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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6594867" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>In the third situation the PCs and NPCs are also treated the same, in the sense that they see the same things, have the same ingame opportunity to stop the fleeing wagon-driver, impede the guards, etc.</p><p></p><p>How is it a railroad? What player choice has been blocked/negated?</p><p></p><p>I don't really follow this. In the the second situation, the context within which the players can declare actions for their PCs depends upon the GM's direct imposition of a timeline. In the third situation, the context within which the players can declare actions depends upon the GM's direct imposition of the overturned cart.</p><p></p><p>And in either case, anything that happens is a result of the players' engagement with the GM's "imposed" fiction. </p><p></p><p>As I described it, this is the first time the PCs arrive at the gate. That is an event that happens once. So, in the third scenario 100% of the first arrivals of the PCs at the gate (ie all one of those events!) involve an unlikely thing occurring.</p><p></p><p>In that case, why is a GM preference for pedestrian events, which biases the occurrence of such events in the game, not equally a form of railroading? They are both instances of GM decisions about content introduction.</p><p></p><p>The GM also decided the timeline. And the GM also wrote the setting description. (In the first two GM-prep scenarios of the three that I outlined.) That was part of the point of my post - in all three scenarios the GM is making decisions as to what happens in the fiction.</p><p></p><p>How? Can you describe how such a scene might occur in your game?</p><p></p><p>Once again we return to the Spartan world. For me, a Spartan world is not remotely realistic or verisimilitudinous. Every day things occur to me that are not more than 5% likely to occur on a given day!</p><p></p><p>On a typical day, the rebels <em>could</em> have their wagon overturn and their weapons hence be discovered. Such events really do happen in the world. A world in which nothing like that ever happens seems, to me, a robotic one, not one I woud want to roleplay in.</p><p></p><p>(Furthermore, how often do wars occur in fantasy RPGs compare to their prevalence in the everyday life of the campaign world? Or invasions by demons, zombies or dragons?)</p><p></p><p>This was answered upthread by [MENTION=75791]TheFindus[/MENTION]. One is action resolution, the other content introduction. They are different elements of game play.</p><p></p><p>When the GM writes a timeline or draws a dungeon map or writes a setting cosmology, this is also content introduction, and it is not done by rolling d20s and damage dice.</p><p></p><p>I don't follow. When I play an RPG my agency consists mostly in choosing to say one thing rather than another to the other people at the table.</p><p></p><p>You seem to be talking about the imaginary agency of some imaginary people (the PCs). When I talk about <em>player agency</em> I am talking about the actual agency of some really existing people - the players of an RPG.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6594867, member: 42582"] In the third situation the PCs and NPCs are also treated the same, in the sense that they see the same things, have the same ingame opportunity to stop the fleeing wagon-driver, impede the guards, etc. How is it a railroad? What player choice has been blocked/negated? I don't really follow this. In the the second situation, the context within which the players can declare actions for their PCs depends upon the GM's direct imposition of a timeline. In the third situation, the context within which the players can declare actions depends upon the GM's direct imposition of the overturned cart. And in either case, anything that happens is a result of the players' engagement with the GM's "imposed" fiction. As I described it, this is the first time the PCs arrive at the gate. That is an event that happens once. So, in the third scenario 100% of the first arrivals of the PCs at the gate (ie all one of those events!) involve an unlikely thing occurring. In that case, why is a GM preference for pedestrian events, which biases the occurrence of such events in the game, not equally a form of railroading? They are both instances of GM decisions about content introduction. The GM also decided the timeline. And the GM also wrote the setting description. (In the first two GM-prep scenarios of the three that I outlined.) That was part of the point of my post - in all three scenarios the GM is making decisions as to what happens in the fiction. How? Can you describe how such a scene might occur in your game? Once again we return to the Spartan world. For me, a Spartan world is not remotely realistic or verisimilitudinous. Every day things occur to me that are not more than 5% likely to occur on a given day! On a typical day, the rebels [I]could[/I] have their wagon overturn and their weapons hence be discovered. Such events really do happen in the world. A world in which nothing like that ever happens seems, to me, a robotic one, not one I woud want to roleplay in. (Furthermore, how often do wars occur in fantasy RPGs compare to their prevalence in the everyday life of the campaign world? Or invasions by demons, zombies or dragons?) This was answered upthread by [MENTION=75791]TheFindus[/MENTION]. One is action resolution, the other content introduction. They are different elements of game play. When the GM writes a timeline or draws a dungeon map or writes a setting cosmology, this is also content introduction, and it is not done by rolling d20s and damage dice. I don't follow. When I play an RPG my agency consists mostly in choosing to say one thing rather than another to the other people at the table. You seem to be talking about the imaginary agency of some imaginary people (the PCs). When I talk about [I]player agency[/I] I am talking about the actual agency of some really existing people - the players of an RPG. [/QUOTE]
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