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<blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 6075339" data-attributes="member: 67">Lesson 19: Trust your players to solve their own problems.We've all heard the phrase, &quot;railroading,&quot; and the general consensus is that it is a &quot;bad thing.&quot;&nbsp; But why is that, and how does a DM who's short on prep-time avoid it?I'm not going to comment on whether or not &quot;railroading&quot; in general is good or bad; instead, I'm going to point out a few ways that relying on the practice will make your life as a DM (particularly a low-prep DM) more difficult.First, players tend to push back when they feel they have no meaningful options.&nbsp; This means that the DM must put more and more work into keeping players' interest and excitement levels high.&nbsp; It also means that the players are likely to rebel, which, in turn, means that the DM will have to work that much harder to keep the game &quot;on track.&quot;&nbsp; This is death spiral that ends in burnout.Second, &quot;railroading&quot; is, at it's core, micromanagement.&nbsp; What often begins with the fear that the DM won't be able to deal with whatever unexpected complications the players come up with leads to over-planning to prevent them.&nbsp; Fear of the unexpected is a legitimate concern, but I promise you, your time could be better spent!So what do you do to prevent it?&nbsp; Well, if you've been following along, I've already suggested a few things:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?316091-Full-time-DM-Part-time-Prep&amp;p=5768802&amp;viewfull=1#post5768802" target="_blank">Don't plot.&nbsp; Hook!</a>&nbsp; If you remember that the plot is something that the PCs make out of the setting you provide, you shouldn't have any fear that the PCs will derail it—they couldn't if they tried!Remember to <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?316091-Full-time-DM-Part-time-Prep&amp;p=5768818&amp;viewfull=1#post5768818" target="_blank">listen to the players.</a>&nbsp; If you do this effectively, it will be difficult to be truly surprised by anything the PCs come up with.Furthermore (and, in my opinion, more importantly), remember that <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?316091-Full-time-DM-Part-time-Prep&amp;p=5768821&amp;viewfull=1#post5768821" target="_blank">if the question is, “Can I do [something that's cool],” the answer is “Yes!”</a>So, what else can you do?&nbsp; Incorporate the unexpected!&nbsp; When something does throw you for a loop, don't view it as an obstacle; view it as a challenge, perhaps, but certainly an opportunity!&nbsp; This gives you a chance to do something fantastic!&nbsp; Roll with it!Finally, have no fear!&nbsp; I don't care how smart you are, your players (collectively) are going to be able to come up with more (and, often, better) solutions to any given predicament than you are.&nbsp; You shouldn't waste your time coming up with a myriad of solutions for them, at all!&nbsp; At most, create one very general solution to use in case they get stuck.&nbsp; Above all, trust them to come up with their own and when they do, don't shut them down!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rune, post: 6075339, member: 67"] [b]Lesson 19: Trust your players to solve their own problems.[/b] We've all heard the phrase, "railroading," and the general consensus is that it is a "bad thing." But why is that, and how does a DM who's short on prep-time avoid it? I'm not going to comment on whether or not "railroading" in general is good or bad; instead, I'm going to point out a few ways that relying on the practice will make your life as a DM (particularly a low-prep DM) more difficult. First, players tend to push back when they feel they have no meaningful options. This means that the DM must put more and more work into keeping players' interest and excitement levels high. It also means that the players are likely to rebel, which, in turn, means that the DM will have to work that much harder to keep the game "on track." This is death spiral that ends in burnout. Second, "railroading" is, at it's core, micromanagement. What often begins with the fear that the DM won't be able to deal with whatever unexpected complications the players come up with leads to over-planning to prevent them. Fear of the unexpected is a legitimate concern, but I promise you, [i]your time could be better spent![/i] So what do you do to prevent it? Well, if you've been following along, I've already suggested a few things: [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?316091-Full-time-DM-Part-time-Prep&p=5768802&viewfull=1#post5768802]Don't plot. Hook![/url] If you remember that the plot is something that the PCs make out of the setting you provide, you shouldn't have any fear that the PCs will derail it—they couldn't if they tried! Remember to [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?316091-Full-time-DM-Part-time-Prep&p=5768818&viewfull=1#post5768818]listen to the players.[/url] If you do this effectively, it will be difficult to be truly surprised by anything the PCs come up with. Furthermore (and, in my opinion, more importantly), remember that [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?316091-Full-time-DM-Part-time-Prep&p=5768821&viewfull=1#post5768821]if the question is, “Can I do [something that's cool],” the answer is “Yes!”[/url] So, what else can you do? Incorporate the unexpected! When something [i]does[/i] throw you for a loop, don't view it as an obstacle; view it as a challenge, perhaps, but certainly an opportunity! This gives you a chance to do something fantastic! Roll with it! Finally, [i]have no fear![/i] I don't care how smart you are, your players (collectively) are going to be able to come up with more (and, often, better) solutions to any given predicament than you are. You shouldn't waste your time coming up with a myriad of solutions for them, at all! At most, create one [i]very[/i] general solution to use in case they get stuck. Above all, trust them to come up with their own [i]and when they do, don't shut them down![/i] [/QUOTE]

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