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While I don't think it's rare... I mean, Paizo has built their entire business around it... there are plenty of times where it may make sense. You mention one... playing along so that a new GM can learn the ropes. Another could be to help new players learn the ropes. I've GMed for my kids a bit...

Well, if the GM alters reality, I may be annoyed by that. The setting and world should be reasonably consistent. This is why I think it makes sense to make a distinction between altering something.... taking A and making it B.... and establishing something... taking a blank spot and saying this...

Which was also the case with the runes. Again, I'm not talking about someone who controls every decision. I don't care about the caricature GM who's railroading everything every moment of play. I'm more concerned with instances of railroading during play. I'm more concerned with play that...

I don't see as strong a distinction between linear and railroad. They're metaphors... descriptors. And to me, they describe very similar things. Like... if I'm on an adventure path and I don't "get off the path" as you say, then my experience of play will basically be the same as a railroad...

No, I mean resistance to anything that doesn’t work as traditionally defined. Not D&D, and not leads… I said that trad play can enable railroading. I think there’sa meaningful difference. Like it's easier to railroad when target numbers aren’t known, stakes are unclear, GM authority is...

Okay, last time. Someone described the “Cunning Expert” feature as defining the character’s place in the game. You leapt at the chance to label such “one true way” as a railroad. Both @TwoSix and I said that it’s not a railroad, it’s a way for the player and GM to be on the same page about...

Okay… then what relevance is there in bringing it up? I didn’t bring it up… @Maxperson did. My thoughts are more in line with yours. It’s not something I’d ever do or expect anyone to do. Yet when this topic comes up, Max always feels the need to point out how far the GM’s authority goes per his...

Not by the players? Had they not asked about the farrier, you’d not have created him. How is that “not by the players”? To describe it your way… they made a suggestion and then you changed the fictional reality to add a farrier. The farrier’s existence was undetermined and then you changed the...

Because neither of us was talking about anything to do with trad play? We were very specifically talking about how a GM and player would likely be in alignment on what “Cunning Expert” in @pemerton ’s MHRP game was not an instance of there being”one true way” for that character and therefore not...

That I was not given a chance to say I wanted to be moving cautiously and stealthily. That I was not given a chance to detect the approaching NPCs; they were coming around the bend of a rounded corridor, and when they came into view, nothing about them was described as trying to be stealthy...

But did you as GM “change” the fiction? You said earlier in the thread that it meant the farrier had always been there. I don’t think it’s objectively bad. There’s a huge portion of the hobby that has embraced this style of play. They play adventure paths. I mean… as far as metaphors go, path...

These two things have nothing to do with each other. The “Cunning Expert” character trait in @pemerton ’s game helps define that character’s role and place in the game. You then made some kind of leap describing that as railroading.All I’ve been doing is pointing out how it’s not railroading...

Like your farrier? So what?

I’m not sure what a Share GM is. As for the split of authority amongst GM and players, that varies by game. It really depends on what the game calls for. Whenever my gaming group starts a new game, we discuss what our expectations are and how the game works and all of that, so everyone has an...

How do you know this? If someone was reading this thread and they had as little experience with games beside D&D and its close relatives as you do, why should they listen to what you have to say instead of what people who have experience with other games have to say?

I have no idea what you are talking about. I don’t see the connection you’re making between a GM and player being on the same page about the PCs role and theme, and whatever it is that you think that says about trad play and railroading. If the GM and player both understand what “Cunning...

Yes that’s true. No one said that it IS a railroad. The player and the GMbeing on the same page… in this case, both having a strong understanding of what “Cunning Expert” entails, is not a railroad. I don’t know exactly what you were thinking when you claimed it was… it’s a not a stance that...

No, not at all. Most of what a GM does falls under the umbrella of “acceptable GM authority”. No, I think that generally, players want their input to matter to play. To different degrees, of course, but still overall they want to influence play and not just play a part in the GM’s story, I...

They’re both examples of GM authority going further than the players would want. In the case of railroading, it’s possible some players may be for it, but generally speaking, it’s considered a negative. When I see people talk about how much authority the GM has and they provide examples, I...

I think @pemerton uses the word to describe a game that involves the players playing through the GM’s prepared story. Where the GM largely decides how things will go by predetermining everything… like what strange runes mean and how that will impact play. I think it’s much less about...