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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 7058193" data-attributes="member: 16814">We're sidetracking, although that's a non-answer.  You previously stated unequivocally that the arrows meant the brother was evil prior to possession.  This was the basis of my question.More on point, you didn't answer what stakes were involved.  Stakes are what you risk and what you hope to gain.  Stakes are not returning to an emotionally fraught place.  That's setting, not what's at risk/reward.  I think this may be another place where you're using a non-standard definition of terms to the detriment of understanding, like with your use of railroading to means "not improved at the table with a say yes playstyle".Railroading normally means a forced overall outcome to a challenge. It's too blunt to be used in reference to a single ruling, although a single ruling can be part of the evidence towards railroading.  In the blood situation, railroading would be if the DM decided there was no way to collect blood, period, and ruled to thwart all attempts.  A single ruling that they is no available bowl or urn in the room isn't Railroading by itself, but it may be part of other rulings that end up as Railroading.  Saying no to urns but agreeing with the use of a helm, for example, isn't an example of railroading. [MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION]'s use of DM force for such a ruling is somewhat more useful, being an attempt to describe the phenomenon of DM ruling in a more neutral way, but still sounds a tad negative to me.  I prefer just using ruling, as it also indicates it's a DM choice but doesn't have a negative connotation.  As such, rulings are a playstyle choice that can work within a broader, more permissive say yes framework or a fail forward one, or in a more DM driven playstyle.  I see no need to appropriate a pejorative term like railroading to describe playstyle that differ from your own, and then double down with wide eyed innocence that anyone might take issue with your rebranding.</blockquote>

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