Advice/Help Help me make a hard decision

[Error 420]

So right now I have an RP, and I'm trying to make a very difficult dilemma for my players.

Just in case they've stumbled upon this, I'm trusting them to use their honor and not read these spoilers. Everyone else, please read on.

Spoiler

So in the current arc, I'm planning to reveal their boss as an accomplice to a genocide, where he betrayed a group he was supposed to protect*. However, I want them to have a very hard time deciding whether or not to leave their current boss. They have a good rapport with him and they trust him. I want to make it seem like he is redeemable, but still build loathing towards him. I want my players to have a breakdown trying to decide what to do.

*basically, in the raw, their boss was left in charge of protecting a race of people, and helped hide them from extermination, but then, for some reason, betrayed them, making another character take drastic measures to protect the few who are left.

 

[rae2nerdy]

So is your question how to execute the situation or how to make the twist believable?

 

[Error 420]

So is your question how to execute the situation or how to make the twist believable?

How to execute in such a way that the character is not written off as "oh they're just awful" and makes it sympathetic.

 

[Tedronai]

I appreciate this answer will seem glib, but you either need to make the reason for the betrayal understandable (people have committed horrors to save the ones they love for instance) or have him wracked with guilt and atoning. Without know the context I couldn't say which would work better, and knowing the context might provide further suggestions.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Well the key to well execution is believably. Explain why the character chose to act as they did. Did they believe it was the right thing to do? Did they do it out of fear of some other kind of repraisal?

Basically ask yourself why would the character as written have done XX thing? What would make them act this way?

And really that's the best way to make them sympathetic. Just give them a reason. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a GOOD reason just as long as it is a reason that would make sense to that character.

 

[Tove]

The thing about that is with other characters you can't predict how they will act no matter what you want to do. The truth will hurt them and not everyone will easily follow your character. I mean if you are trying to make it sympathetic on his end don't let what he did before define how he is now. Let his actions help them decide if he is still worthy also maybe when he betrayed that group it was down to a lose lose situation, just saying.

 

[Tedronai]

On the plus side, any strong reaction means they're invested in the story.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Yeah I think when making a character genuinely sympathetic you should not focus too much on the reactions of others as it tends to lead to people compromising the personality of a character in order to make them better recieved.

I wouldn't worry too much about what the other characters will do in regards to setting up the situation. Instead focus on making it a believable action the boss character would take.

As long as it's believable to his character then you'll have room to work with others going forward. As even if the other characters are angry about the situation the boss character will at least have some kind of explanation to give rather than just -bad thing happened and now everyone is mad.

 

[Error 420]

I appreciate this answer will seem glib, but you either need to make the reason for the betrayal understandable (people have committed horrors to save the ones they love for instance) or have him wracked with guilt and atoning. Without know the context I couldn't say which would work better, and knowing the context might provide further suggestions.

The thing about that is with other characters you can't predict how they will act no matter what you want to do. The truth will hurt them and not everyone will easily follow your character. I mean if you are trying to make it sympathetic on his end don't let what he did before define how he is now. Let his actions help them decide if he is still worthy also maybe when he betrayed that group it was down to a lose lose situation, just saying.

Well the key to well execution is believably. Explain why the character chose to act as they did. Did they believe it was the right thing to do? Did they do it out of fear of some other kind of repraisal?

Basically ask yourself why would the character as written have done XX thing? What would make them act this way?

And really that's the best way to make them sympathetic. Just give them a reason. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a GOOD reason just as long as it is a reason that would make sense to that character.

How's about this, the betraying character took a whole lot of money to give up where these people were to save his best friend?

The true context is that these two have been best friends their whole lives, only friends as children. The betrayer is the PCs' boss and the best friend is a sort of enemy of the team.

 

[rae2nerdy]

As I said as long as their is a reason that fits the character's personality that's about all you can really do. Beyond that is up to other characters to determine how they will react ( as T Tove said )

 

[Beckoncall]

The boss knew that the character would take extreme measures to protect those that were left -- considering the math and the odds, half measures would not save any of them -- he killed most of them to make sure his agent would guarantee the safety of the few. Give him knowledge of some greater threat that would have caused the extermination anyway -- he was just changing the timetable so that his agents would act before it was too late.

 

[Tedronai]

Those kind of cold math reasons rarely go down well. Even if it makes logical sense it seems inhuman.

 

[Error 420]

What happened was that the decision was so difficult the party split up and went separate ways... not ideal.

 

[Beckoncall]

What happened was that the decision was so difficult the party split up and went separate ways... not ideal.

Then reconcile the party.