7 Deadly Sin Trials

[Sheogoroth]

I'm reworking a bit of Rise of the Runelords. I won't get all spoilery, but I'm making a dungeon that's supposed to be a moralists paradox- it will work like this: The party will enter a room, be confronted by some abstract puzzle that requires them to either betray some aspect of their character or make a moral decision. The dungeon will then punish/reward them. The goal is not to force them to make any decision, but to make any option have a certain appeal to it but make them wonder if the other option would have been better no matter what they end up

Sloth: The PCs enter a room that slopes upwards to a ledge. An NPC is shackled to the floor and the room begins filling with water rapidly. At the top of the ledge there is a portcullis that begins dropping slowly. The PCs can attempt to sunder the chains and risk drowning to rescue their friend. Eventually piranhas are released into the pool as the door gets lower. The PCs can simply leave the NPC there and move on or do the more heroic thing and try to save them. They will probably be unable to unchain him in time to save him in time, but I want to make them feel foolish for trying and evil for not trying.
For Envy I'm going to get with one of my players ahead of time. The room goes dark and I will inform the party that one of them is an imposter and let that devolve into paranoia and chaos or trust and betrayal.


So, I still need Pride, Lust, and Gluttony- though I would welcome the playground's esteemed wisdom and ideas for any of the ones I have already made.

[Belzyk]

Have lust have them placed against 2 succubi and have them in love and they have to either allow them to live or kill them.

Also sounds really fun Jigalag

[Gildedragon]

I think the envy one is great for Wrath

Envy is more of a: only one of you will get a bonus, the others will get a malus sorta deal. Have the ones covet what the other has.

Vanity: enchantment spell on a mirror. Can be a mirror of opossition sorta deal; the image is, however, an idealized version of the party. Can be defeated by surrendering.

Think of the virtue that defeats the vice:

humility against pride/vanity
diligence against sloth\
patience against wrath
kindness against envy
abstinence against gluttony: good idea, fiends having a feast after most of the trials; heroes are beaten up, food acts as healing potions. heroes must resist the temptation to indulge. OR if you read Charity as the opposite of gluttony, then they are down to one potion and someone in need asks them for their last healing slot.
etc etc

[JBarca]

Vanity: enchantment spell on a mirror. Can be a mirror of opossition sorta deal; the image is, however, an idealized version of the party. Can be defeated by surrendering.


Sounds more like Pride. The only way to win is to admit that you can't win?

It sounds like the party is at least Good-leaning, so play on that. Greed is easy. Put something incredibly valuable, but unnecessary, in a room. Also in the room is a person. Set up some kind of contraption that means they have to pick one, and only one. Make it clear that choosing the item means the person will die or some such. Or have it be a valuable item and a key to the next room.

For lust: depends on the party. Put a love interest, attractive people, or something like that in a, uh, welcoming position. But, surprise, said people are succubi or whatever.

Envy: Give the most powerful character (The Wizard or whatever) a new item in a room. Tailor some encounters to their strengths. If they're a Cleric, tell them their god favors them this day, giving them free metamagic. Things like that. Better yet, do it with a DMPC.

Gluttony would be difficult. Maybe food that gives mechanical bonuses that scale with the quantity consumed right before a room that require swimming or some such? Each piece of food eaten gives you a penalty to swim checks or something. I'm not sure. Clearly not the best of ideas, but it may be a start.

The issue with this is it works best tailored to individual characters, and we don't know your party. Is your Cleric vain? Your Rogue wrathful? Your Barbarian greedy? Most of these work best if someone in the party already struggles with one of the seven. If they don't, then you'll need to be a bit more creative.

[HappyElf]

Some ideas:

For a more abstract Lust in the sense of immoral interactions with others (as most PC would probably instinctively avoid a sexy person alone in a dungeon in a provocative position, because that's clearly a succubus), maybe have a powerful bound monster who offers the characters a favour if they free it. They can either ally with it (gaining vital help, but seeing the destruction caused by it later) or reject it (saving the masses but leaving them in the lurch when they are next in a tight spot).

For Pride, the PCs meet a pathetically weak encounter they can pretty much take out immediately. If they let it live, they now have the problem of a warning of their presence spreading through the dungeon. If they kill it they later see, say, the monster's grieving family or some such thing and wonder if showing their greatness by crushing something that couldn't fight back was really worth it.

For gluttony- a powerful potion that would be hugely beneficial to everyone in some way. Simply have the players decide who gets it and they'll regret something soon enough.

[Honest Tiefling]

So what happens if the NPC is freed from the Sloth trial? Do they have any understanding of the trials themselves? Are they helpful?

As for lust...I agree with Happyelf. Stabbing any attractive people you find in a dungeon is pretty much adventuring 101. But what of instead of being presented with attractive people, the characters become the most god-like beautiful people they can possibly imagine? One's pursuit of personal beauty is often rooted in finding someone to squish naughty bits with, so how many people would be tempted by that? And to sweeten the pot as well as tempt the players, add in a charisma bonus along with a diplomacy/bluff bonus to people attracted to them.

I agree, that envy trial should be wrath. And don't tell ONE of the players...Tell them all. Let them stew a bit.

[Gildedragon]

The one of wrath is probably a series of attackers that will not surrender or die (they will regenerate within a round) unless explicitly torn apart; incapacitating them is possible... for a time (as soon as they exit the room they hear them break free). The attackers won't kill the PCs or deal any non subdual damage, but they will hamper and impede the PCs from moving forwards in the trials.


Sounds more like Pride. The only way to win is to admit that you can't win?
Mmm I forgot which was the "official" encompassing sin.
Anyway, yeap, the victory is in admitting defeat, or debuffing oneself (i figure the mirror's effects have maximum effect on itself).
I rather like the debuffs because they will linger for a bit, potentially making the next challenge harder.

[Azoth]

The test of Wrath: Upon entering the room you each see a person chained to a pedestal. As you draw nearer, the features sharpen and under the muck and grime you recognize (insert NPC that has greatly wronged or vexed them). He/She stands before you broken and beaten, and smiling at seeing your face. A single sentence is uttered, "I have wronged you, and would do so a thousand times over." What do you do?

[animewatcha]

You are gonna need to trust your PCs on this. Like that water filling room trap? They can plug the holes with 'wall of X'. You can be surprised how some problems can be solved creatively with DM being unprepared.

[nintendoh]

Envy is coveting something that does not belong to you. Gluttony is coveting everything. Envy is very easy.

Ok so have a npc in the envy room be a powerful, but not too much, shining example of goodness and light. Have that npc only be awesome because of a ridiculous op item of some sort thats really visible. Pretend that this is the wrath room and the party joins the npc in the battle. Have him save their lives. During or before have some dialogue and backstory to make the npc into a real person and likable. After the battle have him left with a single hit point and unwilling to give up the item. Will the pc's commit murder for the item?

[nintendoh]

Gluttony. Which one of your pc's is the best. Have an adoring fan in the pride room that is about to be sacrificed. Have him pick the one of the party that saved him to shower gifts on and love. Have the fan talk smack about the other party members, and steal stuff from them and give to the "great one" because they wont be as awesome with it as his idol. Eventually have him start stealing things like stats and main weapons. Players will get gready if they get a +10 stat boost.