Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Great Railroad Thread
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="zarionofarabel" data-source="post: 9732879" data-attributes="member: 7026405"><p>Yes! Yes I would! I would also champion players trying to take the biggest duce they possibly could! <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="😁" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png" title="Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin:" data-shortname=":grin:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" /></p><p></p><p>I often see the argument that "sandbox" games are meandering chaotic random messes that are ultimately meaningless. Yet I myself have neither ran nor participated in a so called "sandbox" game that was any of those things. I have however participated in a few "railroad" games where as soon as the players tried to do things the GM hadn't prepared for, the game either shut down completely or the GM had a really tough time improvising things to continue and it often turned in to a meandering chaotic mess. I don't think either playstyle is better or worse, and I admit that having the GM be the primary narrative driver and plot creator seems to be far more common than the onus for those things be in the hands of the players. I guess I'm just a lazy GM and I'm bad at figuring out what kind of storyline the players will be keen on experiencing, so I leave it up to the players to point me in the right direction. I also don't prepare plotlines, scenes, or encounters, preferring to improvise those things in real time at the table. I do engage in world building (or use published settings) but I do think that "adventure prep" and "world building" are two distinct things.</p><p></p><p>Of course, I think I'm also weird in that I love it when the players take a big duce in my litterbox and I have to scramble to deal with the consequences. Having to deal with crazy players doing crazy things is half the fun! <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="🙃" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f643.png" title="Upside-down face :upside_down:" data-shortname=":upside_down:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" /></p><p></p><p>That I can definitely agree with. I find it very confusing that many people seem to consider the GM doing anything with the narrative as somehow removing player agency. If the GM can't manipulate the narrative in any way without it being seen as them impeding on the players agency, how would the GM continue to have any role in the game? I think at this point the definitions of "sandbox" and "railroad" playstyles has been stretched to the point where they have become absurd to the point of being effectively meaningless. Long live the "sandroad" and "railbox" playstyles! <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="🥰" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f970.png" title="Smiling face with hearts :smiling_face_with_3_hearts:" data-shortname=":smiling_face_with_3_hearts:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" /></p><p></p><p>Well, you know what they say about opinions...mine included! <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="😋" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60b.png" title="Face savoring food :yum:" data-shortname=":yum:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="zarionofarabel, post: 9732879, member: 7026405"] Yes! Yes I would! I would also champion players trying to take the biggest duce they possibly could! 😁 I often see the argument that "sandbox" games are meandering chaotic random messes that are ultimately meaningless. Yet I myself have neither ran nor participated in a so called "sandbox" game that was any of those things. I have however participated in a few "railroad" games where as soon as the players tried to do things the GM hadn't prepared for, the game either shut down completely or the GM had a really tough time improvising things to continue and it often turned in to a meandering chaotic mess. I don't think either playstyle is better or worse, and I admit that having the GM be the primary narrative driver and plot creator seems to be far more common than the onus for those things be in the hands of the players. I guess I'm just a lazy GM and I'm bad at figuring out what kind of storyline the players will be keen on experiencing, so I leave it up to the players to point me in the right direction. I also don't prepare plotlines, scenes, or encounters, preferring to improvise those things in real time at the table. I do engage in world building (or use published settings) but I do think that "adventure prep" and "world building" are two distinct things. Of course, I think I'm also weird in that I love it when the players take a big duce in my litterbox and I have to scramble to deal with the consequences. Having to deal with crazy players doing crazy things is half the fun! 🙃 That I can definitely agree with. I find it very confusing that many people seem to consider the GM doing anything with the narrative as somehow removing player agency. If the GM can't manipulate the narrative in any way without it being seen as them impeding on the players agency, how would the GM continue to have any role in the game? I think at this point the definitions of "sandbox" and "railroad" playstyles has been stretched to the point where they have become absurd to the point of being effectively meaningless. Long live the "sandroad" and "railbox" playstyles! 🥰 Well, you know what they say about opinions...mine included! 😋 [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Great Railroad Thread
Top