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<blockquote data-quote="MonkeyDragon" data-source="post: 3361859" data-attributes="member: 23929">How I define railroading:When there is only one story, one possible course of action, one option.&nbsp; The road is ahead of you.&nbsp; You must go down the road to the X and do the Y.&nbsp; Any actions that conflict fail, for whatever reason.&nbsp; There are no choices.&nbsp; I'm not talking about &quot;The DM prepared this adventure so it is only polite to play the adventure the DM prepared.&quot;&nbsp; I'm talking about &quot;Hey, if we circle around, we can attack from the rear and be completely unexpected!&quot;&nbsp; &quot;You can't do that.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Why not?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;You just can't.&quot;The characters have no impact on the world around them.&nbsp; The DM has a story to tell, and damned if s/he's going to let the PCs get in the way.&nbsp; NPCs react the same way no matter how the PCs act towards them.&nbsp; NPCs are so powerful (one and all) that there are no means of resisting them.&nbsp; It takes five days to travel to the dungeon.&nbsp; &quot;Oh, we'll get everybody horses so we arrive faster and have more time to stave off impending world badness.&quot;&nbsp; It still takes five days to get there.&nbsp; We're only supposed to have three days to save the world, so three days we shall have.&nbsp; We get to within a hair's breadth of killing one of the BBEGs early, and the DM out and out says &quot;I don't care, I'm making a plot decision, he gets away.&quot;I have no problem, however, with DMs who nudge, who point out that &quot;hey...the plot is over there...&quot; or who present a choice between a good option and several bad options, or even just several bad options.&nbsp; Sometimes you have to choose between the rock and the hard place.&nbsp; At least you get to choose.&nbsp; I don't have a problem with a flexible plot that makes sure the party is at the right place at the right time no matter which road they take.&nbsp; If I have a choice between the left and right fork, and don't know what's at the end of either, I will never know or care that the DM was just going to put the dungeon at the end of the road.&nbsp; However, if I know the dungeon is at the right fork, I've done research indicating the right fork, and I choose the left fork because I want to avoid the dungeon, sticking the dungeon there anyway doesn't set well with me.Personally, I should probably nudge more often.&nbsp; My players gladly pick up hooks...but they tend to shilly shally around a bit.&nbsp; Once they're on the road, they're good.&nbsp; I started the current season of my campaign at the beginning of December.&nbsp; They've just now embarked on the adventure I thought they'd go on two months ago.&nbsp; There's a lot of sitting around, roleplaying minor interactions with NPCs, listening for rumors in the tavern.&nbsp; I do need to find ways to guide them better towards the real excitement.&nbsp; In the end, though, I rarely to never disallow what they want to do.&nbsp; The world will react and change based on what they do and what time they allow to pass.&nbsp; If they're rude to the NPC, the NPC will not want to help them.&nbsp; If they steal something, the law will be after them.&nbsp; If they act as heroes, they will be hailed as heroes (at least until some shady person with shady motives comes along).I understand the frustration of DMs who just want to get the story underway, but I think that allowing the players free reign to come up with their own ideas their own way is generally more important than keeping the plot on the move, as long as everyone's having a good time.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MonkeyDragon, post: 3361859, member: 23929"] How I define railroading: When there is only one story, one possible course of action, one option. The road is ahead of you. You must go down the road to the X and do the Y. Any actions that conflict fail, for whatever reason. There are no choices. I'm not talking about "The DM prepared this adventure so it is only polite to play the adventure the DM prepared." I'm talking about "Hey, if we circle around, we can attack from the rear and be completely unexpected!" "You can't do that." "Why not?" "You just can't." The characters have no impact on the world around them. The DM has a story to tell, and damned if s/he's going to let the PCs get in the way. NPCs react the same way no matter how the PCs act towards them. NPCs are so powerful (one and all) that there are no means of resisting them. It takes five days to travel to the dungeon. "Oh, we'll get everybody horses so we arrive faster and have more time to stave off impending world badness." It still takes five days to get there. We're only supposed to have three days to save the world, so three days we shall have. We get to within a hair's breadth of killing one of the BBEGs early, and the DM out and out says "I don't care, I'm making a plot decision, he gets away." I have no problem, however, with DMs who nudge, who point out that "hey...the plot is over there..." or who present a choice between a good option and several bad options, or even just several bad options. Sometimes you have to choose between the rock and the hard place. At least you get to choose. I don't have a problem with a flexible plot that makes sure the party is at the right place at the right time no matter which road they take. If I have a choice between the left and right fork, and don't know what's at the end of either, I will never know or care that the DM was just going to put the dungeon at the end of the road. However, if I know the dungeon is at the right fork, I've done research indicating the right fork, and I choose the left fork because I want to avoid the dungeon, sticking the dungeon there anyway doesn't set well with me. Personally, I should probably nudge more often. My players gladly pick up hooks...but they tend to shilly shally around a bit. Once they're on the road, they're good. I started the current season of my campaign at the beginning of December. They've just now embarked on the adventure I thought they'd go on two months ago. There's a lot of sitting around, roleplaying minor interactions with NPCs, listening for rumors in the tavern. I do need to find ways to guide them better towards the real excitement. In the end, though, I rarely to never disallow what they want to do. The world will react and change based on what they do and what time they allow to pass. If they're rude to the NPC, the NPC will not want to help them. If they steal something, the law will be after them. If they act as heroes, they will be hailed as heroes (at least until some shady person with shady motives comes along). I understand the frustration of DMs who just want to get the story underway, but I think that allowing the players free reign to come up with their own ideas their own way is generally more important than keeping the plot on the move, as long as everyone's having a good time. [/QUOTE]

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