Nahat Anoj
First Post
I read through Cairn of the Winter King. While I think it's a serviceable adventure, it doesn't feel like a mini-sandbox like how The Slaying Stone or Reavers of Harkenwold feel. It gets points for some "ooooh! aaaah!" moments, for presenting the danger in media res, and for advocating for more roleplay, but in the final analysis it feels basically a linear adventure. Because the adventure seems fun, I hesitate to call it a "railroad" - I think "roller coaster" would be a better term (but, ultimately, they're both things that follow a predetermined track).
Looking over The Slaying Stone and Reavers of Harkenwold, I don't think they present a completely wide open sandbox. Indeed, for the most part I feel the strengths of these two adventures are at selling a living scenario. They do this by presenting some (honestly limited) choice and having lots of little maps. For some reason, these maps are just great at suggesting a living world and other angles of attack (even if those things aren't spell out explicitly in the adventure).
For example, Reavers basically has four parts. They only have two options for the first part. Whichever one they do, they attract the attention of a major NPC which leads to the next part. Then there's a battle to defend a town (frankly, these kinds of encounters need more work to feel like they are part of a larger battle, but at least the adventure gives some idea of strategies that PCs can do). Finally, there's an infiltration scenario. The point is, Reavers doesn't actually have a lot of branching choices. But it just feels more open, less obviously a rail-road.
Looking over The Slaying Stone and Reavers of Harkenwold, I don't think they present a completely wide open sandbox. Indeed, for the most part I feel the strengths of these two adventures are at selling a living scenario. They do this by presenting some (honestly limited) choice and having lots of little maps. For some reason, these maps are just great at suggesting a living world and other angles of attack (even if those things aren't spell out explicitly in the adventure).
For example, Reavers basically has four parts. They only have two options for the first part. Whichever one they do, they attract the attention of a major NPC which leads to the next part. Then there's a battle to defend a town (frankly, these kinds of encounters need more work to feel like they are part of a larger battle, but at least the adventure gives some idea of strategies that PCs can do). Finally, there's an infiltration scenario. The point is, Reavers doesn't actually have a lot of branching choices. But it just feels more open, less obviously a rail-road.