Do Plot-Based Adventures Necessarily Involve 'Railroading'?

[Crothian]

It's the style I use most commonly myself, but it is still limiting. They can't branch until given options A, B, and C, and then those options can only lead to outcomes X, Y, and Z. Unfortunately, plots aren't like a dungeon where you can't diverge until the DM says there's a corridor. In-character, there are ALWAYS multiple paths.

And it takes a good DM to be able to handle that. But luckily it is one of those things that pricatice helps with, so if people that want to develope the style all they need to do is start trying and learning.

 

[Akrasia]

... To create believable drama, there often needs to be some structure, but I would not necessarily call this plot.

I agree that 'structure' is important. But there is a difference between having a structured 'setting' for adventures, and a linear plot that needs to be followed by the players.

In my own 'homebrew' campaigns I usually have 3-5 overarching potential plots. After the campaign gets going, based on the players' actions, only 1-2 actually get developed. This worked extremely well with my last group.

However, with increasing time constraints, I'm looking for less 'prep-intensive' ways to run campaigns.

In the past, I normally either came up with my own adventures, or radically redesigned the ones I purchased.

Now, however, I guess I'm looking for a 'middle ground' -- I want tools that will save me time (e.g. a basic setting, stats, maps, etc.), but the room to improvise and come up with plots in response to my players' actions (rather than pushing them along a certain path).

 

[Akrasia]

Yes that is my point. But it does take more then beign a good DM it also takes a bit of time and creativity and possibly luck that the module can fit into a campaign.

Creativity I think I have (though perhaps I'm just deluding myself). This is why I like 'bare bones' or 'open' modules (like Bone Hill, the old ICE campaign settings, City-State of the Invincible Overlord, etc.). They let me come up with my own adventures, while saving me some of the tedium of writing up stats, drawing maps for different inns and ruins, etc.

So ... time I don't have so much of (and the time I do have, I would rather not spend on what I consider 'chores').

 

[Akrasia]

... As a DM, I've never thought of myself as storyteller. I create "situations" that PCs are either thrust into, or choose to get involved in. What manner of involvement they choose is up to them. Often, the situation is a conflict between two entities. The PCs nearly always have their choice of sides, and the outcome is usually as much a mystery to me as it is to them. ...

I agree very much with this. At any rate, it certainly describes my own experiences as a GM. More precisely, my best GM experiences have been in sessions where I don't know the outcome at all ahead of time.

My favourite campaigns have been those where the story went in a direction I didn't really anticipate -- players acting on stuff I gave them, but running with it in an unanticipated direction.

 

[The Shaman]

I prefer to create site-based as opposed to plot-based adventures - here's the environment, have at it.

I don't recall ever having a problem making a campaign out of site-based adventures - I have encountered players who are hopelessly adrift in this kind of campaign however. They just don't know what to do without someone tugging on their noses.

I don't enjoy adventures that self-consciously, purposefully begin and progress with a story already determined - that means I'm only there to roll dice at the plot points.

 

[Steel_Wind]

There's railroading and then there's *railroading*.

It's all a matter of style more than substance I think. But style counts large in terms of player enjoyment.

Any campaign arc is necessarily path based and inherently "railroadish" in nature. That does not mean that it needs be inept and to jolt the player from the enjoyment of the game by constantly revealing the man behind the curtain. For DMs, it is a learned skill. (the DMG II has a few things to say on this in Chapter 2)

It's more a matter of accommodating different and unexpected player choices and still keeping things reasonably on track and seamless that defines a good railroad from an inept one.

I believe the a strong plot focussed campaign with an artfully done railroad is the very height of DMing and provides the strongest enjoyment and fondest memories for characters.

At the same time - there are players who get simply *incensed* with the idea that ANY pre-planned adventure is afoot at the table. Once they smell it, they take it as a challenge to their freedom and go out of their way to ignore anyhitng that smells of pre-planned adventure.

I had a plyer like this once; my best friend as it so happened. We don't game together anymore.

It comes down to a matter of preferred style.

Story focused = good; railroad = bad
plot =good; metaplot = bad

Certain terms tend to be used in the pejorative, others in the positive.

That's a pretty clear indication that politics and values are behind the analysis and terminology.

 

[Quickleaf]

What is everyone's opinion on using a flowchart of sorts for plot- or event- based adventures, like was suggested in the DMG and used (only) in Speaker In Dreams.

Y'know, treating decisions and events like corridors and rooms in a dungeon, for the DM's ease.

I definitely use flowcharts, but mine tend to get very convoluted. Also, I hardly ever use dungeon/palace maps, though I use city and country maps quite a bit; my games are political and often philosophical so the freeform nature of flowcharts suits them well. In other games I could see a flowchart getting reduced to a linear adventure.

 

[Akrasia]

I prefer to create site-based as opposed to plot-based adventures - here's the environment, have at it...

Yes, I quite agree. I like this style of campaign.

... I have encountered players who are hopelessly adrift in this kind of campaign however. They just don't know what to do without someone tugging on their noses...

I've found it helpful to emphasize to players in such situation that it is part of their job to determine the direction of the campaign. (I've found similar pedagogic techniques useful in freshman seminars -- strange how teaching and GM'ing can be so similar.)

Usually, with a bit of encouragement, the players get the message.

 

[Dark Jezter]

I DM, but my players are actually the ones who write the story. I just give them some hooks, an ultimate goal, and let them figure out the best way to get it done. This has resulted in some surprisingly good and unforseen storylines (for example, one character that I actually intended to be a one-time-use NPC for a single session has since become one of the party's most important contacts and sponsors) as well as a lot of very fun sessions.

I loathe railroading, having played under two different DMs (who also both happened to be aspiring fantasy authors, interestingly enough) who were quite obviously more concerned with telling their own pre-scripted story than running a game that was enjoyable to be a part of. Lucky, each one of those campaigns only lasted a single session because they group wasn't happy with their lack of freedom.

 

[the Jester]

Imho, it's tricky but possible to have a heavily plot-driven adventure without railroading. The key is knowing your group and what motivates them.

You have to finesse the pcs into following the plot, rather than beating them over the head with it. It helps to be flexible enough to adapt your stuff to lead the pcs to the end you want while allowing them to choose the path to the end. Better still is knowing the group well enough that you can preplan the path based on predicting which way they'll jump.

This works best if you know the players and the characters before you start the heavily plot-dependent stuff. For instance, my games' plots are typically driven by the pcs' actions. I'm currently running a low-magic experimental campaign that is significantly more plot-driven than usual (one of the many experiments involved ) and, after the first few sessions, I think I have a good enough handle on the pcs to predict where they're going next.

So far I've been right on the money, but I know that sooner or later I'll have to adjust in a hurry and play it off (*whistles* nothing to see here, move along).