What is "railroading" to you (as a player)?

[hawkeyefan]

I see systems much like a contract, in the sense of "this, at least, is allowed". That Pendragon does social things way X or that D&D does them way Y is part of the agreement. Those may be unsatisfying ways, of course, but I think when we wonder about where agency lives and pick our lines to defend, we need to be more specific in the system contract in use. Pendragon allows the dice to test a character's vice directly, and D&D does not, yet D&D allows the dice in general defintions of skills to affect... someone. I think I know, but it doesn't seem like everyone here has had the same experiences as me. How much is that getting in the way for everyone, I don't know, but some of these situations being debated seem unmoored to me in a way that I have not been able to form an opinion.

Yeah, agency needs to he looked at based on the specific game in question. Sure, a game like Spire may have more consequences that take away agency than D&D… but it grants agency in other ways that D&D does not.

Examining and judging a single rule or instance of play in Spire by the same criteria one would judge D&D doesn’t lead to very reasonable conclusions.

 

[Fenris-77]

Yeah, agency needs to he looked at based on the specific game in question. Sure, a game like Spire may have more consequences that take away agency than D&D… but it grants agency in other ways that D&D does not.

Examining and judging a single rule or instance of play in Spire by the same criteria one would judge D&D doesn’t lead to very reasonable conclusions.

Spire actually assumes a lot more agency for the players in terms of making broad societal changes a potential outcome of their actions. This could happen in other games of course, but mostly not as direct a consequence of the game's design goals as is the case with Spire.