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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ourph" data-source="post: 3038067" data-attributes="member: 20239">This isn't railroading.  I think someone called it "scene framing" which is an apt term.By definition, RPG railroading is a linear phenomenon (just like the real-life item it's named after).  It must be ongoing.  A single point or bottleneck where the PCs do not have absolute freedom of choice isn't a railroad.  If you force them from A to B, they are only restricted from choice at one point (point A).  To qualify as railroading, the events in the campaign must be such that the PCs are restricted from choice through many points.  When the DM begins exerting influence so that the PCs have no choice but to go from A to B to C to D, that's when railroading is occurring.I have no problem with "scene framing", as it's in the nature of the game (a DM who pre-makes environments for the PCs to exist in) that the DM is in control of certain portions of the PCs destiny by virtue of his power to control the rest of the world.  What I do have a problem with is a campaign where players are restricted from making the best use of their creative problem solving skills by virtue of the fact that some solutions interfere with the DM's predetermined plot.If my character starts the session in a prison cell, that's fine.  If the DM has already determine HOW I will get out of that cell and that I WILL befriend the person who helps break me out and that said person MUST survive for the next three sessions in order for their campaign to proceed, that's when I become unenthused about the game.</blockquote>

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