Calico_Jack73
First Post
Railroading seems to get too much of a bad rap on this board. Sometimes I believe it is necessary depending on the players.
Example: Waaaay back in the day when Mage: The Ascension first came out I ran a session for my group. Now this group had played Vampire before in Sandbox style so generally all I had to do as a Storyteller was sit back and react to what the players did. We had one player though who unfortunately played his Mage as he figured would be normal. He had his character come home from work, pop a frozen dinner in the microwave, then sit down to watch Seinfeld. I reacted in a fashion I thought was appropriate... nothing happened. In my view if you don't go looking for trouble typically trouble won't find you. After the game he started ranting how bored he was. He said he was waiting for ME to do something.
Looking back on it he had a valid point, maybe not for the way the group was used to playing, but valid nonetheless. As time has gone on I've found fewer and fewer players who take charge of the game and work to accomplish their characters objectives. The majority of the players want the adventure dropped in their lap. This in my opinion makes the situation extremely ripe for railroading.
Begin Rant
If the player isn't going to be an active participant in what happens to his character then I as the DM must do all the work to come up with an objective and story to deliver to the player. If they choose not to bite the plot hook that I've created but then still expect me to drop the adventure into their lap then I feel totally justified in railroading their characters into the situation. I'll drag them kicking and screaming if I have to... I invest too much into my games to see the work wasted.
End of Rant
Anyway... my point is that on this board railroading is a bad word and DMs who appear to railroad their players are sometimes accused of being bad DMs. To the other DMs who occasionally have to railroad:
I feel you pain brother... I feel your pain.
Example: Waaaay back in the day when Mage: The Ascension first came out I ran a session for my group. Now this group had played Vampire before in Sandbox style so generally all I had to do as a Storyteller was sit back and react to what the players did. We had one player though who unfortunately played his Mage as he figured would be normal. He had his character come home from work, pop a frozen dinner in the microwave, then sit down to watch Seinfeld. I reacted in a fashion I thought was appropriate... nothing happened. In my view if you don't go looking for trouble typically trouble won't find you. After the game he started ranting how bored he was. He said he was waiting for ME to do something.
Looking back on it he had a valid point, maybe not for the way the group was used to playing, but valid nonetheless. As time has gone on I've found fewer and fewer players who take charge of the game and work to accomplish their characters objectives. The majority of the players want the adventure dropped in their lap. This in my opinion makes the situation extremely ripe for railroading.
Begin Rant
If the player isn't going to be an active participant in what happens to his character then I as the DM must do all the work to come up with an objective and story to deliver to the player. If they choose not to bite the plot hook that I've created but then still expect me to drop the adventure into their lap then I feel totally justified in railroading their characters into the situation. I'll drag them kicking and screaming if I have to... I invest too much into my games to see the work wasted.
End of Rant
Anyway... my point is that on this board railroading is a bad word and DMs who appear to railroad their players are sometimes accused of being bad DMs. To the other DMs who occasionally have to railroad:
I feel you pain brother... I feel your pain.
