How to help players role-play a railroading scene

So, starting a new campaign, and thought it'd be cool to explore a brand new world with one caveat: going there means losing your memories beyond the last 5 minutes.

I want to have the players experience those 5 minutes, but to avoid ruining details about the plot that they will discover via "remembering", I can't share with them anything other than thier immediate surroundings.

Particularly, I'm worried about railroading players into a situation, especially at the start of a campaign. I don't want my players to expect being guided by the hand to what they should do next.

So how do I help my players take an active role in a situation that can only have one outcome for the campaign to progress? Or should I just botch the 5 minutes of memory idea and just have them wake up with no memories in their first encounter as commoners?

Well, you could try warping the story to suit what happens. A man gets captured and they shouldve rescued him but couldnt? Turns out he's high in the baddie rankings. They attack someone who shouldve been a recurring villian? Just a lackey.

Doesnt have to be a railroad, in my opinion.

Have them be in a Dungeon, make it a little tough but let them come out on top every time. now in the final boss room, there is no boss. instead once all PC's have entered the room a Portal opens up and begins sucking them and everything else in. now turn to each PC and ask what they wish to do. all are going to say I run away. agree with them and ask them to describe how they run away. Then use the environment to thwart them. "The floor suddenly pitches down make a reflex save". regardless of their roll, they failed and are sucked into the portal because they lost their balance. do this with each PC. they will reminisce about the crazy portal thing and think back to how they ended up in that dungeon in the first place and thats when you chime in with "You dont remember, in fact you dont remember anything else thats happened throughout your entire life. you remember you had a life but cant remember any detail"

Have them be in a Dungeon, make it a little tough but let them come out on top every time. now in the final boss room, there is no boss. instead once all PC's have entered the room a Portal opens up and begins sucking them and everything else in. now turn to each PC and ask what they wish to do. all are going to say I run away. agree with them and ask them to describe how they run away. Then use the environment to thwart them. "The floor suddenly pitches down make a reflex save". regardless of their roll, they failed and are sucked into the portal because they lost their balance. do this with each PC. they will reminisce about the crazy portal thing and think back to how they ended up in that dungeon in the first place and thats when you chime in with "You dont remember, in fact you dont remember anything else thats happened throughout your entire life. you remember you had a life but cant remember any detail"

That's terrible advice.

If you want to do a very railroady scene, just be up front about it. "In the coming scene, your characters are going to go through the portal". Let the players work out the character motivations for doing so.

This kinda reminds me of the start to the Serpent's Skull AP, Souls for Smuggler's Shiv, which is highly regarded.

I agree with Casual Viking, just be up front and allow the PCs to fill in the blanks. To a large degree, the start of any adventure is a railroad. You can let your players start where they want, but you run the risk of them being in different universes or on different planes of existence with no means of contacting each other. Hence the dreaded bar on a rainy night with Gandalf a wizard showing up with a quest.

Take the control out of your players hands. If you're going to railroad them, make it because it's literally a railroad.

Make it so unavoidable that there is no way that it could have any other result. You don't have to fudge rolls or take agency away from the player, just craft a situation that has only one conclusion.

I'm sure there are "better" solutions, but if you want to make the event a surprise for everyone involved, I see no better way to do it.

I guess the other part of the problem is that I want a lot of player involvement for this scene. I hope to be able to give them bonuses and base some plot hooks based on thier actions during these five minutes.

For instance: does the character jump willingly into the 1000 ft pit with a shimmering blue thing at the bottom? Is he pushing others off for fun? Is he trying to climb up a wall to escape, or resisting guards?

Maybe what the scene needs is a disturbance interrupting the scene. Maybe catapult shots hitting the building, enemy troops trying to get to the portal but are held off by guards (for a short time), a fire starting in the building. More stimuli = more player choices to base future DM decision on O.o

The RPG is a game of acting. As GM, is your duty to create a realistic atmosphere and to empathize with the players in your world.

AP and Modules have their main plot and their series of events. But you should not feel obligated to follow in every detail all that is described; you can change an NPC, an encounter, a battle or a situation to fit your tastes or those of your players. And, since this is a game of acting, you can always improvise!

I would like to give an example. I GMing Rise of the Runelord. I have made known my players Sandpoint Town; they had interacted with NPCs, visited some places and dealt with some situation (some fighting, others pure roleplaying). Some situations have been taken by the AP, while others I designed. Result: the party loves Sandpoint and its inhabitants.

In this AP Sandpoint is exposed to danger, and it is supposed to be the PCs to solve problems. And here someone might say, "OK, but the PCs have free will, they may then decide to leave the town... why the city guard can't deal with this dangers?" Is true - but this is a interpretation game, and if you've played your cards right, you can give the PCs very good reasons why they should risk their lives. Maybe they are loyal to a few people and want protect them; maybe they will they see these dangers opportunity to become famous; and maybe they think that by addressing these dangers will receive rewards. Or the most important reason - the city guards are simple individuals who would not be able to deal with these dangers. But heroes yes, and the PCs are the heroes of your game.

Friendship, ambition, loyalty, greed and faith are some of the motivations that drive normal people to become heroes. And you can use these reasons to your advantage. Suppose you want to lead the PCs in a dungeon; what ever may be the reasons why they should set foot in a place infested with monsters and traps? Perhaps the cleric has heard of an ancient relic of his god that was stolen and hidden in that place. Perhaps it is the lair of a slimy and cruel necromancer, an individual that your paladin might elect him as evil to be removed. Or a PG hear of his friend/rival who was seen near the dungeon and he would investigate.

If it can help you look here: this is a video of Sequelitis, and from this point he talks about railroading and why the player are an hero.

I find that player buy-in is important to these kinds of things. Most players are willing to go along with these kinds of things if you ask them nicely and are willing to listen to their concerns.

All AP's are at least somewhat railroady. They provide a set storyline and there's only so much support for digressions in the module. Most GM's will be like Aurelio and support what the characters want to do. But eventually provide hooks that bring them back to the main plot.

And most players are okay with the fact that there's a main plotline, because that's what you get with an AP. It's usually a good story, and sometimes a great story in exchange for limiting things to one way.

I've played games that started off with Amnesia, and most of them have been good. I've had games where the GM gives you powers and you don't have a lot of choice in what you get - one of those counts in my top games ever.

Talk to your players and always be thinking about what's fun for them. I think you'll be just fine.