QuestBoxing

In many of our discussion about campaign and play style, we tend toward the opposite poles of linear Quests and open Sandboxes and the relative merits of each. In truth, however, is that most campaigns fall somewhere in between and even swing back and forth between these extremes throughout the life of the campaign. I have had linear campaigns jump the rails and open sandboxes get entrenched in a singualr storyline so as to become near railroads.Here, though, I'd like to examine the possibility of a perfect middle ground -- likely as elusive as either of the extreme ends, certainly, but still a viable thought experiement. I'll refer to it as QuestBoxing, mostly because I like the sound of it.

The QuestBox is essentially a sandbox setting or sub-setting, detailed to the same level of detail (or lack thereof, as your tastes dictate) but with the addition of a strong central storyline. This isn't simply an uber-situation (as situations are the basic building blocks of sandboxing), but an actual storyline, with a beginning, middle and end. But unlike a more traditional Quest campaign, the storyline inherent in the QuestBox is not linear, nor is its progression merely a function of PCs moving through it. Instead, each Act of the storyline is a circle, act one being in the center and each successive act a larger concentric circle. Within each act, smaller bubbles of encounters, subplots and triggers float fairly freely. It's these triggers, combined with the element of time, that define when the story moves from one act to the next. It's this element of inevitable progression that's important -- even if the PCs refuse to interact with the QuestBox, the story will occur. Of course, we'd prefer that they do interact with it, thereby changing the pace of the story's progression and having an impact on the form and ultimate conclusion of the story.

As stated, QuestBoxing first requires the DM to choose or create a viable "sandbox" setting. Here, "viable" means that it can support not only the greater QuestBox story to be told, but the PCs that are going to be interacting with both. This means, at its most basic level, that a QuestBox designed for Epic Level Characters (kill a dark god, or whatever) must be placed in a setting that will, eventually at least, support epic characters and their epic activities (hopefully without obviating less-than-epic PC and activities). I won't delve too deeply in the process of creating a sandbox, as I have done so in the past and there are many resources available regarding sandbox creation. Similarly, I won't go into the process of creating a "campaign story". The examples for this style of game are legion -- from Dragonlance to Age of Worms -- and is likely familiar to most D&D players.

Meshing these two seemingly opposed styles of play and setting/campaign design is the real key, and hopefully I will be able to do so by way of example. Note that I am "thinking out loud" as I write this, so feel free to comment and criticize. I am more interested in finding the QuestBox than preserving my idea of what it would be or protecting the idea (and my ego in the process) that I am about to present. Note also that I am likely to use terminology from multiple editions interchangeably and likely incorrectly -- you'll have to bear with me as I have not quite married myself to any of the half dozen gems that are known as D&D.

For my example I will use of the most well worn tropes in fantasy: the Dark Lord bent on domination. Just as personal preference, I will put the ultimate battle with this villain in the upper-mid levels, as opposed to the near epic: more Witch King of Angband than Sauron himself. As such, the setting will be more regional and setting elements will avoid the truly powerful, primarily to preserve the Dark lord as the ultimate threat. It certainly wouldn't do for the Final battle to be anti-climactic compared to their slaying of a god or similarly epic feat.

It's important to develop the setting to the point that it can be comfortably called a "sandbox". Whether purchased or home brewed, the setting needs people, places and things with which to interact independent of the QuestBox story. Not only does this ensure a great deal of freedom for the PCs (remember, despite the presence of our greater storyline, we are trying to preserve sandbox style play) it will allow us to see how the greater story will unfold absent of the PCs' involvement (which in turn helps figure out how the PCs' involvement will affect the storyline). We can assume $40 and a couple weeks, or $0 and six months have passed and we've got our setting, geographically the size of, say, the British Isles and situated politically and environmentally squarely in D&D meta-setting territory.

The story of our Dark Lord will be laid out something like this:

Prologue- The Dark Lord Grows: This is prior to play beginning, where we decide where, when and how the Dark Lord has become an imminent threat. We decide what, exactly, the Dark Lord is and where the Dark Lord has connections, influence and physical presence in the setting. To keep with the cliches, our Dark Lord will be known as the Dread King, an ancient anti-paladin long thought dead but actually a death knight who has been biding his time and subtly building his army of undead and mortal cultists in preparation subjugate the free and living people of the region, which we'll call the White Isles. We go through our setting and determine which people, places and things will be tied up with the Dread King's plans -- what NPCs has he turned, what ruins has he made outposts, what organizations oppose him, and so on.

Act One- Poisoning the Well: The first part of the story, where traditionally information is passed and the larger conflict is established, begins at the start of play or shortly thereafter. Our triggering event will be the Dread Conjunction, a magical-celestial event that brings the real;ms of the living and the dead closer together. This is a "normal" event for the setting, a kind of "Night of the Eye" -- unusual, but not unexpected. What is unexpected (and secret) is that the Dread Conjunction gives the Dreak King that last little boost of power he needs to begin his domination of the White Isles. Throughout Act One, the Dread King's agents and followers begin paving the way for his hordes of the unliving. Righteous leaders are assassinated or otherwise removed from power, while corrupt ones are brought into the fold or destroyed. The region is destabilized by monster attacks and undead infestations, with sometimes seemingly random targets being not so random as the Dread King removes potential road blocks. As the PCs go about their regular adventuring business -- raid a tomb here, protect a village there, hunt down this McGuffin, defeat that bandit lord -- they'll be exposed to the Dreak King's machinations, and likely draw his attention (probably eventually fitting the description of "road block" soon enough). As it pertains to the idea of the QuestBox, the key here is to allow the PCs to engage the setting as they choose to, investigating or ignoring the Dread King as they see fit. Remember, the story unfolds regardless of the PCs' involvement in it, and it may get to Act Two or even Three before they decide to intervene. When the PCs do get involved, though, we have to keep careful notes about how, with whom or what, and what the results of their involvement was -- this information will be critical in determining how Acts Two and Three play out.

Act Two- The Enemy Revealed: Less any major influence by the PCs, the trigger for Act Two is simply time: the Dread King has removed enough obstacles and shored up enough allies to make his initial assault. PC action in Act One should be able to alter the timing and will certainly affect which obstacles have been removed and the like, but the Dread King's attack is as inevitable as the coming of winter (which sounds like perfect timing for a conqueror with legions that need neither food nor comfort). The opening volley is the complete and utter destruction of something big and important in our setting (perhaps a major fortress of good or a town or city central to the political stability of the region). The Dread King has not quite commenced marching millions of zombies, ghouls and wights across the White Isles -- that's Act Three -- but he's made his presence known and has begun subjugating and destroying. Act Two is generally where the minor conflicts take place while the protagonists get drawn deeper into the story. With the threat exposed, the PCs are forced into making a conscious choice regarding their involvement. If they choose now to actively oppose the Dread King, they'll begin exploring the QuestBox with that goal in mind, discovering those places where we buried secret weapons against the Dread King or his most valued lieutenants that can be removed from play prior to the endgame. If they remain ambivalent, however, the game does not come to a screeching halt. Their adventures in Act One probably opened a lot of doors for further adventure and even with the Dread King bearing down, some treasure filled ruins or pirate filled ports will remain relatively untouched. But again, it is a decision and one with consequences. Act Two sees bastions of hope and life destroyed or corrupted and more and more of the White Isles falling under the pall of the Dread King. We lay out a map of his spreading domination and draw up a time line of when good forces fall, neutral ones flee and evil ones submit. Each one of these is a potential adventure hook, but even if not they still serve as background elements that remind the players that their characters are living in a world under siege. All of this leads to Act Three, many of the details of which will depend heavily upon the PCs actions or inaction.

Act Three- Dawn of the Dread: There are many possible triggers for Act Three -- the PCs are heavily invested in the story and bring the fight to the Dread King himself, the PCs uncover a powerful weapon against the Dread King and force his hand, or simply that the PCs have stood by (or even joined!) while the Dread King's agents prepared the White Isles for decimation -- but they all come to the same point: the Dread King launches himself fully against the White Isles, a tidal wave of undead and other vile things set to the singular goal of complete domination of the land and its people. We lay out the path of the Million Monster March as it crushes one fortress or city after another, making note of which forces oppose the Dread King and which ally or submit and build ourselves a road map to the end of the White Isles. Now, even the most disinterested of parties must get involved: there's nowhere left in the setting untouched by the Dread King's power. It is possible, of course, that the PCs will simply leave for greener pastures, which either ends the campaign or instigates such a paradigm shift that it is essentially a new campaign (with a death knight ruled land of the dead as a major world-setting component). More likely, the PCs will be there to at least witness the final victory of either light or darkness, and hopefully deeply involved in such. But in any case, our road map allows us to keep running the game however they wish to play it.

Now, obviously, there are many details missing from the above description. Some of these details will be best developed prior to play (or at least player involvement), and some will be better if they spring forth from play (this is particularly true of NPCs and their relationship to the overall story, since betrayals, redemptions and the like are wasted if not attached to an NPC the PCs care about). But this fact is I think the strength of this idea in that it attempts to get the best of both worlds.