One way to really spice up an adventure or campaign is to present the heroes with a dilemma that can’t be solved without giving up something or getting very, very clever. Some may introduce a ticking clock as well, so the players can’t argue for too long.

Any situation that offers two (or more) things they must choose between can make for a good role-playing moment. The things can be things they want but can’t have both (or all) or things they don’t want but must choose between (AKA the lesser of two evils).

• They must choose between two benefits.
• They much choose between a benefit and a duty.
• They must choose between two punishments to get to a benefit.
• They must choose between a small benefit now or a large benefit later.
• They must choose one among them to get a benefit.
• They must choose between a benefit with a punishment or nothing.
• They must choose between two things that both have advantages and disadvantages.
• They must choose between a certain small benefit and the chance of a large benefit.

If the choices are neutral–such as taking a route thru the mountains versus taking a route along the coast or one magical item as a reward versus another–then it isn’t much of a dilemma; it’s just a matter of preference. But even these choices still make for good role-playing.

1. Shelter from the Storm

A sudden storm whips up at dusk while the heroes make camp in a hilly or mountainous area. There is a small cave–little more than a horizontal crevice in the rocks–that can hold one person alone in enough comfort for a good night’s rest; the others will have to sleep rough in the storm.

2. Guardian in Stasis

The heroes find a treasure vault with a magical ward that keeps a guardian in stasis. Breaking the ward to get the treasure would free the powerful monster.

3. Rising Waters

Due to something the heroes did, the dungeon’s lower halls are rapidly filling with water. The heroes find…

• A group of prisoners chained flat to the floor, who will drown unless freed in three rounds, and it will take all the heroes two rounds to free them.
• A sealed treasure vault that, the dwarf realizes, will be impossible to open once the water rises for two more rounds. And it will take two rounds to open it.

You can gamify this by making skill checks, so it might be possible to get both.

4. Ropey Bridge

The heroes come upon a rickety rope bridge to a destination they need to reach. With enemies arriving in 2d3 rounds, the rogue realizes…

• They can cross one at a time safely, but it will take one round each.
• They can cross more than one at a time, but they must check a difficulty equal to 4, plus 2 for every medium-sized creature, and plus 1 for every small-size creature on the bridge at the same time. (So 2 humans and 1 halfling is 4+2+2+1=difficulty 9.) On a failure, the bridge collapses; make a dexterity check to make it to the far side; on a recovery, you make it back to the starting side.

Of course, “creatures” includes enemies, who are less likely to notice the danger….

5. Cursed Doorway

A sealed obsidian vault requires a sacrifice to open. The magic demands one of the following:

• Blood from each hero, amounting to a loss of 5 hp each.
• A permanent magic item, destroyed forever. (That is, not a potion or other consumable.)
• The soul of one human or demi-human–not a humanoid.

6. Collapsing Vault

Opening a vault destabilizes the chamber. It will take six rounds to gather all the treasure or two rounds to assess and take only what is probably the most valuable. Your chance of being trapped is 1d6% per round.

If trapped, roll again to dig your way out; add all your strength modifiers to this roll. You can try once per day, with +1d6 each day to represent your progress.

7. Venom’s Antidote

Some of the heroes have been bitten by a venomous creature, but the party has only one dose of potion of proof against poison. Any who don’t get it must save vs poison or suffer the effects; they can’t wait to see who fails their save.

8. Forest Spirit

A powerful dark fae creature confronts the party. To pass unhindered, one member must sacrifice something personal:

• A significant memory, erasing an important connection to a friend/loved one.
• Years of life, aging noticeably (but not greatly) on the spot.

If the party tries to fight the creature, it will disappear, and the trail will disappear in a terrible tangle of brambles and bog.

9. Shades of Fate

The heroes come upon a treasure guarded by undead (shadows, wights, wraiths, etc.). They hear a voice offer them “the treasure forever” or “safe passage out” of the dungeon.

• If they choose safe passage out, they’re shown a glowing path that is safe and on which no creature will harm them.
• If they choose the treasure, the undead guardians part and allow them to take it, but they will have to fight their way out of the dungeon.

To make this into a nasty trick, those that choose the treasure might be transformed to the same type of undead before them and are doomed to help guard “their” treasure forever.

10. Vault of Eyes

The heroes have done well scouring the dungeon and have discovered two huge gems among their other treasure, just what will fulfill their mission. Then, they find a door they were told about–a door to a vault that may hold even greater treasures; it has a huge, carved stone face and hollow eye sockets just the size of those big gems….

• If they put the gems in the eye sockets, the gems will sink inside and disappear, but the door will open. It may be apparent (thru various clues) that this will happen.
• They keep the gems and leave; nothing else will open the vault.

It’s up to you if the gems appear elsewhere, perhaps in a container inside the vault or teleported to a whole other location, such as back to the eye sockets of the statue they got them from in the first place.

11. Summoning Ritual

A demonic summoning ritual is nearly complete. The adventurers are in a position to destroy one or possibly even two magical runes, but it should be virtually impossible to destroy all three. They may only be able to find one or two in time because they’re scattered and/or hidden; or they can see them all in the summoning chamber but can only reach one in time because they’re far away, mounted up high, being guarded, etc.

• Rune of Power: The demon will manifest at full strength or, if broken, half strength.
• Rune of Binding: The demon will be bound to the summoner’s commands or, if broken, run wild, with little care for who it assaults.
• Rune of Service: The demon will manifest with beastly infernal creatures to serve it or, if broken, alone.

12. Trapped Captive

The heroes enter a room to find a captive bound to a death machine (swinging blade, crushing stone, etc.). The captive shouts “Stop! It’s a trap!” The heroes have only a round or two to save the captive, but what trap would they be subjecting themselves to?

• It might be a net hidden by dust that will scoop them up if they advance.
• Attack by minions.
• A mechanism that uses their weight to trigger the death machine itself.

It should not be that the captive is an illusion or evil creature acting as bait. Such perfidy will sour the heroes on trying to be heroic.

13. Monster Battle

The heroes happen upon two monsters locked in combat. Either of them would likely become friendly to the heroes if they help it defeat its enemy.

Perhaps both are neutral, and it’s a matter of preference. Or perhaps one is evil but known to have knowledge the heroes need.

14. Petrified Adventurer

On the hunt for a monster that petrifies its victims (basilisk, medusa, cockatrice, etc.), the heroes encounter a petrified adventurer like themselves. They detect (dropped possessions aren’t very decayed) that there’s still time to save the person (after a year-and-a-day, there’s no hope), but they have only one Stone to Flesh scroll.

• Revive the adventurer, likely gaining an ally–and one that might know more about the dungeon they’re in.
• Walk away, retaining their only way to reverse petrification if one of their own succumbs.

15. River Rage

At a raging river, the adventurers can:

• Save three travelers clinging to rocks midstream, which will take multiple heroes.
• Save a cart full of supplies floating downstream, which will take multiple heroes.
• Pursue the monsters that caused this.

16. Busted Ambush

Innocent travelers are about to come under attack by hobgoblins. The heroes can…

• Stay hidden and avoid getting involved.
• Rush to help and risk their own necks in combat.
• Alert the travelers and flee, possibly inducing the hobgoblins to chase them.

17. Dwarven Dispute

Tasked with finding a missing dwarf, the heroes discover he was in a dispute with another dwarf and took the matter to a dwarf lord in dwarven lands. Having paid tribute to confirm fealty, that fellow found he could nevertheless not abide by the lord’s ruling, so the dwarf lord sent men to quietly arrest him to answer for the contempt.

• The heroes might convince the human overlord to allow the dwarves to settle their own matters, at some cost to his authority in his own lands.
• They might “rescue” the captive dwarf and possibly even arrest the other dwarf in the dispute to instead answer to their human overlord, at the risk of sleighting the dwarf lord.

18. Prophecy of the Oracle

The Undying Oracle reveals that three disasters threaten the realm, but there’s only time to stop two of them:

• A famine will kill thousands unless an evil cult is stopped from wrecking the weather.
• A war will destroy cities unless the nobles can be persuaded to settle their dispute.
• A plague will ravage the realm unless a vampire sorceress’ plan to create it is foiled.

Altho…. maybe there’s a way convince the nobles to help stop the famine and plague?