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<blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 3522789" data-attributes="member: 5868">In my definition of the &quot;freewheeling&quot; adventure, the GM creates the gameworld, which contains a number of peoples, places, and things, among which are a number of interacting motivations &amp; plots.&nbsp; The players create a story based on the motivations of their characters, as their choices result in real consequences in the game world.&nbsp; The GM adjudicates the players actions and adjusts the resposne f the gameworld accordingly.In contrast, in a &quot;railroad&quot; adventure the path and outcome are preordained, and the &quot;Story&quot; develops along an arc predetermined by the GM.&nbsp; In spite of player choices and actions, the same events play out.Here's n example of how I opened my last campaign.&nbsp; I gave the players (who were instructed that their characters all came from the same geographical region) a list of common knowledge &amp; legends of the region.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Beyond that, I left outcomes vague, to be guided by the payers.&nbsp; After each section I'd let their actions guide me, and I'd develop new romurs based on their actions, interactions, &amp; interests, which in turn led to new options.&nbsp; But enough of the map was &quot;colored in&quot;, 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.&nbsp; 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 &amp; legends from the starting village in the campaign (and some of you might even be able to discern the adventures they lead to):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, <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1144" target="_blank">DM of the Rings</a>) provides a perfect example of a railroad:</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Olgar Shiverstone, post: 3522789, member: 5868"] 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): 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, [i]Lord of the Rings[/i] (or even better, [url=http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1144]DM of the Rings[/url]) provides a perfect example of a railroad: [/QUOTE]

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