TTRPG Derailment and Management

Image Credit: Yucel Moran

When playing a TTRPG (Table Top Role Playing Game) whether you are a Game Master (Dungeon Master) or player with high or low experience when it comes to TTRPG’s, you will likely come across derailment. Derailment is when players stray or get sidetracked from the main plot or story whether it be purposeful or accidental or it the players are aware of it or not. Where a Game Master may make story with specific hooks, arcs, and scenes; derailment may make telling that story more difficult. With that in mind, is derailment bad? How could you manage derailment?

Three members of the GCSC TTRPG club with experience as both Game Master and player were interviewed and this what they had to say.

When interviewing Nathan, he elaborated on his experience when it came to derailment and while stated he has seen the intrigue of being away from the plot and hijinks that can come with it. His suggestion when it came to planning around derailment as a Game Master was to have a moldable plan and to plan with how your players like to or want to play in mind. His advice for players when it came to derailment was not to try to pull the story away from the plot by shifting the focus (an example Nathan gave was turning Dungeons and Dragons into a tavern management simulator against the will of both Game Master and the players) as it takes away from the planning that the Game Master set out for the players. Asking about how derailment can be beneficial to players or the Game Master, he stated that the benefits for Game Masters is that it helps with improvising and better helps to prepare for other derailments. When he came to players, he stated that those benefits did not carry over as the benefits where minimal or occasionally destructive to the Game Master.

While interviewing Seth, his experience and opinions when it came to derailment was more situational and context reliant for it to be good or bad. His advice for Game Masters when it came to dealing with derailment was to communicate with players to the best of your abilities so they can better gauge their actions and interactions with their surrounding and others (an example Seth provided was with a Session 0 which he described as out of session communication before a session to gauge and talk about setting, characters, and what other players are comfortable with). His advice for players was to be conscious of tone and have patience when it comes to derailment as there is a time and place for specific actions dictated by the story the group makes. When asking about how derailment can be beneficial to players or the Game Master, he stated that derailment while it does have value (and sometimes comedic value) it doesn’t usually make players better players, but usually a good rule of thumb is not to actively seek or cause derailment as that hinders both players and Game Masters. When it came Game Masters, he stated derailment has unintentional benefits of keeping them on their toes and anticipating what they wouldn’t otherwise.

When interviewing Jedidiah, his experience and opinions on derailment were more positive when it came to derailment as both Game Master and a player. His advice for when it came to derailment for Game Masters was not to have a set plot as it as they are very susceptible to derailment and don’t try to stop a derailment as it will happen, but rather try to control it in a way it still can connect or redirect back to the plot. His advice for when it came to players were to try to take the hints the Game Master is giving, be aware of the scale of your actions, talk to the Game Master about it, and do not independently try to do something super overarching (an example Jedidiah gave was going to a different plane of existence and staying there) or toxic (examples he gave were being uncooperative with other players or the Game Master and trying to hog the spotlight). When asking about how derailment can be beneficial to players or the Game Master, he stated it helps players with being creative by coming up with things on the spot (within boundaries), helps players in taking a more active role in the story, increases entertainment value. When it came to Game Masters, he stated it benefits them in many of the same or similar ways to the players but in different applications, and it makes a makes the Game Master take a more active roll in planning.

From all of the interviewees the one thing they all could agree on was that derailment will happen and you can’t really stop derailment. While that would seem bad, they all gave advice for when it comes to derailment and how handle it like:

• • • communicate
    • understand boundaries
    • plan flexibly
    • improvise
    • cooperate with others
    • plan with players in mind
    • try to follow along with the plot