suffering asks:
What considerations are there for structuring a scenario so that the PCs are forced to choose between options that are mutually exclusive?
For example, the PCs are investigating a smuggling operation. A ship they suspect is being used for smuggling has docked. The PCs can investigate the ship or stake out the crew, but they don’t have time for both. By the time they’re done on the ship, the crew will have finished their dealings; if they follow the crew, the ship will have been cleaned out of most of the incriminating evidence.
Whichever way they go, they’ll have enough information to proceed, but won’t have the full picture.
The simple answer is: No reason to avoid it!
Framing scenarios or scenes so that they have tough choices in them is actually a great idea! For example, I have a video about dilemma scenario hooks, another example of dilemma-based scenario, that discusses some of the really cool dynamics you can get from designing scenarios this way.
If you want to explore the more advanced answer to this question, though, there are three things I would think about.
First, dilemma-based design can create a lot of wasted prep, as described in the Smart Prep series (among other places). If the PCs can do X or they can do Y, but not both, then your prep for one of those things will end up not being used. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s something I would think about a try to mitigate. (For example, if the situation allows for it, maybe you don’t fully prep X or Y until the PCs have made the choice about which path they’re going to follow.)
This seems like less of a concern for the specific scenario you’re describing: The two sequences are pretty short, and the prep for either probably still circles back into the scenario later on. (For example, the stat blocks and write-ups for the crew members the PCs could follow will still be relevant later even if the PCs stay and search the ship.) But it’s probably worth keeping in mind.
Second, when thinking in terms of framing dilemmas, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of contingency-base prep: “If the PCs do X, then… but if they do Y, then…” But it’s going to be more useful (and probably also waste less prep) if — even while you’re aware of the potential dilemma — you keep your eye on situation-based prep.
In other words, think less about what the PCs might do and more about what’s happening. There’s a practical difference between prepping “the PCs can follow the crew or investigate the ship” and “this is what the crew of the ship are doing… I wonder what the PCs will do?”
For example, maybe the PCs spit up and do both. Or maybe they decide to ambush the crew and kill them. Or they wait for one crew member to become isolated, grab ‘em, and interrogate them. Or they set the ship on fire. Or they stage a fake crime so that they can call the cops and have them investigate the ship. Any or all of this could come from “half the crew goes into town on business; the other half stays on the ship and offloads the cargo.”
To read more about contingency-based prep, check out Prep Tools, Not Contingencies.
Finally, what effect does dilemma-based design have on node-based design and the Three Clue Rule?
To some extent, we can simplify this question by ignoring the dilemma aspect and instead focusing on time-limited nodes. For example, there are clues that the PCs can only get by following the smuggler crew while they’re doing their business in town. (Or only at the dark ritual or only at Lord Dalton’s party or only by observing the fall of the blue meteor or whatever.)
This can be even further generalized to “the PCs missed a node” — e.g., they never actually to Danner’s Meats for whatever reason. And even more generalized to “they missed some clues” (because they didn’t find them, couldn’t figure them out, etc.).
The good news is that the core function of the Inverted Three Clue Rule is to solve the problem of “they missed a clue.” So as long as you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket, you probably don’t need to worry about it.
With that being said, if your have a strongly-framed dilemma (such that the PCs can definitely only do A or B, but not both), it probably wouldn’t hurt to toss a few more redundant clues into the scenario and/or prep a proactive element to act as a backup.
