As a GM that doesn’t really count combat as a staple in my games, I tend towards presenting other forms of conflict to challenge my players. In my games, I prefer to present players with situations that rely on making meaningful choices rather than just simple problem solving. I find this to be much more interesting because making a choice is never easy.
Choices are interesting things to present to a character because in order to be different from a problem, a good choice usually:
- Has no clear benefit for either option – Choices are hard because like in real life, there’s nothing to really tell you if one particular options is inherently better than the other. Each may have their own benefits and drawbacks that leave it to the player to consider other criteria to make a selection.
- Provokes a moral / ethical debate – While not really something that any GM can just yank out of nowhere, a situation that forces players to examine their own morals before making a choice is interesting because it does more than just merely amuse. For once in an activity, one is forced to a moment of introspection (however briefly.)
- Has no takebacks – Again like real life, making a choice has no way to rewind and undo any unforeseen consequences. Player characters have to live with the results of their choice, and bear the responsibility for what happens because of it.
Of course, deciding to not participate in a choice is an equally valid response. Much like not taking a quest that you’ve been made aware of, walking away from a choice means that you leave it to fate to take the reins and resolve the situation.
I’ve been known in my gaming group as a consequence-focused GM, and honestly I can’t blame them. While I don’t feel that I’m the heavy hand of Karma slapping down on naughty players, I do try my best to resolve a situation as realistically as possible. In some ways I run my games not really as “stories” as much as biographies. The player characters are the protagonists, and the sessions are a chronicle of their lives, successes and failures alike. There’s hardly a happily ever after, but like a good documentary, it merely asks a question, and leaves the audience to draw their own conclusions.
Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer 
You just gave me a great idea for the campaign I’m running. One of my PCs is looking for his sister and has discovered that she is being held as a slave. I think I’m going to try to present him with a moral dilemma where taking his sister from her current situation will not necessarily be good for her and may even make things worse.
Thanks for the idea.
A moral dilemma always brings more drama into a story, as opposed to simply saving a damsel in distress.
Hey there onedtwelve,
I’m glad that the post inspired something for you to use in your campaign! Situations like the one you described are interesting, and usually end up to be the most interesting and memorable moments in a campaign.
I wish you the best of luck. 🙂
I just hope your players are the kind that can actually roll with that kind of game style. Not everyone’s going to be comfortable with choices actually lobbed at them (unless you present them with a logical solution, which then takes away the choice and turns it into a calculation).
When the GM shows you a carrot…
I am reminded of this video from Extra Credits: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2590-Choice-and-Conflict
Same way can be applied…choices aren’t decisions unless it involves conflict in the character, if we’re thinking in that kind of mindset it means that no real choice equates to the “best” possible solution (because if there was, then it becomes a decision based on ‘calculations’, and no, calculations and choice they ARE NOT the same thing). I find the best comparison between Choice vs. Calculations. Calculations rely on the mind through logic. Choices sometimes rely on the heart (whether it’s the instinctive fear of the unknown, or the favorite moral/ethical dilemma)
But it’s that same way of thinking that people who do not see their character beyond the numerical figure of their stats and powers that makes using the “Choice system” into a table top game, kinda useless. There is no such thing as choice (no matter how much they insist) to them, there are only “calculations”. This kind of player becomes stumped and be caught in “analysis paralysis moments” or rolling dice feverishly in hopes that somehow it’s going to give them answers they need.
The same is also true for GMs who don’t bother in putting “choices” into their games or players (and insist that calculations are actual choices). A skill check, and roll of a dice, along with some logic based calculations are enough to resolve the issue and hop to the next quest.
In the end it’s just a gaming style. Similar to stat monkeys and fluff-zillas. I’m a fluff-zilla. That means I thrive at a game where I have story, background and considerable choices that help me develop my character beyond the stats on my paper (my stats are secondary). A game where I am bereft of choices thrown at me is in my opinion boring and stupid and about as fun as having a frozen speculum shoved up my vagoo.