To railroad or not to railroad?

[dreaded_beast]

I'm going to be starting a new game with 2 relatively new players to DND and 1 somewhat experienced player. I am debating whether or not to start them off right in front of the dungeon, which is the Burning Plague mini-adventure from WotC. Basically, I was going to paraphrase something along these lines:

"Plague is slowly spreading throughout the settlement of Dantredun, which has apparently orginated from the local silver mine. The Archbaron Bestmo is hesitant to send his own troops for fear of infecting his military with the plague, so he has sent all of you instead. You are to discover the cause of the plague and report back to the Archbaron with your findings. As a reward for this service, thie Archbaron has allowed you to keep whatever treasure you may find, if any, in the mine during your explorations. After receiving your assignment, all of you have made the trek to the entrance of the mine. What do you do?"

The group is 1st level, composed of a Human Cleric, Half-Elf Ranger, and Dwarf Wizard.

My fear of using this approach is that it takes away the freedom of choice the PCs are supposed to have while playing DND (Railroading). On the otherhand, since this is somewhat of a "newbie" group, it gets them into the action right away and we can start right into the adventure.

Thoughts, comments?

Should I forgo the railroading and let the PCs decide to start the adventure on their own or is it acceptable considering they are low-level and somewhat inexperienced with DND?

 

[Crothian]

Do you want to focus on the Dungeon crawl or something else? I'd start with what the focus is. But you know your players, will the follow a lead into the Dungeon or will they fight it?

 

[Torm]

This doesn't sound like railroading to me - it sounds like adequate backstory. Railroading would be if they decided to abandon the mission and, rather than allowing them to do so with realistic consequences (they're no longer welcome in Dantredun, and/or they're being hunted for dereliction) you blocked their attempt to leave with an unrealistic cave-in. Or worse, a rain of Buicks falling from the sky.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I would just explain it to them first and get some feedback. I did something similar. I was just taking over as DM, had not had a lot of time to prepare. I explained to my group that at that point they had limited options unless they wanted me to completely wing it. They accepted my plan and as time went on they had more and more options open to them.

 

[Jdvn1]

I'd forgo the railroading -- give them a chance to experience the exposition.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Do you want to focus on the Dungeon crawl or something else? I'd start with what the focus is. But you know your players, will the follow a lead into the Dungeon or will they fight it?

When speaking to my players about what kind of game they want, the standard answer is:

"I don't care, I just want to play."

On the other hand, they expressed an interest in having their characters not know each other from the start and role-playing their first encounter, which makes me hesitant to place them right in front of the dungeon. If I did that, I would assume that they had already met each other on the way to the dungeon, although I suppose they could start introuctions at that point and assume that they didn't really talk to each other until they arrived at the dungeon. In addition, they mentioned that they would like to meet "through circumstance" as in they were somewhat thrown together and forced to work with one another.

My focus for the game would be to go straight into the dungeon and get the action started right away. Since this will be our first game together as a group, in addition to 'newbies' being there, I want the action to begin from the start so they can see how 'fun' the game is. In my experience, 'newbies' tend to get bored if there isn't action right away.

 

[Desdichado]

Although railroading is (rightly) universally decried as a bad way to run a game for most players, there is a certain amount of implicit agreement between players and GM that he'll set up a scenario and the players will take the hook and follow through. Railroading is more about forcing the player to play through the scenario a certain way; I think it's pretty much assumed that the PCs actually will be playing through the scenario, though.

I wouldn't worry about your situation.

 

[dreaded_beast]

I'd forgo the railroading -- give them a chance to experience the exposition.

Yes, this was a concern of mine. I would love for the player's to experience the expostion (the process of how they got to the dungeon?), but my fear is that since the players are 'newbies' (new to DND), they may get bored until the action starts.

Thanks for everyone's comments so far, please keep them coming.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

When speaking to my players about what kind of game they want, the standard answer is:

"I don't care, I just want to play."

With that in mind(and the fact that you mentioned they didn't want the characters to know each other), you could mix the two ideas. Give them a chance to RP a meeting and get together as a group, and then when they start getting ready to go somewhere, throw a plot hook or two at them.

Even if they're different plot hooks, they can all lead to the adventure you want to run.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

First off, let me say that I pretty much agree with what Torm said. People are getting so desperate to avoid railroading that it's leading to the absence of any sort of backstory in modules. Telling the players what's going on and why they're going on the adventure isn't railroading; it's giving them the information they need to play the game.

Or do you expect them- especially the newbies- to just hear rumors about a plague and decide to go investigate? IME this is a longshot, especially for a group that hasn't played together before. Eventually you can come up with an interactive world where they can wander as they like and pick and choose what plots to pursue. But in the beginning of things, the DM needs to get the ball rolling, or there won't be a campaign at all.

In this case, since the players have expressed an interest in playing out the first encounter, have them meet each other for the first time at the Baron's place, where he's briefing them on the mission, introduces them, etc etc. Keep it short, maybe 15-20 minutes to get them the info they need and let them interact a little. Then send them off to the mines. Give them an encounter along the road if you don't want to dump them into the tunnels immediately, but by all means get the plot moving as quickly as possible. You don't want to have the PCs all sitting around in a tavern waiting to meet each other, because it probably won't happen.