Freeform or Linear?

[Matian]

I've been playing through SotA with my group, and after finishing one of the adventures we were talking about approaches to gaming. One of the things that surprised me in the discussion was that the entire group like SotA because of the linear nature of the adventure. They always knew where they were headed and what their objective was, and generally speaking where they stood with NPCs (in terms of the helpful/friendly/neutral/unfriendly/hostile scale).

This surprised me, as linear games are often derided for "railroading", yet my party seems to find it a welcome change. There are a few variables:

1) We're all grad students, with little to no time for prep or external roleplay (short stories about characters, fan art, etc.) (We know what we're getting before we start play.)

2) The median age is 25, with an average of eight years RP experience. (After playing mostly freeform games, a linear game is a nice change.)

3) The gender split is 50/50 for the group. (I find the closer a group gets to gender parity, the more easygoing, relaxed, and open to new ideas it gets.)


What are your experiences? Do you prefer freeform or linear? When your gaming group profile changes, do the preferences change with it?

 

[rust]

What are your experiences? Do you prefer freeform or linear? When your gaming group profile changes, do the preferences change with it?

I very much prefer a "sandbox" approach, which is probably what you call
"freeform" (which is used over here for a game without rules).

 

[Matian]

Want me to edit the post? I think it may be a regional issue. Freeform has both meanings here (Canadian prairies).

The problem my group found with sandbox games is pretty much this. Do they run off and make money? What about the different characters and competing goals? What about visiting the Aslan or trying to assimilate into Vargr society?

I think one of the perks and problems of 3I is that it's just so big. When you can go anywhere, where do you go? (I think this is where the "grad student" bit becomes important. None of my players are really in the mood to deal with this sort of existential quandary for fun.)

 

[rust]

I think one of the perks and problems of 3I is that it's just so big.

Yes, indeed. We usually try to keep our sandbox small and the characters
close together, for example as the citizens of the same small colony on a
frontier world, which automatically creates common interests and helps to
create common strategies how to deal with the local situation together in
order to further these interests.

 

[Emperor Herdan]

I've been playing through SotA with my group, and after finishing one of the adventures we were talking about approaches to gaming. One of the things that surprised me in the discussion was that the entire group like SotA because of the linear nature of the adventure. ...
This surprised me, as linear games are often derided for "railroading", yet my party seems to find it a welcome change. There are a few variables:

1) ...
2) ...
3) ...

What are your experiences? Do you prefer freeform or linear? When your gaming group profile changes, do the preferences change with it?

I GM freeform, but I'll use various (rather Adapt) modules. Thats one of the strengths of Traveller (as opposed to D&D as a whole) in that the characters have more diverse skills sets, and it allows your players to adapt to various scenarios.

Having said that, my group (Median age about 45... Yikes) are more "Object or mission oriented..." (a bit moreso than your group sounds like). There are a few modules out there that do railroad, but thats a fault more with the author, and as a GM you can adapt to what your group does, or how they would overcome problems, and mitigate it. I've had things go way off on a tangent before I brought the group back onto the "main stream" of adventures.

Anyway well done on the balanced group (best I've done is 1/3). Gotta go and Hi from the Left Coast (where, oddly enough, its still raining)

Take care

E. Herdan

 

[steelbrok]

I think the point about Traveller being on such a large scale being both good and bad is a very good one.

The advantage is that it's very easy to find a blank spot on the map to place whatever you like.

OTOH when there are lots of interesting elements in the setting they are separated by vast differences.

In the OTU it's very difficult to use the Hivers and the Zhodani and the K'kree and the Aslan and the ...... in the combinations you might like.


My solution was to play with the government codes and then use the Marches - but now I've got K'kree, Hivers, Droyne, Vargr all cheek by jowl with different human governments

The codes become:


Government

Traveller Code - IMTUMeaning Worlds in Marches

0 – Unpopulated 15
0 – Anarchy 37
1 – Corporate 30
2 – Participating Democracy 30
3 – Vargr 40
4 – Representative Democracy 55
5 – Feudal Tech (Geonee) 41
6 – Imperial Military Government, ops in progress 40
7 – Balkanised - possibly fought over, roll 2x 38
8 – Vilani Bureaux 34
9 – Direct Rule (Imperial = Victorianana) 36
A – Zhodani 16
B – K’kree 11
C –.Compact of Mora 9
D –Church of the Stellar Divinities 4

Typical balkanised/military worlds are:
Coreward - K'kree vs just about anyone
Rimward - Ihatei vs anyone
Spinward - Zhodani vs Imperial
Aslan The Aslan have a stong presence just over the Rimward Border, those encountered in the Marches tend to be either traders or ihatei
Droyne and Chirper worlds are represented by Red and Amber Zones. Figures for Droyne numbers are incredibly difficult to gather and cannot be given accurately. The normal population, government and law codes apply to the none-Droyne of these worlds. On Red worlds these populations may be under the dominion of the Droyne, Amber zones represent worlds with a significant Chirper presence.

 

[DFW]

Not sure what you mean by "freeform" If you mean "sandbox" (players can attempt anything and the campaign milieu is realistic in that time goes on and actions effects logical changes) then it depends on the desires of the players.

If you aren't running an open ended campaign but a limited set of adventures the players agree with the GM in that is what the deal is. If the GM is setting up a long term (years) campaign then it tends towards sandbox. Trav is the hardest to do a sandbox in as it is so large.

 

[Chernobyl]

Linear games can often be more relaxing because the chain of events that lead to a conclusion is well defined. I only feel railroaded in these games if the chain of events makes assumptions or forces the party into actions they wouldn't normally take (aka, "Save vs. Box Text"). "Railroading" usually stems from poor or rushed adventure writing.
Sandbox games can be interesting if you have a group who can focus on their task, when adventure meets them whereever they are. You need a good GM for one of these style campaigns to work, somebody who's good at improv but also organized.

 

[hector]

My phone ate my original post, but here it is in a mangled form:

It depends entirely on the game and the campaign in question. For example, Pavis Rises is a perfectly good introductory campaign - for beginning PCs with an experienced GM. If the GM doesn't understand the setting particularly well, then an introductory campaign needs to be relatively linear in order to introduce concepts gradually; both to the players and the GM. This is where SotA shines. Because it's a linear adventure path, it introduces aspects of the Empire as and when it needs to, and once the story is done, the campaign can continue in a sandbox fashion.

 

[nats]

Not knowing what SotA means I would say that although an adventure takes place in the 3rd Imperium doesnt mean its got to be freeform. In fact I would not want to play a freeform game becuase it would be too problematic for the referee and players not having any kind of goals , limitations, etc.

Its is up to the referee to take the players on an adventure and make them seem like they have choices whilst at the same time taking them in one direction to suit the referees prepared material. That surely is the best way to play. Players have a goal which is the completion of the adventure, and may have long term goals like to own a starship or make lots of money etc, Meanwhile the referee can ensure the matieral he produces is detailed and imaginative, having been prepared beforehand. Doesnt mean the players cant branch out or be lead away from the overal task in hand (sometimes this is a very good plot device) but eventually the overall direction is relatively fixed.

 

[rust]

... becuase it would be too problematic for the referee and players not having any kind of goals , limitations, etc.

This seems to be a misunderstanding of how freeform /sandbox games
work. Of course the characters also have goals, the difference is only that
these goals are chosen by the characters according to their situation and
their options within the framework of the setting, not by the referee accor-
ding to his idea of a plot.

 

[zero]

Steelbrok, I may end up using that Gov table for my own games now! :wink: :lol:

 

[steelbrok]

Be delighted if you did zero, pm me your email and I'll send you a more complete version

Of course with everyone present in the Marches I just get more impatient to see the Hiver and K'kree books!

 

[AndrewW]

Not knowing what SotA means I would say that although an adventure takes place in the 3rd Imperium doesnt mean its got to be freeform. In fact I would not want to play a freeform game becuase it would be too problematic for the referee and players not having any kind of goals , limitations, etc.

Campaign 1: Secret of the Ancients.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1843&qsSeries=51

 

[Iron Guardian]

Since those in my primary Traveller campaign and I were in someone else's Traveller campaign who no longer lives in the immediate area (i.e. moved to another State), and who ran a lot of previously published Traveller scenarios (modified for campaign reasons of course), I pretty much have to "wing it" (as in sandbox, freeform, whatever) in terms of things for my players to do. Luckily I have players who have some idea of what they want to do which helps me set up adventure scenarios since they kind of got steered away from those things in the other campaign.

Having gamed with my group for some time, it also makes it easier to a degree to manipulate them into scenarios I want to run including some that came purely through random encounters and I had a sudden burst of inspiration about. About the only published adventure I have run so far has been the classic "Annic Nova" from 1981 (Double Adventure - Annic Nova/Shadows). To further "spice" things up, I added the classic D&D monsters - The Mind Flayers (aka the Illithids) - as an active, way-behind-the-scenes race of ancient Masterminds (similar to the Shadows from Bab5) and who played a major role in the War of the Ancients period. I further added in some elements from CthulhuTech as examples of ancient, alien technology...some of which is used by a highly secret organization within Imperial Intelligence. I have also included an underground psion "institute" with a mystic bent similar to Star Wars Jedi Knights (but on an OTU power scale) and a secret order of Imperial Inquisitors who hunted down Psions during the Suppressions and were thought to be disbanded.

Some of these things my players have slowly been learning about (their only encounter with an actual Illithid scared the begeezus out of them, luckily for them they lived). They have also encountered far more ancient-tech an average group will encounter, but I feel they are enjoying this campaign more than the previous one as it was gradually going the "railroading" route and everyone was beginning to feel like puppets. In this campaign, they actually feel like they are doing something worthwhile even though they aren't major players in the scheme of things (yet)... :twisted: With the expanded Secret of the Ancients Campaign out, I now have something all the above can serve as a prelude to in place of the previous printed version from the '80s.

That, and work on correcting my habit of run-on sentences...

 

[Captain Jonah]

Use both

Linear adventures or indeed most adventures require you to do things in order. Find the item, stea... erm get the item, take it somewhere.
If these are seperated by a jump or three you have trading, side adventures etc on the way between the linear stages of the adventure.

I like linear published adventures which have enough stuff on the sidelines that you can do things not directly on the lpot if you want to, or ref flexibility to do the same.

Railroading is the do this, then do that, then go there. Why should you, because the adventure says you do! On the other hand if the mystrious chap in the starport bar on planet A wants to hire you to vistit planet X you can sandbox/freeform the trip across planets B/C/D/E to get there.

Final point. As a ref find out what your players want to do then write linear adventures that the characters would be drawn to and hide them in a seemingly open game. Whichever planet the players visit has encounter 2, encounter 3 is in whichever system they go to after that etc, done sneakily they should never notice :lol:

 

[rust]

Final point. As a ref find out what your players want to do then write linear adventures that the characters would be drawn to and hide them in a seemingly open game. Whichever planet the players visit has encounter 2, encounter 3 is in whichever system they go to after that etc, done sneakily they should never notice :lol:

I hope "my" players will never read this, they would no longer believe
that we are playing a sandbox game ... 8)