Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
"Railroading" is just a pejorative term for...
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 5402700" data-attributes="member: 15538"><p>There are such terms. </p><p>"nudging"</p><p>"multiple victory pathways"</p><p>"illusion of choice"</p><p>"bald-faced GM hinting"</p><p>"narrative buy-in by the players"</p><p>"writing adventures that make sense on their own merits and don't require constant GM intervention to avoid losing their purpose to the relentless logical progression of events caused by PC actions"</p><p><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=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I made several suggestions, depending on emphasis. The "core clue" game would be event-driven.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>No, a plot is what you *want* to have happen. As you note, story is inevitible, and unfolding. You seem to be talking about events. Plot is a way of organizing events. </p><p></p><p>I am deeply suspicious of "plot" in an RPG for a number of reasons.</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The GM's view of the future is hazy.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Plot is a modernist concept that presupposes thematic unity; aside from the question of whether your players are modernists, RPGs with their focus on text and freedom from artifical constraints of theme and consistency are a fundamentally postmodern form.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The GM does not know best.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The best goal is to have no goal.</li> </ol><p></p><p>Writers use plots to hang a story on. RPGs have a similar concept. However, the analog in an RPG is not a "plot," it's an adventure. The adventure is the framework for the story, including various decision points made by the players. The scenario is the structure, a starting point with an uncertain ending point.</p><p></p><p>Instead of plot, I think of "trajectories"... events that are likely if the PCs do nothing, or if they take one of several likely choices. But any trajectory can be altered in a second by a force generating new motion in another direction. <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=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pawsplay, post: 5402700, member: 15538"] There are such terms. "nudging" "multiple victory pathways" "illusion of choice" "bald-faced GM hinting" "narrative buy-in by the players" "writing adventures that make sense on their own merits and don't require constant GM intervention to avoid losing their purpose to the relentless logical progression of events caused by PC actions" :) I made several suggestions, depending on emphasis. The "core clue" game would be event-driven. No, a plot is what you *want* to have happen. As you note, story is inevitible, and unfolding. You seem to be talking about events. Plot is a way of organizing events. I am deeply suspicious of "plot" in an RPG for a number of reasons. [LIST=1] [*]The GM's view of the future is hazy. [*]Plot is a modernist concept that presupposes thematic unity; aside from the question of whether your players are modernists, RPGs with their focus on text and freedom from artifical constraints of theme and consistency are a fundamentally postmodern form. [*]The GM does not know best. [*]The best goal is to have no goal. [/LIST] Writers use plots to hang a story on. RPGs have a similar concept. However, the analog in an RPG is not a "plot," it's an adventure. The adventure is the framework for the story, including various decision points made by the players. The scenario is the structure, a starting point with an uncertain ending point. Instead of plot, I think of "trajectories"... events that are likely if the PCs do nothing, or if they take one of several likely choices. But any trajectory can be altered in a second by a force generating new motion in another direction. :) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
"Railroading" is just a pejorative term for...
Top