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Yeah. I wouldn't run or play in a game like that. If I want a game with reloads after a TPK, I'll play a video game.

Wisest, not most powerful. Olorin was asked because he was the wisest of the Istari. Saruman was more powerful than Gandalf when they arrived. Once he was corrupted, Saruman lost power and Gandalf the White was stronger. On the other hand, Saruman and Sauron are both artificers who served Aule...

Speaking for myself, the reason I've only put the world on the line a couple of times in 4 decades of DMing is because I'm not going to cheapen failure by bringing in NPCs or even other PCs to save the day. If the group fails a campaign like that, I would find a new world to DM in.

Saruman is also Maia and the ring would be the same for him as it would for Gandalf and Sauron. If the Fellowship died, you still have Elrond, Galadriel, Gildor Inglorion, Glorfindel and others to fight. The elves wouldn't just sit there and die.

Answer 3: Don't trust the necromancer and use other means to verify if he has the information or not. Answer 4: Gather allies to capture the necromancer and force him to talk. Answer 5: Give a fake artifact and and try to get the info out of the necromancer before he discovers that he was...

It's not the only difference. The players can leave a linear adventure layout, override it with something else, finish the adventure in a way the DM didn't think of, etc. With linear adventures, only the adventure prep is linear, the game play doesn't have to be.

A different adventure. It's pretty easy to improvise the start of something and then prep for what you started after the everyone goes home.

Right! What if I want to go with 1+3 or 0+4? Why force me down 2+2?!

There can be 12 smart solutions to something, only 8 of which are thought of by the module writer, and 1 of which is chosen as the next step in the linear process. I agree with you that linear isn't a railroad, but I balk at the idea that the module writer is writing THE smart way to proceed...

I'm getting caught up!

Dragonlance did it as well with the super ancient and senile red dragon who thought the human refugees were her dead(I think) children. Blanking on her name at the moment.

Linear refers to the adventure, not the characters. When the DM sets up a linear adventure, the way he writes down to get from A to Z is a line. That doesn't mean that is the only way to reach the end, or that the end even has to be reached. The characters might find or forge a different...

Take out the world "feel." It doesn't matter what the players feel. It matters what is. If they players feel like they only have the one thing to do, but there are several other things that they don't think of, it doesn't become a railroad just because they feel that way. There have been...

Sure you can. A plot is like a battle strategy. It only lasts intact until contact with the enemy. Breaking the plot doesn't mean abandoning it completely. It just means the DM has to flow with the agency displayed by the player and adapt the adventure to react to player decisions, not force...

100%. In a linear adventure I can walk off of the line, create new lines, or overwrite the existing line with lines of my own. With a railroad I can do none of that.

What I do with a published adventure(not adventure path) is I plug into my already running campaign. That automatically gives the players allies, resources, etc. in the game that can be brought to bear to figure things out or lend aid in the adventure, creating new avenues that the adventure...

Speaking from experience, it doesn't matter how the DM frames things. I'm always thinking of other ways to accomplish goals. The DM can't really frame an entire adventure such that there is just one sensible thing to do, at least not without being completely ham fisted like setting up a dungeon...

There can be deviation. The plot is set up in a line, but there are other ways for you to go. You can create your own lines if you think of things the DM didn't(quite common). You can walk away from the line completely. You can push the plot in directions the DM didn't consider. You can...