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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8695133" data-attributes="member: 6790260">I would not do this. If they chose to go to the library before going to the market, the encounter would happen without them. If they delayed going off to an important location, the world goes on without them. I won't be a HUGE stickler over time things because I don't want to be a dick. But if they intentionally delay on something they know is important, e.g. repeatedly putting off addressing a known threat (as my group did with the black dragon gang), that threat becomes more dangerous.It's really very simple. Are you telling me my choices actually matter? This is a yes or no question. Either you are, or you aren't. Do my choices actually matter when they seem to matter? This is again a yes or no question. Either they do, or they don't. If you're telling me that seemingly-meaningful choices matter, but in fact they do not matter, then that is deceptive. It literally could not possibly get any simpler.Are (at least some) player choices presented as being actually meaningful? Yes/NoAre those choices that are presented as meaningful actually meaningful? Yes/NoExtra credit: Do you conceal the evidence that would reveal that the seemingly-meaningful choices aren't? Yes/NoIf the answer is "yes" to the first question and "no" to the second, it is deceptive, period, end of discussion. If the answer to the extra credit question is also yes, then it's not only deceptive, it's actively covering up that deception, continuously. Few people like being deceived. Even fewer like finding out that someone has worked to deny them even the possibility of discovering the deception.If the answer is "no" to the first question then while it might not be deception anymore, you're not very likely to attract a lot of players. Telling people straight-up, "It doesn't matter what choices you make, the events will play out as I want them to," is...well, you CAN do that, but I don't think you'll be very successful. There's a reason so many people who advocate for fudging and/or railroading out there explicitly say that you should never allow your players to find out that you do it. Likewise, if you don't conceal the fact that you're offering choices that appear to be meaningful but are in fact meaningless, I strongly suspect you're going to have at least one upset player sooner rather than later, and the results area not likely to be pretty--so if your answers are Yes/No/No, I don't expect you to have much success as a DM.Yes/No/Yes is deceptive, and thus unstable--if you slip up, you're likely to have upset players--but it is at least an unstable equilibrium. Yes/Yes/(N/A) is not deceptive, and thus stable. You aren't telling your players that a given choice is meaningful when it isn't, and thus there is nothing to "slip up" on, no hidden truth to be revealed because the surface appearance is the truth.I used the phrase "immoral or inappropriate" for a reason. I would appreciate not being selectively quoted.</blockquote>

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