I was wondering, I have an idea for an adventure that ultimately puts the PCs in a moral grey area. Without going into specifics (basically involves the sacrifice of one for the benefit of the many, but could be a great springboard for an ongoing campaign), how much is too much moral grey area for a Dungeon adventuer? I was wondering both from a reader and an editorial standpoint.
Creative Director
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We're certainly open to adventures that put the PCs into situations like these... as long as they're well-written and tastefully done. That said, adventures that require a PC to sacrifice themselves in order to "win" aren't for Dungeon except in very specific situations (see "Test of the Smoking Eye").
I was wondering, I have an idea for an adventure that ultimately puts the PCs in a moral grey area. Without going into specifics (basically involves the sacrifice of one for the benefit of the many, but could be a great springboard for an ongoing campaign), how much is too much moral grey area for a Dungeon adventuer? I was wondering both from a reader and an editorial standpoint.
Funny you should mention this...my second adventure proposal (the first having been file-13'ed)) involves exactly this kind of moral grey-ness...like the dilemma of whether or not to attack a well-known Paladin in order to prevent him from committing murder...
...I hope it's written tastefully enough!
M
Funny you should mention this...my second adventure proposal (the first having been file-13'ed)) involves exactly this kind of moral grey-ness...like the dilemma of whether or not to attack a well-known Paladin in order to prevent him from committing murder...
...I hope it's written tastefully enough!
M
Sounds cool! Hope it makes it!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Don't have a specific answer for you but I like moral grey areas {if written tastefully ;-) }. I think alignment is one of the most overlooked, underplayed aspects of the game. I like nudging (okay, forcing) players to consider how to accurately portray their characters and what the possible ramifications of their actions would be.
I'm DMing a campaign right now where the lone survivor of a doomed expedition (a LG ranger) was desperately trying to escape the fire giants' lair. He announced he was going to throw open the door and fire a poisoned arrow at the first thing he saw. The only creature in the room was a young female fire giant, nursing her baby. He plugged her with a critical hit! Moral dilemna ensued!! Though she was lawful evil, she was unarmed and no immediate threat to our hero. His rash statement/behavior negated the possibility of him negotiating his way past this threat. It was a great situation for the player and he played the resulting guilt very well. This happened months ago and everyone is still talking about it.
Fun!
I was wondering, I have an idea for an adventure that ultimately puts the PCs in a moral grey area. Without going into specifics (basically involves the sacrifice of one for the benefit of the many, but could be a great springboard for an ongoing campaign), how much is too much moral grey area for a Dungeon adventuer? I was wondering both from a reader and an editorial standpoint.
I looooove shades of grey. Your players have to really think about their actions rather than get led down a road by the nose. One of our world settings involves the majority of the "good guy" PCs being demonic in nature and the "bad guy" NPCs often being your adventuring group types. In that world, the PCs often have to deal with lots of stereotypes and ethnocentric, human-centered belief systems. Think kind of like the X-men: that whole.. "we fight to protect a world that hates and fears us" thing.
Lawful-Good characters can commit some of the most evil acts, because they are acting for the greater good... by any means necessary. Paladins are straight out of the Crusades, or at least the romanticized, fictionalized idea of the Crusades. Lots of evil acts there! And Lawful-evil creatures can still act for the greater good if it benefits them and their interests. Hmmm.... lots to play with there.
Again, it's all about how it's written. Gray areas are good, because I don't believe everything can be clearly defined as black or white - players can really get worked up when their characters are faced with a morally ambiguous decision.