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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 9254418" data-attributes="member: 1210">If the pcs cannot deviate from, or even abandon, and AP, I would say that yes, I think it's bad for the game. The best APs- for instance, the Savage Tide from late 3e-era Dungeon Magazine- attempt to anticipate what the pcs will do without forcing them to do it. You might set up a situation that you really want to go off the way you've planned, but you have to accept that the pcs might circumvent it, join the other side, or short-circuit the situation by (for example) killing the bad guy early.IF nobody minds that they're there, sure, but that is not always true. I have been in, and run, many games where the pcs clearly want to derail the train.It's superior for some groups. I am happy to admit that the strictest railroad imaginable is perfect for some other groups. But as the freedom to make meaningful choices is a crucial element of what makes a good RPG (at least in my mind, to my tastes, and in my experience), I do think that robbing the pcs of that ability is bad for the game as a whole. Presenting a railroad with no option to get off the train is bad. Offering a railroad while letting the pcs have the option to leave it is fine.Sounds like you're threading the needle pretty well to me.  One other thing I'd like to mention is the definition of "campaign". It has shifted a lot over the years. Now, it usually means "a set of adventures that one group runs through to completion", but I prefer it's more classical meaning- a milieu that pcs adventure in, especially a persistent one that encompasses multiple groups over time (and sometimes at the same time). My campaign has been running since the 1980s. Don't have time to build a whole world? Well, if you're constantly adding to a setting that you have been developing for years, you've already done much of the work. I advance time and change the setting as we go, but it's still the same campaign- the same setting- and the rich and deep history that it has helps the players feel like it's 'real' to their characters. Sure, the players I run for these days are largely different from those I ran for in the 80s (although over the last few years, one of the first players I ever had has rejoined our group), but when they ask me why something is how it is in the setting, I have an answer that is steeped in actual play experience. I think there's a lot to be said for having a world that is persistent, especially if it's big enough that you can always start things in a new area if you want something fresh.</blockquote>

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