NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 6723352" data-attributes="member: 6801286">I agree on this as well. Say you have the players wander through the jungle, and then they stumble upon a mystical temple with a bunch of bad guys in it. You have a bunch of puzzles, traps, obstacles and fights, along with the usual treasure. But you can only do that so often, till the players start wondering "why is it there?". "Is there any point to all this?".Having a sandbox to explore is fun and all, but at some point I think most players hope to get some sense of connected events. When my players discovered an ancient cliff side city (a random encounter), I incorporated hints of the main plot in the dungeon. Ancient wall carvings revealed myths and legends, and told a story of a place that they had never heard of. A strange stone gate with eyes, in a stormy sea. And the dead being brought by ship before this gateway. It was a neat bit of flavor text, but the players knew right away that this wasn't just some random fluff text that I was throwing their way. And so they started investigating, and uncovered that the wall carvings referred to a legendary place at sea that is very difficult to find. They may choose to look for this place, or maybe they won't. Either way, I have stuff prepared for when that happens. I sprinkle bits of plot all over the place.And sometimes you simply have to push the story forward. My players expect not just freedom, but also plot twists and cliff hangers, like one might expect in an episode of Game of Thrones. This means sometimes killing off a beloved character unexpectedly, to raise the stakes. Is that railroading? I think we call that storytelling.When people talk about railroading, they often use the term as if it means 'any plot what so ever'. But as a DM you are not just a referee, but you are also a storyteller. Telling a story and having a plot, is not the same as railroading the players. A railroad suggests one direction, from A to B. But a plot in D&D does not have to be linear at all. The players can affect the outcome of the plot, or alter its course. That is not railroading. I think if you use the term 'railroading' to describe story, then you are using it incorrectly.</blockquote>

Verification