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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 5402374" data-attributes="member: 50987">There has been much discussion about &quot;railroad&quot; plots in this forum.&nbsp; So what IS a railroad game, anyway?&nbsp; What does it look like?&nbsp; If you are wondering if your game is a railroad or not, you might find this little quiz helpful.THE RAILROAD TEST------------------------------------------------------------------------------If the DM says, &quot;No, it's not a dragon,&quot; you are NOT on a railroad.If the DM says, &quot;No, that's not a good idea,&quot; you MIGHT be on a railroad.If the DM says, &quot;No, you do this instead,&quot; you ARE on a railroad.If your character is named &quot;Walter,&quot; you are NOT on a railroad.If your character is named by the DM, you MIGHT be on a railroad.If your character is named &quot;Character Number Two,&quot; you ARE on a railroad.If you wake up in a strange town, you are NOT on a railroad.If you wake up in the same town you tried to leave yesterday, you MIGHT be on a railroad.If you wake up in the same town you tried to leave yesterday, and now all of the roads and exits out of town have mysteriously vanished, you ARE on a railroad.If the NPC doesn't introduce himself, you are NOT on a railroad.If the NPC introduces himself as &quot;Bigsley the Merchant,&quot; you MIGHT be on a railroad.If the NPC introduces himself as &quot;Elminster,&quot; you are ARE on a (crappy) railroad.If the DM says, &quot;Your Climb check was successful,&quot; you are NOT on a railroad.If the DM says, &quot;Your Climb check was successful&quot; without rolling, you MIGHT be on a railroad.If a ladder mysteriously appears in your inventory, you are either railroading or cheating.If the DM asks you to roll initiative, you are NOT on a railroad.If the DM rolls initiative for you, you MIGHT be on a railroad.If the DM tells you what your initiative is without rolling it, you ARE on a railroad.If the DM says &quot;One second, let me check the DMG,&quot; you are NOT on a railroad.If the DM says &quot;Wait a sec, let me check my notes,&quot; you MIGHT be on a railroad.If the DM reads his notes to you for an hour, you ARE on a railroad.If you are fighting dark elves, you are NOT on a railroad.If you have been fighting dark elves for the last five hours, you MIGHT be on a railroad.If you have been fighting the same dark elf for the last five hours, you are playing 4E.&nbsp; (ZING!)If you map the dungeon as you explore it, you are NOT on a railroad.If you have to keep erasing and backtracking to map the dungeon, you MIGHT be on a railroad.If the DM tells you to not even bother mapping the dungeon, you ARE on a railroad.If the DM stops the game for a break, you are NOT on a railroad.If the DM forgets your regularly scheduled break, you MIGHT be on a railroad.If everyone takes a break and the DM doesn't notice, you ARE on a railroad.If the DM asks, &quot;What do you want to do now?&quot; you are NOT on a railroad.If the DM says, &quot;You can either run, surrender, or fight,&quot; you MIGHT be on a railroad.If the DM says, &quot;Whatever, it doesn't matter,&quot; you are SO TOTALLY ON A RAILROAD.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 5402374, member: 50987"] There has been much discussion about "railroad" plots in this forum. So what IS a railroad game, anyway? What does it look like? If you are wondering if your game is a railroad or not, you might find this little quiz helpful. [U][B]THE RAILROAD TEST[/B][/U] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If the DM says, "No, it's not a dragon," you are NOT on a railroad. If the DM says, "No, that's not a good idea," you MIGHT be on a railroad. If the DM says, "No, you do this instead," you ARE on a railroad. If your character is named "Walter," you are NOT on a railroad. If your character is named by the DM, you MIGHT be on a railroad. If your character is named "Character Number Two," you ARE on a railroad. If you wake up in a strange town, you are NOT on a railroad. If you wake up in the same town you tried to leave yesterday, you MIGHT be on a railroad. If you wake up in the same town you tried to leave yesterday, and now all of the roads and exits out of town have mysteriously vanished, you ARE on a railroad. If the NPC doesn't introduce himself, you are NOT on a railroad. If the NPC introduces himself as "Bigsley the Merchant," you MIGHT be on a railroad. If the NPC introduces himself as "Elminster," you are ARE on a (crappy) railroad. If the DM says, "Your Climb check was successful," you are NOT on a railroad. If the DM says, "Your Climb check was successful" without rolling, you MIGHT be on a railroad. If a ladder mysteriously appears in your inventory, you are either railroading or cheating. If the DM asks you to roll initiative, you are NOT on a railroad. If the DM rolls initiative for you, you MIGHT be on a railroad. If the DM tells you what your initiative is without rolling it, you ARE on a railroad. If the DM says "One second, let me check the DMG," you are NOT on a railroad. If the DM says "Wait a sec, let me check my notes," you MIGHT be on a railroad. If the DM reads his notes to you for an hour, you ARE on a railroad. If you are fighting dark elves, you are NOT on a railroad. If you have been fighting dark elves for the last five hours, you MIGHT be on a railroad. If you have been fighting the same dark elf for the last five hours, you are playing 4E. (ZING!) If you map the dungeon as you explore it, you are NOT on a railroad. If you have to keep erasing and backtracking to map the dungeon, you MIGHT be on a railroad. If the DM tells you to not even bother mapping the dungeon, you ARE on a railroad. If the DM stops the game for a break, you are NOT on a railroad. If the DM forgets your regularly scheduled break, you MIGHT be on a railroad. If everyone takes a break and the DM doesn't notice, you ARE on a railroad. If the DM asks, "What do you want to do now?" you are NOT on a railroad. If the DM says, "You can either run, surrender, or fight," you MIGHT be on a railroad. If the DM says, "Whatever, it doesn't matter," you are SO TOTALLY ON A RAILROAD. [/QUOTE]

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