What is "railroading" to you (as a player)?

[Thomas Shey]

15 years ago, i would say - who cares about 30-40 minutes, let's talk it out, decide, agency is king. We played every week at least one 5-6 hour session and quite regularly another 3-4 hour session. Last 7-8 years, i would rather have DM hop in, use "force" to get things moving and actually play game since for most sessions i have hard cut off time, we play at best 25 sessions per year, sessions usually lasting 3-3.5h in total.

I also have to note that assuming in all cases it would only take 30-40 minutes would, IME, be optimistic. I've seen groups where that sort of discussion could be appallingly open-ended and/or end in no functional decision.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Also, people should definitely play with other people with whom they share certain preferences. But boy would I be put out if another player judged my roleplaying my character.

I'd suggest it happens pretty frequently. Its just that most of them are polite enough to keep it to themselves unless it seems to be disrupting the game in a way that impacts them.

 

[Reynard]

While immersion may not be the absolute last thing on the list for me, as far as things that I enjoy about TTRPGs, but it is pretty low. As such, trying to get just the right level of Sling Blade for my 7 Int fighter is not a priority.

 

[Fenris-77]

While immersion may not be the absolute last thing on the list for me, as far as things that I enjoy about TTRPGs, but it is pretty low. As such, trying to get just the right level of Sling Blade for my 7 Int fighter is not a priority.

Yup. For me it's not because I don't care about the low INT, per se, but that INT generally isn't why I'm playing a fighter. If I want to play a fighter I'm going spend most my roleplaying budget on fighter things, not on the low stats that may or may not index the less-important peripherals. I will try to occasionally gesture in the direction of a low INT, but I really don't care that much about it because it's not a core part of the character. For example, I might confine myself to clever plans that involve fighter stuff, at least in character, but that's about it. I'd probably do the same with a high INT fighter, because my focus is on 'fighter' not 'low INT'. In much the same way as I wouldn't expect a wizard with 3 STR to constantly mention how he can't lift stuff.

 

[Micah Sweet]

"X Int = 10X IQ" is from a 40 year old Dragon article, and doesn't represent the realities of modern neotrad play.

Character concept is the core for all PCs and NPCs, stats and classes and such are simply things we layer on to give them a resolution engine. The stats imply, but they do not model.

I cannot disagree more. Your subjective opinion about the purpose of stats is meaningful only to you. From my point of view, if stats don't model what they are specifically stated to represent, then there's no point to them at all.

 

[Fenris-77]

I cannot disagree more. Your subjective opinion about the purpose of stats is meaningful only to you. From my point of view, if stats don't model what they are specifically stated to represent, then there's no point to them at all.

I'd disagree. If we're talking about the theory and design of RPGs then a well-considered take on what stats are and do is very much something that matters to more than just the person with the opinion. I notice you don't hold yourself to this same standard when something at hand is important to the way you enjoy your games. Just saying.

 

[TwoSix]

But the player chose the concept and assigned the stats, so presumably they assigned them so that they match the concept and if they didn’t I certainly would see it as a failure on their part.

I mean, my general expectation (and what I do for my own 5e characters) is that a low stat (generally anything at <=7) will have some kind of explanation behind it.

But, the only thing that Intelligence (as an example) actually implements mechanically are a lower chance of success on Intelligence checks and Int saves, and the inability to wield scholarly magic (wizardly, artifice, other homebrew classes with Int as the casting stat) well.

A simple lack of book-learning (not uncommon in a pseudo-medieval world) or just not being able to think well under pressure (as most checks are in pressure situations) are easy ways to model a relatively low Int that don't require the character to be mentally deficient, and don't require the player to throttle their own personal ability to solves challenges while still maintaining their character's persona.

 

[TwoSix]

I cannot disagree more. Your subjective opinion about the purpose of stats is meaningful only to you. From my point of view, if stats don't model what they are specifically stated to represent, then there's no point to them at all.

Well, yes, but that's because you think modeling is a prerequisite for engaging RPG play. I do not share that viewpoint.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yup. For me it's not because I don't care about the low INT, per se, but that INT generally isn't why I'm playing a fighter. If I want to play a fighter I'm going spend most my roleplaying budget on fighter things, not on the low stats that may or may not index the less-important peripherals. I will try to occasionally gesture in the direction of a low INT, but I really don't care that much about it because it's not a core part of the character. For example, I might confine myself to clever plans that involve fighter stuff, at least in character, but that's about it. I'd probably do the same with a high INT fighter, because my focus is on 'fighter' not 'low INT'. In much the same way as I wouldn't expect a wizard with 3 STR to constantly mention how he can't lift stuff.

To me it doesn't matter if your stats aren't the most important part of your character to you. They exist and they're part of what makes up your PC. Not caring about them doesn't make them go away or reduce their influence.

 

[Reynard]

I really don't think GMs or other players at the table should be auditing one's roleplaying performance.