D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

[Crimson Longinus]

I don't know if I agree. I think there's a time and place for some of this sort of thing, but I also think that there are other ways to establish stakes. I think the type of scene that you're talking about works well in traditional fiction... a novel or a movie may benefit from such a scene to help establish the emotional connection to the characters. I think it's less effective in an RPG, for a variety of reasons.

With an RPG, I think there are other ways to establish this type of thing. And they don't necessarily come at a cost of immediacy.

I really don't see how it is less effective in an RPG. If anything, I think it more effective as the players are directly interacting with the NPCs via their characters. Now you don't need to frontload all of this in the beginning of the adventure, NPCs affected by the situation can also be met at the location when it makes sense and so forth. But interacting with NPCs via free roleplay is one of the most important things in a RPG and should not be overlooked.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I really don't see how it is less effective in an RPG. If anything, I think it more effective as the players are directly interacting with the NPCs via their characters. Now you don't need to frontload all of this in the beginning of the adventure, NPCs affected by the situation can also be met at the location when it makes sense and so forth. But interacting with NPCs via free roleplay is one of the most important things in a RPG and should not be overlooked.

It’s likely less effective because the average GM isn’t a highly skilled actor or author. Your portrayal of a teary-eyed king isn’t going to do the heavy lifting that a professional portrayal will do. That’s why I would personally get to the point, and try to establish the stakes in another way.

Especially since we need not be bound by chronology. You can revisit the scene with the king anytime you need.

 

[Maxperson]

Count me in for getting right to the adventure. If that’s what play is meant to be about, then delaying it just seems silly. Context and character can be established as you play.

It’s never felt organic to me to do a bunch of free roleplay and only then proceed to what’s been prepared.

Why would play just be about the adventure and not also roleplaying outside of the adventure?

 

[Maxperson]

I would say that thespian play leans in to narrating the outcome of a skill check, especially the more incongruous rolls. The roll creates the prompt for the performance, just as you would have the audience suggest prompts in improv theatre. Therefore the dice rolls are important.

What you will see is players performing scenes that have no objective and no stakes, and therefore no reason to make a check.

I'm not sure I understand this answer. One the one hand you say thespian play leans into the checks, and therefore die rolls are important. On the other hand you say that they will perform scenes that have no objective and stakes, therefore no reason to make checks(die rolls). Those seem to be at odds.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm not sure I understand this answer. One the one hand you say thespian play leans into the checks, and therefore die rolls are important. On the other hand you say that they will perform scenes that have no objective and stakes, therefore no reason to make checks(die rolls). Those seem to be at odds.

You can do more than one thing in the same game. One minute the party are trying to persuade a baying mob to put down their weapons, the next they are in a hat shop trying on hats.

 

[Maxperson]

I really don't see how it is less effective in an RPG. If anything, I think it more effective as the players are directly interacting with the NPCs via their characters. Now you don't need to frontload all of this in the beginning of the adventure, NPCs affected by the situation can also be met at the location when it makes sense and so forth. But interacting with NPCs via free roleplay is one of the most important things in a RPG and should not be overlooked.

15 or 20 years ago there was a game that I was a player in. My character's family had been captured by the BBEGs and I was tasked with letting them know when we found the witch prophesized to bring them down. If I failed, my family would be killed. They were watching, so if I said anything, my family would be killed. They gave me a magic item to call them with when we found this witch.

We were wandering through a swamp and we came to the cabin of a female spellcaster who we had determined through spells to be evil. I decided to "make a mistake" and summon the BBEGs because we had found the witch. That way they would be revealed, but without me telling the group about them. The problem was that we had found a young(10 or 11 years old) girl as the sole survivor of a caravan massacre and had brough her with us. What we didn't know was that this girl was the one we were looking for.

When the BBEG's arrived through portals to respond to my "mistake," they immediately recognized the girl as the one they were looking for. Having faced them briefly at the beginning when they took my family, I knew they were waaaaaaay outside of our power level and there was nothing we could do to them. We would just end up dying there because we were encountering them directly well before we were supposed to. The DMs(there were two) had no idea I would do that.

They had appeared and grabbed the girl who was close to me when I summoned them. The party told the BBEGs that they would stop them from getting back through the portal with the girl or die trying. Knowing that my family's lives were still on the line, I turned and stood between the BBEGs and the girl and the party and told them that they would have to kill me first. That really took everyone else aback and after some roleplaying they backed down and let the girl be taken away. Once the BBEGs were gone, I explained to the group why I had stood in their way. There was no secret any longer, so I could do so. The group rallied behind me and said that we would track them down and rescue both the girl and my family.

All of that happened without a single die roll. There were consequences, stakes, and a lot of roleplaying. After the game one of the other players said that it was the most intense experience he had ever had playing D&D.

 

[Maxperson]

You can do more than one thing in the same game. One minute the party are trying to persuade a baying mob to put down their weapons, the next they are in a hat shop trying on hats.

Okay. This I completely agree with. That just seems like a normal game, though. Not a "thespian game" or "non-thespian game." Most games that I have played in have had bits of everything in them.

 

[bloodtide]

Free roleplay is to get to know the situation and the NPCs. It does not need to be "recruited at the tavern" that is very basic, but I think the thematic and emotional connection to the events is better, if the players actually interact with the people. Like if you need to save a princess from the dragon, then actually talking to the distraught and teary-eyed king and the chancellor who is worried that without the leadership of the princess the kingdom is doomed will make the quest feel more meaningful.

I more against doing the free role play before the adventure. As I said, it is too easy for a passive DM to let the players just free role play for hours, sometimes a whole game session.

I put free role play more in the middle of the adventure, and often with a ticking clock.

Like with most things, some players will want to free from role play for hours.....and I never allow that in my set game time. But I do make the offer of hosting a free form get together any time outside of the game time. Amazingly it is rare for players to want to get together and "just free form role play". And the players can get together without me and free form role play, but they don't.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Why would play just be about the adventure and not also roleplaying outside of the adventure?

That's not an argument I made.