Railroading and how to avoid it

So "if you don't do this, you'll make a few enemies" is ok, but "if you don't do this you'll be hunt down and most certainly die" is a no no?

Find it and share please. It sounds like a interesting read.

There is different ways to go about this.

>The no-idea-how-to sandbox
It's just a setting. It is static. Nothing happens unless the PCs show initiative.

>The sandbox of ample opportunity
There are a lot of plot hooks, definitely more than the players can follow up on. What develops out of the ones they do is up to the way the players go about it.

>The autoplay sandbox
NPCs do things. They have plans and realize them over time. The players get to watch from the other side of the room unless they get involved.

>The random box
Random tables or a minigame decide what happens off screen to affect what happens on screen.

>The unanticipated sandbox
There was an adventure planned, maybe even a published module. But the players went so far off track, it's broken now and the GM had to set new challenges out of what the players had done.

Generally sandbox is usually a term GMs use when prep gets too much for them. It is also favored by worldbuilders incapable of delivering a story. But it is just a dichotomy, not a realistic extreme. Sandbox vs Railroad is a sliding scale, and all games end up in the middle.

Without plot hooks players feel completely lost. It kills the world dead and leads to the one player who enjoys just making shit up dominating the entire session. GMs must offer story.

And in a way every story is a rail. But the term railroading is usually reserved for extreme cases of leading players by the nose. Normally the GM just tries to present a compelling situation that offers tension and invites the PCs to position themselves by taking action. This leads to new situations, and so on and so forth.

How written out this is in detail depends on so much, it really only makes sense discussing specific details, like player agency, taking notes, or balancing the group dynamic. With experience comes an individual style, which you can then troubleshoot and develop.

gnomestew.com/game-mastering/gming-advice/island-design-theory/

this was one of the most useful things i learned as a forever GM. having set "islands" that can be moved around and placed wherever the PCs go.

don't tell the players you're doing this otherwise it might be met with cries of "muh agency"

i treat my GM scripts/notes as basically madlibs. if you're anything like me then you also procrastinate a bunch, so it's useful to have premade NPCs, villages, encounters, etc that you make all at once when you're feeling productive.

all this helps keep things fresh and organic while also letting you plan as much as you can. no gameplan survives first contact with the players, so don't beat yourself up while you're learning.

>Find it and share please. It sounds like a interesting read
Pic related

>The important part is the world keeps going while the players are doing their thing.
This is truth.
I find it interesting that originally that was clearly the GM's point, but now it gets overshadowed by what the players chose to focus on rather than how they ignored an obvious threat.

Here you go friends

>Apparently you thought gay marriage was more important than not being killed by zombies and skeletons
Makes me wonder how actual SJWs would respond to that situation.

>But isn't it the same as forcing a quest if the consequences of not taking said quest are too dire?
>So "if you don't do this, you'll make a few enemies" is ok, but "if you don't do this you'll be hunt down and most certainly die" is a no no?
The trick is to go light on the pressure.
Make the pros and cons of any quest clear, so if the PCs ignore it, the cons are seen as natural developments, not punishment.
Ideally, the PCs should want to take the quest, not feel obligated to.

One thing I like to do is set up the area with about 8 proto-BBEGs, and as the PCs defeat them, each other one absorbs more power, influence, and control, getting stronger as the PCs do, whichever direction they choose.

By calling you homophobic.

Listen to these anons.