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<blockquote data-quote="Majoru Oakheart" data-source="post: 5015076" data-attributes="member: 5143">I think there are distinct levels of &quot;railroading&quot; or &quot;making things turn out a certain way&quot;.&nbsp; Take for example:The PCs want to leave a path through a forest instead of heading down it.DM A: &quot;You can't leave the path, lightning bolts come from the sky and nearly strike you any time you get close to the edge.&quot;DM B: &quot;You leave the path.&nbsp; There is a lot of trees.&nbsp; You have no idea which way you are going, it all looks the same.&nbsp; Are you SURE you want to leave the path?&quot;DM C: &quot;You leave the path, you see dark shapes off in the distance.&nbsp; They appear to be powerful monsters that will certainly kill you if you continue, are you sure you want to leave the path?&quot;DM D: &quot;You leave the path.&nbsp; You wander aimlessly for 5 days, you begin to run low on food.&nbsp; You haven't found anything interesting.&nbsp; You will likely starve to death in a couple more days unless you head back.&quot;DM E: &quot;You leave the path, wander through the forest until you come across a town.&nbsp; Amazingly, enough, it is the town the path lead to.&quot;DM F: &quot;You leave the path, wander through the forest until you come across a man who says that he needs your help to escort him to the town at the end of the path.&quot;Are all kind of different levels of &quot;railroading&quot; and some are certainly more acceptable to different players than others.Apparently, to some people it matters the intentions behind the DMs actions.&nbsp; To me, I don't think it matters.&nbsp; If the guy in DM F's game was placed there as a last ditch effort to get the group following the path again or if he was put there because the DM wrote him up as an NPC with valid motivations who just happened to be going the direction we were going before....well, it just doesn't matter to me.&nbsp; The end effect is the same.And that's kind of the point.&nbsp; If the events of Game A and Game B are identical, does it matter if DM A was running it Sandbox style and DM B was running it AP style?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Majoru Oakheart, post: 5015076, member: 5143"] I think there are distinct levels of "railroading" or "making things turn out a certain way". Take for example: The PCs want to leave a path through a forest instead of heading down it. DM A: "You can't leave the path, lightning bolts come from the sky and nearly strike you any time you get close to the edge." DM B: "You leave the path. There is a lot of trees. You have no idea which way you are going, it all looks the same. Are you SURE you want to leave the path?" DM C: "You leave the path, you see dark shapes off in the distance. They appear to be powerful monsters that will certainly kill you if you continue, are you sure you want to leave the path?" DM D: "You leave the path. You wander aimlessly for 5 days, you begin to run low on food. You haven't found anything interesting. You will likely starve to death in a couple more days unless you head back." DM E: "You leave the path, wander through the forest until you come across a town. Amazingly, enough, it is the town the path lead to." DM F: "You leave the path, wander through the forest until you come across a man who says that he needs your help to escort him to the town at the end of the path." Are all kind of different levels of "railroading" and some are certainly more acceptable to different players than others. Apparently, to some people it matters the intentions behind the DMs actions. To me, I don't think it matters. If the guy in DM F's game was placed there as a last ditch effort to get the group following the path again or if he was put there because the DM wrote him up as an NPC with valid motivations who just happened to be going the direction we were going before....well, it just doesn't matter to me. The end effect is the same. And that's kind of the point. If the events of Game A and Game B are identical, does it matter if DM A was running it Sandbox style and DM B was running it AP style? [/QUOTE]

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