This time around the subject was inspired by a thread concerning a clumsy DM. One poster asked this question (sort of), “How do we stop linear adventuring?”



Options. Have options you can go to should the group do something you didn’t expect.



Have more than one adventure ready. Your players may not want to go explore that myconid lair and meet all the neat fungus men you spent hours statting up. So always have alternatives. Never become so enamored of a particular adventure you feel it necessary to railroad the group into playing it. You won’t enjoy it, and neither will they.



Another alternative is not to have an adventure at all. No, I did not say forgo roleplaying that night, I said have no adventure. The group still gets to play their characters, but the play is not structured as it is in an adventure. Let them visit friends, spend time with the family, get in touch with their contacts, meet a recurring villain while out shopping. If an adventure arises, well and good. If an adventure does not, life’s like that.



Now if you really must run a particular adventure, have a number of ways in which the party could get involved. Placing the trolls south of the group’s current position rather than north for instance. But if the group is really determined not to get involved in your wonderful adventure, and they can find a way to avoid it, give ‘em something else to do.



There is one little thing many a GM overlooks. What if the party doesn’t go through an adventure? An evil alchemist plans to poison a town’s water supply. The party learns of this plan, but decides to go out and scout that goblin lair. Do you really think the alchemist is going to wait until the party returns before carrying out his nefarious scheme? Party comes back with some loot and trophies only to find the town in a bad way.



Yes, it is possible the goblins could engage in some raiding while the group is dealing with the alchemist. Sometimes you’ve got to make hard choices. Now back to our irregularly scheduled column.



The point of all this exposition? Have alternatives, options the players can choose should they find the day’s festivities disagreeable. Makes for a more interesting game.



BTW, sometimes an adventure catches the group unawares, but don’t over do it. If your players find themselves in your adventure by accident, all well and good, but never force an accident, you’ll only alienate the party.



The whole point of roleplaying is to have a good time. The characters don’t have to survive, or even win, for the players to have a good time, but railroading the players is a good way to ruin the session, even if they triumph with nary a scratch.



*****



Coming Up: A short one this time around. Next time I’ll see what I can do to make it longer. Expect a Writing Practiceon disruptive players in the fairly near future, and maybe one on player journals. (Inspired by a column in Dragon 292).See you later.



Alan