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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 9854732" data-attributes="member: 4937">I not only have GM fiat at the heart of my definition, but since I don't really judge railroading on the basis of &quot;good/bad&quot;, my definition is probably more expansive than yours.&nbsp; Any GM fiat which wasn't justified prior to play as part of an honest analysis of what the &quot;reality&quot; of the setting demanded and which wasn't crafted with the &quot;rules as physics&quot; in mind, is probably (almost certainly) railroading.&nbsp; Because to me the core of railroading is, &quot;Does anything happen that the GM doesn't &quot;want&quot; or prefer to happen?&quot;&nbsp; If nothing is happening except the GMs preferences, it is a railroad.&nbsp; And fiat is by definition the GMs preference.To me prep is necessary to establish your preference in a concrete manner.&nbsp; Then, if you break that preparation because you don't like the outcome, that's pure railroading.&nbsp; Likewise, if you prep in such a way that isn't based on &quot;what happened before this point&quot; but is instead focused on &quot;what you want to have happen in the future&quot; that's probably railroading to.&nbsp; &quot;I don't want the PCs to unlock this door&quot; is very different to me than &quot;The PCs probably won't be able to get through this door because some NPC didn't want it to be easy to get through this door and logically had the resources to achieve the goal of making the door hard to get through.&quot; The later isn't railroading or at least not very much, while the former is definitely railroading.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 9854732, member: 4937"] I not only have GM fiat at the heart of my definition, but since I don't really judge railroading on the basis of "good/bad", my definition is probably more expansive than yours. Any GM fiat which wasn't justified prior to play as part of an honest analysis of what the "reality" of the setting demanded and which wasn't crafted with the "rules as physics" in mind, is probably (almost certainly) railroading. Because to me the core of railroading is, "Does anything happen that the GM doesn't "want" or prefer to happen?" If nothing is happening except the GMs preferences, it is a railroad. And fiat is by definition the GMs preference. To me prep is necessary to establish your preference in a concrete manner. Then, if you break that preparation because you don't like the outcome, that's pure railroading. Likewise, if you prep in such a way that isn't based on "what happened before this point" but is instead focused on "what you want to have happen in the future" that's probably railroading to. "I don't want the PCs to unlock this door" is very different to me than "The PCs probably won't be able to get through this door because some NPC didn't want it to be easy to get through this door and logically had the resources to achieve the goal of making the door hard to get through." The later isn't railroading or at least not very much, while the former is definitely railroading. [/QUOTE]

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