I think the type of play advocated in Role-Playing Mastery is similar to that advocated in the 1e PHB in the section headed Successful Adventures (pgs 107-109). Players have an objective and they try to achieve it without getting sidetracked. But there’s an important difference – in Role-Playing Mastery the objective is chosen by the GM rather than the players. The reason for this is there has been a shift away from mega-dungeons and towards a more familiar (at least to us) scenario or adventure setup where the players are given a mission at the start of play. There is an adventure path in the sense of a defined set of victory conditions, and possibly quite a number of actions the players will have to undertake to achieve that victory, but because this is strongly challenge-oriented play the GM is actively trying to get the players to depart from that path and thus fail the mission.
Setting Objectives
1e PHB page 107:
First get in touch with all those who will be included in the adventure, or if all are not available, at least talk to the better players so that you will be able to set an objective for the adventure. Whether the purpose is so simple as to discover a flight of stairs to the next lowest unexplored level or so difficult as to find and destroy an altar to an alien god, some firm objective should be established and then adhered to as strongly as possible.
Role-Playing Mastery:
Page 43:
The game tells what the nature of challenges within its scope will be, but there is usually no direct information as to the specific objective of each play session. The GM who develops the campaign milieu will devise these objectives singularly or in conjunction with material supplied for this purpose by the publisher of the rules system. What sorts of challenges are appropriate? How stiff should the opposition be? Generally, these are questions the GM will answer by examining the game materials, assessing the prowess of the PCs and their players, and then selecting and combining elements of the game rules and the milieu so that the strength of the opposition is tailored to the capabilities of those who will contest against it.
Page 44-45:
The first session begins. Players are introduced to the game and its concepts. Some goal, objective, or end is conveyed…
The task of creating the game world is tremendous... Let’s follow an example to see just how demanding the exercise is.
The genre of the game is action-adventure in the early part of the twentieth century - let’s assume from 1900 through about 1935 or so. Our GM decides that the campaign setting will begin in San Francisco. The quest problem will be to discover the cause of a series of murders and mysterious disappearances in that city.
The following advice is from Chapter 7, Tactical Mastery, which is directed towards players.
Page 122-123:
Know the mission. Based on the information you are given in the background and setting of a scenario, define exactly what you are going to try to do. Sometimes the mission will be spelled out in no uncertain terms; if it is not, you should be able to deduce it logically from the information provided. Keep the mission in mind at all times, so that each activity you engage in assists in the overall aim.
Know the goal. The mission should have a set goal. When that goal is successfully achieved or arrived at, the mission is complete and the adventure should conclude at that point.
Avoiding Unnecessary Encounters
1e PHB page 109:
Avoid unnecessary encounters. This advice usually means the difference between success and failure when it is followed intelligently. Your party has an objective, and wandering monsters are something which stand between them and it. The easiest way to overcome such difficulties is to avoid the interposing or trailing creature if at all possible. Wandering monsters typically weaken the party through use of equipment and spells against them, and they also weaken the group by inflicting damage. Very few are going to be helpful; fewer still will have anything of any value to the party. Run first and ask questions later. In the same vein, shun encounters with creatures found to be dwelling permanently in the dungeon (as far as you can tell, that is) unless such creatures are part of the set objective or the monster stands between the group and the goal it has set out to gain. Do not be sidetracked. A good referee will have many ways to distract an expedition, many things to draw attention, but ignore them if at all possible.
Role-Playing Mastery:
Page 125:
Evade and avoid. Whenever possible, conserve time and other resources by avoiding unnecessary confrontation. Slip away without fighting, negotiate, or use trickery. The goal of the mission is paramount, and only those activities that will lend probable success to attaining that goal should be undertaken.
Page 131:
The GM’s information… will be keyed to describe what facts will be revealed if PCs interact with a certain location or item within the scenario area at a certain time… PCs must either follow the clues or else move outside the scope of the scenario...
The master GM... will deliberately include information not found in the scenario as originally presented in published form. A bit of this information may actually be helpful, but the rest is for another purpose altogether. The GM will add it specifically to mislead the players, so that they will not follow any of the prescribed routes and go wandering off into a limbo that is unrelated to the adventure.