DM Issues: Railroading

[Isiolith]

I wanted to bring this up here before we brought it up with our DM so that we weren't just flying off the handle at him.

As a DM, ours is usually just fine. However, as of late (and especially in the session we played last night, which is why this is still fresh in my mind), it feels like, as a group, we're being heavily railroaded from point A to point B within the overarching plot without being given opportunities, in character, to agree with the decisions essentially being made for us; rather, we're just told (by Elminster at this point or whomever is "in charge" in whatever town we're in) to go find (insert antagonist-of-the-week) and kill him/her/it. As the group is a mercenary company currently finding itself in the middle of an all-out war between an evil mercenary company/the Zhentarim and an evil lich and his undead army, this is understandable plot development (that we'd be used to pick off minor antagonists one-by-one) but it doesn't feel like we're actually choosing to accept the contract--and mercs, if I understand correctly, don't have to accept every contract that is presented to them.

Short version: the plot is already written and we're being dragged along its path rather than letting our actions help write, drive, and direct the plot. Is there a polite way to bring this up with a DM without coming across as ungrateful and selfish? There are other things our characters would like to do (such as spend downtime to go over treasure acquired and create magic items that would be beneficial to our merc company and in the course of the overall war or retake one character's hometown) but the DM responds with lines like "well, you're in the middle of a war, so I don't know about spending downtime..." (even when real wars have campaign seasons so that groups can do things like this).

Any and all help/criticism is welcome. Thanks in advance for your time and responses.

 

[CharlesRyan]

I don't think there's anything impolite about what you've said here. The term "railroading" can be a bit inflammatory, but if you skip it I think your points are all reasonable. Just tell the GM that, as mercenaries, you feel like your characters should have the right to choose whether to take assignments. Maybe there's a war on, but if the characters are really mercenaries your participation in the war is voluntary.

Within the game, what would happen if you simply said "no"? Elminster says "go get this guy," and you say "find someone else; we've got something else we need to do right now."

 

[billd91]

I would expect mercenary groups to be able to approve their current patrons, but not necessarily their current assignment, if under long term contract. Refusing to do what the hand that pays the bills wants may get you unemployed.

Which would get you the downtime you want. AND it could set the campaign into a mode in which you are shopping around for short-term patronage which could bring in interesting role playing possibilities.

 

[Janx]

Ryan's points and tests are valid.

Other things to consider:
how much time is passing between sessions? You mention war taking place in seasons, that's Spring until Fall. Has this war even lasted a year?

are your PCs cold-blooded contract killers, or s? There's a war going on, and the good guys need your help. You're seriously going to go polish your money and dungeon delve when they're asking for your help to kill some people?

At the end of each session, has the GM asked you what you plan to do next?
If not, he's writing himself into a boxcar.

the problem being, if you go try to explore some random dungeon, he's not going be prepared, and you're risk of railroady behavior will increase. He'll thwart your attempts to alter course and worse, force you to go on his mission that he wrote material for.

Additionally, in-game, whenever there's big problems afoot, you have to consider that you really don't have a choice. People of action are where the action is. While the nerds may still stay in their labs researching new things, men of action go where the action is. Plus. it's a freaking war. What person goes spelunking when there's a tsunami headed their way.

 

[Ravilah]

I agree with Janx, and would suggest that at the end of next session tell your DM, "Hey, next session we all intend to [insert plans]." No need to make it a request, really. Then the DM has time to plan for it, and you are in control of the next direction.

 

[Jimlock]

Avoiding the railroad is the most difficult part of being a DM...BY FAR.

It requires that:

1-The DM is creative and that he has a talent in improvisation.

2-The DM has enough time to prepare (a multitude of choices the character's MIGHT choose).

3-The DM is a good storyteller/liar in order to make it less evident when he does it. (No matter how good he actually is, he WILL do it, every once in a while).

Expecting to play in a campaign that is not railroady AT ALL is like asking for god as a DM.

...That is not to say that it's impossible...just that it's very difficult.



.......My point is: Tell him. Outright. Doesn't really matter if you employ the word "railroady" in your argument. He's a DM, he knows exactly what you are talking about.

Just tell him that he needs to improve in that sector. No harm done.

As I said above: He's a DM. He knows exactly what your objection is about no matter how smoothly you bring it to him. If he's a good DM he'll try to improve. If he's a jerk... then he's a jerk.

Let's not forget that a DM is no god and that players can be just as judgmental on the DM's style of play, just as the DM has the right to be judgmental about his players' play.

Let's also not forget that the DM spends more time on his own reading/preparing, than all his players do so combined together. This fact alone should earn him your respect.

Be respectful, but also ask your DM to overcome his own self and create a story worth remembering.

 

[Isiolith]

[MENTION=5265]CharlesRyan[/MENTION]: I suppose the question to be answered then is whether we took a contract that is binding us to the participation in the war (thus voluntarily participating) or were just swept up into it by the Great Whirlwind of Plot Development (and are, as you say, involuntarily participating)? Being straightforward (“no, we’ve just exhausted all our resources and need time to recoup”) as you say could also work…

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[MENTION=3400]billd91[/MENTION]: As I said in the above response, I suppose we need to take a look at whatever contract is binding us to this war and see if it is long-term or not; if we’ve been swept up and are doing something we’re not under contract for (and, consequently, aren’t getting paid for), then we might just need to bite the hand that feeds. The DM is always asking for more involved roleplaying (before myself and my significant other joined, the group was largely…not anti-roleplaying but far from being good at it, we’ll just say, so the DM’s not used to having people who actually like roleplaying), so perhaps getting ourselves into these short-term bursts you speak of would help?

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[MENTION=8835]Janx[/MENTION]: Real-world time? One week (we play every Sunday). In-game time? We usually pick up right where the previous session left off, so minutes at the least, hours at the most. The most significant jump was when we switched DM’s for a while that trapped us in an alternate world for twenty years (though for the PC’s it was only a couple weeks), during which the war really erupted; we’ve only been involved for a few months at this point, though, if that (save for one PC).

I don’t know if you’d classify us as assassins as that’s not all we do (although a fair majority of our contracts given that it’s wartime have been to take out particular marks in the enemy ranks). And no, we definitely don’t want to dungeon-delve, but being able to obtain items that will enable us to better perform our contractual duties would be worth the time invested, no? Besides, there are other knights in Myth Drannor (where we’re currently based) that could go on missions; we just happen to be the most powerful (17-19, level-wise).

No, at the end of each session, the DM does not ask us what we want to do, which is where the group’s perception of railroading is coming in. It’s usually that we’re told what we’re going to do, because Elminster (acting as the voice of the DM) tells us where to go. Though I don’t DM, I completely understand your point about having to follow the basic arc that he’s set out and for which he’s planned material—but he’s not giving us any flexibility when we do follow the course he’s laid out; part of DMing, at least as I see it (and correct me if I’m wrong) is structuring a basic plot arc and planning material but also being able to think on the fly and be flexible if your players don’t follow exactly what you’ve planned.

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[MENTION=19383]Ravil[/MENTION]iah: Being straightforward. Got it. J

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[MENTION=6674931]Jimlock[/MENTION]: Like in my original post, I guess I (though certainly not some of our other members) am afraid of being critical of him for fear of him thinking it’s a slight on him as a person, much less a DM—everyone screws up once in a while. I certainly don’t expect him to be a god of any sort and most definitely have the utmost respect for him both as a person and as a DM. As I write this, I’m finding myself thinking about why my character is even still traveling with this group of people—which has nothing to do with the DM and everything to do with me needing to reevaluate my character’s priorities and get together with the DM to throw some of those in there so I feel more invested as a player.

 

[pawsplay]

As a DM, ours is usually just fine. However, as of late (and especially in the session we played last night, which is why this is still fresh in my mind), it feels like, as a group, we're being heavily railroaded from point A to point B within the overarching plot without being given opportunities, in character, to agree with the decisions essentially being made for us; rather, we're just told (by Elminster at this point or whomever is "in charge" in whatever town we're in) to go find (insert antagonist-of-the-week) and kill him/her/it.

So look for another angle. In some cases, people hop onto a self-fulfilling railroad. I've had players make quips before about "following the plot point" or "clicking the glowie" when I honestly had no idea how to anticipate what they would do next and I was prepared to improvise.

 

[Tamlyn]

As everyone else has said, you need to sit down and have a non-confrontational conversation. You need to talk about your perceptions. You perceive that the DM has you on rails. It sounds like the DM perceives that you're not really immersed in what's going on in the game-world.

Like [MENTION=15538]pawsplay[/MENTION] mentioned above, sometimes the DM tries to give the players something, anything, to do if they don'y have a good feeling for where the PCs want to go.

Open, honest, respectful communication cures all ills.

 

[Stoat]

Several years ago, one of my buddies came up to me between sessions and said, "Hey, the guys asked me to tell you that they've been feeling a little railroaded lately. They want to do more of their own thing." He was right. I had been railroading the party, pretty egregiously actually. I tried to fix the situation after we talked.

So my suggestion is do that. Bring it up with the DM outside of gametime. Be cool about it. Have some idea what else you want to do.