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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 5398136" data-attributes="member: 2">For me, railroading is defined by an old 1e Dragonlance module my friend ran. We saw people being carted away as slaves. The module assumes you chase them, try to free them, and (I believe) get captured yourself. Our group saw the slaves and said, "Oh well. Too bad." "You have to go after them!" said the DM. "No," we answered. And the DM had a hissy fit and quit in disgust. That's railroading. And it's different from what's being discussed.I really like the way GUMSHOE handles clues (I'm pretty sure that this is what Ken Hite was discussing in the initial quote.) The theory in that game is that the GM just gives the characters information when they look for it, and the exciting part is what they then do with that information. To me, this is vastly preferable to the traditional Call of Cthulhu method: ask for spot hiddens to find the vital adventure-defining clue, have everyone fail it, and desperately grope for another reason to ask for spot hiddens so that they can try again.GUMSHOE (aka Esoterrorists, Trail of Cthulhu, Mutant City Blues, Fear Itself, etc.) is a very different game than D&D. You don't really want a sandbox in GUMSHOE. Like an investigative TV show, there should be a plot and several different ways to reach the resolution of that plot. That's very different than a sandbox game of D&D, where PCs can just go out adventuring with no goal in mind.Personally speaking, I agree with Ken Hite. I want a game with plot leads that I can follow if I choose. Games where nothing is accomplished except for noodling around drive me as crazy as games where I'm forced to take specific actions. The difference, I think, is that I want the ability to decide for myself what to do with the clues I'm given.</blockquote>

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