Recently I felt a bit put upon to create adventure for my players. My players, it seemed to me, just wanted to have some fun and wanted me to provide something. I can do this, I told them, I can provide them all of the railroad game sessions they want. It may have been a bit heavy handed of me to put it all on them, as it is not all on them. However, I did want to point out that it is their responsibility to insure that I don't run a railroad game. One of my players was unclear where the line was. He didn't want to be filling in all of the details on what was coming up in the game. I told him that this wasn't what I was talking about. I don't need the adventure to be spelled out for me to run it for them. I just need ideas. I don't want the players to get used to showing up and having me unload my ideas on them alone.
I challenged my players to think of some goals that their characters could pursue. This is the least I would hope for, that the character would be real enough to the player to invest ideas into. They know enough about my world from having played in it for several years now. They can help me keep the game personal by making their characters personal.
Aside from goals there is a lot that a player can provide in terms of ideas. One player said that his character is on the run from the law in a particular kingdom, for unknowingly deflowering a princess. I created three weeks of excitement due to that one line of backstory. Another character wanted to find a sword that was of particular importance to her church. While it took some time for the party to come around to look for it, it was always a possible line of adventure that I could work with.
What I like the least is when the party goes into a tavern and looks for jobs. I go to lengths to point out only the least interesting jobs imaginable, like babysitting and building fences. A party used to getting gold pieces for their work, won't settle for silver. Another thing I like the least is when I ask a player what they want in life for their character, and they respond with getting XP and gold - and nothing more. That kind of desire is best fed with railroad games, and as railroad games lead to shorter overall campaign life, you'll have more time to figure out how to get your players involved.
