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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Retreater" data-source="post: 9467552" data-attributes="member: 42040">I started playing with AD&D 2nd edition back in 1990. Like many, I got many rules wrong at first (and probably continued to do so for years), but by the mid-1990s I had become a player in a regular campaign and was developing great memories. I would look back to those memories of the cornerstone of my life in RPGs, even today, as nostalgia makes me think of lasting campaigns, great character arcs, memorable villains, and emotional payoffs.I don’t think I realized how much of that experience was curated by DM fiat (aka fudging) and adventures designed to be complete railroads – both elements of gameplay that have been largely bemoaned in the past two decades. Granted, I didn’t spend a lot of time behind the screen until 3rd edition and later, so I didn’t really look “under the hood” much recently until this week.I’ll bring you up to speed. I’ve been invited to run a game for my friend’s birthday party out of town in a few weeks. He and his group are old-school style players. I’ve decided to run the adventure module[SPOILER="name of the adventure"]Web of Illusion[/SPOILER] that we never completed from the mid-1990s in that first campaign, in which we were both players. Granted, it is a Ravenloft adventure, which is already probably more linear and “story-driven” than more site-based adventures like “The Gates of Firestorm Peak” or something.Here are some elements that fly in the face of modern adventure design:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No matter what the party does, they will have this planned encounter scene with this monster.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The villain can see the party’s abilities within his lair and will send easy encounters at them to “play with them.”</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Keep throwing enemies at the party until they’re weak enough to be forced into joining forces with the NPC organization.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Convince the party their characters have an incurable disease so they have no choice but to go on the quest for the NPC organization to get the cure.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The party gets a MacGuffin that can kill the overpowered boss enemy with one hit. But whatever you do, the DM can’t let the first hit land, because that’s too easy. “Roll dice behind the screen and frown.”</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Here are Scenes 1-13. Make sure these play out basically in order.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the party tries to leave the adventure, magic fog keeps re-routing them to the right path.</li> </ul>So, yes, this is likely an extreme example of railroading from a product line that’s already known for taking away player agency. But (and here’s the big question) … should we do it? Should we go back to this style of game? Would our games feel more epic if we did? If they were better curated, more narrative, etc.? Would campaigns feel more satisfying?Was this the “proper” way of playing back in the day? Is this why OSR products are considered meat grinders? Because we were all cheating (by today’s standards)?</blockquote>

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