To Avoid Railroading... (my players stay out!)

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Your campaign start sounds neat cinematically; try building in a way for the players to save the day on their own (perhaps the NPC offers them a hint, or a magic item, or something, that will allow them to save themselves -- but they have to do the work and figure it out).

The trick to getting the "you work for wizard XX" plots to work -- short of early campaign buy-in, or a heavily story-based cinemaqtic plot that players enjoy in spite of the railroading -- is to know the characters' motivations. Present them with multiple options, but the one the wizard offers is the one that they are most motivated to follow. For example, for treasure-motivated players, they can earn 500 gp each recovering the magic mcguffin from the Dungeon of Doom for the wizard, or 100 gp each escorting a caravan across the desert. If you've pegged their motivations right, they'll pick your preferred course 90% of the time -- just be prepared for the 10% that they don't.

Sometimes free will isn't required -- the illusion of free will will suffice.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

You can "totally" make it work. I somewhat agree with telling the players the basic concept upfront - but they shouldn't really object much, afterall, every group needs a plausible reason to be brought together ( & stay together ) and this idea is probably a better reason than most campaign beginings. If you have a really strong reason for keeping them in the dark about it ( like a session or two they would really enjoy ), then by all means try it! If they end up having had a terrible time, you can always scrap the whole idea without too much investment lost.

You don't need to railroad any more than you normally would:

1) In additon to a few focused tasks, have the wizard have larger goals that can be accomplished over long periods of time - anyway the PC's see fit.

2) Give the PC's "time-off" between missions to do their own thing.

This premise has some great potential for certain roleplaying elements:

You can keep a relatively low magic setting, but still have good reasons for letting the PC's aquire magic items. Perhaps the Wizard provides certain items crucial to a mission, but then takes them away again later?

Controlled access to other magic like teleport & travel to other planes/dimensions

blah blah blah

 

[William Ronald]

Hi, Josh.

I think telling the players up front is a good idea. For myself, I tend to really dig in my heels if I think someone is trying to railroad me.

As a twist on the campaign, perhaps this wizard is someone whose personality and interest runs against the stereotype, and the PCs acts may be designed to help dispel it. The PCs need not know this at first, so they may be wary of their benefactor. Perhaps this is something they only gradually discover, adding a hint of mystery to the campaign as the PCs try to determine the true nature of their benefactor. They might be surprised to learn the truth, particularly if their benefactor is testing them from time to time.

 

[Whitey]

Whitey's Koan of Greater Gaming.
There is no plot hook; everything is a plot hook.

Players are ingenious when it comes to figuring out how something works. They (hopefully!) know the game mechanic, what skills, spells, and abilities best handle certain situations, and generally have an objective they're out to accomplish, whether they're happy with how this objective came about or not.
The question they'll ask when posed a mystery, assignment, or whatever the hook's supposed to be, is why. Let them ask this, and see where it leads. Let them progress from one 'why' to the next. They'll figure out whatever the larger metaplot is this way - or fashion a novel new one that could prove just as entertaining.

Here's an example. The party finds a silver ewer in a beholder's lair. Why does something with no hands or arms have a pitcher? Maybe this ewer bears the mark of a respectable noble family, who gave it to the creature as a bribe, and they're not so noble as once thought. Maybe the fair princess gave it away in hopes that showing some kindness would redeem a horrible eyeball monster. Maybe the beholder swiped it with telekinesis as a reminder of the fair princess it admires - being a horrible eyeball monster, it can't be so forthright with its affections. That's one that'd virtually never be expected. All these hooks, from one piece of dishware.

If you want to keep your wizard, just don't have the PCs instantly meteor swarmed as soon as they say no. If they refuse the assignment, a smart wizard - and they're all purportedly smart, will find a way to get the party's decisions in line with his/her overall strategy or vice versa. Why this party? Why this quest? In figuring that out, they will figure out who their characters are, what their world is like, and where their choices will take them.

 

[GrayIguana]

I like the idea of just tellingt he players up front. "Design a character who would work as an agent of a high level mage" Its not railroading when they all agree to get on the train. Your job then becomes to add the twist and turns and scenery that turn the railroad into a roller coaster ride. Your still forced to stay on track but the ride is still a blast.

I agree with this as well. One suggestion would be to have one (or some) of the characters be children of, or relatives of the MW. This would make the premise more locked into their character's background. The characters can then make their choices from there. Also in a world that frowns upon magic users it may add more conflict for the characters.

The other party members could be childhood friends (maybe their only friends depending on who knows about their parents), or associates of the MW.