Zone of Truth or Dare – a D&D Activity

My husband runs a regular D&D Campaign on Twitch called “Winds of Chaos.” (It’s come up a few times before.) My husband does a lot of GMing. In addition to this streamed campaign, he runs the D&D club at school and often GMs private games for friends. He isn’t forever the GM, but he doesn’t often get to play. And the campaign I run (Tales of Cryptonia) has been on hiatus for awhile.

So I hatched a plan. What if I orchestrated a takeover of the Winds of Chaos so he could play the NPC featured earlier in the campaign as a regular player for awhile?

I had to get his permission, of course. One can’t simply drop into the middle of a stream production and declare themselves the GM. But as soon as he made it clear he was on board with the switch, I went to work putting together a mini dungeon for him and his players to enjoy.

They were level 15 at the time this mini dungeon took place. And anyone who’s ever played D&D knows that level 15 is where things start to get super crazy. Some might even say reality-breaking. So I made this dungeon challenging. I wanted it to feel tough.

But I didn’t want the entire thing to feel like a resource management slog, so I also tried to throw a few fun activities into the mix. My favorite – clearly, since I decided it was worth dedicating a blog post to – was a little activity I like to call “Zone of Truth Or Dare.”

The Mechanics

Since I was dealing with level 15 characters and I wanted to make this dungeon tough, I decided to create a magical effect that doesn’t exist in the rules as written. Normally, when the spell “Zone of Truth” is cast, players get a saving throw to determine whether or not they are subject to the effect of the spell.

But these players were not only high level, they were exploring a goddess’s territory. And not just any goddess – a goddess of fate. So there was no saving throw to pass or fail. The effect was automatic. Though I did throw in a cheeky little message on the door stating that players would be ‘subject to the terms and conditions upon entry’ so that they were technically consenting to the effects of the spell. (Even if they had to finish the challenge to escape the dungeon.)

The rules were fairly simple:
1. Survive 3 rounds of Zone of Truth or Dare

2. While within the Zone of Truth or Dare the characters were incapable of speaking a lie

3. If a character chose to undertake a dare, they must complete the assigned challenge or be subject to the consequences (which usually turn the dare against the player, or cause some form of damage)

4. If a character chooses “Truth” twice in a row, they MUST complete a dare on the final round (because I spent time coming up with these challenges, dang it, so I want a few of them to be used!)

The Truths

Since I set the number of rounds for this game at 3, and since the mechanics dictate that each character must complete at least 1 dare, I only came up with 8 truths. There were four players so, if each chooses Truth twice, that would use all the questions. I did not want to repeat questions, though I suppose for larger groups or longer games, you could.

I used a D8 to determine the question and just re-rolled if a duplicate came up.

Since I knew I was working with a role-play heavy and experienced group, I chose questions that I thought would give both the players and the characters pause. I wanted the truths to be somewhat difficult to answer honestly. I wasn’t necessarily looking to generate friction among the party. I just wanted to create some good role play moments. But I did throw a few lighter, fun ones in there as well.

1. What action are you most ashamed of?

2. What is your greatest fear?

3. What price would be required for you to betray your party?

4. If you had to kill a member of the group to escape this place, who would you choose?

5. What is the biggest lie you have ever told?

6. If you could have any 1 thing in the world, what would it be?

7. What is your favorite childhood memory?

8. What is your favorite pointless talent?

The Dares

Everyone knows the fun part of Truth or Dare is the dares. So here is where I sowed some chaos. I came up with 12 dares, in case anyone decided to choose “Dare” for all 3 rounds. And I tried to balance between fun and quirky and things that might actually be dangerous.

My players were trapped in a room until they did these things, so they’re all closed-door, quick activities. But you could easily expand the list to include interactions with NPCs.

1.Expend your highest level spell slot to cast one of your highest level spells on a companion

2. Unleash the full number of attacks possible on one of your companions and attempting to hit as few times as possible. (If you have an action surge available you must use it. Likewise if you’re dual wielding you must use your off-hand attack.)

3. Drink the mystery potion that appears in the room (It has a random effect.)

4. Tell the other members of the part your favorite thing about them (remember, you CANNOT lie)

5. Swap 1 magical item with another party member for the duration of the next encounter

6. Kiss another member of your party (you may choose randomly but don’t have to)

7. Expend your highest level spell slot casting one of your lowest level spells on one of your companions.

8. Make use of Foodle’s magical herb bag (this item belongs to one of the players. It has a somewhat random effect.)

9. Make a genuine attempt to convince another member of the party of something silly (but plausible) about your character (Send this message in secret.)

10. Attempt a feat of great athletics (DC 23)

11. Endure a wild magic surge (roll on the table)

12. Attempt to pick a companion’s pocket

The Consequences

Player agency is an important part of D&D. So while I didn’t want my players to be able to avoid participation in the “Zone of Truth or Dare,” I also wanted them to be able to make choices.

So if anyone refused to answer a question or attempt a dare, there were consequences built into the challenge. Because consequences are fun!

For the truths, if a player refused to answer, they would receive psychic damage – though I didn’t anticipate anyone ultimately refusing the truths.

Here are the consequences for the dares:

1.One of your highest level spells chosen randomly will target you

2. The attacks will target you instead of a companion and be rolled at advantage

3. You’ll suffer a random effect but it will only be bad

4. Take psychic damage (but I doubt anyone would avoid this)

5. The magical items chosen for the swap will be random as rolled by the GM

6. Psychic damage (but since no heat level was specified, I didn’t anticipate avoidance)

7. The spell will be chosen randomly and target you instead

8. Suffer a random effect but it will be negative

9. Psychic damage for refusing to try, no consequence for failing to be persuasive

10. Take falling damage for failing to hit the DC

11. Endure a wild magic surge, but the DM will pick an unfavorable effect

12. One of your items will randomly migrate to another character

At the time of writing this, we haven’t yet executed the event, but I’m greatly looking forward to it – and will report back!