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

[Celebrim]

For me it's pretty simple. If there are predetermined scenes, plotlines, story beats, encounters, or solutions to problems, that the PCs cannot change and must engage with the way the GM has decided they will, it's a railroad. Functionally, I don't see any difference between a "linear" game and a railroad, other than whether or not the players are okay with it. If the players are happy to jump through the GMs hoops exactly as the GM intended, then it's a "linear" game. If the players aren't happy about it, it's a railroad. I don't think there is anything wrong with running/playing a railroad game. I do think it completely fails to embrace the one and only thing that makes TTRPGs unique, which is the ability to wholly customize the experience for the people playing the game. Basically, in a railroad game you could swap out any player or PC for any other player or PC and not much about the main events would change. Whereas in a game where everything is tailored specifically to the particular players and PCs, then swapping anyone out would drastically change the game via the butterfly effect.

How many players are normally at your tables?

 

[TheSword]

For me it's pretty simple. If there are predetermined scenes, plotlines, story beats, encounters, or solutions to problems, that the PCs cannot change and must engage with the way the GM has decided they will, it's a railroad. Functionally, I don't see any difference between a "linear" game and a railroad, other than whether or not the players are okay with it. If the players are happy to jump through the GMs hoops exactly as the GM intended, then it's a "linear" game. If the players aren't happy about it, it's a railroad. I don't think there is anything wrong with running/playing a railroad game. I do think it completely fails to embrace the one and only thing that makes TTRPGs unique, which is the ability to wholly customize the experience for the people playing the game. Basically, in a railroad game you could swap out any player or PC for any other player or PC and not much about the main events would change. Whereas in a game where everything is tailored specifically to the particular players and PCs, then swapping anyone out would drastically change the game via the butterfly effect.

So there can be predetermined scenes, plot lines, story beats, encounters, or solutions to problems and it not be a railroad? Providing that players can engage with them as they like and aren’t forced to interact with them one way?

This sounds about right to me. It’s the forcing element that makes it into a railroad not the preparation.

So for instance my last session involved a parcel being delivered to one of the players by mistake. The name on the parcel is very similar to one of the players names. Something they would only spot if they look really carefully. However the messenger is in a rush so is quite cavalier about the thing and it’s unlikely they would stop to check. If the players are allowed not to accept the parcel - because their character is particularly honest for instance or a stickler for the rules - then that’s not a railroad. But if nevertheless the parcel is forced on them, then that becomes a railroad right?

In the OP’s example, the railroad element is having their tuning forks taken away from them magically with no chance to prevent that. For instance if I kept my spell components in Leomunds Magic Chest to keep it safe and it still gets taken then that would make this more of a railroad?

 

[zarionofarabel]

How many players are normally at your tables?

3 or 4.

 

[Reynard]

So there can be predetermined scenes, plot lines, story beats, encounters, or solutions to problems and it not be a railroad? Providing that players can engage with them as they like and aren’t forced to interact with them one way?

This sounds about right to me. It’s the forcing element that makes it into a railroad not the preparation.

So for instance my last session involved a parcel being delivered to one of the players by mistake. The name on the parcel is very similar to one of the players names. Something they would only spot if they look really carefully. However the messenger is in a rush so is quite cavalier about the thing and it’s unlikely they would stop to check. If the players are allowed not to accept the parcel - because their character is particularly honest for instance or a stickler for the rules - then that’s not a railroad. But if nevertheless the parcel is forced on them, then that becomes a railroad right?

In the OP’s example, the railroad element is having their tuning forks taken away from them magically with no chance to prevent that. For instance if I kept my spell components in Leomunds Magic Chest to keep it safe and it still gets taken then that would make this more of a railroad?

I don't think "a situation" can be "a railroad" since the latter requires some sort of movement on the rails.

I don't think "You are trapped in the faewild" is a railroad. I don't even think "And the only way out is to convince the Faeild Gatekeeper to let you out" makes it a railroad. It becomes a railroad when the path to and method of conving the Gatekeeper is prescribed that it becomes a railroad.

That isn't to say you can't railroad the PCs into the starting situation -- I did, and pretty much all modules do to start -- but that doesn't mean everything after remains "a railroad."

 

[Professor Murder]

For me, railroading is not when there is a specific path for the story to go in but rather when only a single solution to a given challenge will work. It is even worse when the scenario is obtuse as to what that solution may be. So setting up that an evil baron is holding a village in fear and should be stopped isn't railroading. But making that Baron explicitly able to counter or overcome any and all possible player strategies to defeat them but one plan that the GM comes up with, not the players, that is railroading.

 

[Reynard]

For me, railroading is not when there is a specific path for the story to go in but rather when only a single solution to a given challenge will work. It is even worse when the scenario is obtuse as to what that solution may be. So setting up that an evil baron is holding a village in fear and should be stopped isn't railroading. But making that Baron explicitly able to counter or overcome any and all possible player strategies to defeat them but one plan that the GM comes up with, not the players, that is railroading.

How small can a railroad be? Is a linear dungeon design a railroad?

 

[TheSword]

I don't think "a situation" can be "a railroad" since the latter requires some sort of movement on the rails.

I don't think "You are trapped in the faewild" is a railroad. I don't even think "And the only way out is to convince the Faeild Gatekeeper to let you out" makes it a railroad. It becomes a railroad when the path to and method of conving the Gatekeeper is prescribed that it becomes a railroad.

That isn't to say you can't railroad the PCs into the starting situation -- I did, and pretty much all modules do to start -- but that doesn't mean everything after remains "a railroad."

Sorry I should have made it clearer. I don’t think being trapped in the Feywild is a a railroad. Bypassing a players choices and precautions would be though, as in my Leomunds Chest example. I didn’t see anything in your description to make me think your players had taken extra precautions and therefore been unfairly treated… unless the tuning fork theft was an afterthought, arbitrarily imposed to stop the player being able to creatively avoid the challenge.

 

[FrogReaver]

For me, railroading is not when there is a specific path for the story to go in but rather when only a single solution to a given challenge will work. It is even worse when the scenario is obtuse as to what that solution may be. So setting up that an evil baron is holding a village in fear and should be stopped isn't railroading. But making that Baron explicitly able to counter or overcome any and all possible player strategies to defeat them but one plan that the GM comes up with, not the players, that is railroading.

How does that jive with challenges that really only should have 1 solution?

 

[aco175]

I find that people have a railroad scale of 1-10 in their mind that is not the same for everyone. The OP of having the group portal shift into the feywild as part of the adventure seems very low to me. Then taking away spell components to keep them here creeps things up to like a 3 on the scale. I'm still ok to play the game since this in the lead-in and I have played with the DM before and his games are fine.

Problems arise with scenes like in Ravenloft where you are walking down the street and fog suddenly surrounds you and you are now in Ravenloft. Again, it is a lead-in to the adventure so I can play along. Having the orcs show up and take you all prisoner pushed my scale to 8-9 in those cases. I would prefer the DM just saying that you wake up as prisoner to the orcs and tell me how you got here.

 

[Reynard]

, arbitrarily imposed to stop the player being able to creatively avoid the challenge.

Aside: is casting a standard spell for its intended purpose a "creative solution"?