The Shapes of Adventure

We talk about different shapes that adventures can take: linear, arborescent, and rhizomatic! We also touch on other terms like "sandbox" and "railroad" games.
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[@PseudoMystic]

I was thinking to myself "Oh he used the term rhizomatic, no way is he into post structuralism," instant sub for proving me wrong.

[@mapcrow]

Heck yeah!! I think art is a wonderful way to bring post structuralist prompts to the table, and if you really want to lean into it, ask the players to add descriptions to what the characters see and feel! But that’s really a whole other video!!

[@ogreboy8843]

My first thought was: I bet Deleuze and Guattari would have been a serious pain to DM for xD

[@suicidalbomber8048]

@@ogreboy8843 True. I think they would see D&D having revolutionary potential but in its current state they would say its fascistic.

[@ogreboy8843]

@@suicidalbomber8048 ...and use Tom Hanks from Mazes and Monsters as an icon of schizo resistance seeking lines of flight. 🤣

[@shaun3372]

As a Doctor of Philosophy with a thesis exploring rhizomatic thinking, I am over the moon to hear someone applying this unorthodox method of thinking to ttrpg Bravo

[@popskism]

What a chad. Dropping Deleuze for map making like it's nothing. I love this channel.

[@mapcrow]

Thank you so much!! I’ve never been called a chad before!! Haha

[@siitiatuinei2737]

Came here to say the same thing lol

[@Parodox306]

This is such a clean video. Modest but eye-catching thumbnail and title, elegant explanation of the concepts, no air of "This is how you should run your game" or making vague promises about improving our dm'ing aptitude; it's just a meaningful lesson and conversation, nothing more and nothing less. Well done.

[@schnoz2372]

Yes yes

[@baydenwoodland1235]

I so agree! This is something I keep coming back to Map Crow for. He gets my thoughts running but they are still MY thoughts. I mean, he gives ideas, leaping off points, his own opinion, but it's less like a 'guide' and more like... yeah I don't know there's just something very refreshing about it all.

[@joshuawinestock9998]

2:40 there's a solution here! When the wizard opens the wall, describe an interstitial space that the players must enter, and somehow transition them into the content you were already going to use! Except now, they'll think it's even cooler, because they think they wouldn't have seen any of this if the wizard hadn't gone through the wall

[@wallridez514]

Nice one!

[@profezzordarke4362]

That works most of the time, but if you happen to run a very old school party that enters the same dungeon more than once, and they choose a different path and notice that you basically railroaded them a bit, well, then they know. I think I would run it very differently in this case, they'd end up somewhere in the middle of the dungeon and have to get out again.

[@joshuawinestock9998]

@@profezzordarke4362 You're not wrong. I guess if I knew they were re-entering the dungeon I'd make something else for the path they otherwise took, likely harder than the shortcut they created.

[@olgierdvoneverec4135]

There's one more structure that kept popping into my head, which I want to call a "spiral" because you keep coming back to the same place or the same event or the same themes but always with a different perspective. Another name could be "anchored" because you're free to move the adventure anywhere, you don't know exactly what you're going to find, but you know it's going to come back to the same place or idea. This works, I think, when your world has a looming treat, like a world ending prophecy, everyone goes on about their days, and have their own unique problems and quests, but everyone is affected by the worlds demise, so it keeps coming up over and over again and everything is connected to that one event. Another example would be a mistery, where finding every piece takes a different direction to figure out, but ultimately pieces come together to solve the central problem. Or when you have to find the various keys to unlock the door to a final boss in a dungeon, you might find the door right at the start, but you have to go back and fort around the whole dungeon to actually open it, so now when the wizard blows up the wall, they may not skip anything, but still made a shortcut.

[@spencerscurr7149]

As someone who likes to draw when I talk, its satisfying to watch someone draw while I listen.

[@corruptedmonk5836]

I'm running an open world game and that "basically feels like they have to create the whole world before they even start" slapped me in the face lol. I'm learning more and more to use my world's geography and dangerous ecosystems to drive the players into a slightly more predictable progress route.

[@the_arcanum]

One way of dealing with a sandbox is with the pacing. Whatever path the players decide to take, the clock keeps ticking and there will be consequences to their intervention or non-action. At the same time, it allows you to add even more life to your world because it's not only reacting to your players, it's breathing on its own. That's gonna be up to your players to catch up...

[@corruptedmonk5836]

Oh wow. Just yesterday we had a moment like that where they went into a dungeon at night and when they came out the hamlet they rest at was being attacked by a bunch of flesh creatures. I made it very clear to them they wouldn't have attacked that night if they hadn't beaten a different boss the session prior.

[@davidmorgan6896]

This is great and part of the simulation. Our world has ancient trade routes because they were the safest routes.

[@Jack_OLanterns]

Rhizomatic explanation was something I needed to hear as i figure out how to streamline my prep. Over prep is a curse.

[@mapcrow]

I find rhizomatic games easier to prep for especially when using the Lazy DM Steps!

[@jsmith9213]

This is a really awesome idea! I could totally draw these shapes and branching paths out ahead of time and pre plan the thematic and triggering events that progress toward the various threads within the network of events! Thank you!

[@adrianopistoia1894]

Hi, im a game developer and designer and this is gold. I am tottaly impresed by your ability to simplify and explain without over simplyfing the hell out of concepts like arborescent quest structure. Love the "rizomatic structure" awesome name, way better than "undefinitive structure" (the name it was given by my teach). PD: Love your content!

[@segafan2437]

that there is some good quality paper. now i need to rewatch it all because i was distracted.

[@casem8723]

arborescent is my favorite method of running a game, I use it for all my campaigns and it allows for me and my players to take breaks between huge twists or reveals in the story. its also good for world building and focusing on characters.

[@KyleMaxwell]

My wrists hurt just looking at how you hold your pencil. But I'm glad it works for you as well as it clearly does!

[@mapcrow]

I started holding my pencils this way before I learned the right way to do it, and it just stuck, I guess. Haha! Cheers!

[@janronkainen5368]

Service to huminanity, this one is, no matter what scale. Making things better and more clear. Thanks!

[@NathanielNow]

I like making each of these. My longest-running game is arborescent, but also villain/faction arborescent. My factions react to each other's actions, including the PCs, who in turn react in this seemingly never-ending spiral of connectivity around a singular point of interest/ central conflict. Visually, it would look sort of like the central tension is a planet, and all the factions are moons in ever-declining orbits that interact/collide with each other.

[@masondevries4482]

I love this video so much! I actually had to read A Thousand Plateaus for an architecture class in college, so it's really cool to see you reference it here! Also, your diagrams/drawings all go super well with the concepts you're explaining. I definitely have some new ideas for prepping my next campaign!

[@liamcullen3035]

I enjoyed this very much! This definitely enhanced my understanding of adventure design. I especially like the new vocabulary - arborescent and rhizomatic are very cool words to say!

[@DaxterL]

My dm has a great principle that is greatly described by the sentence "I'll let you guys make horrible decision"

[@atk05003]

I'll let my players make bad decisions, but I make sure they know what their characters would know. "Since you were raised in a nearby kingdom, you know that xyz would be very insulting to your hosts." Sometimes I'll call for an ability check to decide how well their character recognizes a hazard that's not obvious to the players. "This architectural style seems familiar to you. This type of entrance is usually trapped and guarded."

[@FreyjaHerself]

This helped me break down my thoughts. I'm going to try to break my campaign world into regions that are like chapters of a story with a clear goal in mind, but lots of ways to explore the region. I guess that would be a diamond? But like a diamond that is super wide and really messy but it comes back eventually.

[@danielswan2850]

I've been running my players through Rime of the Frostmaiden for almost 1.5 years now, I got so excited to hear you bring it up. Great video on structuring and considerations that should be made!

[@nomadicwolf6132]

Love the visual demonstration beside spoken examples. Really drives the points home; thank you!

[@ProfBoggs]

I like this. I've used what you call an arboretic structure in the past when designing adventures, though via a flow chart. Players could also deviate from the branches, but I found the branches a useful way to ensure I had some content that we could then improvise around. The stem of the arboretic structure was always based on the chief of the community giving the players what became known as "another shitty job."

[@captaincobop]

Haha, arborescent and rhizomatic! Getting philosophical with this.

[@Why-Ron75]

This playlist is a gem. Thank you..

[@Losloth]

These can all be connected in a single adventure. Some parts are like this, and some like that. I find it interesting to think about my own life like this too. I'm not good at following a linear path, so my creative life is highly rhizomatic. But soon we're having a national holiday here, and I can feel that the diamond shape is closing in, and I'm going to be having a one day linear adventure. Thereafter, the options will open up again. Interesting connection here between life and games. By the way, I love your adventure maps. I would have really liked to have a big one as a poster on my wall in front of my bed so I can go adventuring in my head before I go to sleep.

[@Lunarbun2]

I think a neat shape of adventure not mentioned here is a metroidvania-type one: one where paths are teased but only can be unlocked later (usually due to abilities). It's a really good way to give players tons of paths and keep them interested in unlocking paths but still being able to restrict them

[@panicpillow6097]

I really like applying A Thousand Plateaus to RPGs (it is one of my favourite philosophical works). Definitely a take on adventures that is very in line with the book as well. Not one over the other, but following a logic of 'and' (rhizomatic AND arborescent AND linear).

[@mapcrow]

Yeah! And there is no pure version of any of them, they are models and trends. Smooth spaces are going to be striated and striated spaces are reclaimed by smoothing actions. A Thousand Plateaus seems to argue that smooth spaces in the real world are the ideal, and I tend to agree, but a mixture isn’t just nice in a game world, it’s unavoidable. There is a lot to say about how these concepts interact with gaming, but I want to be mindful of making my videos too long. Haha

[@panicpillow6097]

@@mapcrow yeah, it is always a fine line when bringing in more academic inspiration. If you want it to inspire people you can't put too much in, but if you keep it too simplified it might not show well what is interesting about it. Really loving the content you're putting out, once I get back from vacation I'll be sure to check out the discord as well :)

[@mapcrow]

Panic Pillow It is a fine line. But than you so much for the thoughtful comments! Have a lovely vacation!

[@harrisjones2190]

I just looked up A Thousand Plateaus and it sounds super cool. Thanks for recommending my next book!

[@randomness5435]

I like what I call a "Hub and Spoke" structure, where you have a central area the party hangs out (A home base, a city, a guild), and then many, often unrelated linear paths start from that hub.

[@StefanGrambart]

It's a good one, but I'd say that's more of a campaign structure. Used in a lot of serialized storytelling where everything returns to a status quo (or slowly advancing C-story) at the end of an adventure.

[@chohouse711]

While listening to the arborescent bit I was thinking "wow this is like curse of strahd!" and then you said that curse of strahd is a perfect example. I'm glad we both agree 😂😊

[@lordandrak]

Great Video, I'm new to one shots and literally mapping it out like this in a flowchart/story-board will be very useful.

[@dandeliondomain]

Ohhh this video is fantastic! Methods to simply visualize and plot out an adventure is extremely helpful, thank you!!! Even though I have yet to DM anymore than a few brief one-shots, I can keep these "shapes" in mind as a PC and use them to identify what kinds of adventures the other PCs and I enjoy the most, and use that experience to eventually create an original adventure of my own to share with friends :D

[@mapcrow]

Right on! Just remember, these shapes are a flow charge of meaningful decisions, not just a map of locations. It's easier to chart this stuff in video games than at the table, but I hope you find it helpful! Cheers, and thank you for the kind words!

[@plasticpeon]

Happy to find your channel. Great contents to learn from. 👍❤️

[@lucasistrom]

This has helped me a lot to think about how I structure my D&D games. Definitely saving this to watch later next time I feel stuck.

[@dwhutto]

You forgot to mention the Russian Blue Railroad where the GM invents the linear path a few hours before session because he has bad time managements skills.

[@SpaceLion444]

I'm new to this channel and aside frome the great content, I have to say I'm in awe in front of your profile picture/avatar. The design is so good.

[@jhenz3378]

Great breakdown, very well done

[@mapcrow]

Oh! Thank you so much! I hope this is helpful for folks, and not just needless semantics.

[@GeekPsychology]

As someone who uses and loves the model of rhizomatic thinking, I was pleasantly surprised by this video ^^

[@alicepow260]

Great video! I try to think about these kind of story shapes when designing for TTRPG stuff and when writing fiction. There are so many ways to make fun stories and adventures!

[@Madhattersinjeans]

I nice set of definitions for different styles of play.

[@achimsinn6189]

One important thing is also that for the players playing the game an arborescent game and even a Rhizomatic game can still turn into a linear one. They decide for one path and then follow that path in a somewhat linear fashion, which means all the other paths that at some point were open expire when they decided to go a different route. IMO knowing that will allow DMs to discuss with the players at the right time(s) which path they want to follow and prepare that path for them to play instead of trying to prepar every possible path which would mean a lot of work that will most likely end up being vor nothing as most of the paths won't ever be used.

[@ScavengerKing]

I find it interesting that you noted how the structure can change over play - in games I've run where I strive for sandbox play, it seems to inevitably evolve into linear or branching play as the consequences the players stumble into become too dire to ignore. Basically a yam on a string? The distinction between types can also get fuzzy when the DM is making the adventure on the fly: re-using unused paths or changing the course of a linear adventure to react to a player's decision. A dungeon could also be very linear, but placed in a larger sandbox context, like you mentioned for BotW.

[@mapcrow]

Yeah! And when you are talking about actual decisions made by players, it’s all linear! Haha

[@jakob8412]

not gonna lie. this is the last place i expected a deleuze and guattari reference to be

[@mapcrow]

Ha! I was studying Deleuze and Guattari in my MFA program where my art practice was game design. I so many connections from A Thousand Plateaus and what what happening in my games work, so I wanted to bring some of those connections into my work here on the channel.

[@scriptoriumludi5698]

This is going right into the notebook!

[@mapcrow]

The highest compliment! Thank you!!

[@LuizOMenudo]

Oh boi, imma addicted to your content

[@schnoz2372]

Wow. This video is golden

[@tatankaplays2137]

Glad I came across your channel!

[@Defectivania]

great video, I really appreciate all the thought that went into it!

[@mapcrow]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@hexenhammer483]

Great open concepts that can be mixed and matched as needed. I'm going to see which of these ideas work best for me, or best for the campaign. Such as starting out rhizomatic, seeing what my players are interested in and morph into a diamond/hour glass structure for a specific story line

[@FlippinFunFlips]

Fantastic

[@omgamongus]

love your drawings

[@darkranger116]

Woo these videos are always awesome!

[@crabobserver]

8:00 my game style right there

[@jonwooldridge3766]

Very interesting concepts.

[@billydeano]

Wrote my dissertation on Deleuze and design (game design being one of my key examples). Love the Thousand Plateaus reference! Great content and channel overall.

[@mapcrow]

Gosh, I hope I conveyed the concept correctly, however brief it was! I think about smooth and striated spaces frequently, but I don’t know how to bring that into a video! Haha

[@billydeano]

@@mapcrow Don't sweat it! I think you did a great job, and I feel like they'd be on board with what you're pitching (if they were game designers): blurring the distinction between "rhizomatic," "arborescent" and linear, not necessarily privileging any one sort of design, etc. On a side note: Deleuze himself was pretty loosy-goosy (spelling?) with terminology. He (and Guattari) would express the same idea in different ways, throwing it all at the wall to see what sticks--in a few interviews, he tells the reader to just take what they like and leave the rest (paraphrasing: "if you don't like these words, use other words--they're just words!"). So if you understand the bigger picture, it's not worth losing sleep over particular terms.

[@mapcrow]

Billy Dean Ha!! Wow that’s really encouraging to hear!! Thank you!!

[@jacobroden2279]

Excellent stuff!

[@AdobadoFantastico]

Very interesting insights.

[@gonzaPaEst]

Fantastic video!

[@BlackJar72]

Tomb of Horrors is sort of a bad example; its linearity come in the form of one right path and series of actions as function of being hard, but the available paths is actually "arborescent" but with most branches of the tree leading to dead ends (usually in a very literal way). A better of example would be X4, Master of the Desert Nomads, with its reliance on "quantum ogre" encounters, though its continuation as X5 The Temple of Death, opens up into more of a sandbox. True sandboxes, especially outdoor hex crawls (such as X1 The Isle of Dread), do not really fit this well -- "rhizomatic" still involves a graph structure with distinct lines connecting nodes, while such open space are much more random access with encounters that could occur in almost any order.

[@classycogs7571]

i want to run a rhizomatic someday, but it’s not well suited to my current group because we all DM, so it’s better for us to have adventures with definite ends that can be done in a matter of months

[@eduardoreyes2988]

awesome vid, mate

[@mapcrow]

Thank you so much!

[@birdboi4500]

That was a good video.

[@mapcrow]

Glad you think so! Thank you for watching!

[@Joural0401]

The secret to ttrpg ooen world games is to build a single location, set the players loose, and let them direct what you prepare next.

[@prollybee]

i desperately want more of this series, but also i have SO MUCH reading homework now lol

[@JeremyBindon-NotOurKing]

Gives me some things to think about. Thanks

[@gabojill19]

The Dungeon of the Mad Mage is an overarching linear adventure with arborescent and even rizhomatic sub structures. The goal is to find the Mad Mage, but there´s so much content between the entrance and Halastor that anything can happen.

[@rwyssbrod]

Love this! Has anybody taken your category names and ran with them?

[@mapcrow]

Not that I've seen. I've been meaning to follow up on the idea of Rhizomes in TTRPGs for a while, knowing that its a self indulgent topic! Haha

[@BlackJar72]

The fundamental flaws are (1) the assumption that storytelling should occur, and (2) that the goal is to create adventures, as opposed to opportunities (places) for adventure. For many, the story is simply what you have to tell at the end. A sandbox, if small, meaning a classic dungeon, is likely the simplest for someone new to start with because it doesn't require planning an adventure. Not everything needs to be an epic quest, campaigns do not need an "arc," and there is no shame in starting out as simple treasure hunters. As for graphing adventures, they can get far more varied and complex that this, and such quest-graphs as I call them could be useful in procedurally generate quests for *video* games so as to create something more like a choose your own ending book. In fact, I worked out quite a bit about types of nodes, junctures, and structures for them for that purpose a few years ago. That really doesn't apply to table-top, however, as such graphs and ways to build them in that context would mostly be a stand-in for the human creativity a game master needs but a machine lacks.

[@sentimentaleel3578]

I think some structure is necessary from the GM in order for a narrative game. But you're right, the idea that a narrative is necessary from the start is a huge assumption everyone makes. It seems like you play very sandbox style games, not really concerned with the idea that a narrative must happen. I really do think that some games rely on a narrative in order to function, but not all of them. I personally prefer my games to have a narrative backbone, a structure, a whatever: it's not so much *what* happens in a story that is important. What I, and I'm sure many others, value is *how* it happens.

[@iammesowhoareu5553]

Man you should be a requirement for dming hahaha good stuff man

[@mapcrow]

Haha! Glad you found this useful!!

[@Silvergum]

these would be great videos for video game devs too

[@cheychc]

great video! :D

[@mapcrow]

Thank you!!

[@drewhalcro6082]

I gave a group a sandbox game "A Skyrim type experience" is how I put it. I put them in a location and put a bunch of things happening around them and let them start tugging on strings. Turns out too much choice is almost as bad as no choice.

[@adamcope6890]

So glad another RPG fan is also a Deleuze fan. I’m losing my shit right now.

[@friiq0]

Did you invent the word “arborescent”? I like it a lot

[@mapcrow]

Nope, got that from thousand plateaus as well!

[@ordisthemuted3607]

I’ve been thinking of a game for a while now, where the story is as you called it “rhizomatic” but has a repeating plot point of NPCs constantly trying to drive the players to a specific linear story. The whole idea revolves around breaking the fourth wall (or the ceiling In TTRPGs I guess) and making the characters realize they are not in their own power with letting each individual player choose to set their character free or continue inhabiting them as a puppet. I am pretty certain something of this sort already exists but I want to understand how one would go about merging the two without taking away player choice as in a linear story or completely suffering defeat as the players never come across the main storyline.

[@mapcrow]

If there is a Main Story line that you would rather be doing than what your players are doing, just talk to them as people. Talk to them like you are ordering a pizza and see if you can find toppings everyone will enjoy.

[@ordisthemuted3607]

@@mapcrow no. The point is that it’s supposed to be a non specific free will story. But the linear progression is somehow a plot point I guess. Maybe I’m confusing myself the more I think about it but I can’t stop. Basically it’s based on the concept that as you said in one of your videos- the MCs aren’t always the good guys. And in this case they are bad guys because when a play session is in progress, the GM gains full control over an already Pre-existing world. making some people into puppets for the main characters and all npcs loose free will as soon as the GM said so. The story in the game is about a GM who wants a linear story, but the True GM’s job is to drive the characters to the same-ish ending while still including the plot points in the chaotic player choices. Lol I just need to write it somewhere and guessed a comment section is a good a place as any

[@patrickrobles1036]

My brain works such that nothing seems easier than the rhizome.

[@DanaHowl]

SUCH a great video!!! I'd never thought of it this way before, but I'd been applying these concepts to my games for a long time now.

[@mapcrow]

Oh my gosh!! Thank you!! I’m very glad you found it interesting!!

[@amyshaw893]

The more i watch these videos, the more I realise that my oneshots are really not very good :/ Also apparently I am a railroading DM, mostly for the reason you described

[@mapcrow]

If folks are having fun, it doesn’t matter what anyone says. You might just talk to folks who you play with about there experience being you start getting down on yourself.

[@An_RPG_Abstractionist]

I enjoyed the comparisons between the three types of adventures you described. But what I don't get is why most people can't see how it's just macro versus micro? The linear adventure is one small granular portion of the sandbox game world. At any time they can quit a quest and decide to explore the world. It's all imaginary after all.

[@sentimentaleel3578]

I disagree. Within a linear adventure, the consequences of your actions and the freedom of your actions has a distinctive boundary about them, different from the other two. A linear dungeon has literal walls, the adventure does not go outside the dungeon. An arborescent adventure lets you go outside the walls, but you only have one goal to accomplish. The goal could have been accomplished with the dungeon raid, but it didn't have to. The rhizomatic adventure has a multitude of goals, each with arbors or lines within them, or even paths to new goals undiscovered, which is just another rhizome. Nothing is forcing you to complete one goal over the other nor do the goals exist in a distinct hierarchy. While I would say rhizomes are "bigger" in the sense that they can encompass both the previous two and themselves, there's more nuance here than just micro and macro.

[@aristospagang2446]

useful

[@grimmo3936]

What music did you use for the backround at 7:00?

[@tradtke101]

Was anyone else trying to swat the bug off their TV at 7:15?

[@Stothehighest]

This might sound like an odd question, but what pencil were you using? It writes so smooth, it reminds me of Eagle pencils, and those are near impossible to find now. I've been after a replacement for years for those pencils.

[@mapcrow]

These are just office max brand.

[@aaronmatney866]

Okay, in regards to the first example; Is there a difference between "This sequence/event needs to happen so your magic doesn't work", "I don't want magic to work in this area because difficulty reasons", or "Actually it would be neat if the magic didn't work because of a cool lore hting I just thought up" ?

[@mapcrow]

If it is a properly signposted issue, and the players can figure out how they want to approach this obstacle, then it’s probably great. To many players of 5E that I have spoken to, the game is about getting more powerful, and taking things away from them feels like a breach of contract. The things that are interesting and cool for a GM can be counter to what is interesting and cool to the players. These are just my thoughts.

[@chaosung8655]

More videos on how to write these kinds of games, please!!

[@mapcrow]

Oh? What exactly do you mean? How to write Rhizomatic adventures or TTRPG modules in general?

[@chaosung8655]

@@mapcrow thanks for the response! Yes, i tend to use the node deaign for mysteries but have trouble writing the bigger “sandbox” games i picture in my head. Your video inspired me and gave me hope that there is a better way than I’ve been doing haha

[@chaosung8655]

@map crow i love your art btw. I also love to draw so this was such a comforting video to watch!!!

[@mapcrow]

@@chaosung8655 Oh I see! I think my video on Village Crawl Maps would be how I would answer that for the time being. I'm starting a city sandbox game soon, so I'm sure I'll have more thought as I get into that. It's not necessarily a "better" way, just a different one!

[@chaosung8655]

I appreciate that! Ill check it out. Honestly right now i feel like my way is mostly “design bad guys and what theyre doing in the background then just wing it” haha so any structure would be a great help.

[@TheAurgelmir]

I think the "open world" style adventures has gone a bit of the wayside, as they are difficult to really make into a "campaign" sold in a book. Which is a shame, because it's a very cool way to play, but probably not so cool to design for designers who want to tell stories. But it's something I think they sort of should have made the "source books" like Eberron and Swordcoast. Give the DM the tools he need to play in those worlds, without really needing a whole lot of pre-planning. You need, "things to do" but not "stories to do" so to say.

[@LddStyx]

This is useful for designing publishable adventures, but there is at least one more way to run games. The unstructured adventure, where the GM prepares for the next session and nothing more. If you look back then you see your history of what-was laid out like a railroad and looking forward there is only desert with some mirages that don't yet exist unless you approach them. You can know the structure only after you've run the same "adventure" multiple times, with multiple groups.

[@mapcrow]

I think the point I making is more about the structure of the choices made available to players. If they are just reacting to whatever the gm preps, it’s linear. If they have choices that lead to a determined point, it’s arborescent. If the players are picking their direction and the gm is reacting, its rhizomatic. This is just the way I see it though. Just trying to clarify the video. Cheers!

[@LddStyx]

​@@mapcrow Good point - it's about what the players get to add to the story. But I'd say all the best games I've been in have had the GM react to the players even if the characters didn't get a choice. It's good if the players keep in mind that their just a group of friends around a table and that they therefore have the greatest agency to alter their characters destiny at the end of any session. This way the GM has time to prepare for such things.

[@Visigoth_]

🤔 Those "shapes" look like Agrippa's Celestial Alphabet... 😅🤣👍

[@animatorFan74]

If you're concerned about what will happen to the Players if they make a decision, just look them dead in the eye and ask "Are completely and utterly sure this is a good idea?" And if they wave it off, just repeat the question and emphasize the word "SURE". Hopefully they question their deciision after that. :P

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Adventurers fight battles with orcs and find their way past deadly traps for treasure dragon slayers punch holes through the wall because we already know which way this fight is gonna go

[@spoookley]

8:47 not me, a gm who’s drawing a map of the entire world and forming plot hooks in advance, and quite literally making the entire world before I start the campaign

[@jeremigagnon-larocque8725]

Your content is lecture-tier

[@birdiemcchicken1471]

The first and only time I have ever heard "Railroad" in the context of an actual game I was in (Rather than just as a concept) was when the player decided to get everybody's favourite NPC killed off purely because *THEY* arbitrarily decided they were being rail-roaded by the actions of the *OTHER PLAYERS* and wanted to get back at the GM. I don't see "rail-road" as something the GM does, I see it as a term toxic players use as an excuse to *DERAIL* the campaign and ruin everybody else's enjoyment because THEY didn't get their way.

[@DevinParker]

It can certainly be a subjective thing; some players may rebel against even the slightest notion that the DM is "putting them on plot rails" and intentionally sabotage whatever plot they perceive is happening for fear that they're being robbed of agency. I've also witnessed individual players taking it upon themselves to sabotage other players, but I've never heard them use the phrase "railroading" as a defense for it. I have played in two games where I felt the DM was railroading us, and the other players agreed with my assessment (we were all getting frustrated). They were both situations where the DM clearly had a desired outcome we were meant to reach, and only one viable path to reach it; any deviations from his predetermined decision tree were punished with punitive monster attacks or just outright forbidden by the DM. It wasn't a case of "this is the only adventure I have prepped tonight, guys, please don't run off somewhere wild to engage in ridiculous antics;" it was "you came up with a solution that might circumvent my planned encounter, therefore I forbid you to do it." And to add insult to injury, when we failed at any task, the DM brought out his favorite higher-level, magic-item-laden NPC to show up, rescue us from danger, and mock us for our failure. In both cases I'd call it a toxic habit. Probably the most iconic published example of railroading are the 1st Edition AD&D Dragonlance modules. I don't know if they got any better in the later adventures, but the first few at least are very much "your PCs must go to this place and do this thing, in this order, and there is no other way."

[@camrouxbg]

You see the inspiration from philosophy, but I see your descriptions and analyses as mathematical. Graph theory can be quite useful for something like this.

[@lickenchicken143]

Plz summon your dark magic in your own video. This be beginner space. Metaphysics can be foundational, so your delineation between philosophy and mathematics need not be so. Map Crow mentions that the DM can feel like he needs to know everything and have everything planned before he can get his players started; it'd be a mistake to try to master graph theory before attempting to apply it. The DM, in my opinion, would do better feeling and reacting to the rhythms of the proceedings instead of scheduling them exhaustively. From General Patton: “A Good Plan, Violently Executed Now, Is Better Than a Perfect Plan Next Week.” I do agree, graph theory can be quite useful, but learning its ropes is for adepts and experienced keeners, I'd say.

[@Darkdarren12]

deleuzians in the comments going hogwild

[@an_impatientGM]

A COMMENT TO APPEASE THE ALGORITHM

[@elvenatheart982]

The fact that you use such a small stub of a pencil to draw is so weird. Kinda triggering but also amazing. I just hope you dont scratch the paper .

[@AdolphusOfBlood]

Not all dungeons need to be simple graphs, nor do they need to be planar graphs, you can also make them directed graphs. I can't recommend having loops in your graph, but they do have a place. Jaquaying, aka including cycles in your graph, is a great idea, just don't go overboard with it. only rarely will a acyclic graph, (aka linar or branching) be considered fun.

[@Ultra_DuDu]

2:47 this is kinda bad to do things like that. You might as well just straight up says no. Either just let the players understand that dragons should not be messed up with by letting the suffer the consequences of their actions, give them in-universe clues that they are f*cked if they continue or make the dragon pompous and arrogant so he refuse to fight them properly and let them plenty of opportunity to escape instead of just breaking the immersion completely.

[@PurpleFreezerPage]

You should use simpler terms, bro It'll make you sound less smart but your ideas will spread farther