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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7054817" data-attributes="member: 29398">So a DM's not allowed to have a game-affecting hidden backstory without being accused of railroading???You've gone over the top on that one, old chap.  Sorry.You've agreed upthread that something happening off-screen isn't railroading - I think - such as the Marquis being assassinated in his bed the night before.My point is that there's no difference if it happens on-screen in a manner that precludes the PCs from doing anything about it - the Marquis still dies, whether it's last night in his private hotel room or this afternoon in an arena where the PCs happen to be able to see it from across the field.Now here things get interesting.Let's say as an example that this oncoming Dusk War had been a background atmosphere-setting thing all along in the campaign (maybe it's because all the local soldiery has been called to the front lines that brave adventurers are needed back here closer to town, thus explaining the existence of your party at all), but that your intent going in was that it would in theory never become too relevant to anything because a flash flood was going to end it as soon as it started.  But during play the players via their characters have brought the oncoming Dusk War to the fore, made it important to themselves, and based some major decisions around it; all regardless whether or not it was important to you as DM and-or whether you had any interest at all in running a war-front adventure or campaign*.Now you're screwed.By your definitions you'll be railroading if you have the flood happen anyway even though it's what you'd planned all along.By at least one other definition upthread (I forget who's) you'll be railroading if you deviate from your original plan, dispense with the flood, and let the war continue.And by my definition you've in fact been railroaded by your players.Me, I have the flood happen anyway.  The war was nothing more than a red herring that the party latched on to; meanwhile who knows what else they've been ignoring in the meantime. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />* - this is important too - what happens if (or when) the players/characters happen to steer you toward running something you simply don't want to run?Lanefan</blockquote>

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