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<blockquote data-quote="DinoInDisguise" data-source="post: 9659459" data-attributes="member: 7045806">Your biggest issue for the &quot;railroading,&quot; assuming you don't intend to do that, is that you are planning actions and not events.Starting right with line 1 in this example.You can remove the railroad here by simply not prepping them traveling to the mine. Instead prep what attracts them to the mine. This turns a rail road into a lead. Most players will follow leads, so you will likely end up with what you want anyways. In case they don't, plan another lead. Sometimes in the first session I have a half dozen of the things.IN the second bullet, we read;This is a railroad. It's a railroad because you are planning PC actions directly. This one is also fixable. Instead of planning the action, plan a step back from the action. Give an indication earlier in the session, maybe a poem about a golden panther figurine, where the panther is upside down. Have the poem sound important, and have the item &quot;show up&quot; in the town with the mine. Inscribe this poem on a tavern table, or have it on a piece of paper on a desk.This isnt a railroad, when prepped a step removed from the player choice, because they keep the ultimate choice. Here if they steal the item and fail, the imprison is fine. If they steal the item and succeed you have your macguffin, and the campaign writes itself.You can do this all the way down. Back your prep up a bit. Prep the situation and events, not the choice itself. And then foreshadow and hint at the choice you want through worldbuilding. You will dodge the railroading, get what you want, and your players will compliment the level of detail and forethought.,I hope that helps.EDIT: Welcome to the boards. Its a pretty fun place.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DinoInDisguise, post: 9659459, member: 7045806"] Your biggest issue for the "railroading," assuming you don't intend to do that, is that you are planning actions and not events. Starting right with line 1 in this example. You can remove the railroad here by simply not prepping them traveling to the mine. Instead prep what attracts them to the mine. This turns a rail road into a lead. Most players will follow leads, so you will likely end up with what you want anyways. In case they don't, plan another lead. Sometimes in the first session I have a half dozen of the things. IN the second bullet, we read; This is a railroad. It's a railroad because you are planning PC actions directly. This one is also fixable. Instead of planning the action, plan a step back from the action. Give an indication earlier in the session, maybe a poem about a golden panther figurine, where the panther is upside down. Have the poem sound important, and have the item "show up" in the town with the mine. Inscribe this poem on a tavern table, or have it on a piece of paper on a desk. This isnt a railroad, when prepped a step removed from the player choice, because they keep the ultimate choice. Here if they steal the item and fail, the imprison is fine. If they steal the item and succeed you have your macguffin, and the campaign writes itself. You can do this all the way down. Back your prep up a bit. Prep the situation and events, not the choice itself. And then foreshadow and hint at the choice you want through worldbuilding. You will dodge the railroading, get what you want, and your players will compliment the level of detail and forethought., I hope that helps. EDIT: Welcome to the boards. Its a pretty fun place. [/QUOTE]

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