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Sure, but I think we can focus on what you offered in the examples and don’t really have to worry about a broad application oftbe term. The GM forcing things in a certain direction is railroading. If he’s clumsy about it, it’s very obvious. If he’s clever about it, it may be nearly...

Did you play D&D or Dark Sun in the 2e era? Comments like these make it seem very much like you did not. Not only that… the setting has a built in explanation for the appearance of any race at all: the Pristine Tower. It’s an ancient structure that mutates beings wounded within miles of it...

For many folks, artful railroading is no better than clumsy railroading. It’s the railroading itself that is the issue… not how well it’s done.

I GM and/or play with two groups. The first consists of friends I’ve had for decades, and we’ve been playing RPGs together since we were kids. The second consists of people I play online with that I met here on EN World. We’ve played together long enough and chatted often enough that I also...

There's a big difference between a house rule that's adopted to better fit the needs of the group, or to fill a gap in the rules that the group has found would be better served by having a specific rule, and house rules that are used by the GM to make their railroading more artful.

Oh I think it’s a lot more sword and sorcery than Greyhawk. Or at least, the S&S is a lot harder to avoid in Dark Sun. Is the tone different than most of D&D these days? Yeah, I agree it is. All the more reason for the setting. By creating all kinda of adversity for the PCs to oppose. PCs...

I'll be able to show you one soon when you get moderated for challenging moderation!

I’m a fan of the setting, and have been since I first bought the original boxed set as a kid. I have fond memories of playing and running the game back then. I’ve found Dark Sun to be one of the more interesting settings produced by TSR/WotC because it’s the most different from the other...

Yeah, if you find any examples, please share them. I have some ideas about what the reasons may be, but I’d rather hear what others had to say first.

This is something I’ve done since the 2e days, at least. I had the players provide with their character concepts and then we discussed them and then I actively incorporated elements of each character into my prep. I made connections between the characters and the setting, and then further...

What, you don’t love watching players turtle at the slightest indication of a trap? Characters hurl themselves at dragons and giants and so on… but the mere possibility of a poison dart grinds the game to a halt.

In my experience, it means where the goals of play are chosen by the players. Or if there’s a goal of play determined by the premise of the game, then it's broad enough to allow players to choose how to achieve that goal. I think that notion is mistaken. I think that sandbox play can indeed be...

I've been watching this thread, but haven't commented yet. In recent conversations that touched on railroads and linear adventures, I was a poster who said there was not much functional difference. And I still feel that way... as far as experiences go, the GM having a pre-determined scenario...

In anticipation of this show, I watched Alien and Aliens with my 11 year old and 7 year old. Dad of the year!! The show is definitely off to a good start. I like the characters. The hybrid characters genuinely seem like kids, particularly Wendy. Stdney Chandler does a great job. I’m not sure...

Sure! And when I post on trauma boards, I mention that! It’s not quite that layered. Like… the character you’re playing is a one from the real world. That character isn’t really pretending to be anyone else so much as they’ve adopted/inherited/been granted the abilities and role of one of the...

Oh Literal Larry! You’re such a scamp!

One is visible to the players, the other is not. One is set, the other is not. This sounds more like a quality of yours rather than the game. And it remains a flawed approach to comparison. I believe you said it “happens all the time”, which I expect was not meant literally, but to me...

Sorry, missed this bit in my last reply. We’re talking about map and key resolution, right? That covers a wide swath of play… including a lot of adventure path play, which is arguably the dominant form of play in the entire hobby, let alone the trad sphere. Now again… I’m not saying that map...

Wow, that’s really odd. I mentioned constraints being useful for creativity. The players decided to climb a wall rather than take either of the two obvious approaches. You said there was less info about climbing the wall than the other options… specifically about what the guards’ response...

But players don’t do that without a progress clock? Well, if the module doesn’t expect this is possible, how did you know it was more difficult? Also, I wouldn’t call climbing the wall of a keep all that surprising. That you were forced to respond creatively demonstrates how the players’...