D&D General The Monsters Know What They're Doing ... Are Unsure on 5e24

[mamba]

I continue to be sad I mentioned tortles.

yeah, it’s time that WotC announces their 2026 D&D lineup, we clearly have a lack of topics to discuss

 

[mamba]

Interesting. My goals as a player are entirely different from yours.

one is the GM, the other a player. It makes perfect sense that they have different interests / goals

I don't have any particular attachment to my character or their ultimate fate. As long as they exist in an engaging environment and provide me with meaningful agency in that world, I'm good.

sounds like you should have no trouble getting that from @Remathilis approach

 

[Bae'zel]

I never thought I'd see someone accuse a DM of railroading because they homebrewed their own campaign setting.

Railroading exists regardless of choice of fully collaborative worldbuilding, pre-published settings or homebrewed setting.

It's a non-sequitur to me.

edit: railroading is probably less likely in fully collaborative world building because everyone at the table has control over the emerging narrative.. so yeah

 

[Pedantic]

This is so far removed from my way of doing things it could be on the other side of the galaxy. My players are not consumers. They are not there to share in the beauty of narrative. They are not expected to listen passively and provide feedback. If it wanted that, I could have been a storyteller (as in the campfire, not WoD definition). I don't want to sit on the tracks of the railroad and bask in the glory of your NPCs. I want to tell my story about my character too. If my value to you is as an audience, then get off your butt and write that novel.

Woah! That's a lot of steps to walk from where I'm at, not the least because I'm not especially storytelling inclined. If I had a strong interest in narrative, I would obviously be writing novels. Perhaps if there was a strong tradition for fictional travelogues or gazetteers outside of like, franchise companion material and TTRPG settings there'd be an alternative hobby emerging here.

I don't think this falls neatly into the player-driven/railroad divide you're drawing here, what you do with a setting is not constrained by what the underlying purpose/method for creating it was. What I'm pointing to is that setting curation/creation is a compelling part of...well, I wouldn't call it gameplay, but the hobby at large? That's certainly why I wanted to start DMing back in the day; trying to figure out how to craft the perfect encounter to challenge and showcase a 3 player Bard/Artificer/Rogue party wasn't the selling point of the experience.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

It's the birth place of James Tiberius Kirk. How bad can it be?

Well, he became Starfleet Captain and did he ever return to Iowa?

You WOULD be the one to make that comment, Archchancellor.

I really had to, didn't I?

 

[AlViking]

I never thought I'd see someone accuse a DM of railroading because they homebrewed their own campaign setting.

Railroading exists regardless of choice of fully collaborative worldbuilding, pre-published settings or homebrewed setting.

It's a non-sequitur to me.

edit: railroading is probably less likely in fully collaborative world building because everyone at the table has control over the emerging narrative.. so yeah

But when doing collaborative games ther are different potential issues. I don't see a reduction of railroading potential as a big issue because true railroading DMs tend not to be DMs for long.

The monster under the bed is possible but nowhere near as likely as some people seem to think. Unless railroading is redefined to mean anything other than a 100% collaborative game.

 

[Mort]

The monster under the bed is possible but nowhere near as likely as some people seem to think. Unless railroading is redefined to mean anything other than a 100% collaborative game.

One of the biggest problems with a discussion on railroading is actually getting any number of people to agree on what they define as railroading. There have been a number of threads on this board, and that agreement is elusive.

 

[AlViking]

One of the biggest problems with a discussion on railroading is actually getting any number of people to agree on what they define as railroading. There have been a number of threads on this board, and that agreement is elusive.

I view most published campaigns as linear in that the lanes an stopping points are predefined. A true railroad dictates all significant decisions.

 

[Mort]

I view most published campaigns as linear in that the lanes an stopping points are predefined. A true railroad dictates all significant decisions.

I also define most published campaigns as linear, which is not the same. True Railroading, for me, means the denial of player choice.

The only published example I can think of offhand (I suspect there are others) happens in Waterdeep Dragon Heist and it's a doozy :

Spoiler: Mild spoilers for the module

The PCs are in search for the McGuffin. IF the PCs find it early (early bring defined by the McGuffin itself, so the DM) through smart play, luck or whatever, the McGuffin will LITERALLY erase the PCs memories of them having found it and set them back, until the McGuffin (aka DM) thinks it is the "right time" to be found.

 

[Maxperson]

Well, he became Starfleet Captain and did he ever return to Iowa?

Yes! He retired there, but obviously not permanently.

I really had to, didn't I?

Yep. I don't hold you to any blame.