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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 4737359" data-attributes="member: 8835">Portable Hole.Nice choice of words. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />--------------------back on topicI don't analyze adventures and modules.&nbsp; While I agree there are traits in adventures that can lead to railroading, railroading happens during game time, not planning time. And yes, there are ways of planning the adventure that can encourage a DM to railroad, but ultimately, it's the DM running it that's doing the railroading (by not adjusting and adapting), not the adventure text.This why, the phrase &quot;I'll know it when I see it&quot; is apt.&nbsp; You'll see it in game play.When the GM runs events as, &quot;the party will be captured and brought to such and such&quot;, the GM is railroading.&nbsp; Even if the adventure has that written, it's the GM who should have adapted when the players found a way to prevent being captured.When the GM&nbsp; runs a scene as &quot;the guard will only open the door whent he party presents the real medallion&quot;, and he blocks any other viable and reasonable solution.&nbsp; Such as attacking the guard, charming the guard, forging a fake, freezing time, diplomacy/bluff/disguise, etc.&quot;Those are railroading mistakes that happen at the game table.&nbsp; Because railroading happens at the game table.When you buy an adventure, it comes with some plot hooks to integrate the party into the quest.&nbsp; It might come with a timeline of encounters that happen.&nbsp; These are all suggestions, based on a &quot;probable&quot; path a good party will go through.&nbsp; A good GM knows this, and as the party navigates the world, he adjusts encounters, delaying them, removing them, altering them based on what the party did in the last encounter, and what direction they chose to go.&nbsp; In each case, the mark of a good GM is that they change the future encounters based on the outcome of the past encounters, such that whatever happens next is rational, believable, and fair.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Janx, post: 4737359, member: 8835"] Portable Hole. Nice choice of words. :) -------------------- back on topic I don't analyze adventures and modules. While I agree there are traits in adventures that can lead to railroading, railroading happens during game time, not planning time. And yes, there are ways of planning the adventure that can encourage a DM to railroad, but ultimately, it's the DM running it that's doing the railroading (by not adjusting and adapting), not the adventure text. This why, the phrase "I'll know it when I see it" is apt. You'll see it in game play. When the GM runs events as, "the party will be captured and brought to such and such", the GM is railroading. Even if the adventure has that written, it's the GM who should have adapted when the players found a way to prevent being captured. When the GM runs a scene as "the guard will only open the door whent he party presents the real medallion", and he blocks any other viable and reasonable solution. Such as attacking the guard, charming the guard, forging a fake, freezing time, diplomacy/bluff/disguise, etc." Those are railroading mistakes that happen at the game table. Because railroading happens at the game table. When you buy an adventure, it comes with some plot hooks to integrate the party into the quest. It might come with a timeline of encounters that happen. These are all suggestions, based on a "probable" path a good party will go through. A good GM knows this, and as the party navigates the world, he adjusts encounters, delaying them, removing them, altering them based on what the party did in the last encounter, and what direction they chose to go. In each case, the mark of a good GM is that they change the future encounters based on the outcome of the past encounters, such that whatever happens next is rational, believable, and fair. [/QUOTE]

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