Puzzles: Moral Quandary Test

Today I'd like to share a fun role playing activity that is really fun to work into a campaign after the players have had some time to get to know each others' characters. This is basically a team-building activity that challenges the their observational skills as how well they have established their PC's characterization. It's comprised of a series of ethical dilemmas in which the answers are not always so cut and dry.

I often frame this challenge in conjunction with a magical device or item that is attuned to the morality of the player characters. In a campaign I ran in the Planescape setting, this was used as a means to calibrate a planar transit device, allowing the players to navigate between the various heavens and hells of the netherworld based on their moral understanding of one another.

So here's how it works. Read the question for the group. Have each player record their character's answer to question. This is the important part. They should answer the question as their character would, not like they would answer it themselves.

After going through all the questions and letting the players secretly record their actions, read the first question again. Point out the first player character and ask all the other PCs to guess what their answer to the question was. Then let that player reveal their answer. If more than half of the group guess correctly, then count one success. If not, then it is a failure. Don't let the players feel too bad about a failure, because it just provides an opportunity for dramatic revelations. The party members might not know as much about each other as they thought!

Continue this process for the rest of the questions. Keep in mind that I have included more questions than are necessary for you to do this activity, so you don't have to use them all. It can take a real long time to get through even a couple of questions with a decent sized game group. If the players score more successes than failures overall, they have won the challenge! If they fail, then some interesting and dramatic complication should befall them.

You see a fight between a policeman and a bystander

DO NOTHING

TAKE UP FOR THE BYSTANDER

HELP OUT THE COP

THREATEN BOTH

Each of these people from your community are threatened. You can only save one, the rest will be lost. What do you do?

A GREAT LEADER

YOURSELF

A RANDOM CHILD

YOUR MOTHER

While looking through a scroll in the library, you find a hidden treasure map. What do you do?

TAKE THE TREASURE

TURN IT IN TO THE LIBRARY SO THEY CAN USE THE FUNDS FOR THE COMMUNITY

FIND THE LAST ONE TO READ THE SCROLL AND RETURN THEIR LOST MAP

KILL EVERYONE ELSE WHO COULD HAVE READ THE SCROLL

You are in deep cover and asked to kill a man. What do you do?

REFUSE TO KILL, SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO HELP THE MAN ESCAPE

KILL THE MAN AND CONTINUE THE MISSION

TRY YOUR BEST TO RUN AWAY

The Barony has found some illegal contraband belonging to your son. Your spouse steps forward to take the fall and serve time for it. What do you do?
CLAIM IT IS YOURS

ADMIT IT IS YOUR SON’S

LET `YOUR SPOUSE MAKE THE CHOICE

RUN AWAY FROM THE LAW AND ATTEMPT TO START A NEW LIFE

There is a storm coming. What do you do?

LEAVE WITH YOUR FAMILY

SEND FAMILY AWAY, HELP THE COMMUNITY PREPARE
TRY TO CONVINCE YOUR FAMILY TO STAY AND HELP

You are in a ticking time bomb scenario. The bomber is a fanatic and would only confess if you resort to tortuous methods. What do you do?

DO IT

KEEP GRASPING FOR OTHER OPTIONS
KILL THEM IF THE BOMB GOES OFF