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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fauchard1520" data-source="post: 7468741" data-attributes="member: 6896326">Game designer and DM to the stars Chris Perkins once described railroading as a style of GMing that “denies [players] any opportunity to affect change through their actions or decisions.” Contrast this to sandbox design, which Technopediadefines as, “A style of game in which minimal character limitations are placed on the gamer, allowing the gamer to roam and change a virtual world at will.” It’s easy to picture these styles as a continuum, with the complete freedom of players at one extreme and the absence of freedom at the other. It’s also easy to imagine the sandbox as “good thing” and the railroad as “bad thing.” Poppycock, say I! An individual player might prefer more or less structure in a game, but I believe every game needs a little bit of both.I've got a longer write-up with a few examples beneath <a href="http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/railroad" target="_blank">the comic over here</a>, but the TLDR is this: [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As a GM, it’s your job to give players meaningful choices (read: the freedom of the sandbox). However, it’s also your job to provide them with interesting situations (read: the structure of the railroad). That’s not a continuum, kids. It’s a loop. And it’s awfully tough to hula-hoop with only half a circle.[/FONT]</blockquote>