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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 3900839" data-attributes="member: 18280">And my point was that someone can agree about part of something, while pointing out the flaws of another part of that same thing.  But, no worries.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Imagine two possible options for action.  One has a quest card, the other does not.  The PCs automatically know that, if they choose the quest card option, that it is worth some amount of XP, and that if they do not, it is not.In Imaro's example, if returning stolen goods is worth some amount of XP X, where X is an unknown factor (but, depending upon how the rewards system is structured, possibly a knowable or estimatable factor like the XP from CR is in 3.X, whether or not it is written on the card), and fencing the loot is not worth XP, then the players are forced to choose between what the DM wants them to do (return the loot), and what they want to do (fence the loot) on the basis of XP.However, the root question is, why is the DM's quest goal (return the loot) worth XP, but the players' quest goal (fence the loot) not worth XP?  The DM's goals being given primacy over the player's goals is the root of all railroading.  So, I can easily see how some might view this as a codified form of railroading.  A better system, IMHO, would see the players setting quest goals, and the DM determing how much XP (if any) they were worth.And rewording the quest so that obtaining the stolen goods nets the XP instead of returning the treasure just changes the scope of the problem, rather than eliminating it.  What if the players want to do something that has nothing to do with stolen goods?Imagine that you were having this problem (<a href="http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3899444&postcount=1" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3899444&postcount=1</a>) with the Quest Card system.  It would be easy enough to prevent the PCs from visiting Chopper's Island -- just hand them quest cards that lead them elsewhere, along the trail of your prepared material.  The question is, though, is that what is best for the game?  Is that what best meets the needs of the players at your table?And those are valid questions, IMHO.RC</blockquote>

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