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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 8038879" data-attributes="member: 2629">PCs and players are often more inventive or creative than a DM plans.&nbsp; If the DM designs a dungeon or scenario that blocks many potential courses of action, the question arises as to what happens when the PCs work around the design and come up with an approach that bypasses the blockage.Common example: Tim the Enchanter is designed to be the BBEG.&nbsp; He is a member of the City Council in a large city.&nbsp; He is intended to work behind the scenes and manipulate enemies so that they hunt down the party.&nbsp; Only after the PCs rise to high level will they uncover his evil machinations, confront him, and foil his plans.... or so that plan states.During the first encounter with an agent of Tim, the PCs capture the agent and use mental control magics and divinations in well crafted ways that will uncover a loophole inn the DMs plans and reveal that Tim is the BBEG.&nbsp; What does the DM do?&nbsp; Does he contrive a way for those magics to fail?&nbsp; Does he let the PCs discover this, knowing that confronting Tim at that level would be suicide?&nbsp; In my sandbox games, I let the PCs discover the information.&nbsp; In many others, the DM would contrive a way (often just saying the magic doesn't work without explanation) to keep the identity secret.&nbsp; In truth, Railroad and Sandbox are a spectrum.&nbsp; I try to go as far to the sandbox side as I can for a CAMPAIGN, but verge more and more towards railroading as I shrink things down to an ADVENTURE (5 or so levels of action), a MODULE (2 to 4 levels of action), or a DELVE (1 level of action or less).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 8038879, member: 2629"] PCs and players are often more inventive or creative than a DM plans. If the DM designs a dungeon or scenario that blocks many potential courses of action, the question arises as to what happens when the PCs work around the design and come up with an approach that bypasses the blockage. Common example: Tim the Enchanter is designed to be the BBEG. He is a member of the City Council in a large city. He is intended to work behind the scenes and manipulate enemies so that they hunt down the party. Only after the PCs rise to high level will they uncover his evil machinations, confront him, and foil his plans.... or so that plan states. During the first encounter with an agent of Tim, the PCs capture the agent and use mental control magics and divinations in well crafted ways that will uncover a loophole inn the DMs plans and reveal that Tim is the BBEG. What does the DM do? Does he contrive a way for those magics to fail? Does he let the PCs discover this, knowing that confronting Tim at that level would be suicide? In my sandbox games, I let the PCs discover the information. In many others, the DM would contrive a way (often just saying the magic doesn't work without explanation) to keep the identity secret. In truth, Railroad and Sandbox are a spectrum. I try to go as far to the sandbox side as I can for a CAMPAIGN, but verge more and more towards railroading as I shrink things down to an ADVENTURE (5 or so levels of action), a MODULE (2 to 4 levels of action), or a DELVE (1 level of action or less). [/QUOTE]

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