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<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8038698" data-attributes="member: 6779196"><p>A railroad is a set track that only allows trains to follow its specific, predetermined path. An adventure is often said to be “a railroad” (or “on rails”) when the players feel they lack agency. The plot forces them to do something they don’t want to do, or doesn’t allow them to do something they do want to do. A DM is often said to be “railroading” when the perception is that they are doing the same. When the DM contrives reasons not to allow certain actions or to force others, or if they create an illusion of choice (i.e. presenting multiple options that secretly all lead to the same outcome) and the players see through the illusion. But all of these are subjective. One group’s railroad is another group’s well-crafted narrative. It’s all about perception. As long as the players feel like they have agency, they arent likely to cry railroad even if that agency is in reality quite limited. On the other hand, if they feel like they lack agency, they are likely to consider themselves to have been “ralroaded,” even if they did actually have the ability to affect the outcome.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 8038698, member: 6779196"] A railroad is a set track that only allows trains to follow its specific, predetermined path. An adventure is often said to be “a railroad” (or “on rails”) when the players feel they lack agency. The plot forces them to do something they don’t want to do, or doesn’t allow them to do something they do want to do. A DM is often said to be “railroading” when the perception is that they are doing the same. When the DM contrives reasons not to allow certain actions or to force others, or if they create an illusion of choice (i.e. presenting multiple options that secretly all lead to the same outcome) and the players see through the illusion. But all of these are subjective. One group’s railroad is another group’s well-crafted narrative. It’s all about perception. As long as the players feel like they have agency, they arent likely to cry railroad even if that agency is in reality quite limited. On the other hand, if they feel like they lack agency, they are likely to consider themselves to have been “ralroaded,” even if they did actually have the ability to affect the outcome. [/QUOTE]

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