I need your help, Veeky Forums...

I need your help, Veeky Forums. The party is facing a challenge soon and I need to figure out an encounter that will force two PCs that never get along to actually put their reservations aside and work together.

They'll be isolated together, and it needs to be something that would give them the chance to rise above their petty squabbles, but give them a chance to be tempted by it still.

A normal combat would be too straightforward, probably, and not involve any actual direct teamwork between the two -- they'd probably just both attack until the enemy is dead, so no real breakthrough made there.

I'm open to a puzzle or a riddle or something else too.

Any ideas?

They have to climb a stare step type wall, that is too smooth to climb and to call to jump, but with help they could get up it.

They have to make it through X theme dungeon with Portal 2 type puzzles.

They have to both work together physical to operate the magical machine.

Those all sound like great ideas. What are the Portal 2 type puzzles?

Go play portal 2 right this very second

If you're determined to just hamfist this as hard as possible, give them the prisoner's dilemma.
>both fall into trap
>trap puts each in a separate sealed stone room with a single lever
>instructions on the wall say that they can go free when they pull the lever
>also notes that pulling the lever will cause the ceiling to fall and crush the other person in the other room
>the instructions also mention that the other person has a room with a similar lever that does the same thing to your room
>once a lever is pulled, the other lever stops working
>they can wait for their party to save them (hoping that the other does the same), or guarantee that they save themselves at the cost of their companion's life
pulling the lever actually drops your own ceiling and releases the other person. The floors of both rooms are pressure sensitive; 60 minutes after both rooms are occupied, if neither lever has been pulled, the wall dividing the two rooms drops and the levers are deactivated

It's not subtle at all and your players will probably call you out on it, but it gets the message across.

Killing is way too much, tempt them to actually fuck the other up, but make it the worst possibility. Nobody is going to acrually kill another like that. Also that's a faulty prisoner dilemma, because you can't fuck each other up. Also make it so they can communicate in character. They will talk either way, but give them the chance to do it in character.

>Killing is way too much
pussy
>Nobody is going to acrually kill another like that
pussy with too much faith in humanity

More importantly, it's not a faulty prisoner's dilemma at all, since this one has repercussions after the decision (party asking you what the fuck you were thinking). Adding in communication between the two would make it faulty, though. Not being able to communicate is a main part of the dilemma.

Yes giving the ability to talk goes away from the original, but the objective is bonding and setting differences away, let them do that.
Also what you said is retarded. In prisoner's dilemma the two people can both fuck each other up, in your version they can't. Either one kills the other or neither does. Also i don't doubt someone would pull irl. But in an RPG of course they wouldn't, you are way too rational and confident in a RPG. You know either there is a way out or there is a way for your party to save you or the GM wanted to test your faith in the other prisoner. You can't even just think"yeah that's what my character would do i will pull", because you are killing a PC and that shit kills player groups. Only a fucking retard would pull in an RPG, or someone who puts roleplaying his character before the group enjoyment. That's why i say it should be something smaller, so pulling the lever would be more viable.

I like the idea of a prisoner's dilemma, but this feels too explicit to me, and would likely make the players not be able to get into the moment.

As for characters killing each other, it hasn't happened yet since they don't want to, but I've always told the players to "play it out" if that's what it takes, since sometimes you'll have somebody being a murderhobo in a party of Paladins.

what are the two playing as

also what game, unless this is a bait thread

D&D 5e, Rogue and Cleric.

Basically the Rogue tends to get up to morally dubious deeds, the Cleric is always on his ass about it, and the two players can never decide anything and it slows the game down. I've tried to have them work it out, but I'm going to try a different approach this time and try to bond them in-game so they work together automatically.

>would likely make the players not be able to get into the moment.
Tell them to eat shit, they're the ones who brought uncooperative characters to a cooperative game. Also make sure you separate them in real life too so that the dilemma can actually apply. The whole point is to be as obvious as possible that you're telling them to quit being babies, if you try to be sneaky about it you're just going to end up looking like an ass.

I used to think it was the characters but I think it's just their IRL personalities. They love to argue with each other, it's like fun for them to always try to one-up the other, so it means they can never agree on plans, if one person says "left" the other goes "right" etc.

>I think it's just their IRL personalities
Well then fuck all this in-game contrivance, tell them out of game that they need to shape up because they're actively fucking up the game, and get everyone else to tell them the same. If they continue to do it, put it to a vote on which one to kick out, or just kick them both.
Or just put up with it, because there's literally no way to change people if they don't want to change.

We've discussed it ad nauseam, it just is something that always happens unconsciously. It's like asking someone to breathe. And I can't kick them out, they aren't actively trying to be disruptive, it's just how things play out. That and they're my best friends and the game is primarily for them in the first place.

So if it isn't going to work deliberately, it has to be something in-game to make them play that way on their own, the same way they'd take a risk to go after treasure, etc.

If I do this and THAT fails too, then maybe I'll think of something out of game again. But I want to try this first.

Use their individual talents to make them cooperative. One has dark vision so the other has to rely on their guidance. Maybe one has to operate a set of pass walls and switches to allow the other to pass. In reality the only way people get along is if they can help each other or share common interest. As many options as you have they don't mean shit if they can be solo solved

I'd honestly think that taking them each aside and giving them private advice would make them more agreeable as well as introducing it in-game. The cleric needs to know that there is the right path and the correct path, and that they're not necessarily the same. The rogue needs to know that shenanigans are like bluffing. In order to do it properly, you cannot do it constantly. 10% of the time, if you do it right, nobody will be able to tell if you're actually lying.In other words, go with the flow, don't make out to seem ulterior, but be aware of your opportunities.

Also, make sure the Rogue can explain why dubious deeds have merit beyond immediate profit.

The God who gives the Cleric his powers gets annoyed at their bickering because it slows the adventure down. Every time they start both have to roll a d20. Depending on the result, they suffer some minor annoyance for a day. If they cooperate and use teamwork they receive some kind of minor blessing/positive effect for a day.

Carrot and stick.

>they aren't actively trying to be disruptive
And an old man isn't actively trying to shit his pants, but you still wheel him out of the room if he does. If they're shitting up, it's shape up or ship out.

>It's never a subversive reversal where the cleric gets up to no good and the rouge is on their case

>Nobody is going to acrually kill another like that.
Most of the time people opt to fuck over the other person in a prisoner's dilemma. While both of you being good is the best outcome, it's also the riskiest because your other has no incentive not to turn on you, and therefore not worth taking.