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Would you change a monster's hit points mid-fight?
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<blockquote data-quote="Celtavian" data-source="post: 6578408" data-attributes="member: 5834"><p>Books and movies give the illusion that characters within the story have to make choices that are vital to the movement of the story As a reader you're reading to see what they do and what happens from what they do. If you knew all of that in advance, you wouldn't keep reading even though the writer/director is pushing his characters in a known direction on tracks that he creates. You're riding on the author's train where he is the conductor/engineer on tracks he made. Good writers will take a reader on an enjoyable journey even if it is a carefully crafted journey with no ability for the reader to take an alternate route other than getting off the train.</p><p></p><p>All of RPG adventuring is a railroad. The only difference is whether your railroad has one track (a very focused module) or eight tracks (a sandbox). The fact is the DM has encounters set up in advance or he pulls them from the monster manual. This idea that you can pull a random encounter out from nowhere and make it challenging or interesting on a constant basis is ridiculous. I've never seen any DM pull that off consistently. If a DM tried, I guarantee I could run their players in a much more interesting campaign I crafted. Much more satisfying and interesting than goofing off with your buddies pulling out random encounters from the <em>Monster Manual</em>. </p><p></p><p>If you're simply talking about exploration adventures with no real end game scenario or a variety of possible options like defeating a cult, the local dragon terrorizing the town, or the robber baron as possible options amongst many for a party to participate in, those are still examples of railroads with multiple tracks. A DM has to work from prepared encounters or he risks making an overly easy or difficult game that isn't sustainable. </p><p></p><p>People assume railroading is a bad thing. It isn't. The problem is most DMs don't know how to use a railroad. I've played with those DMs. I know what a "bad" railroad looks like. You guys are talking about the DM that reads the module or designs the adventure and doesn't know what to do when the players do something different other than say "This is the only option. If you don't do this, then there's nothing else to do." I get that. I don't enjoy that either. Same as I don't enjoy the DM that runs the encounter exactly as it is written in the book even if it makes no sense. It's not how I handle things.</p><p></p><p>That is why I wait for the players to complete something before I design what is next. I need to know the consequences of the current encounter before I plan the next part because I have to adapt the next part to the actions of the characters. If the characters think they are done with something or the next piece of the puzzle isn't obvious, I design an encounter to get them on track in a fashion that seems organic to story progression. </p><p></p><p>One recent example in the <em>Carrion Crown</em> AP was the insertion of the main villain into the first module as an employer/adviser that manipulated the PCs into destroying his enemies. I spent time having him engage the PCs in conversations that built up their investment in stopping whatever plot was occurring within the story. He even gifted them coin, magic items, and intelligence over the course of the adventure until they were staying at his house while in the city. They had become friends with this individual and trusted him. When he turned on them, it was a bit of a surprise. It was a railroad, but one that was done in a fashion that players didn't even notice it. They felt like they were engaged in a mystery that required their attention. They took it as seriously as a real person might if they found themselves engaged in strange happenings that might endanger the well being of many innocents and they had the power to do something about it. That is the essence of railroading. If you do it right, it is amazingly fun and barely noticeable by the players. </p><p></p><p>I get it, not many can pull it off. I've been in more of those campaigns than I have been in the enjoyable ones. The campaigns where the DM is telling you where you're going and why. He's reading the module rote. He's not bringing any characters to life including the one you're playing. It feels like the usual "defeat the BBEG from doing bad things" single track railroad adventure. If that is mostly what I was dealing with, maybe I would find a railroad with multiple tracks more interesting. That being said a railroad is only a bad thing if the DM doesn't know how to make the ride interesting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celtavian, post: 6578408, member: 5834"] Books and movies give the illusion that characters within the story have to make choices that are vital to the movement of the story As a reader you're reading to see what they do and what happens from what they do. If you knew all of that in advance, you wouldn't keep reading even though the writer/director is pushing his characters in a known direction on tracks that he creates. You're riding on the author's train where he is the conductor/engineer on tracks he made. Good writers will take a reader on an enjoyable journey even if it is a carefully crafted journey with no ability for the reader to take an alternate route other than getting off the train. All of RPG adventuring is a railroad. The only difference is whether your railroad has one track (a very focused module) or eight tracks (a sandbox). The fact is the DM has encounters set up in advance or he pulls them from the monster manual. This idea that you can pull a random encounter out from nowhere and make it challenging or interesting on a constant basis is ridiculous. I've never seen any DM pull that off consistently. If a DM tried, I guarantee I could run their players in a much more interesting campaign I crafted. Much more satisfying and interesting than goofing off with your buddies pulling out random encounters from the [I]Monster Manual[/I]. If you're simply talking about exploration adventures with no real end game scenario or a variety of possible options like defeating a cult, the local dragon terrorizing the town, or the robber baron as possible options amongst many for a party to participate in, those are still examples of railroads with multiple tracks. A DM has to work from prepared encounters or he risks making an overly easy or difficult game that isn't sustainable. People assume railroading is a bad thing. It isn't. The problem is most DMs don't know how to use a railroad. I've played with those DMs. I know what a "bad" railroad looks like. You guys are talking about the DM that reads the module or designs the adventure and doesn't know what to do when the players do something different other than say "This is the only option. If you don't do this, then there's nothing else to do." I get that. I don't enjoy that either. Same as I don't enjoy the DM that runs the encounter exactly as it is written in the book even if it makes no sense. It's not how I handle things. That is why I wait for the players to complete something before I design what is next. I need to know the consequences of the current encounter before I plan the next part because I have to adapt the next part to the actions of the characters. If the characters think they are done with something or the next piece of the puzzle isn't obvious, I design an encounter to get them on track in a fashion that seems organic to story progression. One recent example in the [I]Carrion Crown[/I] AP was the insertion of the main villain into the first module as an employer/adviser that manipulated the PCs into destroying his enemies. I spent time having him engage the PCs in conversations that built up their investment in stopping whatever plot was occurring within the story. He even gifted them coin, magic items, and intelligence over the course of the adventure until they were staying at his house while in the city. They had become friends with this individual and trusted him. When he turned on them, it was a bit of a surprise. It was a railroad, but one that was done in a fashion that players didn't even notice it. They felt like they were engaged in a mystery that required their attention. They took it as seriously as a real person might if they found themselves engaged in strange happenings that might endanger the well being of many innocents and they had the power to do something about it. That is the essence of railroading. If you do it right, it is amazingly fun and barely noticeable by the players. I get it, not many can pull it off. I've been in more of those campaigns than I have been in the enjoyable ones. The campaigns where the DM is telling you where you're going and why. He's reading the module rote. He's not bringing any characters to life including the one you're playing. It feels like the usual "defeat the BBEG from doing bad things" single track railroad adventure. If that is mostly what I was dealing with, maybe I would find a railroad with multiple tracks more interesting. That being said a railroad is only a bad thing if the DM doesn't know how to make the ride interesting. [/QUOTE]
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