When a sandbox is not a sandbox

[Raven Crowking]

Typically a trivial distinction, since players generally do things based on what they believe.

This has already been answered by others, but let me jump on the "Not a Trivial Difference At All" bandwagon.

That said, however, I can understand how one might believe it to be a trivial distinction if one's playstyle constantly conflates the two.


RC

 

[MerricB]

This has already been answered by others, but let me jump on the "Not a Trivial Difference At All" bandwagon.

I'm wishing there was a bandwagon image to insert here.

If I might ask, RC: how do you prepare the "less prepared" sections of your campaign?

Cheers!

 

[Raven Crowking]

 

[Raven Crowking]

Short answer: I do all prep work by moving from the general to the specific.

I first create a general overview of an area. It is my goal to have a very good idea of what is everywhere, without necessarily having each room, hovel, and tree placed. What I want to know is, "What is this area like, and what lives here? What might be found here? What do the neighbours know about the place? What interesting features are here?"

Ex: I need to know that there are ghoul-haunted catacombs beneath the City of Gaxgy long before the PCs arrive there, but I do not need room-by-room maps of the place until going there becomes a real possibility.

My goal is to have enough information, always, so that I can extrapolate from what I know to what I do not know. I do not need to know how many fleas a dog has until the PCs stop to count them, but I do need to have an idea of the odds that the dog has fleas, and some rough range as to how many they might count.

I also use a ruleset that defines the stats of a normal man, so I don't need to worry about the stats of anyone ordinary -- they are predetermined.

Anything devised "on the fly", as it were, is determined on the basis of that general information. If I know dire corbies live in the caves below the Blasted Oak, then I will use general stats and a prep map if the PCs manage to get there somehow before I am fully prepped.

But I prefer to have all significant areas the PCs might get to within a game session's travel fully prepped before that game session begins. I am usually pretty darn successful in so doing.


RC


EDIT: Actually, one of the problems I am having getting a Doctor Who game going is that it is literally impossible to prep where the PCs can reasonably go within a given game session.

 

[MerricB]

RC, are you a double community supporter? I'm seeing the title twice!

To quite some extent, I think a normal D&D campaign (e.g. combat is an important part) is easier to design for than the Serenity game I'm running; although I do have some notes as for other areas. (One reason I was blindsided is that one of the PCs miscalculated the fuel - originally they told me when prepping they were out, then they discovered their miscalc. and could reach the shipyard. Huh?)

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

EDIT: Actually, one of the problems I am having getting a Doctor Who game going is that it is literally impossible to prep where the PCs can reasonably go within a given game session.

Yes. I learnt the art of improvisation during running Amber - even more wide possibilities than Doctor Who! Of course, the PCs had such power they could define a lot of stuff. Interesting paradigm change.

Cheers!

 

[Raven Crowking]

RC, are you a double community supporter?

Yes. Silver tier, baby!

To quite some extent, I think a normal D&D campaign (e.g. combat is an important part) is easier to design for than the Serenity game I'm running

I agree. The potential travel areas are much broader.

I have run Traveller in the past, which has broad travel areas but easy stat building, so that it balances out.

I agree that combat is an important part of a normal D&D campaign, but I don't think that all games or sessions need be equally combat-centric. I am currently weaning some players off of expectations gained from WotC-D&D, and having a blast doing so. Last night's game included combat, but only between Player Characters.


RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

Yes. I learnt the art of improvisation during running Amber - even more wide possibilities than Doctor Who! Of course, the PCs had such power they could define a lot of stuff. Interesting paradigm change.

Cheers!

It's good to step out of your comfort zone from time to time.

 

[billd91]

(In retrospect, it seems likely that there'd be a shady side to the shipyard he could have worked well with).

Having been raised on the M*A*S*H TV show, I'd have made a connection to black market wheeling and dealing quartermasters and supply clerks right away. Makes me wonder how interesting a study of pop cultural literacy differences affect how we develop and play our games.

The preparation I *really* need to do for this game regards NPCs. D&D may need monsters and traps, but Serenity needs NPCs and motivations more than anything else. A plan of the shipyard might have been nice, but I don't run this game in a detail-orientated way. Instead, an idea of what locations can be found and the NPCs within? That would have been nice.

Creating one minor NPC on the fly? Easy. Creating several major ones? More difficult!

Here, again, I often dredge up what I remember of interesting characters from TV shows and other media as well as draw on archetypes. Whether it's the postmaster from Babylon 5 that used to give Garibaldi a hard time or maybe M*A*S*H's Rizzo from the motor pool, either gives me a little bit of characterization to flesh out an archetype.

Consider it trying to put a good spin on a lifetime wasted watching TV.