Railroading - a slightly tongue in cheek blog post with good points

[Eyes of Nine]

In which our author even more firmly plants tongue in cheek

RPG Criminal Casebook - The "Liar" Definition

We return now to the annals of the State Commission on Proper GMing, which as you all know interprets, creates and enforces the laws agains...

jdcspot.blogspot.com

 

[pemerton]

In which our author even more firmly plants tongue in cheek

RPG Criminal Casebook - The "Liar" Definition

We return now to the annals of the State Commission on Proper GMing, which as you all know interprets, creates and enforces the laws agains...

jdcspot.blogspot.com

I read this one too!

To me it raised two questions:

(1) If a game's rule license GM force, does that make it not force anymore? My view is that force is still force even if the rules license it:

Force [is]the final authority that any person who is not playing a particular player-character has over decisions and actions made by that player-character. . . . Force techniques include [action declaration and resolution] manipulation, fudged/ignored rolls, perception management, clue moving, scene framing as a form of reducing options, directions as to character's actions using voiced and unvoiced signals, modifying features of various NPCs during play, and authority over using textual rules. The Golden Rule of White Wolf games is, in application, a mandate for Force.

[Quoted from here.]​

So, for example, the blog quotes D&D rules that say the GM can always plan/place encounters rather than roll for the; but in a dungeon crawl where this is done in lieu of orthodox wandering monster checks, I would still consider this a form of force (namely, the use of scene framing as a form of reducing options).

(2) If the GM is upfront about their use of force, is it still railroading? My view is yes, although if the players go along with it then I would say that it is now "participationist" play, rather than "illusionist" play. Those aren't particularly terms of art (unlike "force"), and this is probably a matter of degree: eg when I play CoC I expect the GM to use force, especially in scene-framing and clue moving, to keep the game on the rails, and so in that sense play is "participationist"; but it helps with engagement and immersion if the GM is at least a bit coy about when they do this, which makes play to that extent "illusionistic".

I think there is a widespread view that, if RPGing is not to be pretty wargame-y, some degree of illusionism is necessary. I don't agree, which is why I am rather comfortable with my fairly inclusive view of what constitutes a railroad.

 

[aramis erak]

The most railroad game I've ever run is Cosmic Patrol... the adventures are 3to 6 scenes - and unless you die, scene 1 runs in to scene 2... the question isn't "do we overcome the scene's problem" but "How do we do so?" And sprinkled in that is "and how many keywords can we use?" It's delightful... for some. For others, the plot hammer is pinning a singular rail for the players to follow involuntarily. This works, however, because it's a weak and non-stable GM - each scene, the GMing role rotates to the next player.

Mouse Guard is surprisingly similar... and yet, very much not.
In MG, the GM picks 4 scenes (one per category), and the players come up with solutions, and often nerf themselves with their traits. For each nerfing, that player gets to narrate a scene (ending with a single roll) in the "Player Phase"... so 4 railroad bits, then 0-10 single roll scenes. (more than 4 only if a conflict was played out in the GM phase... )

 

[Committed Hero]

My definition of railroading requires oppositional deprivation of meaningful player choice. So there needs to be an element of consciously countering the group's pIans. I would also note that a GM who wanders into a situation in which she might railroad can almost universally avoid it by talking about the scene with the players.

I am OK with quantum ogre situations as long as the party is presented with options for interaction. The choice can be framed as "how will they deal with the ogre" than "will they deal with an ogre."

 

[Celebrim]

Techniques for Railroading

Railroading refers to a variety of techniques use to limit player freedom of choice. Some distinction should be made in my opinion between the act of limiting player choice (“railroading”) and a game which has limited or no player choice as its most salient feature (a “railroad”). Virtually...

www.enworld.org

Generally speaking, even if you can't recognize the technique being used, it is railroading if the GM is metagaming. That is to say, if the basis of the GM's decision is based on something external to the game world and not on just trying to make the game world be real, then it's probably railroading. Even if the GM's motivation has a real basis in wanting to keep the game healthy, such as the case of using a handwave to get the players back on track and on to the meat of the prepared adventure, that's still railroading. A quantum ogre is railroading if the purpose is to spice up the session or punish the players for stalling. It's not railroading if there is an ogre that lives nearby that could have been attracted to the noise or just out looking for food. A good sign the GM isn't railroading here is that they take the decision out of their own hands, roll a dice, and abide by the dice's results. That's not proof, but it's definitely a factor that says the GM is just trying to make the game setting reasonable and immersive like a real living environment.

The real test of railroading is can you do it without getting caught. If the players can see the rails, then that's felonious railroading.

 

[MichaelSomething]

DMs don't railroad; they use their empowerment to create the best game possible via their judgement.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I will say that I am playing Tomb of Annihilation, and I am also using a companion to it that I downloaded from the DMs guild that has 30+ days worth of travel, in a row. So while Tomb has an entire "sandbox", this supplement gives a bunch of interesting encounters. I am running them straight up, instead of rolling...