Is Railroading ever a good tactic?

[MerricB]

Is Railroading ever a good tactic?

What is Railroading? What defines it?

When you have an adventure you want to run, how do you get the PCs into it without railroading?

Cheers!

 

[pogre]

Is Railroading ever a good tactic?

What is Railroading? What defines it?

When you have an adventure you want to run, how do you get the PCs into it without railroading?

Cheers!

You know I try really hard to give my players a multitude of choices, but it is important they grab at least one plot hook I throw on the table. If players are there to play they should be endeavoring to help the DM not force him to use a railroad. At some level it is up to the player to provide his character's motivation. They became an adventurer for some reason.

That said, I sometimes use the old StarWars incamera start to some adventures. We start the game with them in the middle of the action. My players seem to enjoy it occasionally, some groups would balk it this though.

 

[MerricB]

Yes, I rather enjoy in media res as a technique - it worked really well in the WEG Star Wars game.

Cheers!

 

[johnsemlak]

I personally think railroading gets a bad name sometimes. I guess if it's done badly it's not called railroading.

Almost every general How do be a good DM advice column always states clearly 'Never Railroad your players." I just find that too simplistic. I don't enjoy campaigns that seem too open-ended.

I think it is up to the DM to provide a story and storyline. The players should have a role in the story's development, of course.

In short, I think the PCs should have options in the campaign, and should have chances to affect the story.

 

[jollyninja]

when the players refuse to let the cloaked figure sit down, actively avoid paying attention to the bard, tell the serving wench "less talk, more ale", and don't leave the same in game room for 2 hours of real time. how can i not have the watch's level 15 fighters with saps arrest them on a trumped up charge and have their punishment be getting set loose in undermountian?

as for what constitutes railroading, any obviously unaviodable (ie, players have absolutely no say) adventure hook is railroading. setting a mighty convincing hook is different only in it's subtlty. ie having the party wizard's niece kidnapped and possibly taken into undermountian while his kid sister loudly begs him to save her baby in the middle of a crowded market is not railroading but is every bit as sure a way to get the party into undermountian unless the party hates children. i'm told i can be a real bastard behind the screen sometimes

 

[WaterRabbit]

when the players refuse to let the cloaked figure sit down, actively avoid paying attention to the bard, tell the serving wench "less talk, more ale", and don't leave the same in game room for 2 hours of real time. how can i not have the watch's level 15 fighters with saps arrest them on a trumped up charge and have their punishment be getting set loose in undermountian?

as for what constitutes railroading, any obviously unaviodable (ie, players have absolutely no say) adventure hook is railroading. setting a mighty convincing hook is different only in it's subtlty. ie having the party wizard's niece kidnapped and possibly taken into undermountian while his kid sister loudly begs him to save her baby in the middle of a crowded market is not railroading but is every bit as sure a way to get the party into undermountian unless the party hates children. i'm told i can be a real bastard behind the screen sometimes

Of course, you could talk to your players and find out why they aren't interested in pursuing any of your hooks. Perhaps they would rather be doing something else.

 

[talinthas]

railroading is the derogatory way of defining second edition gaming. aka, you have a plot, and you want your players to do it, so most of what they do funnels into this plot, and if they're sidetracked, you gently (or forcibly, as it were) nudge them back to your main plot. First edition, otoh, imo, tended to drop folks into a place and have them do their own thing without aim or purpose.

the quintessential railroad is the DL1-14 track, while the direct opposite is keep on the borderlands.

 

[jollyninja]

Of course, you could talk to your players and find out why they aren't interested in pursuing any of your hooks. Perhaps they would rather be doing something else.

talk to them? out of character? madness!

"yes the archmage asked sean for a pepsi, what of it?"

 

[rkanodia]

railroading is the derogatory way of defining second edition gaming. aka, you have a plot, and you want your players to do it, so most of what they do funnels into this plot, and if they're sidetracked, you gently (or forcibly, as it were) nudge them back to your main plot. First edition, otoh, imo, tended to drop folks into a place and have them do their own thing without aim or purpose.

the quintessential railroad is the DL1-14 track, while the direct opposite is keep on the borderlands.

Now Tal, if only you'd learn to actually incorporate this wisdom into your DMing.

 

[Dark Jezter]

What is Railroading? What defines it?

This is from an old list of different DM types, and I think it's a perfect example of railroading...

DM: "You pump the bartender for information and he tells you about a red dragon's lair to the west."
Players: "Too risky, we go to hear rumors somewhere else."
DM: "A man offers to hire you to clean out a red dragon's lair for him."
Players: "We say no thank you and leave for the next village."
DM: "On the way to the village you stumble onto a red dragon's lair..."