Boxed Text - A Railrod Sign, or Great tool for Immersion? Both?

[Obryn]

I like boxed text to set the stage, but as so many others have touched upon, I hate boxed text that tells the players how their characters feel or what their characters do. That's not my job, as a DM, unless they're under some form of enchantment.

-O

 

[pawsplay]

But then again, I don't have a problem with what a lot of people would call "railroading". I mostly prefer it, actually. To me, I like the feeling of knowing that the battle I'm about to fight was set up in advance with forethought as an epic conclusion to the storyline involving the missing princess. Even if it meant we were always supposed to find the princess in the abandoned warehouse eventually.

To me, it's not D&D unless there's a possibility of the princess ending up dead. Or issuing a vendetta against the party.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

To me, it's not D&D unless there's a possibility of the princess ending up dead. Or issuing a vendetta against the party.

Or both, and maybe even in that order.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

I try to avoid box texts in general, but I have used them on occassion. If I'm running a module, when I first started, I read the whole thing. Turns out most players just drown that out. Now, if there is boxed text, I just paraphrase what it says while maintaining eye contact.

That said, on two occasions I have used extensive "Box Texts" (as in one page printed from computer). Both were used to set up a mage test in my homebrew world that described the gathered mages sitting in the crowd watching them, then the heads of the orders addressing the test taker.

I probably should just outline it when I run a mage test in the future, but I wanted to use certain word phrases as clues and verbal cues, and I was afraid I would forget them if I just ad-libbed like normal.

 

[weem]

Last night I ran the 2nd session of my new campaign, the beginning of which was to start with a bit of boxed text (one of the reasons for making this post in the first place). I explained to the group the discussion here - that the majority find it distracting, boring, etc and that I wanted to make sure I was not putting people to sleep.

As I had mentioned before, my players said they liked it and they confirmed it again at this point - but the rest of the night was FULL of jokes about how I should not tell them they 'feel' this, or how they 'see' that. It was one of those things that gets pulled into a game and becomes a reoccurring theme that is good for a laugh each time. I even feigned reading boxed text in times where it would be completely inappropriate (during combat for example).

It was a fun night

What I've been doing in my own adventures -- especially those intended for other DMs, such as the game I ran at GenCon -- is to begin any encounter are with a list of sensory hooks. (I try to use at least three or four senses in any area.)

For example, in a caravanserai scene, for "Hooks," I'd write something like: "The smell of animal sweat and manure; the creaking of harnesses and ungreased axles; the shouting and darting from place to place of caravan personnel; mud underfoot; the sun breaking over the east gates."

I wanted to comment on this and apparently I haven't yet so...

...I like this idea, and as I consider myself to be pretty good at ad-libbing it would work well for me I think. Even last night when I decided I would not read the text exactly as it was, I quickly glanced at it, put it away and did it off the cuff which worked out just as well (if not better) than had I read it straight out. So, the idea of using some keywords to trigger my... motivation for the scene is probably a good way for me to go.

 

[S'mon]

Box text which tells me how I feel or act is bad boxed text IMO. The OP's sample is particularly bad. If used, it needs to be restricted to clear factual description.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

To me, it's not D&D unless there's a possibility of the princess ending up dead. Or issuing a vendetta against the party.

To each their own. But I've had too much experience with those games becoming really unfocused and boring:

Me: "Let me get this straight...the princess was dead because we didn't get there in time. Fine...so now the King wants us dead for failing in the mission to save her. So, we need to hide in this attic and avoid leaving because his guards might see us. We have no food and we'll be dead before they stop looking for us. This was fun. Shall we roll up new characters and start another game?"

DM: "Hey, don't look at me, I just let the dice fall as they may. You rolled low on your Spot check to see the kidnappers going into that building, so you didn't find them in time. Then you rolled low on that Diplomacy check when talking to the King. This was the only logical conclusion. What would you have me do, have the King forgive you even though you failed the roll?"

Me: "Yes, it would have been more fun."

Or at least, that tends to be the result of "letting things happen". Another time we spent nearly 2 sessions in a bar hitting on barmaids because one player REALLY wanted to get one to come up to his room and she didn't want to. But the DM didn't want to railroad us into leaving the bar...so we stayed there. Any action the DM took to change our minds would have been railroading(she already offered us 2 or 3 reasons to leave the bar, we rejected them all). It was great fun for the two players who wanted to be there. Not so much for the rest of us.

I use the existence of boxed text to show that railroading was ALWAYS an option that was intended. And that railroading has gotten a bad name over the years, but it is necessary to run a good game. I think extreme railroading is bad. I hate even using the word "railroading" except in the worst cases. I figure as long as I have at least 2 choices of what to do, it isn't railroading. Even if both choices lead to the same result.

 

[wedgeski]

I go back and forth on good old boxed text. In my early DM'ing days, I liked it when I saw it, and if it was generally well-written, I could rely on it to evoke what the author of the adventure intended. It was an oasis for me during a time when I was generally more self-conscious behind the screen.

But boy, over the years I've played and DM'd some boxed text that has stunk the place right out. I haven't read any of it verbatim for years, but I still like it to be there, because I can draw from it when describing the scene. If it's important enough to stick in a box (and why did 4E dispense with the box? I want the box!), it's important enough for me, the DM, to pay attention to and make sure the players are informed.

As for "railroading", well, I don't really want to go there again just yet. That word has become distorted beyond all meaning over the years.

 

[Oryan77]

I actually wish published adventures made in 3e had more boxed text (I don't know if 4e has them a lot...never read a 4e adventure). One thing that really helps me is when I read boxed text that describes what an NPC is doing, or what an NPC is saying. It gives me an idea for how to roleplay the character. If it is just some random character that is there only to drive a plot hook, but his dialogue makes him seem kinda witty or something, then it inspires me to play this character in a way I may not have considered. And sometimes the players latch on to the NPC and he begins to have a more major role in the game. This is one reason I like to run 2e adventures and convert them to 3.5....they have always had more fluff that inspired me to roleplay more. 3.5 adventures just seem too focused on combat and statistics.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Box text which tells me how I feel or act is bad boxed text IMO.

Agreed, with two exceptions:

(1) Word choice that implies mood: "The pit gapes before you like an open wound."

(2) When there is a magical effect that affects mood: "You find yourself feeling strangely attracted by the music. Roll a Will save."


As far as character dialogue goes, I have been known to write out a few sentences of sample NPC dialogue to capture a feel, a tone of voice, and/or info that I want to ensure I depart. Not a monologue, though.....just a few sentences to intersperse in conversation as it becomes appropriate.

RC