The trick to good railroading is making sure the players choices feel both meaningful & impactful. Prioritizing players first & then story second, makes for good railroading because the story/session/campaign has to end eventually.
I try to get the player to tell my what their plans are at the end of each session. That way I have some idea on what to plan so I don't have to take everything into account. Sometimes I do a little railroading, but the players get to choose what "tracks" they are on. I also make sure that the main story always is moving along, with or without the PCs. So the PC choosing to go on a side quest doesn't stop the villains executing their evil plans meanwhile.
I think your right. Too much of either is bad and sprinkling in various circumstances of the other is a good move. A good balance between them both is what we think is best, though everyone’s players are so different that I think your making the right call
Railroad is negative because it is seen as taking away choice from players but it makes it easier on a dm especially a new dm. Most players prefer sandbox because it gives the most options for players. I’ve sandboxed the Avernus area in Descent into Avernus and all of my players are enjoying it. I have to admit that sandboxing puts more work on me with having a lot of possible options to prep for. Even though it’s harder I still prefer sandboxing because it makes the world that I’ve designed feel more alive.
I think there has to be a healthy balance. You do have to have a story at some point to tie things in or push to a new location in my opinion. But too much of either one has a big downside.
Hey sin i saw a UA-cam short about a D&D character outsmarting a fey so the deal was that the fey would cure the character's sister in exchange for their first born and the character flipped the script on the fey by tricking the fey involved into giving birth to that first born talk about out feying the fey
@@TheSinisterheroes also since most effects that require a save happen on a fail I'm guessing that the pregnancy happens on a fail so hypothetically speaking the character and the fey would have to continue until the fey fails the save in order to fulfill the agreement
Hello Dan, the volume of your videos is much lower than others I listen to. You may want to place a microphone closer to you or use a bluetooth microphone to make things easier to hear. I really only notice though because I place the videos I watch into a playlist & let those play in full. Both videos on either side were dramatically more clear because the gain appeared to be set higher.
@@TheSinisterheroes You may want to do a couple of throw away test streams to make sure you don't get feedback/fuzz from too much gain. (I'm a sound dood for my church.)
@@BLynn i have had it up higher before but then i kinda got super addicted and just bumoped it up till it fuzzed. so i dropped it back down i will try and make it a little more with in reason.
I don't think a sandbox needs a lot of prep, especially if you use a pre-existing setting like Faerun or Star Wars. I run sandbox exclusively and do little to no prep, I just make shit up on the fly. The game then becomes what's known as Emergent Play where the "story" is what happens at the table, not what the GM created beforehand. If you can make shit up and write it down, you can make shit up on the fly. There are also (apparently, I don't own any) books to help sandbox GMs that are filled with random tables for just about everything you can imagine. If you truly treasure player agency like I do, do some research into Emergent Play, it's a fantastic way to run games.
I haven’t heard of emergent play before. You must be really good on the fly. I also imagine your knowledge of the setting is probably really extensive. I can definitely see someone who DM’S in only one particular setting, that you know that setting backwards and forwards. Making any sudden pivot in story telling easier. How do you handle maps and dungeoning?
The trick to good railroading is making sure the players choices feel both meaningful & impactful. Prioritizing players first & then story second, makes for good railroading because the story/session/campaign has to end eventually.
I agree with your statement. I know as a player I want to feel like I am part of a story and feel like I am contributing to a satisfying ending.
I try to get the player to tell my what their plans are at the end of each session. That way I have some idea on what to plan so I don't have to take everything into account. Sometimes I do a little railroading, but the players get to choose what "tracks" they are on.
I also make sure that the main story always is moving along, with or without the PCs. So the PC choosing to go on a side quest doesn't stop the villains executing their evil plans meanwhile.
I think your right. Too much of either is bad and sprinkling in various circumstances of the other is a good move. A good balance between them both is what we think is best, though everyone’s players are so different that I think your making the right call
Railroad is negative because it is seen as taking away choice from players but it makes it easier on a dm especially a new dm. Most players prefer sandbox because it gives the most options for players. I’ve sandboxed the Avernus area in Descent into Avernus and all of my players are enjoying it. I have to admit that sandboxing puts more work on me with having a lot of possible options to prep for. Even though it’s harder I still prefer sandboxing because it makes the world that I’ve designed feel more alive.
I think there has to be a healthy balance. You do have to have a story at some point to tie things in or push to a new location in my opinion. But too much of either one has a big downside.
Hey sin i saw a UA-cam short about a D&D character outsmarting a fey so the deal was that the fey would cure the character's sister in exchange for their first born and the character flipped the script on the fey by tricking the fey involved into giving birth to that first born talk about out feying the fey
🤣😂🤣 how does that happen 🤣😂🤣
Roll for pregnancy is a con fail or save?
@@TheSinisterheroes the fey didn't specify where the first born should come from so there was a loop hole 🤣😂🤣😂🤣
@@TheSinisterheroes I used a ai dice roller and the fey got a nat 2 so I'm guessing she failed the con save
@@TheSinisterheroes also since most effects that require a save happen on a fail I'm guessing that the pregnancy happens on a fail so hypothetically speaking the character and the fey would have to continue until the fey fails the save in order to fulfill the agreement
Oh yes it’s definitely a failed save effect. 🤣😂🤣 I have kids. It’s definitely like putting a parasite into someone 🤣😂🤣.
Hello Dan, the volume of your videos is much lower than others I listen to. You may want to place a microphone closer to you or use a bluetooth microphone to make things easier to hear. I really only notice though because I place the videos I watch into a playlist & let those play in full. Both videos on either side were dramatically more clear because the gain appeared to be set higher.
Thank you for letting me know I will definitely up the gain for the next video. I appreciate you pointing that out.
@@TheSinisterheroes You may want to do a couple of throw away test streams to make sure you don't get feedback/fuzz from too much gain. (I'm a sound dood for my church.)
@@BLynn i have had it up higher before but then i kinda got super addicted and just bumoped it up till it fuzzed. so i dropped it back down i will try and make it a little more with in reason.
I don't think a sandbox needs a lot of prep, especially if you use a pre-existing setting like Faerun or Star Wars. I run sandbox exclusively and do little to no prep, I just make shit up on the fly. The game then becomes what's known as Emergent Play where the "story" is what happens at the table, not what the GM created beforehand. If you can make shit up and write it down, you can make shit up on the fly. There are also (apparently, I don't own any) books to help sandbox GMs that are filled with random tables for just about everything you can imagine. If you truly treasure player agency like I do, do some research into Emergent Play, it's a fantastic way to run games.
I haven’t heard of emergent play before. You must be really good on the fly. I also imagine your knowledge of the setting is probably really extensive.
I can definitely see someone who DM’S in only one particular setting, that you know that setting backwards and forwards. Making any sudden pivot in story telling easier.
How do you handle maps and dungeoning?