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

[Reynard]

The only aspect that could be considered railroading is the inclusion of the Deck of Many Things without providing a means to deal with the consequences of the deck draws. Sealing off planar travel is a plot hook not railroading.

I legit do not understand how the inclusion of the Deck is rairoading. No one has to draw.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I legit do not understand how the inclusion of the Deck is rairoading. No one has to draw.

Not sure what is meant by "a means to deal with the consequences of the draw" either.

 

[Thomas Shey]

For sure.

I think at least some portion of GM railroading comes from insecurity: that is, being uncertain about being able to flow with out of the box player thinking. This can really only be mitigated by experience: the more you GM, the more confident you become improvising and following the players wherever they go.

I don't think railroading is limited to only new GMs, but I bet that it is more common among them.

And some of it is simply a question of aptitude. I've noted before you can have GMs who are naturally good at some aspects of the role, and just terrible at others. One of the "others" is on-the-fly improvisation. Some people are just terrible at that sort of thing, but can still put together interesting situations, run good combats, and produce and operate intriguing NPCs. What they're going to do when someone runs off the path is probably not going to be terribly appealing to people who want really open settings, but that doesn't make them bad GMs, just limited in an area some people find crucial and others not-so-much.

 

[Thomas Shey]

In another thread, I identified something I would consider railroading if it happened in any game in which I agreed to play. I.e. if I declared an action for my character, and the GM said my character wouldn't have thought to attempt such an action because my character's Intelligence score is too low.

While I'm not sure I'd do that one in any case, that runs into the problem with a game that has strong baked in elements to show the limitations of low physical attributes, but also has mental attributes.

 

[Scott Christian]

Naw, the only thing that matters in this context is how the player feels as they are engaged with the campaign - in the moment and on reflection. Thats where they’re going to provide feedback, have resentment, etc.

If 10 years later you feel a game was full of railroading, that’s a learning experience.

That's already two of the three I mentioned. What an arbitrary stopping point.

And it still doesn't take away that in the moment, the player might be enjoying themselves, and then afterwards, sit down with another player and begin to have a negative view of it because they now look at it as railroading.

 

[Hriston]

While I'm not sure I'd do that one in any case, that runs into the problem with a game that has strong baked in elements to show the limitations of low physical attributes, but also has mental attributes.

That would be the wrong solution to that problem for anyone I would game with.

 

[Thomas Shey]

That would be the wrong solution to that problem for anyone I would game with.

That may be, but for someone who thinks the stats should be payed attention to in both cases, they're liable to do something.