What is railroading?

[S'mon]

None.

 

[The_Universe]

6-19-05 -- Oh, I'm sorry. I see you use the new-fangled 30-day weeks. I'm not up on that yet. My bad.

Quasqueton

Hey now! I didn't initially say it was a week - Shaman did. And you gotta admit that a good number of those are pretty friggin' recent. Anyway, threadjack over. We can talk about this again if you want.

Lord knows that if we don't do it with you, yet *another* railroading thread will arise to take its place.

 

[S'mon]

None. Railroading is:

Scenario 11:
DM: "It's almost nightfall. You're walking along a mountain path and encounter a cave."
PCs: "We keep walking."
DM: "A nasty storm breaks out."
PCs: "We still keep walking; we may still be able to reach the village."
DM: "A half kilometer from the cave, the path seems to have collapsed."
Wizard: "I cast fly and shove everyone into bags of holding."
DM: "The violent winds prevent you from flying."
Wizard: "I cast dimension door."
DM: "Due to thaumaturgical interference from the cosmic rays, it doesn't work."
PCs: "*sigh* ok, we get back to the cave".

That's a classic example of railroading, yup. Your other examples are good, too.

 

[GlassJaw]

None of the examples are railroading IF the PC's are allowed to say "we don't care" and walk away completely. If the PC's get a note to rescue the princess and the campaign is contingent of the PC's saving said princess, then yes, it is railroading.

[OT]Zenodotus, that's a great quote, and very true. I used to watch Bob Ross all the time. Your quote made my day. [/OT]

 

[Zenodotus of Ephesus]

[OT]Zenodotus, that's a great quote, and very true. I used to watch Bob Ross all the time. Your quote made my day. [/OT]

It's better than a tape of ocean sounds. Like three hairs and some air...

 

[fusangite]

I think people have been making great progress here in sharpening our understanding of railroading. In my view, railroading takes place any time players' choices and actions cease to have to power to change what takes place in the game.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Scenario 17: The door is indestructible, the lock can't be picked, and it is immune to knock spells and passwall. There is what looks like a crosswords scheme drawn on it, though.

That's just a puzzle.

 

[Falkus]

An exampel of railroading would be what occured to me in a DnD game two months back. My third level paladin and her party were travelling to another kingdom to deliver an important gift to the king. Along the way, we were ambushed by a dwarven rogue, he dropped down from a cliff onto us. According to the DM, my horse panicked, despite the fact that I succeeded on my ride check. The dwarf then proceeded to hit my paladin with an enchanted blackjack that caused unconciousness on hit, no save. He then proceeded to jump up and rifle through my pack before the other players could react, and then on foot, proceeded to outrun a monk.

 

[The_Universe]

An exampel of railroading would be what occured to me in a DnD game two months back. My third level paladin and her party were travelling to another kingdom to deliver an important gift to the king. Along the way, we were ambushed by a dwarven rogue, he dropped down from a cliff onto us. According to the DM, my horse panicked, despite the fact that I succeeded on my ride check. The dwarf then proceeded to hit my paladin with an enchanted blackjack that caused unconciousness on hit, no save. He then proceeded to jump up and rifle through my pack before the other players could react, and then on foot, proceeded to outrun a monk.

That one's pretty transparent.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I think people have been making great progress here in sharpening our understanding of railroading. In my view, railroading takes place any time players' choices and actions cease to have to power to change what takes place in the game.

Sometimes their actions won't have the power to change what takes place though.

If the PCs had the power to change everything that happens in game, it would be no fun.

Sometimes, there are ancient evils that cannot be defeated, gods that are actually too powerful to be destroyed. Sometimes the plot makes no sense until ONE special thing happens, so it happens regardless of what the PCs do.

That's what I mean when sometimes either it's not railroading or that railroading is sometimes good.