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[Reynard]

Originally Posted by TerraDave

How Big? From how it is sometimes described, The Village of Hommlet or Keep on the Borderlands would be perfect sandboxes. In other descriptions, they would be terrible, 'cause the pcs might not even go to them in the first place. Where do you set the boundries? Where is the edge of the "box".

I'd say they'd be perfect for sandboxes. A DM could get a lot of mileage out of either, and since he didn't spend months making them, if the PCs never go there, well, the next set of PCs might.

How much prep? Some sandy DMs seem to really emphasize prep and using lots of materials they made or purchased. Others seem to focus on making things up and improvising. While some of both are always needed, there is a tension...which is it?

Personal preference and ability, I think. Like you say, some love prep, some love flying by the seat of their pants, some fall in the middle.

There is more then one player For the first two points, I can kinda see how to deal with them under various circumstances. But this last one is a potential killer. When players really take the initiative or go outside the box, it often pulls them away from the group, putting the dm and other players in the position of shutting down what they wanted to do, or suddenly improvising something they are not interested in. Normally, the DMs real job is to come up with stuff that has broad enough appeal to satisfy everone in the party. How does that work for the sandy DM?

If the players refuse to operate as a group, it isn't incumbent upon the DM to make them. Everyone is responsible for everyone's fun. If they don't want to have fun as a group, they're not likely to be able to have fun as individuals, either.

Big Finish: My own experience from playing and DMing is that it can be quite appealing to take part in some bigger mystery or event, and see that revealed through play. Of course, the pcs should drive it, and have lots of tactical choice and room for failure. But in the end, you figure out that the townspeople really are all cultists of Yog-Soggoth and stop the ritual (or die trying) or you don't. You don't go to Arkham and foil the local loan shark or shutdown a meth-dealer instead just because you can. Unless of course they bring you back to good old Yog.

The sandbox doesn't mean there aren't big stories to be told or that big events aren't on the horizon. I'm not sure what even inspired this thought.