5 Reasons Why Railroading Is Good
We’ve all seen discussions online about how to run an adventure, and you’ll get tons of advice that you shouldn’t railroad your players, that you shouldn’t have an adventure on rails, that you need to let the players explore, and have a big sandbox — but maybe you should have rails.
What is Railroading?
Railroading is when a Game Master directs their players along a predetermined plot or storyline, but it’s more than that. You might assume, with that definition, that any published material or set of notes is ‘railroading’ but that can’t be further from the truth. Instead, it is not allowing player agency or allowing for choices to impact the narrative.
For example, if the Game Master wants the party to go through Entrance A, fight Villain B, and then find Magic Item C - but the party has an idea to go through Entrance Z, avoid fighting Villain B, and steal the Magic Item C, and the Game Master does everything they can to punish the players for using Entrance Z and forcing them back to Entrance A, that would be considered railroading.
The Game Master is giving the party the false sense that they have any choice in the matter. It doesn’t matter what Entrance Z is, the Game Master won’t allow the players to pursue it, or they’ll simply change Entrance A to be Entrance Z and force the players to continue down the Game Master’s path. This often makes the players feel like they are just taking part in a pre-scripted story where they are merely spectators.
It’s Not All Bad
With that said, don’t think that all railroading is bad. There are hundreds of published adventures out there with stories written in them, ideas of how the plot moves forward when players do one thing and another thing, or written with the assumption that the players use Entrance A as opposed to Entrance Z.
That pre-written adventure is not bad. In fact, many of them are good, great, and even fantastic.
The key element to remember with railroading is that your players should always have the chance to make a meaningful impact. Not only can they choose Entrance Z, and it isn’t just Entrance A moved to a new room, but that they can choose to sneak past the villain, attempt to redeem them, or banish them to the shadow realm where you get to plot their return (and ultimate revenge).
Railroading Is Good
With all that said, let’s actually talk about all the great things about railroading. Guidance and structure is key for any game, especially if you want a coherent and enjoyable story at the end of it all. The way you create a story is by actually having the narrative planned out, but that plan can hold you hostage.
When we create something, we get highly protective of it. I’ve created things that I like, but then worry that others will dislike or try to change. I get protective of those things, the same way that if you create a story in Dungeons & Dragons, you might get protective of it. You won’t want others to change it because you know that the story is awesome and that if the players would just follow the story beats, they’d be blown away.
But that’s not why people play tabletop role-playing games. Sure, they want a good story that, mostly, makes sense and that they can guess at what happens next, but they want to be part of that story, not merely a spectator.
How to Railroad
While railroading has a bad rep, it isn’t all bad depending on your table. Some people actually want that story to just roll some dice to. Others want to know that they are going to be getting heavily invested into something, while others just want to hang out with their friends. It’s all about the group, and there are different levels of railroading. Even a pure sandbox has elements of railroading as you create a world that your players explore, but it was still a world that YOU, as the Game Master, created.
1) Establish Expectations
Before you ever get the game going, communicate with your players about the campaign, that you are looking to have a more structured or linear narrative. This is a great way to get feedback on how much structure the players want, how much control they’d like, and more.
This even goes for running pre-written adventures and which adventures you’d like to run. Some pre-written adventures are incredible sandboxes, while others are more structured with certain expectations.
2) Collaborative Storytelling
The story doesn’t have to only be the Game Master’s responsibilities. There are tons of story and narrative driven role-playing games with few dice rolling. By asking the players what they want in the story, and taking that to inform your structured story, you can ensure that your players are interested in following your story rails and going with the flow.
3) Flexibility Within Boundaries
Create flexibility in the story where it makes sense. You don’t need to have a firm grasp over every decision that your players make, like what classes they take, which inn they’ll spend the night in, how they wish to take on challenges, and more. They can have say over how they travel along the story, even if you know that you want key elements to take place or for them to take Entrance A (but maybe Entrance B isn’t the worst).
Preparation can go a long way in ensuring that you are flexible when it comes to unexpected actions, poor dice rolls, and more. Instead of just having a quantum ogre constantly teleporting in front of the party every time they turn a corner, have a back up plan. Maybe that ogre isn’t around the corner if the party goes right, but rather it is a hydra or a troll.
While your main story can certainly have a trajectory you plot out for it, the players can still have a say in smaller directions that can influence different aspects of the plot.
4) Offer Choices with Impact
You don’t need to offer your players every choice under the sun in order to ‘not railroad’ them. You can instead limit their choices to a few options that you have already plotted out. This is an excellent option for those tables who want a coherent story, to enjoy a well written story, and more. Plus, story-telling games are incredibly popular!
Many of those story-telling games offer several options through the course of the ‘game’ but, those choices sometimes have big impacts, sometimes small impacts, and sometimes will inform the reactions of others. By offering more than a single choice to the players, you are given them enough freedom that they are happy to go with you the rest of the way through the story.
5) Be Open to Feedback
This piece of advise is applicable to everyone. Regularly check in with your players about their enjoyment, satisfaction, and anything else important to them. I’ve had tables tell me they want a complete sandbox, but after a dozen sessions, they complain that they don’t have a story to follow or that they don’t feel like they are being pushed anywhere.
By being open to feedback, you can adjust your game so that it is enjoyable and still remains ‘true’ to whatever story you are trying to tell. The key to any good tabletop role-playing game is finding the balance that works for your table, which will then dictate how much railroading your table prefers.
To Railroad, or Not To Railroad
That is the question, but I do want to re-emphasize again that guidance and structure are key to any game when you are trying to maintain a coherent and enjoyable story. Some railroading is always going to be present in a game, and that doesn’t make your game bad. You have to strike the right balance between a planned narrative and however much flexibility that your table would like. Once you know what your table likes, how they want to impact the story, and what they are looking for in a game, then you’ll have a successful campaign and a wonderful gaming experience.
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