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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 4812555" data-attributes="member: 58197">Running an RPG is not the same as telling a story. Generally speaking, players do not like to feel that their PCs are merely characters in a story the DM is telling, the events of their lives dictated by the DM. They want to take part in shaping the outcome, and they don't like having their characters crippled/imprisoned/otherwise &quot;punished&quot; by DM fiat.If the PCs get cornered like rats as a result of making some bad decisions or wrong guesses or failing to come up with something clever, that's something most players will accept; consequences are consequences. But if the DM decides their characters are going to be cornered like rats and captured, no matter what they do, that's when the whiff of the railroad creeps in. The same is true if it's left purely up to the dice, with no room for player strategy or tactics.(I will add that imprisonment in particular seems to trigger a severe allergic reaction in a lot of players. I think it's something about being forcibly stripped of one's power and ability to act. That's why I try to avoid using imprisonment as a plot device.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 4812555, member: 58197"] Running an RPG is not the same as telling a story. Generally speaking, players do not like to feel that their PCs are merely characters in a story the DM is telling, the events of their lives dictated by the DM. They want to take part in shaping the outcome, and they don't like having their characters crippled/imprisoned/otherwise "punished" by DM fiat. If the PCs get cornered like rats as a result of making some bad decisions or wrong guesses or failing to come up with something clever, that's something most players will accept; consequences are consequences. But if the DM decides their characters are going to be cornered like rats and captured, [I]no matter what they do[/I], that's when the whiff of the railroad creeps in. The same is true if it's left purely up to the dice, with no room for player strategy or tactics. (I will add that imprisonment in particular seems to trigger a severe allergic reaction in a lot of players. I think it's something about being forcibly stripped of one's power and ability to act. That's why I try to avoid using imprisonment as a plot device.) [/QUOTE]

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