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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Why Jargon is Bad, and Some Modern Resources for RPG Theory
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<blockquote data-quote="niklinna" data-source="post: 8657028" data-attributes="member: 71235"><p>What about classic map-and-key dungeons that have no script, just corridors and doors and rooms? I mean, in some strict sense that's railroading in that PCs can't just teleport wherever they want. (Oh wait, in D&D they can, once they have the spell. But anyhow!)</p><p></p><p>What about NPCs you can discover and talk to, who have a relationship diagram (map)? You can talk to Victor, who knows Jennell and Ernie, which is how you might get introduced to or otherwise find out about them. Jennell knows <em>about</em> Ernie but has never met him. Ernie knows nothing about Jennell. Ernie does know Marian, though, but never tells anybody about that; he is in fact having an affair with her and meets her on the sly. Maybe if the PCs spy on Ernie (or Marian, assuming they learn about her some other way) they will find that out. And so on!</p><p></p><p>So now you've got me wondering about the difference between <em>structure</em> and <em>railroad</em>. Players can—or perhaps, <em>be allowed to</em>—presumably find creative ways around structure (teleport spells, Streetwise skill tests, whatever), but a railroad pointedly disallows that. Or rather, a scripted railroad disallows (explicity or implicitly), or a GM disallows or allows (possibly in defiance of a script). This gets into territory of who has authority over what in revealing/exploring/generating a story. Does that make sense?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="niklinna, post: 8657028, member: 71235"] What about classic map-and-key dungeons that have no script, just corridors and doors and rooms? I mean, in some strict sense that's railroading in that PCs can't just teleport wherever they want. (Oh wait, in D&D they can, once they have the spell. But anyhow!) What about NPCs you can discover and talk to, who have a relationship diagram (map)? You can talk to Victor, who knows Jennell and Ernie, which is how you might get introduced to or otherwise find out about them. Jennell knows [I]about[/I] Ernie but has never met him. Ernie knows nothing about Jennell. Ernie does know Marian, though, but never tells anybody about that; he is in fact having an affair with her and meets her on the sly. Maybe if the PCs spy on Ernie (or Marian, assuming they learn about her some other way) they will find that out. And so on! So now you've got me wondering about the difference between [I]structure[/I] and [I]railroad[/I]. Players can—or perhaps, [I]be allowed to[/I]—presumably find creative ways around structure (teleport spells, Streetwise skill tests, whatever), but a railroad pointedly disallows that. Or rather, a scripted railroad disallows (explicity or implicitly), or a GM disallows or allows (possibly in defiance of a script). This gets into territory of who has authority over what in revealing/exploring/generating a story. Does that make sense? [/QUOTE]
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Why Jargon is Bad, and Some Modern Resources for RPG Theory
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