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<blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 6595036" data-attributes="member: 386"><p>I think it may be railroading if the previous choices of the players are pointing in one direction but the DM throws this encounter out regardless of the direction of play. Ignoring the choices the players have made in order to use the encounter.</p><p></p><p>I think I have played in games like that but I can't recall any specific examples, so I could be wrong.</p><p></p><p>Random tables don't have that element of DM force - that they are going to use the encounter they drew up regardless of the direction of play. The table might have results that don't work out so well - boring, don't fit the genre, absurdly out-of-place, etc.; but what can you do, that's always a risk with any content generation.</p><p></p><p>Well, then again, maybe they do, since the DM is the one creating this table. (Or if it's a vague table.) And the DM can weight the table. Maybe it's not just random tables in isolation (or scene-framing in isolation) that leads to railroading but how they are used in the context of the entire game. A vague table + reaction rolls + a link to other setting features is what I use... but I still need to generate content on the spot.</p><p></p><p>Hmm...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't know... If you're going to make up a table on the spot, you might as well just ad-lib something. Would that impact player agency? I guess it would depend on the nature of the encounter. If it negates previous or future choices - an NPC coming back to life or some sort of super-powerful NPC that the PCs can't resist - then you might be removing some player agency. I guess you could come up with a future justification for why that NPC has come back to life, but because you made it up on the spot the players never had a chance to stop that event from occurring. The super-powerful NPC is usually a problem, I think.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, a lot to think about!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LostSoul, post: 6595036, member: 386"] I think it may be railroading if the previous choices of the players are pointing in one direction but the DM throws this encounter out regardless of the direction of play. Ignoring the choices the players have made in order to use the encounter. I think I have played in games like that but I can't recall any specific examples, so I could be wrong. Random tables don't have that element of DM force - that they are going to use the encounter they drew up regardless of the direction of play. The table might have results that don't work out so well - boring, don't fit the genre, absurdly out-of-place, etc.; but what can you do, that's always a risk with any content generation. Well, then again, maybe they do, since the DM is the one creating this table. (Or if it's a vague table.) And the DM can weight the table. Maybe it's not just random tables in isolation (or scene-framing in isolation) that leads to railroading but how they are used in the context of the entire game. A vague table + reaction rolls + a link to other setting features is what I use... but I still need to generate content on the spot. Hmm... I don't know... If you're going to make up a table on the spot, you might as well just ad-lib something. Would that impact player agency? I guess it would depend on the nature of the encounter. If it negates previous or future choices - an NPC coming back to life or some sort of super-powerful NPC that the PCs can't resist - then you might be removing some player agency. I guess you could come up with a future justification for why that NPC has come back to life, but because you made it up on the spot the players never had a chance to stop that event from occurring. The super-powerful NPC is usually a problem, I think. Anyway, a lot to think about! [/QUOTE]
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