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

[TwoSix]

It warms my heart to still see references to that, all these years later.

For reference of newer posters:

G

D&D 5E (2014) Thread 'Geniuses with 5 Int'

Apr 6, 2016

Obviously inspired by that other thread, the goal of this thread is to describe characters who are geniuses, but for whatever reason they often fail at tasks that, in game terms, require a dice roll with an Int modifier.

How might you roleplay it?

My offerings:

Milton von Schlumberg the wizard is a genius, but he is also nearly crippled with self-doubt and insecurities. He'll often be halfway through casting a spell when he'll suddenly have an irrational fear that he's doing it wrong, and he gets so distracted by this fear that he actually bungles the spell, causing it to miss...

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[Micah Sweet]

Sure, but Shadowdark, as an example, still works very well without that granularity (and no skill mechanic beyond the backgrounds). It just needs a different perspective about how much of what you do is supposed to come from your character sheet (which I don't mean as critique).

I like Shadowdark too. Really enjoyed your recent offering on Drivethru. But honestly it's more for the vibe and feel of the game, and the low fantasy assumption, then the rules persay. They're pretty good, but I like subsystems a lot and generally prefer more granularity. The recent hexcrawl stuff is pretty cool. I love hexcrawls.

 

[FrozenNorth]

The game sets what the stats are for. If someone with a mentally slow character, say an 8 intelligence, is constantly roleplaying as quick witted and smart, he is roleplaying badly. He's ignoring what the game tells him intelligence represents, and the low stat, to roleplay something his character is not.

A slow individual might quickly come up with something once in a while, but not regularly. If a player in my game doesn't want to roleplay a low intelligence, he shouldn't have a character with a low intelligence.

An 8 Int is slightly below average. I played an 8 Int rogue in 4e. He was uneducated and intellectually incurious, and I told the DM that he had not learned to read. Still pretty « street smart ».

If the DM had told me that because the character came up with practical plans, I was « roleplaying badly », I probably would have left the table immediately.

 

[Fenris-77]

I like Shadowdark too. Really enjoyed your recent offering on Drivethru. But honestly it's more for the vibe and feel of the game, and the low fantasy assumption, then the rules persay. They're pretty good, but I like subsystems a lot and generally prefer more granularity. The recent hexcrawl stuff is pretty cool. I love hexcrawls.

Thanks! I'm curious which book you mean (I have four SD supplements out so far). You'll be happy to know that SD is getting some expanded hex crawl rules in the new Western Reaches books. I'm doing a 9x9 hexcrawl for each of my regional setting books that all fit together and will eventually cover a whole valley.

 

[Micah Sweet]

An 8 Int is slightly below average. I played an 8 Int rogue in 4e. He was uneducated and intellectually incurious, and I told the DM that he had not learned to read. Still pretty « street smart ».

If the DM had told me that because the character came up with practical plans, I was « roleplaying badly », I probably would have left the table immediately.

But you did play out the 8 int. That's all I was talking about for my part. How you do it is up to you, and IMO that's how it should be.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Thanks! I'm curious which book you mean (I have four SD supplements out so far). You'll be happy to know that SD is getting some expanded hex crawl rules in the new Western Reaches books. I'm doing a 9x9 hexcrawl for each of my regional setting books that all fit together and will eventually cover a whole valley.

The one based heavily on Warhammer. Glad to hear about the hexcrawl stuff.

 

[Fenris-77]

The one based heavily on Warhammer. Glad to hear about the hexcrawl stuff.

Probably the core Shadows of Empire book. The other three are in that same setting, as it the city supplement I'm currently working on.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Probably the core Shadows of Empire book. The other three are in that same setting, as it the city supplement I'm currently working on.

Yeah, Shadows of Empire. Very cool stuff.

 

[Fenris-77]

Yeah, Shadows of Empire. Very cool stuff.

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

 

[TwoSix]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

Group hug?