Darths & Droids

One way to stimulate interesting roleplaying is to present the PCs with a dilemma: a free choice of two different options, of which either choice is undesirable to the players for some reason or other.

They can pay off the evil dragon to leave the kingdom, but only by giving it all their magic items.

For bonus fun, make it a moral dilemma. The link has dozens of examples. And here are some more designed specifically for roleplaying games.

[Reminder: Our guest commentators have not seen Rogue One. Part of the fun is seeing how their untainted impressions re-interpret the movie through the lens of our comic.]

You'll fall to your death unless you drop one right now. So naturally, spend 2 or 3 minutes talking with everyone else to figure out what to do instead of actually making a quick decision like your character would actually have to do.

And of course, everything is better than a blaster. Whether it's a stick, a data case, etc.

At this point, I want to see a dagger get situational bonuses that make it do more damage than a blaster does.

(Help me DMM, you're my only hope of such a line ever appearing in the comic.)

— Keybounce

[aurilee has been too busy to write her past few commentaries. They will be added retroactively when she gets time.]

— aurilee

Transcript

Cassian: The data crystal is more important! It's the smoking gun we need to end the Empire!
Bria: But... my blaster!
Chirrut: The crystal is the Quest Object!
Bria: But... I can't decide!
GM: You'll fall to your death unless you drop one right now.
Bria: Deciding what to drop is a free action, right?
GM: Technically.
Bria: Okay, so let's think this through.
K-2SO: {dead} The data crystal is the only reason we came to this planet in the first place.
K-2SO: And I just died for it.
Bria: Yeah, but—
Cassian: And the blaster is a standard issue item you can grab from any trooper.
Bria: Yeah, but—
Chirrut: The crystal case is basically a humungous knuckle-duster. 2d8 in melee at least.
Bria: Can I throw it as a ranged weapon?
GM: ... Sure.
Bria: Even better than a blaster!
[SFX]: toss... {gun falling}