Am I about to railroad my pc's? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Am I about to railroad my pc's? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Tharin G'tal
10-31-05, 08:58 AM Just been reading over my campaign and i'm a bit worried I might be about to railroad my pc's.
They've just entered a town and agreed to clear out some local ruins, after spending the night in town they set off for said dungeon crawl.
When they get back to town I'll have them informed that they are needed to help lift a curse on the town by finding the pieces of a magic amulet. My intention was to have the PC's affected by the curse as they have spent a night in town, am I about to railroad them?
If so what else could I do?
They were offered free lodgings in town but were not forced to stay, one of the PC's even suggested camping out of the town walls but the idea was ignored.
The curse is for the town and occupants to spend alternate decades on the Astral Plane with no means of escape.
Hope i've given enough info and cheers in advance for your suggestions?
prettyripples
10-31-05, 09:03 AM If it's alternate decades, that means the PCs might not even realise they've been cursed for up to 10 years - so in the end, it makes little difference. I wouldn't bother.

(am I reading this wrong?)
Tharin G'tal
10-31-05, 09:16 AM No your not reading it wrong but there's only one year left before the next shift. I will inform them of this too.
MarkB
10-31-05, 09:25 AM Did you make appropriate Bluff / Sense motive checks for the townsfolk to deceive the party into staying the night and getting cursed? (I presume they must have been aware from experience that strangers who stay the night suffer the curse). If not, you're definitely moving into railroad territory.

This is also where you'll face the greatest danger of your players trying to jump the rails. They will not feel well-disposed towards folks who knowingly let them get cursed, and are just as likely to simply go off and find a way to get themselves personally uncursed, leaving the town to its fate.

It'd be far better if, instead of cursing the PCs and going straight to self-interest, you first try to find them positive motives for helping the cursed townsfolk. Maybe one of the cursed folk is known to be a key player in events that will be of importance to the PCs a year from now - but the town will be slipping into the astral plane in only six months. Maybe the townspeople have critical information on the Astral Plane that will help the PCs in a future adventure, which they'll share if the PCs agree to help them.
Dragonchild
10-31-05, 09:42 AM You're being a bit vague, but I do see clear evidence of railroading.

What's missing in all this are NPC's with independent, self-centered motivations. Your entire description of this adventure has been in first person. It shouldn't be. For example, you said, "I'll have them informed." How? Via NPC, of course. But why would the NPC offer this information? What does the NPC think of these adventurers? What does s/he stand to gain or lose? If everything that happens, happens for a reason, the adventure writes itself.

In other words, an adventure should start out, "Joe wants this. Jack plans to do this. Julie intends to do this." Motives should move an adventure, not a script.

Flesh out your NPC's, and make sure they all have independent GOALS. Bear in mind these goals won't perfectly align or conflict (though when they do align, flesh out the thing or location they all have in common). Let your NPC's intentions run the game, not your own.

The fun part is, if you DM this way, you can't tell what's going to happen any more than the PC's. Sometimes your own NPC's might surprise you.
Tharin G'tal
10-31-05, 05:07 PM Thanks for the response guy's I thought I was getting a bit too close to the rail track and you guys helped confirm it. I've alredy put a few thoughts to paper on alternate courses of action.
Hope I can help in the future :D
rbrt_Spade
10-31-05, 06:30 PM Just been reading over my campaign and i'm a bit worried I might be about to railroad my pc's.
They've just entered a town and agreed to clear out some local ruins, after spending the night in town they set off for said dungeon crawl.
this you did not railroad on becuase you gave them a plot hook of saying, hay do you want to clear this out for us? the pcs agreed.
When they get back to town I'll have them informed that they are needed to help lift a curse on the town by finding the pieces of a magic amulet. My intention was to have the PC's affected by the curse as they have spent a night in town, am I about to railroad them?
i think you did railroad a bit, did you roll the dice for the curse,sense motive,bluff and anything else needed? npcs follow the same rules as npcs. you are sortive railroading here to becuase for them to get the curse, the only option your providing is finding the amlet then say use a spell or something else. always give pcs choices that effect the outcome of the adventure.
If so what else could I do?
when i write adventurers, i usually give the pcs many choices for what happens to them. if they are not motivatied with the plot hook, i usually have a back up adventure. also your making a site based adventure & story based one i like. i might start puting the 2 together.
They were offered free lodgings in town but were not forced to stay, one of the PC's even suggested camping out of the town walls but the idea was ignored.
The curse is for the town and occupants to spend alternate decades on the Astral Plane with no means of escape.
Hope i've given enough info and cheers in advance for your suggestions?
some advice i offer is to have multiple hooks to get the pcs into the action for example
a artyple dungeon
rumors of loot
the majors daughter kidnapped(a classic) :cool:
a murderer went thier and a noble will pay the pcs to go thier.
Slumbersigh
10-31-05, 07:43 PM Just been reading over my campaign and i'm a bit worried I might be about to railroad my pc's.
I share your concerns.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tharin G'tal 10-31-05, 08:58 AM	Just been reading over my campaign and i'm a bit worried I might be about to railroad my pc's. They've just entered a town and agreed to clear out some local ruins, after spending the night in town they set off for said dungeon crawl. When they get back to town I'll have them informed that they are needed to help lift a curse on the town by finding the pieces of a magic amulet. My intention was to have the PC's affected by the curse as they have spent a night in town, am I about to railroad them? If so what else could I do? They were offered free lodgings in town but were not forced to stay, one of the PC's even suggested camping out of the town walls but the idea was ignored. The curse is for the town and occupants to spend alternate decades on the Astral Plane with no means of escape. Hope i've given enough info and cheers in advance for your suggestions?
prettyripples 10-31-05, 09:03 AM	If it's alternate decades, that means the PCs might not even realise they've been cursed for up to 10 years - so in the end, it makes little difference. I wouldn't bother. (am I reading this wrong?)
Tharin G'tal 10-31-05, 09:16 AM	No your not reading it wrong but there's only one year left before the next shift. I will inform them of this too.
MarkB 10-31-05, 09:25 AM	Did you make appropriate Bluff / Sense motive checks for the townsfolk to deceive the party into staying the night and getting cursed? (I presume they must have been aware from experience that strangers who stay the night suffer the curse). If not, you're definitely moving into railroad territory. This is also where you'll face the greatest danger of your players trying to jump the rails. They will not feel well-disposed towards folks who knowingly let them get cursed, and are just as likely to simply go off and find a way to get themselves personally uncursed, leaving the town to its fate. It'd be far better if, instead of cursing the PCs and going straight to self-interest, you first try to find them positive motives for helping the cursed townsfolk. Maybe one of the cursed folk is known to be a key player in events that will be of importance to the PCs a year from now - but the town will be slipping into the astral plane in only six months. Maybe the townspeople have critical information on the Astral Plane that will help the PCs in a future adventure, which they'll share if the PCs agree to help them.
Dragonchild 10-31-05, 09:42 AM	You're being a bit vague, but I do see clear evidence of railroading. What's missing in all this are NPC's with independent, self-centered motivations. Your entire description of this adventure has been in first person. It shouldn't be. For example, you said, "I'll have them informed." How? Via NPC, of course. But why would the NPC offer this information? What does the NPC think of these adventurers? What does s/he stand to gain or lose? If everything that happens, happens for a reason, the adventure writes itself. In other words, an adventure should start out, "Joe wants this. Jack plans to do this. Julie intends to do this." Motives should move an adventure, not a script. Flesh out your NPC's, and make sure they all have independent GOALS. Bear in mind these goals won't perfectly align or conflict (though when they do align, flesh out the thing or location they all have in common). Let your NPC's intentions run the game, not your own. The fun part is, if you DM this way, you can't tell what's going to happen any more than the PC's. Sometimes your own NPC's might surprise you.
Tharin G'tal 10-31-05, 05:07 PM	Thanks for the response guy's I thought I was getting a bit too close to the rail track and you guys helped confirm it. I've alredy put a few thoughts to paper on alternate courses of action. Hope I can help in the future :D
rbrt_Spade 10-31-05, 06:30 PM	Just been reading over my campaign and i'm a bit worried I might be about to railroad my pc's. They've just entered a town and agreed to clear out some local ruins, after spending the night in town they set off for said dungeon crawl. this you did not railroad on becuase you gave them a plot hook of saying, hay do you want to clear this out for us? the pcs agreed. When they get back to town I'll have them informed that they are needed to help lift a curse on the town by finding the pieces of a magic amulet. My intention was to have the PC's affected by the curse as they have spent a night in town, am I about to railroad them? i think you did railroad a bit, did you roll the dice for the curse,sense motive,bluff and anything else needed? npcs follow the same rules as npcs. you are sortive railroading here to becuase for them to get the curse, the only option your providing is finding the amlet then say use a spell or something else. always give pcs choices that effect the outcome of the adventure. If so what else could I do? when i write adventurers, i usually give the pcs many choices for what happens to them. if they are not motivatied with the plot hook, i usually have a back up adventure. also your making a site based adventure & story based one i like. i might start puting the 2 together. They were offered free lodgings in town but were not forced to stay, one of the PC's even suggested camping out of the town walls but the idea was ignored. The curse is for the town and occupants to spend alternate decades on the Astral Plane with no means of escape. Hope i've given enough info and cheers in advance for your suggestions? some advice i offer is to have multiple hooks to get the pcs into the action for example a artyple dungeon rumors of loot the majors daughter kidnapped(a classic) :cool: a murderer went thier and a noble will pay the pcs to go thier.
Slumbersigh 10-31-05, 07:43 PM	Just been reading over my campaign and i'm a bit worried I might be about to railroad my pc's. I share your concerns.