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<blockquote data-quote="Atavar" data-source="post: 3676335" data-attributes="member: 7136">I am reminded of a line I heard from the movie JFK (paraphrasing here):&quot;Can a traitor ever be a hero?&nbsp; No, because if he truly is a hero then we wouldn't call him a traitor.&quot;My point?Is railroading sometimes a necessary evil?&nbsp; Yes...but when done correctly, it isn't railroading.&nbsp; I think it's a matter of degrees....&nbsp; If you make all (or most) the decisions for the PC's, or if you make it clear that the PC's choices make little or no difference in the outcome, then you are railroading, and badly so.If, on the other hand, you can...encourage...your PC's to make decisions that will make the game more fun for everyone, but do it in a way that the players feel that they never lost their ability to choose, then one COULD argue that you are railroading...but if they never see the train coming (and even afterward never knew a train was anywhere near them), then ignorance is bliss, I say.Finally, I am also reminded of a Dork Tower comic from an issue of Dragon a while back.&nbsp; The players had to choose one of two doors to go through.&nbsp; The DM built an awesome encounter behind, say, the right door, and the left door went safely past the encounter.&nbsp; The players, knowing that one door was dangerous and the other safe, randomly picked the left, safe door.&nbsp; The DM, unknown to them, arbitrarily changed which door was which, and they ended up having their cool encounter anyway.&nbsp; The players were none the wiser.Railroading?&nbsp; Definitely.&nbsp; But the players never knew and still had fun anyway.Ah, bliss.....Take care,Atavar</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Atavar, post: 3676335, member: 7136"] I am reminded of a line I heard from the movie JFK (paraphrasing here): "Can a traitor ever be a hero? No, because if he truly is a hero then we wouldn't call him a traitor." My point? Is railroading sometimes a necessary evil? Yes...but when done correctly, it isn't railroading. I think it's a matter of degrees.... If you make all (or most) the decisions for the PC's, or if you make it clear that the PC's choices make little or no difference in the outcome, then you are railroading, and badly so. If, on the other hand, you can...encourage...your PC's to make decisions that will make the game more fun for everyone, but do it in a way that the players feel that they never lost their ability to choose, then one COULD argue that you are railroading...but if they never see the train coming (and even afterward never knew a train was anywhere near them), then ignorance is bliss, I say. Finally, I am also reminded of a Dork Tower comic from an issue of Dragon a while back. The players had to choose one of two doors to go through. The DM built an awesome encounter behind, say, the right door, and the left door went safely past the encounter. The players, knowing that one door was dangerous and the other safe, randomly picked the left, safe door. The DM, unknown to them, arbitrarily changed which door was which, and they ended up having their cool encounter anyway. The players were none the wiser. Railroading? Definitely. But the players never knew and still had fun anyway. Ah, bliss..... Take care, Atavar [/QUOTE]

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