On occasion, a word takes on too much meaning and effectively becomes meaningless. This is the poor fate of the term "railroading". It's not uncommon for a player to declare that his GM is railroading when all she is guilty of is maintaining the verisimilitude of the setting, or telling a linear story.
It is time to reclaim the meaning of railroading.
What is Railroading?
Railroading is the act of negating the choices a player makes. Nothing more, nothing less.
This can occur in a variety of situations, and takes several different forms. Sometimes, it's done outside of the game; a GM says "no, you can't do that". Other times, it is baked into the game; invisible walls spring up, trapping the players within the path that the GM wishes them to take. On occasion, it's done without the players being any wiser; if, regardless of whether they take the left path or the right at the fork in the road, the players will wind up at Dangerville, the GM is railroading to some extent.
As an example.
GM: You pass the first few cottages on the fringe of Dangerville, and people stop their work to stare at you. If the rumors are to be believed, this town is not as safe and secure as the name would lead you to believe.
Player A: I stop to talk to one of the villagers. "Hail, and well met. Is there a place where a thirsty stranger can find an ale?"
GM: Uh... The villager just stares at you and says "You should go talk to the Dollmaker."
Player B: Dollmaker? Sounds boring. Is there a pretty woman nearby? I want to try my Seduction skill.
GM: All of the other villagers ignore you. (To Player A) The man gives you directions to the Dollmaker's shop.
Player A: I ask him directions to the tavern. The Dollmaker can wait.
GM: He walks away.
Player A: Fine. I'll look for the tavern myself.
Player B: Yeah. I'm sure one of the barmaids will be interested in my charms.
GM: The town doesn't have a tavern. But you do come across the Dollmaker's shop...
Clearly, the GM is railroading. The players are trying to do their own thing, and the GM keeps shutting them down and pointing them back to his plot. By disallowing, ignoring, or rendering impossible any other path, the GM anchors his players to a set of rails from which there is no escape.
Other times, railroading can be more subtle.
GM: The Dollmaker's Clockwork Complex on the edge of Dangerville looms ahead of you.
Player A: I'm going to try to sneak in close and get a good look at what we're dealing with.
GM: Uh... roll your Sneakiness skill.
Player A: (rolls) Alright! That's a result of 29!
GM: Wow. Uh... unfortunately, that's not good enough; you needed a 30. The Dollmaker's Clockwork Cavalier sentry spots you and sounds the alarm. Roll initiative!
The GM allows the player to try a different approach than the one he'd planned, but the result is predetermined. Since the GM counted on them fighting their way into the Clockwork Complex on the outskirts of Dangerville, the player's attempt to sneak into the complex is destined to fail.
Now let's step away from railroading for a minute and discuss something else.
Linear Story Design
Imagine you're planning a short campaign in which the players will end up saving the world. You create the following outline.
A: The players hear rumors about a Dollmaker in Dangerville who is building an army of Clockwork Cavaliers.
B: The players track down the Dollmaker in his Clockwork Complex.
C: The players destroy the army of automatons and confront the Dollmaker. They discover that he was working for the Jealous Bard.
D: The players track down the Jealous Bard, atop the Spine of the World.
E: The players stop the Jealous Bard from singing the final verse of the Worldsong and destroying all of creation.
This is a linear story. From any given point, there is a clear path along which the story continues, ending at a predetermined conclusion. So is it railroading to run this story?
No.
Linear Storytelling is not Railroading
Many of you are probably vehemently disagreeing with me right now. "Of course that's railroading! The characters have no choice in where they take the story!"
But I'm here to tell you: it's not the same thing.
That's not to say that a linear story never coincides with railroading. I'm not even going to deny that there is a strong correlation: most railroading occurs within the context of linear stories. Yet it is entirely possible to run a game with a linear story without once railroading your players.
Take our above example. In order for the story to work, the player characters must travel to Dangerville, somehow stop the Dollmaker and his Clockwork Cavaliers, and then travel to the Spine of the World to stop the Jealous Bard. Yet, within that framework, the players have many choices.
When invading the Clockwork Complex, do they favor a frontal assault or a more sneaky approach? Do they go in alone, or rally the townsfolk to storm the place with them? Do they try to lure the Dollmaker out, or maybe wait for him to leave the Complex before striking?
When confronting the Dollmaker, do the players try to negotiate or simply attack? Do they destroy the Clockwork Cavaliers, or try to somehow turn them against their creator? Do they capture the Dollmaker, or kill him? Turn him over to the authorities? Let him go free? Forge an alliance? Try to enlist his aid against the Jealous Bard?
Before pursuing the Jealous Bard to the Spine of the World, do the players seek out more information? Potential allies? When climbing the tower, do they move quickly and destroy any opposition, or do they attempt to infiltrate it in disguise? Maybe they even try to scale the outside of the Spine, rather than taking the winding staircase within.
Before confronting the Jealous Bard, did they manage to discover his motivation? Do they know that he seeks to end the world in a fit of rage, angry that its denizens have for decades considered him useless just because he is a bard?
And, of course, how they handle the encounter with the Bard can go a lot of different ways.
Within the linear story, the players have a lot of wiggle room. Even something as simple as a "travel from point A to point B" story allows for several choices along the way, with each having some impact on how the events of the story unfold.
Why This is Important
A lot of voices in the gaming community are all too quick to jump on a GM for "railroading". "Anything less than a pure sandbox is railroading! The only correct way to run games is to allow the players total freedom, adapting to their choices on the fly!"
This is problematic for two reasons. One, not all GMs are comfortable with the level of improvisation required to run a game in that manner. Particularly when it comes to newer GMs, it's demoralizing being told that they're doing something wrong by not allowing the players to do literally anything they want.
Second, linear stories are a powerful tool in a GM's toolbox. Linear stories often have much stronger themes and plots, and can be more consistently entertaining than a sandbox style of gaming. By lumping linear storytelling in with railroading, we're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
So don't be afraid to design a linear story. Just make sure that, within the context of the story, the players still have a variety of options.
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