{"id":6987,"date":"2022-11-28T04:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T08:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/?p=6987"},"modified":"2022-11-21T19:57:36","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T23:57:36","slug":"crashs-course-ep-03-railroading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/2022\/11\/crashs-course-ep-03-railroading\/","title":{"rendered":"Crash&#8217;s Course Ep 03: Railroading"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8536\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6987-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/cogwheelgaming\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CrashsCourse_Ep_03_Railroading.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/cogwheelgaming\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CrashsCourse_Ep_03_Railroading.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/cogwheelgaming\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CrashsCourse_Ep_03_Railroading.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/cogwheelgaming\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CrashsCourse_Ep_03_Railroading.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/?powerpress_pinw=6987-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/cogwheelgaming\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CrashsCourse_Ep_03_Railroading.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"CrashsCourse_Ep_03_Railroading.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/CrashsCourse.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4404\" src=\"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/CrashsCourse-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/CrashsCourse-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/CrashsCourse-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/CrashsCourse-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/CrashsCourse-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/CrashsCourse.png 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Hello and welcome to Crash\u2019s Course, a short form podcast where I share my thoughts and advice on playing and running tabletop role playing games in roughly about 5 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>This time I want to talk about the greatest of all DM or GM crimes: Railroading.<\/p>\n<p>I get it, players. Railroading is evil. How dare the GM take away your agency? Your freedom of choice? Sure, they worked really hard on that battle map for Session 4, but retiring to run an in-game children\u2019s theater is way more enjoyable!<\/p>\n<p>I get it, GMs and DMs, how dare the players veer away from your cleverly and meticulously crafted plot line? Sure, they want to have some control over the destiny of their characters, but shouldn\u2019t your hard work be able to be showcased?<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As you might be able to tell, both sides have a point. The bigger point is that TTRPGs are COLLABORATIVE storytelling. There needs to be some level of cooperation between everyone involved for it to be FUN for everyone involved. Otherwise, you might as well just be writing a book or screenplay. Those are fun, too, but they aren\u2019t TTRPGs.<\/p>\n<p>In my own games I use a few strategies that for the sake of this recording I\u2019ve named the following:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Backstories, Expanded<\/li>\n<li>Moving Rooms<\/li>\n<li>Burned Bridges<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>1. Backstories, Expanded<\/p>\n<p>You all start off in a tavern. Wait, that\u2019s clich\u00e9. You start off dead. How did you die? Well, that\u2019s tragic, but there\u2019s this deity willing to bring you back if you\u2019re willing to help them with a quest. You in?<\/p>\n<p>This example starts off with a scenario that the players agree to if they\u2019re joining the campaign. Snippets like this are how I\u2019ll introduce a possible campaign to my circle of friends, to see if enough are interested. With that done, railroading is less necessary because the buy-in happened BEFORE the campaign even started, and it\u2019s built into the characters\u2019 backstories.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll also peruse the characters\u2019 more detailed backstories for snippets I can work into the plot to keep them interested in the main story line. Is the trusted henchman of the BBEG someone from your past? An opponent? A friend? A parent? Well, you\u2019re a lot more engaged with the story now, aren\u2019t you?<\/p>\n<p>To be honest, half of my favorite NPCs to RP come from those backstories.<\/p>\n<p>2. Moving Rooms<\/p>\n<p>The players went left when your quest giver was to the right. You had a great RP moment set up in a room that everyone just \u2026 walked past. The players latched onto the character you named after a letter of the alphabet in a moment of panic while they actively tried to kill the one with 4 pages of backstory.<\/p>\n<p>No matter, just decide that the quest giver was on the left hand side all along. That room? Actually, all its contents are in this other room they\u2019ve already decided to go to. Cee the Kobold? Their backstory is now 90% of what Cedrick Maximilian Flanderhoot IV\u2019s backstory was, with just a little tweaking.<\/p>\n<p>Is this a little underhanded? Yeah, but the players can\u2019t see your notes. From their perspective, if you do this right, that was the plot thread all along. It\u2019s amazing how they always make the best choices.<\/p>\n<p>3. Burned Bridges<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d love to say that the first two strategies are all you need, but we all know better. Sometimes missed opportunities are truly lost, but that doesn\u2019t mean they were a waste.<\/p>\n<p>The work you put into those bypassed branches might have been hard work, but it was good practice for next time and GMing really is one of those things that gets easier with practice. Snippets of inspiration might still be harvested from the metaphorically burned husk of that waterway crossing as well. A name here, a line of dialogue there, heck, I\u2019ve reused whole dungeon maps turned sideways with the labels scratched off.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all for this episode, subscribe to just this podcast at <a href=\"https:\/\/is.aaronbsmith.com\/@CrashsCourse\">is.aaronbsmith.com\/@crashscourse<\/a> or all my D&amp;D podcasts at <a href=\"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/\">aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel<\/a> for future episodes.<\/p>\n<p>Music is <a href=\"http:\/\/modarchive.org\/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&amp;query=169788\">Deadly Windmills by JAM from modarchive.org<\/a>, used with permission, as it\u2019s public domain.<\/p>\n<p>This podcast is distributed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\">CC-BY-NC-ND<\/a> license.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow this series on\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#x25b6;Patreon: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/cogwheelgaming\">https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/cogwheelgaming<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#x25b6;Mastodon: <a href=\"https:\/\/is.aaronbsmith.com\/@CrashsCourse\">https:\/\/is.aaronbsmith.com\/@CrashsCourse<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#x25b6;Mastodon: <a rel=\"me\" href=\"https:\/\/is.aaronbsmith.com\/@cogwheel\">https:\/\/is.aaronbsmith.com\/@cogwheel<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#x25b6;Google Podcasts: <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hYXJvbmJzbWl0aC5jb20vY29nd2hlZWwvZmVlZC8\">https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hYXJvbmJzbWl0aC5jb20vY29nd2hlZWwvZmVlZC8<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#x25b6;Apple Podcasts: <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/cogwheel-gaming\/id1291681389\">https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/cogwheel-gaming\/id1291681389<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>MP3 Download: <a href=\"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CrashsCourse_Ep_03_Railroading.mp3\">Crash&#8217;s Course Ep 03: Railroading<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=6006674\">Keep us ad free by supporting us on Patreon!<\/a><br \/>\nThanks to our current Patreon Patrons (as of this upload&#8230;): Chris, Cindy<span class=\"sc-AxirZ bmNQcS\" data-tag=\"user-details-full-name\"> (Patron Emeritus)<\/span>, Ellie, Erik<span class=\"sc-AxirZ bmNQcS\" data-tag=\"user-details-full-name\">, ShanShen, and Walter!<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello and welcome to Crash\u2019s Course, a short form podcast where I share my thoughts and advice on playing and running tabletop role playing games in roughly about 5 minutes. This time I want to talk about the greatest of all DM or GM crimes: Railroading. I get it, players. Railroading is evil. How dare &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/2022\/11\/crashs-course-ep-03-railroading\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Crash&#8217;s Course Ep 03: Railroading&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[312,293],"tags":[362,318,295,327],"class_list":["post-6987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast","category-ttrpg","tag-crashscourse","tag-dnd","tag-dungeons-and-dragons","tag-ttrpg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6989,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987\/revisions\/6989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}