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What best describes railroading as you understand it?
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<blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 2970472" data-attributes="member: 18280"><p>Sure. </p><p></p><p>Assuming that there is no house rule or weirdness in play that we are not informed about:</p><p></p><p><em>1- Being targeted with a hold person in a combat -- the Player is unhappy because he wants to act in the battle.</em></p><p></p><p>Not railroading. <em>Hold person</em> is part of the game. NPCs can use it, just as PCs can. While the player is temporarily forced in linear action (inaction) the DM is making legitimate use of the rules.</p><p></p><p><em>2- Being confronted by normal constabulary for burning and killing through the city -- the Players are unhappy because they were having fun tossing fireballs around.</em></p><p></p><p>Not railroading as described. However, one might well imagine that the constabulry are going to be more than a little nervous confronting the PCs. I think that this is a situation that might temp many DMs (especially relatively inexperienced DMs) into railroading (i.e., suddenly the DM changes the size and power level of the constabulry to enforce the outcome he wants, etc.), but it is not railroading itself.</p><p></p><p><em>3- Telling the paladin he needs to atone for torturing and raping captives -- the Player is unhappy because he doesn't want to go on a quest for the atonement.</em></p><p></p><p>Railroading as written. The DM is certainly allowed to say "Either atone or you will be stripped of your paladinhood", but not that the player must atone. Of course, IMC, the player's actions would already have led to the consequence of losing his paladinhood. YMMV.</p><p></p><p><em>4- Telling the Players, “no warforged ninjas in this campaign” -- one Player is unhappy because he really wants to play a warforged ninja.</em></p><p></p><p>Not railroading. Setting up a campaign is a legitimate, and often necessary, part of the DM's job.</p><p></p><p><em>5- Room 1 in the dungeon has one door other than the entrance, which leads to room 2 -- the Players are unhappy because they want to skip the fight in room 2 and sneak into the room 3 from a back way.</em></p><p></p><p>Not railroading. The players are not forced to go into room 2. Sometimes layouts are different that what you might like. No one builds a fortification with an eye toward making it easy for intruders.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Raven Crowking, post: 2970472, member: 18280"] Sure. Assuming that there is no house rule or weirdness in play that we are not informed about: [I]1- Being targeted with a hold person in a combat -- the Player is unhappy because he wants to act in the battle.[/I] Not railroading. [I]Hold person[/I] is part of the game. NPCs can use it, just as PCs can. While the player is temporarily forced in linear action (inaction) the DM is making legitimate use of the rules. [I]2- Being confronted by normal constabulary for burning and killing through the city -- the Players are unhappy because they were having fun tossing fireballs around.[/I] Not railroading as described. However, one might well imagine that the constabulry are going to be more than a little nervous confronting the PCs. I think that this is a situation that might temp many DMs (especially relatively inexperienced DMs) into railroading (i.e., suddenly the DM changes the size and power level of the constabulry to enforce the outcome he wants, etc.), but it is not railroading itself. [I]3- Telling the paladin he needs to atone for torturing and raping captives -- the Player is unhappy because he doesn't want to go on a quest for the atonement.[/I] Railroading as written. The DM is certainly allowed to say "Either atone or you will be stripped of your paladinhood", but not that the player must atone. Of course, IMC, the player's actions would already have led to the consequence of losing his paladinhood. YMMV. [I]4- Telling the Players, “no warforged ninjas in this campaign” -- one Player is unhappy because he really wants to play a warforged ninja.[/I] Not railroading. Setting up a campaign is a legitimate, and often necessary, part of the DM's job. [I]5- Room 1 in the dungeon has one door other than the entrance, which leads to room 2 -- the Players are unhappy because they want to skip the fight in room 2 and sneak into the room 3 from a back way.[/I] Not railroading. The players are not forced to go into room 2. Sometimes layouts are different that what you might like. No one builds a fortification with an eye toward making it easy for intruders. [/QUOTE]
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What best describes railroading as you understand it?
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