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Why defend railroading?
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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 8335806" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>We often speak of railroading and sandboxing as if they were binary options - you can railroad or sandbox. However, I look at their interrelation differently. Railroading is a sliding scale, with complete sandbox at one end and complete railroad at the other.</p><p></p><p>Here is a campaign design I've run several times in the past. The PCs begin their adventures in a kingdom. Then, a war breaks out and that kingdom is overrun. The PCs have multiple story hooks that relate to a ruined kingdom elsewhere. The leaders of the overrun nation relocate their people to that ruined kingdom. That relocation happens roughly where the PCs reach level 5. Then, around the time level 17 should be occurring for the PCs, something put into motion before the PCs were ever born comes to fruition in that formerly ruined kingdom where the refugees relocated. </p><p></p><p>Levels 1 to 4 and 17+ lean towards a railroad, but levels 5 to 16 are entirely a sandbox.</p><p></p><p>From levels 1 to 4, the PCs have a pressure to achieve certain goals before the invading army overruns their position. This gives a timer to their adventures, encouraging limited resting. However, they can decide to flee from the invading armies and make it to the boats that are leaving from the shoreline capital, hide and let the invading army pass them up (staying in the first kingdom longer, or adventuring in the lands the invading army left behind), or delve into the Underdark to escape the army. I expect, however, given their connection to NPCs that are fleeing (via backstory), that they will go with the fleeing refugees. While they can do anything they want during this period, there are going to be mounting pressures that will point them towards that ruined kingdom. The core of the campaign expects they'll reach it, so the pressure keeps mounting. </p><p></p><p>I consider that to be a soft railroad with increasing tendency towards a total railroad.</p><p></p><p>From levels 5 to 16, it is a very sandboxy situation. They have an area to explore in front of them, but they can decide how to do it. The exploration is designed to be a hex crawl from levels 5 to ~11. After that, there are hooks that take them interplanar. However, they might take on political adventures in the refugee nation that is restoring itself, they might dungeon delve in ruins, they might engage with neighboring forces, or they might leave the area entirely and adventure elsewhere in the world - but I use their relationships, backgrounds, bonds, and ideals to keep them tied to that ruined kingdom. During these levels, I have a number of things I expose them to, in one fashion or another, that provides them with insight they'll need for the climax of the campaign. </p><p></p><p>This is as sandbox as I go. It is not a complete sandbox as I tie them to certain elements, but it is a world of adventure for them. If they learn of a lich living in a tower north along the coast, they could go there at level 5 or level 16, and the adventure would be different based upon their power levels and their goals at the time. They're not likely to successfully fight the lich at level 5, but they might negotiate with it for information or resources. </p><p></p><p>At level 17, their is a call to action that starts the PCs down a path that goals to a goal. There are literally dozens of ways to move the story forward and they get to choose what they do. However, there is a timer that they will understand and they have to pick and choose what they wish to try to accomplish before that timer runs out. They'll have multiple paths to success and get to decide how to proceed, with some paths requiring brute force, others requiring negotiation, others requiring Macguffins, etc... They'll have to balance this with their own storylines for their PCs. They have people that depend upon them at this point, perhaps. Or they'll have personal goals they may not have accomplished. In the end, they have the climatic battle for all the marbles - and whether they succeed or fail will have real impacts on the campaign setting when the next group of PCs starts to adventure sometime in the next few decades.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 8335806, member: 2629"] We often speak of railroading and sandboxing as if they were binary options - you can railroad or sandbox. However, I look at their interrelation differently. Railroading is a sliding scale, with complete sandbox at one end and complete railroad at the other. Here is a campaign design I've run several times in the past. The PCs begin their adventures in a kingdom. Then, a war breaks out and that kingdom is overrun. The PCs have multiple story hooks that relate to a ruined kingdom elsewhere. The leaders of the overrun nation relocate their people to that ruined kingdom. That relocation happens roughly where the PCs reach level 5. Then, around the time level 17 should be occurring for the PCs, something put into motion before the PCs were ever born comes to fruition in that formerly ruined kingdom where the refugees relocated. Levels 1 to 4 and 17+ lean towards a railroad, but levels 5 to 16 are entirely a sandbox. From levels 1 to 4, the PCs have a pressure to achieve certain goals before the invading army overruns their position. This gives a timer to their adventures, encouraging limited resting. However, they can decide to flee from the invading armies and make it to the boats that are leaving from the shoreline capital, hide and let the invading army pass them up (staying in the first kingdom longer, or adventuring in the lands the invading army left behind), or delve into the Underdark to escape the army. I expect, however, given their connection to NPCs that are fleeing (via backstory), that they will go with the fleeing refugees. While they can do anything they want during this period, there are going to be mounting pressures that will point them towards that ruined kingdom. The core of the campaign expects they'll reach it, so the pressure keeps mounting. I consider that to be a soft railroad with increasing tendency towards a total railroad. From levels 5 to 16, it is a very sandboxy situation. They have an area to explore in front of them, but they can decide how to do it. The exploration is designed to be a hex crawl from levels 5 to ~11. After that, there are hooks that take them interplanar. However, they might take on political adventures in the refugee nation that is restoring itself, they might dungeon delve in ruins, they might engage with neighboring forces, or they might leave the area entirely and adventure elsewhere in the world - but I use their relationships, backgrounds, bonds, and ideals to keep them tied to that ruined kingdom. During these levels, I have a number of things I expose them to, in one fashion or another, that provides them with insight they'll need for the climax of the campaign. This is as sandbox as I go. It is not a complete sandbox as I tie them to certain elements, but it is a world of adventure for them. If they learn of a lich living in a tower north along the coast, they could go there at level 5 or level 16, and the adventure would be different based upon their power levels and their goals at the time. They're not likely to successfully fight the lich at level 5, but they might negotiate with it for information or resources. At level 17, their is a call to action that starts the PCs down a path that goals to a goal. There are literally dozens of ways to move the story forward and they get to choose what they do. However, there is a timer that they will understand and they have to pick and choose what they wish to try to accomplish before that timer runs out. They'll have multiple paths to success and get to decide how to proceed, with some paths requiring brute force, others requiring negotiation, others requiring Macguffins, etc... They'll have to balance this with their own storylines for their PCs. They have people that depend upon them at this point, perhaps. Or they'll have personal goals they may not have accomplished. In the end, they have the climatic battle for all the marbles - and whether they succeed or fail will have real impacts on the campaign setting when the next group of PCs starts to adventure sometime in the next few decades. [/QUOTE]
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