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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 4714695" data-attributes="member: 8835">Let's avoid devolving into a railroading thread.  I'd assume that "if" this were a railroad, it's only bad or noticeable when it doesn't go where the players want to go, and they can't get off.So to prevent that:"Chekov's Gun": show them the gun in act 1, use the gun in act 3.  You see this ALL the time in sci-fi.  Nerd-guy is working on new device that's unimportant to the problem.  Then in the last act, somebody gets the idea to use his new unfinished device to solve the problem and save the day.The point, is the players are fed the solution early, they see it.  They have a chance to think of it when it matters (and feel clever about it).  By showing them the bad guy, they know who the bad guy is, so they can have that "aha!" moment of figuring out the bad guys is the bad guy.  It also frames the show.  Everybody in the episode is important, even the gentleman you met in act 1, who had nothing to do with the case.All Roads Lead To Rome: (I made that up, sort of)Every clue leads some where useful.  The NPCs follow the dead ends, and miss the clues, the PCs find the real clues.  This makes sure that what they find is useful, and leads them to the next scene.This also means, that if the party goes the wrong direction, you shift things so it looks like they made the right choice, so you can connect them up to the next scene.Note: Do NOT do this if the party is trying to get off the train.  Then you would have a railroad.  Use this technique for when the party is TRYING to solve the problem, but simply thought of something you didn't, or made a wrong guess, and are going the wrong way.</blockquote>

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