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Message: <blockquote data-quote="chaochou" data-source="post: 9734991" data-attributes="member: 99817">The fundamental element of a railroad is GM control of player character goals. Player character goals are the driving force of all play - if the GM controls them, they are deciding everything that matters about play (even if you can make micro-decisions about which square to stand in or which enemy to target, or which quip to say to the barman).Whether this is fun or not largely depends on whether the goals are interesting and whether the obstacles to achieving them are worth anyone's time.Sandboxes seem very poorly defined. But generally still seem to involve the characters 'discovering' (a euphamism for being told by the GM) what there is to do and then deciding whether to do it. In other words, they offer a menu of GM-generated goals and GM-generated outcomes. It can't be otherwise, since such games allocate all the authority for creating and changing the sandbox to the GM.Non-railroad play has the players author their character's goals. Author, not pick from the GMs list or cues. Author themselves, absent the GM. The GMs role is to provide adversity in achieving them, with the help of a game system designed to create that adversity. Systems designed for such play need mechanics which allow players to achieve non-negatable success for goals other than killing stuff.Such play rarely assumes 'a party' so it's often the case that player characters have conflicting goals and the game is also about the compromises each character makes, the changes they experience and price they pay to do so.Whether this is fun or not largely depends on whether the players create goals which genuinely interest them and whether the obstacles which arise as a result create moral and ethical dilemmas which are worth anyone's time.</blockquote>

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