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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 6300193" data-attributes="member: 29398">Well, someone has to be the devil's advocate...There's been times - surprisingly frequent times, in fact - in my experience where the DM flat-out drives the story.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Because she has to, as that's what the players expect and-or want.&nbsp; &quot;You set the adventure, Ms. DM, and we'll play through it!&quot;&nbsp; It's not a preferred style of play, but it is a common one.I see nothing at all wrong, in fact, with the DM drawing up a storyboard before the campaign starts; said storyboard being malleable enough to adapt to events during the campaign and-or new ideas that present themselves.&nbsp; I do this (the storyboard for my current campaign is now on version 9) and it works; and as adventures get played through I can also get a vague idea of how much longevity the game has left before I have to really start scrambling for ideas.&nbsp; The key is to not glue yourself to the storyboard (unless running a defined adventure path), but to use it as a guideline, and idea source if-when the players ask &quot;what comes next?&quot;.&nbsp; That said, if the players buy in to the plotline and hooks it becomes much simpler; as everyone's on the same page.Also, I've seen (and been a player in) situations where the players in effect railroaded themselves.&nbsp; The DM can give all kinds of adventure options and hooks, but the players - bound by the alignments, history and established personality of their characters - see only one option.Lan-&quot;less coherent than usual tonight, it seems&quot;-efan</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 6300193, member: 29398"] Well, someone has to be the devil's advocate... There's been times - surprisingly frequent times, in fact - in my experience where the DM flat-out drives the story. Why? Because she has to, as that's what the players expect and-or want. "You set the adventure, Ms. DM, and we'll play through it!" It's not a preferred style of play, but it is a common one. I see nothing at all wrong, in fact, with the DM drawing up a storyboard before the campaign starts; said storyboard being malleable enough to adapt to events during the campaign and-or new ideas that present themselves. I do this (the storyboard for my current campaign is now on version 9) and it works; and as adventures get played through I can also get a vague idea of how much longevity the game has left before I have to really start scrambling for ideas. The key is to not glue yourself to the storyboard (unless running a defined adventure path), but to use it as a guideline, and idea source if-when the players ask "what comes next?". That said, if the players buy in to the plotline and hooks it becomes much simpler; as everyone's on the same page. Also, I've seen (and been a player in) situations where the players in effect railroaded themselves. The DM can give all kinds of adventure options and hooks, but the players - bound by the alignments, history and established personality of their characters - see only one option. Lan-"less coherent than usual tonight, it seems"-efan [/QUOTE]

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