have a moral framework that is different to our own, and you will get fascinating results at your table.

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The example I gave earlier is simple. So lets add complications:

1. The hostage is a beloved relative to one of the existing characters.

2. There is a time limit, and after a certain amount of time the slaver makes a desperate call.

3. One of the players has to go up close and shake hands with the slaver to make the deal, and the slaver is likely to use this opportunity to lash out and attack, potentially killing this character.

4. The slavers are likely to escape to a fortress far away in the mountains, where it will be difficult to save the hostage.

Or you could even rewrite the encounter entirely:

The party approach the cave where the slavers are based, but they can see it is being guarded by the slaves themselves! Overhearing chatter, the players learn the slavers made the strongest slaves stand guard by holding their families and friends hostage. If they don't stop the heroes entering the cave before the slavers can escape, the hostages all die. When the players reveal themselves, the slaves charge the party and attack!

As you can see, these morality puzzles are also good at setting up recurring villains. It doesn't matter if the Slaver Overlord would probably get killed in a clean fight with the party, he schemes to make sure he always has leverage over them, so when the players finally corner him, it feels amazing to put him down like the dog he is.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Morality puzzles work because they are emotionally intense and get people to question what they really value, and who they really are. Throw in a topic like slavery and the feelings at the table will get BIG. I like this and play with people I know well so I know they will handle it, but I do also like to remind my players of they feel unhappy with the choices presented or the outcome I am open to changing things, no questions asked and no judgement. If a player isn't happy, there is nothing wrong with a "Just this once, everybody lives!" outcome. We do this hobby for fun, after all.

Thanks for reading! And a reminder to check out Magnolia Keep's blog, the game jam by RedMageGM and to let me know if you would be interested in reading my transfemme Gawain short story.

Simone <3