Hard choices

One scene per session where both options cost something the players want.

What it is

A hard choice is not a trap and not a moral quiz. It is a scene where both available answers advance something the party cares about, and both spend something they were saving. The character reveals themselves in the price they are willing to pay.

The Game Master's job is to make sure the two prices are real, visible, and different. If one option is obviously the right answer, it is not a hard choice, it is a test.

One hard choice per session is enough. Two is a lecture. Zero is a session the players will forget by next week.

When to use it

Once per session, at or near the objective scene.
When a faction move forces the party to declare a loyalty.
When a clock is one segment from triggering, the choice is whether to spend to stop it.
When a player has been quiet, a hard choice built from their character's stated fear brings them back.

Worked example

Bellmouth line, mid-session

The situation

The foreman will testify against the Justicar, but only if the party extracts his family from San Telmo before the convoy arrives. There is not time to do both.

Option A, Take the testimony

The Justicar falls politically. The foreman's family is taken. The party's reputation with the Heller consul rises; with the plantation workers it collapses.

Option B, Save the family

The family lives. The Justicar keeps her office and now knows the party's faces. The refinery keeps operating on the same terms.

Pairs with

Session objectives

The hard choice usually sits inside the objective scene.

Clocks

The price of a choice is often a clock advance.

Session Prep Builder

Draft the two prices side-by-side before session.

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Every tool in the toolkit, plus worked examples, in printable form.