Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="soviet" data-source="post: 9735264" data-attributes="member: 6925338">So I read through the whole thread and had a think about what a reasonable taxonomy might look like, based largely on contributions made in this thread with some additions of my own, and here it is. *****Railroading (technique): when the GM negates player agency to preserve their preferred outcome (stolen from overgeeked). Railroading can occur at the table but also in GM prep, if situations are defined so narrowly that only the GM's preferred sequencing and outcomes are realistically possible.Railroad (form of play): when railroading techniques are used so heavily in play and/or prep that the sequence of play and the outcome of scenes is largely unaffected by player input. The players are on a ride to a predefined destination by a predefined route at a predefined speed.  Rollercoaster (form of play): a railroad that players knowingly consent to and are just there to enjoy the ride.Linear Adventure or Road Trip (form of play): when railroading techniques are used somewhat in prep and/or play, such that the basic structure and endpoint of the game is strongly defined by the GM, but players still have a significant degree of freedom in how they approach it. The players are travelling in a vehicle they control, at a speed they control, in a direction they control, and with some freedom to go off on tangents and sidequests, but they must still ultimately hit certain GM-planned checkpoints and end up at a certain GM-planned destination. Sandbox aka Off-Roading (form of play): when railroading techniques are used minimally or not at all during prep, and prep instead focuses on creating a large variety of setting elements (not all of which will ever see play) for players to discover and engage with as they wish. Setting elements are still heavily GM-curated but to a large extent presented without agenda or pre-definition of outcomes. The players are in a jeep exploring a wilderness that has been pre-populated with cool things to interact with.No-Roading or Wastelanding or Rowboat World (form of play): a dysfunctional version of sandbox play where GM-created content is so minimal that much of play consists of looking for things to engage with.Sandboxes and other non-railroad forms of prep can still become railroads in actual play if sufficient use is made of railroading techniques. The lived experience of play overrides whatever the intention of the prep may have been. Not sure how to categorise storygames or other forms of play yet.</blockquote>

Verification