D&D General [rant]The conservatism of D&D fans is exhausting.

[AlViking]

No, I mean resistance to anything that doesn’t work as traditionally defined.

No, I meant I like the way D&D works. I, and others, have stated a preference. You want something else? Play something else.

I like A, you like B, have fun with B is not "resistance" it's having different preferences.

Not D&D, and not leads… I said that trad play can enable railroading. I think there’sa meaningful difference.

It can. If it does the DM likely won't have players for long. Also, linear is not railroad.

Like it's easier to railroad when target numbers aren’t known, stakes are unclear, GM authority is unchecked or unprincipled, rolls can be hidden, and so on. The presence of these kinds of things in play doesn’t guarantee that play will be a railroad… but they certainly help.

So you prefer a different system. You need new material.

Some DMs do that. See comments from @bloodtide, see the nose-picking posts from @Maxperson .






Well… rolling to see if a character’s attack hits is a means of a player having narrative control. I don’t think your phrasing here is accurate.

No, its a means of resolving the outcome of an uncertain action declared for the character. It's all done by the character as part of the ongoing fiction happening in that instant.

It’s all right, Al. Tras play is gonna make it through this.



So if the GM makes a decision, is he altering the game reality?

Depends on the decision. I prefer as much of the fiction to be defined before actual play, at least for significant lore. We always need to fill in details and color along with deciding reactions to what the characters do. I'm not going to add a wandering ogre just because the characters avoided a combat. I'm not going to add a map because the characters are lost.

 

[Maxperson]

Some DMs do that. See comments from @bloodtide, see the nose-picking posts from @Maxperson .

Why would you direct him to my posts? Nothing there indicates that I use absolute authority for that sort of thing. Sending him to my posts is going to be misleading.

What's more, I've never in my life demanded absolute authority when I DM D&D. You can't demand something that the game rules automatically give every DM who plays the game. When you DM D&D, you have absolute authority. When @EzekielRaiden DMs D&D, he has absolute authority.

 

[Lanefan]

If the GM has other things prepared. What if he says “hey man… I bought all six parts of Kingmaker… I don’t have anything else prepared. Can we please stick to this adventure?”

If it's an inexperienced DM then sure, I'll stick to the track.

If it's an experienced DM, however, I'd expect her to be able to hit that curveball and wing it at least for the rest of the session.

Though it may be there somewhere, I can't recall seeing a DMG giving much advice on how to hit curveballs, yet IMO that advice should be there. Something like:

"Every now and then your players are going to do things or go places you simply didn't expect, foresee, or prepare for. As DM, it's your job to keep the game flowing even if you don't have anything ready, so rather than ending the session early here's some ways and means of maintaining that flow:

--- make something up, even if it's perhaps a little nonsensical or out of place, and you'll often find that one thing will just lead to another. Keep the scale of your inventions small, however - a single ruin, a strange creature, etc. - for right now, then if needed flesh those things out before the next session.
--- have wandering or random monsters interact with the party, either as a hook to an adventure you'll design between sessions or just as a time-sink for tonight.
--- do not try to force them back into the adventure or situation they just turned away from. Most of the time they changed course for what they think is a good reason, it's on you to let that choice stand."
--- etc.

 

[AlViking]

In fairness to @Faolyn though, while the issue did in fact take care of itself the end-result solution wasn't exactly perfect; if nothing else it left her disappointed in that she had a good idea for a character and didn't get to play it.

Sure, it would be great if we never had bad GMs. Text in a book will never be a panacea.

 

[bloodtide]

So if the GM makes a decision, is he altering the game reality?

Of course, this is one of the most basic powers of the DM.

What kind of nonsense is this? If I’m playing in a game, and a GM does something that I think overrides my expected ability as a player to make decisions or for those decisions to matter… then I’m being railroaded.

Feeling or fact, what difference does it make? I’m dissatisfied with the play… should I pause in my dissatisfaction and wonder “would Maxperson consider this railroading”?

Of course not. What matters is how I feel in my game, not proving something to you to win some internet fight.

I guess it is great for you to feel a set way, but why blame Railroading? To say "any time anything happens that I don't like is a Railroad", is just going to have nearly everything be a Railroad to you.

If you don't have a Buddy Sharing DM that immediately tells you every game detail, you will see Railroads everywhere.