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<blockquote data-quote="Transit" data-source="post: 3521803" data-attributes="member: 19585">The problem isn't railroading.&nbsp; The problem is players KNOWING that they're being railroaded.&nbsp; Railroading needs to stay safely hidden behind the DM screen.Let's say I've worked on a specific dungeon for tonight's game.&nbsp; I put it right outside the village where the PCs are staying.&nbsp; If the PCs decide to ignore it and &quot;head south&quot;, I let them go.Eventually the PCs pass a hill with a creepy looking Evil Temple on it.&nbsp; They don't need to know that the lower levels of the temple will be the exact same dungeon that I had planned for right outside of the village.&nbsp; And if they decide to skip the temple, they'll eventually hear rumors of a Ruined Keep to the east. Etc. Etc.I keep tempting them with different entrances until they find one that they want to explore.&nbsp; The dungeon that I planned to use tonight WILL get used tonight WITHOUT the players knowing they were railroaded into it.(I might need to do a little on-the-fly modification - like picking which specific god is represented if they enter the &quot;Evil Temple&quot; or describing shields and banners on the walls if they decide to explore the &quot;Ruined Keep&quot; but the rest of the dungeon is the same.)This lets the players feel like they can go anywhere in the world and find adventure waiting, and I need only design and keep a few different adventures ready to &quot;plant&quot; on my campaign map as the players travel and explore.(I keep a couple dungeons, a few monster lairs, a wizards tower, etc. ready to go at all times.&nbsp; As locations are discovered and explored, I create a few more adventures ready to be &quot;found.&quot;&nbsp; My players are constantly amazed at how detailed my world is.&nbsp; They feel they can go down any road and find adventure waiting for them.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)"&nbsp; data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Of course, my larger adventure areas are in fixed locations so that my campaign can have a plot.&nbsp; But having smaller &quot;floater&quot; adventures that can be plugged in anywhere lets my players feel like they have complete freedom to go anywhere in the world, and avoids any appearance of &quot;railroading.&quot;P.S.&nbsp; I guess that the opposite of railroading could be called &quot;off-roading.&quot;&nbsp; The PCs feel they are free to go where ever they want.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Transit, post: 3521803, member: 19585"] The problem isn't railroading. The problem is players KNOWING that they're being railroaded. Railroading needs to stay safely hidden behind the DM screen. Let's say I've worked on a specific dungeon for tonight's game. I put it right outside the village where the PCs are staying. If the PCs decide to ignore it and "head south", I let them go. Eventually the PCs pass a hill with a creepy looking Evil Temple on it. They don't need to know that the lower levels of the temple will be the exact same dungeon that I had planned for right outside of the village. And if they decide to skip the temple, they'll eventually hear rumors of a Ruined Keep to the east. Etc. Etc. I keep tempting them with different entrances until they find one that they want to explore. The dungeon that I planned to use tonight WILL get used tonight WITHOUT the players knowing they were railroaded into it. (I might need to do a little on-the-fly modification - like picking which specific god is represented if they enter the "Evil Temple" or describing shields and banners on the walls if they decide to explore the "Ruined Keep" but the rest of the dungeon is the same.) This lets the players feel like they can go anywhere in the world and find adventure waiting, and I need only design and keep a few different adventures ready to "plant" on my campaign map as the players travel and explore. (I keep a couple dungeons, a few monster lairs, a wizards tower, etc. ready to go at all times. As locations are discovered and explored, I create a few more adventures ready to be "found." My players are constantly amazed at how detailed my world is. They feel they can go down any road and find adventure waiting for them. ;) Of course, my larger adventure areas are in fixed locations so that my campaign can have a plot. But having smaller "floater" adventures that can be plugged in anywhere lets my players feel like they have complete freedom to go anywhere in the world, and avoids any appearance of "railroading." P.S. I guess that the opposite of railroading could be called "off-roading." The PCs feel they are free to go where ever they want. [/QUOTE]

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