The Opposite of Railroading...

[S'mon]

The 1e Dungeoneers Survival Guide had a useful discussion of three sorts of campaign:

Linear - what here is being called a Railroad, a linked sequence of pre-written adventures. A Railroad correctly termed though isn't simply a linear campaign, it's one where PC actions are negated to ensure certain events happen, eg "The BBEG WILL escape".

Matrix - Multiple plot options, often intended to all lead to the same climactic adventure.

Open - the 'sandpit' style of 'go anywhere, do anything' play.

 

[S'mon]

If your players ever find out that you DM by this philosophy, they are within their rights to accuse you of thwarting their agency (i.e., railroading).

-Samir

"Hey Man, You're Thwarting My Agency!"

I would never try this on a GM and I wouldn't be too keen on a player trying it on me.

 

[S'mon]

No...but if the game is either "explore the dungeon or go home" they're on rails.

I disagree. If the GM says "Hey, want to play Temple of Elemental Evil?", the players agree, then refuse to take part in the adventure so the GM has no game, that's not railroading.

 

[Rothe]

It is really tough to be fully prepped to run 2-3 adventures at any given time. I can totally see why a DM steers groups to the one adventure that's ready to go.

I have been pitching my group about 10 rumors at a time, they vote on one or two they are really interested in and then I prep for those one or two adventures. Sometimes multiple rumors lead to the same adventure.

What other tools and techniques do DMs use to have interesting/fun material ready "on the fly"?

I do some world building. That is, there is no area on the map I don't have some vague idea of the "politics" and adventurous locations in that area. The "politics" add a framework to any random encounter so if PCs slay members of faction X, it has an impact on the plans of faction X and how they are viewed by factions Y and Z for example. Nothing extensive, one line note on the factions. It also leads to further adventures now faction Y may like you and faction Z hate you.

I also keep a little personal accounting of the politics in the wider world (and if the PCs affect them). For example if orc raids are up, more orc encounters, maybe the party interrupts an orc rading party returning home. Pirate activity up etc. I try to think ahead if I can hook any of these things into a module I have, or vice versa.

I also always keep on hand 2-4 "wilderness/dungeon" type adventures and some city type adventures (mostly rumors from CSIO). So if players wish to explore say The Northern Forest, I have an idea of the creatures there and a stock set of ruins for the dungeony feel. I can always switch in the "cave" adventure which works well in the mountains. These are really little more than maps with creatures noted in rooms and surrounding area. From time to time I up the power level of the encounters as the characters progress, 5 orcs to 10; ogre to ogre magi etc. WotC has many short free adventures that I also keep around for this purpose.

The biggest thing for me to note is encounters on the approach to the "dungeon" to add some versimilitude.

I can't overemphasise the "world building" part. It's not geneolgies of kings to the days of yore, languages or that stuff. But who and what lives where and who and what are they fighting/eating. Players could wander a 1000 miles in any direction and the "drama/life-and-death struggles" of the locals can be a ready adventure. Maybe a better way to think of it is as a dungeon, one large one that spans the whole world. Instead of rooms you have regions and nations, instead of discrete monsters you have factions, peoples, politics and ecology. The politics and ecology is the reasoning/rational that helps you decide how the world responds to your players unforseen acts in way that seesm planned and not completely random. If you can always respond to the unforseen act, or unforseen act on top of unforseen act, there is no need to "railroad" to be prepared.

Finally, always have a series of related adventures (just like the G1-3 idea too much) should the players wish to jump into such, which they have. I avoid the whole "save the world" thing or BBEG. Sure there may be one EG thas bigger and badder then the rest, but things are not structured around some climatic BBEG fight. YMMV of course.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I dunno, I always liked the "save the world plot." But I also liked to tweak it. Remember that line in the intro of Babylon 5 about being the "Last, best, hope" ? If I run a save the world plot, the players are the last, best, hope. After that you get the last, worst, hope. Which is probably more likely to keep the world from being totally destroyed but is also more likely that the world will be partially destroyed.

This frees the players from the crushing dread but still provides significant motivation.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

It is really tough to be fully prepped to run 2-3 adventures at any given time. I can totally see why a DM steers groups to the one adventure that's ready to go.

I have been pitching my group about 10 rumors at a time, they vote on one or two they are really interested in and then I prep for those one or two adventures. Sometimes multiple rumors lead to the same adventure.

What other tools and techniques do DMs use to have interesting/fun material ready "on the fly"?

A couple of things that I do to help me prepare for a more player choice driven approach...

Mini-Scenarios: You want to have lots and lots of mini-scenarios planned out, or at least outlined, in the case that your players balk at any of the larger scenarios that you toss at them. These are quick, easy scenarios for which you require very little setup...

For instance, a couple of mini-scenarios might look like this:

Golem Trouble: A wizard has lost control of his new construct. He needs someone to 'dismantle' it before it escapes from his laboratory and starts wreaking havoc on the area.
Setup: The party come upon the wizard arguing with local guard, or read a help wanted post in a pub, or are approached directly by the wizard. He offers payment if the adventurers destroy his golem.
Setting: A wizard's tower.
Special Considerations: The wizard would appreciate it if as little damage could be done to the house as possible while fighting the construct.
Consequences: If the party succeeds, they recieve payment. If they keep damage to the house down, the payment is more. If the party turns down the job, there is a 50% chance that some other group will take care of it. Otherwise, the berzerk golem escapes, wreaking havoc upon the populace.

Chupacabra: Livestock have gone missing from several local farms and ranches. What is happening to them?
Setup: The party witness a town meeting wherein farmers and ranchers complain about someone or something making off with their livestock, or read a help wanted post in a pub, or are approached by a local official for help determining the cause of and putting a stop to the cattle disappearances.
Setting: A rural community. A troll's lair.
Special Considerations: The party must determine the cause of the disappearances. This may entail talking to the farmers and ranchers to find out when where and what happened. They may also perform a stakeout of one or more locations (check for sleepiness) or need to track the culprit to its lair.
Consequences: If the party is successful, they will encounter one or more trolls, either at a ranch/farm (relatively in the open) or in its lair (a natural cave or rough domicile), and probably kill it. If the party doesn't take the job, there is a 50% likelihood that some other group will take care of it. Otherwise the troll (or trolls) kill all the available cattle and start eating the farmers and ranchers.

Quick stat-blocks: For most of these mini-scenarios... You only need one or two stat-blocks (the golem for the first one and the troll for the second one) even so... If you develop a lot of them, you'll have quite a lot of stat-blocks overall, so dumping any excess information that you don't really need is quite a space-time saver.

Golem, Stone: CR 11
AC:  26 (8 touch)          HD: 14                   HP: 107
Init: -1                        Speed: 20 ft.          Space: 10 ft.
Attacks: 1 (2 on full attack) Slam +18 (2d10+9)          Reach: 10 ft.
Fort: +4                       Ref: +3                  Wil: +4
Special:
Slow every 2 rounds (free action), 10 ft range DC 17 Will to negate.
Magic Immunity: Spells with SR: Yes do not function.
Bull Rush: The berserked golem will attempt to bull rush creatures into stuff.  Provoke AOO, d20+13 vs. Strength Check.  Pushing back 5 ft for each 5 points of success.  Getting pushed into tables and counters will cause things to get broken.  See special considerations in scenario.

Troll:  CR 5
AC:  16 (11 touch)        HD: 6                      HP: 63 (regen 5)
Init: +2                       Speed: 30 ft.            Space: 10 ft.
Attacks: 1 (2 on full attack) Claw +9 (1d6+6), and Bite +4 (1d6+3)           Reach 10 ft.
Fort: +11                     Ref: +4                    Will: +3
Special:
Regen 5: Acid and fire deal normal damage.  All other attacks deal subdual, which is recovered at a rate of 5 points per round.
Rend: If he hits with both claws, he deals an extra 2d6+9 points of damage.
Lair: Feel free to use more than one of these for higher level parties.

Obviously, your needs may vary, but if you enter the information and create the layout yourself, you'll have an easier time finding and remembering it all, which will make combats easier to manage, as well.

Outlining and flow-charting: Another method, for use with longer scenarios, is to keep to an outline or flow chart format. This means that, instead of full chunks of boxed text or whatever, you keep your layout simple and brief. You'll be able to fill in the blanks for your adventure easily once you are in front of your players, so you don't need to spend a lot of time writing stuff down.

Later
silver

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

In my definition of the "freewheeling" adventure, the GM creates the gameworld, which contains a number of peoples, places, and things, among which are a number of interacting motivations & plots. The players create a story based on the motivations of their characters, as their choices result in real consequences in the game world. The GM adjudicates the players actions and adjusts the resposne f the gameworld accordingly.

In contrast, in a "railroad" adventure the path and outcome are preordained, and the "Story" develops along an arc predetermined by the GM. In spite of player choices and actions, the same events play out.

Here's n example of how I opened my last campaign. I gave the players (who were instructed that their characters all came from the same geographical region) a list of common knowledge & legends of the region. I then put them in a short framing adventure which gave them a reason to work together, and in the process they learned a few more rumors about current events ... and from those rumors they could choose a direction to adventure, and the campaign played out from there. I plotted in general terms what rumors led to what general adventure session, and they essentially boiled down to three major and a number of minor adventures which I prepared for. Beyond that, I left outcomes vague, to be guided by the payers. After each section I'd let their actions guide me, and I'd develop new romurs based on their actions, interactions, & interests, which in turn led to new options. But enough of the map was "colored in", so to speak, that regardless of the direction they would go, I'd know what they might find, and in very general terms how that related to the entire gameworld. The game unfolded from, and was guided by player actions -- despite the fact that I used modules for a lot of my game prep, which allowed me to be prepared for a wide range of outcomes.

As an example, here were the opening rumors & legends from the starting village in the campaign (and some of you might even be able to discern the adventures they lead to):

General Legends of Mistledale (known to most Mistrans)
- The Dale was formed by a star that fell from the sky.
- A great red wyrm once burned the hamlet where Ashabenford now stands
- A wizard once built a long-forgotten tower in the forest south of the vale.
- The dwarves of Glen once had another stronghold, now lost.
- The dead walk in the downs south of Peldan’s Helm
- The ghost of the bandit Galath still haunts his keep north of Glen, where a great treasure is buried.
- A bandit treasure is hidden in the pool behind Haresk Malorn’s house.
- A magic rod hovers over the Council table when they meet. It protects the Council and the Dales.
- The god Torm once appeared to Baergil, the old captain of the Riders of Mistledale.
- Raids by non-humans and bandits have been increasing in the Dale of late.
- Several dragon hoards are hidden within the Vale of Lost Voices
- Travelers late at night have reported seeing dark shapes flying past the moon.
- Peldan’s Helm was founded by Peldan Faern, a paladin of Tyr who put his sword in the ground, placed his helm upon it, and claimed everything within sight under the protection of Tyr.

Notices in the Inn of the White Hart
- Zander Wolcott wants to hire adventurers to find an ancient cache of weapons.
- The BlackEagle Coster is hiring caravan guards.
- The militia is looking for new members.


Rumors in Ashabenford
- There was once a dragon worshipping cult in a temple down the Dark Road
- The dwarves in Glen get more than gems, ore, and mushrooms from their mine.
- Bandits are congregating in the woods in the northern Dale.
- Dark elves are about in the woods.
- Goblins and Orcs have been raiding out of the woods near Peldan’s Helm
- There were once many more druids at Oakengrove Abbey
- The Oakfather sent some druids away.
- A ghostly tower appears from time to time in the woods north of Elven Crossing
- No one has returned from down the dark road to Battledale in a long time.
- Kobolds have been spotted in the woods south of Ashabenford.
- A wizard once tamed a dragon in the Vale of Lost Voices
- Old Lady Winthrop was once cured of a wasting disease by eating an apple.
- Ned saw the forest walk near the start of the Dark Road
- Bane is the god of the Zhentarim, who invaded the Dale about ten years back.
- Multhimmer the merchant deals in stolen goods.
- There have been strange visitors of late to the Velvet Veil.
- Jhervain once asked about buying a dragon’s egg.
- The dwarves used to mine mithral in the Deep Mine near Glen.
- One of Blackeagle’s caravans was attacked by bandits on the south Moonsea Ride. There were no survivors – but not all the bodies were found.
- The Castellan of Peldan’s Helm has asked Halesk Malorn for help against bandits and non-human raiders.
- The Dark Road runs past some old ruins that are infested by goblins.
- The last time anyone asked about the ruins on the Dark Road was about a dozen years ago; one of the druids from Oakengrove abbey.
- The Riders have taken serious casualties on some of their patrols.
- Dumic the Red and others invested in a second mill on the Ashaba – but it burned down before it was completed.
- The Ubler boys are no-good troublemakers!

Like others have mentioned, having lots of pre-prepared minisecnarios (I use both my own original encountres plus a lot of adapted, pre-published stuff) is key to being able to make this approach work.


In contrast, Lord of the Rings (or even better, DM of the Rings) provides a perfect example of a railroad:

Frodo (PC): So we've got this ring and its dangerous. What do we do?

Gandalf (DMPC): You have to take it to Mordor and throw it i8n the fire.

Frodo: I know! We'll throw it in the ocean.

Gandalf: Nope, Sauron will find it.

Frodo: We'll hide it in the Shire!

Gandalf: Sauron knows about the Shire, and is looking for it there.

Frodo: We'll give it to Tom Bombadil!

Gandalf: He'll lose it, and Sauron will find it.

Frodo: You take it!

Gandalf: I'll be corrupted, and give it to Sauron.

Frodo: The elves can hide it!

Gandalf: Nope, their power is fading.

Frodo: I guess I'm going to Mordor, then ...

 

[Ourph]

I disagree. If the GM says "Hey, want to play Temple of Elemental Evil?", the players agree, then refuse to take part in the adventure so the GM has no game, that's not railroading.

I agree with your disagreeing. Telling the players that they have to start at A and get to E and that they must go through B,C and D to get there is railroading.

Telling the players they are starting at A and the point of the game is to explore a site that contains B through P in no particular order isn't railroading. It's also not a "sandbox" game where they can go wherever and do whatever they want (because you ARE limiting their options, they can't just decide to go explore Z), but there aren't just two categories. It's not an either/or distinction between "railroad" and "sandbox".

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Elite GMing Props

Silverbane:

Great advice; I also keep a library of impromptu encounters in case the PCs surprise me.

-Samir​

 

[moritheil]

For me that usually means youre running a plot free game that allows the PC's to do anything that they want to, but I could be wrong about that which is why I'm asking for examples.

Give details not some vauge outline. specific details. Thanks.

Not plot-free, just more along the lines of "this is what the simulated world is like; figure out what your character wants to do."