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="pemerton" data-source="post: 5406966" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Maybe. For me, "exploration" tends to presuppose something already there to explore - in this case, a character - whereas I'm happy for my game to involve building and testing the PCs. The PCs have a backstory which is part of the input, but their character isn't something pregiven - it is something that emerges out of play.</p><p></p><p>I agree with you that adding elements responsively reduces sandboxing. But I don't think it therefore increases linearity/railroading (not necessarily, at least).</p><p></p><p>I'll proceed by reference to the following quote:</p><p>I envisage a sandbox as permitting the players to explore, via their PCs, more-or-less well-defined places.</p><p></p><p>In a responsive game, this isn't the case, as the places aren't just waiting there to explore. Instead they are introduced (not exclusively, but in the way I play mostly, by the GM) in response to actions taken by the players.</p><p></p><p>That's why I don't think of it as a sandbox.</p><p></p><p>But it is not linear, because - before the fact - no one knows which places will be visited or what will take place. That is because as a GM I can't respond until the players have their PCs do something - and because I don't always know what this will be, I don't always know what my response will be.</p><p></p><p>Well, I've tried to bring it up a few times in this thread and the "GM by the nose thread", including with actual play examples and an illustrative quote from Paul Czege. But only The Shaman seems really to have picked up on the point.</p><p></p><p>I should also add - I don't see the way I play as anything very radical in practice. I'm sure that lots of others run similar games. It's only at the level of describing or theoretically analysing what is going on that brings out the difference from sandboxes and linearity/railroading.</p><p></p><p>I think it is more like a sandbox than it is a linear game, because player choices drive the direction of play. But the responsive aspect on the part of the GM is quite different from a paradigmatic sandbox. In some ways its closer to <a href="http://inky.org/rpg/no-myth.html" target="_blank">No Myth</a>, although I do use a degree of backstory that pure No Myth would eschew.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5406966, member: 42582"] Maybe. For me, "exploration" tends to presuppose something already there to explore - in this case, a character - whereas I'm happy for my game to involve building and testing the PCs. The PCs have a backstory which is part of the input, but their character isn't something pregiven - it is something that emerges out of play. I agree with you that adding elements responsively reduces sandboxing. But I don't think it therefore increases linearity/railroading (not necessarily, at least). I'll proceed by reference to the following quote: I envisage a sandbox as permitting the players to explore, via their PCs, more-or-less well-defined places. In a responsive game, this isn't the case, as the places aren't just waiting there to explore. Instead they are introduced (not exclusively, but in the way I play mostly, by the GM) in response to actions taken by the players. That's why I don't think of it as a sandbox. But it is not linear, because - before the fact - no one knows which places will be visited or what will take place. That is because as a GM I can't respond until the players have their PCs do something - and because I don't always know what this will be, I don't always know what my response will be. Well, I've tried to bring it up a few times in this thread and the "GM by the nose thread", including with actual play examples and an illustrative quote from Paul Czege. But only The Shaman seems really to have picked up on the point. I should also add - I don't see the way I play as anything very radical in practice. I'm sure that lots of others run similar games. It's only at the level of describing or theoretically analysing what is going on that brings out the difference from sandboxes and linearity/railroading. I think it is more like a sandbox than it is a linear game, because player choices drive the direction of play. But the responsive aspect on the part of the GM is quite different from a paradigmatic sandbox. In some ways its closer to [url="http://inky.org/rpg/no-myth.html"]No Myth[/url], although I do use a degree of backstory that pure No Myth would eschew. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
"Railroading" is just a pejorative term for...
Top