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Judgement calls vs "railroading"
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7092597" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Read literally, this tells me nothing can happen in your game just for the hell of it or for no particular reason other than "because", which sounds stiflingly dull.</p><p></p><p>In your game, would the following exchange be able to occur:</p><p></p><p>Player (whose character has rarely expressed interest in shopping and has never mentioned silk before): "Hey guys, I'm going to head into town and pick up some silk - Calimshite, preferably. Anyone want some?"</p><p>DM (to whom this comes right out of the blue): "Er...any particular reason why?"</p><p>Player: "Nah, just tired of these old trail duds, thought I could make something out of silk to wear instead now the weather's warmed up"</p><p>DM: <either says yes or rolls the dice></p><p></p><p>Again, just "because". This is where you as DM get to do something just for the hell of it...and if nothing else the PCs will pick up a few xp.</p><p></p><p>Also, it adds to the depth of the game world if not everything revolves around the PCs and their own interests and it adds to the mystery (not to mention believability) if there's always a level of question whether any given thing is in fact relevant to the PCs or not. Maybe the owlbears are the key to the whole story. Maybe they're just some xp on the hoof and not relevant to anything.</p><p></p><p>Tom Bombadil.</p><p></p><p>Total side quest just for the sake of it. Its only function is to level the Hobbits up a bit.</p><p></p><p>It has more relevance than just about anything else, in that things are likely to work in any game world much as they do in the real world whenever the game doesn't force them not to e.g. by magic or environment. People take diversions and go on what equate to side quests all the time...and that's just fine. Nothing says the game world characters can't do the same.</p><p></p><p>Lan-"I'm obviously far too chaotic a player for this type of game, as I've always got my characters doing stuff just for the hell of it"-efan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7092597, member: 29398"] Read literally, this tells me nothing can happen in your game just for the hell of it or for no particular reason other than "because", which sounds stiflingly dull. In your game, would the following exchange be able to occur: Player (whose character has rarely expressed interest in shopping and has never mentioned silk before): "Hey guys, I'm going to head into town and pick up some silk - Calimshite, preferably. Anyone want some?" DM (to whom this comes right out of the blue): "Er...any particular reason why?" Player: "Nah, just tired of these old trail duds, thought I could make something out of silk to wear instead now the weather's warmed up" DM: <either says yes or rolls the dice> Again, just "because". This is where you as DM get to do something just for the hell of it...and if nothing else the PCs will pick up a few xp. Also, it adds to the depth of the game world if not everything revolves around the PCs and their own interests and it adds to the mystery (not to mention believability) if there's always a level of question whether any given thing is in fact relevant to the PCs or not. Maybe the owlbears are the key to the whole story. Maybe they're just some xp on the hoof and not relevant to anything. Tom Bombadil. Total side quest just for the sake of it. Its only function is to level the Hobbits up a bit. It has more relevance than just about anything else, in that things are likely to work in any game world much as they do in the real world whenever the game doesn't force them not to e.g. by magic or environment. People take diversions and go on what equate to side quests all the time...and that's just fine. Nothing says the game world characters can't do the same. Lan-"I'm obviously far too chaotic a player for this type of game, as I've always got my characters doing stuff just for the hell of it"-efan [/QUOTE]
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