Witty Comeback
First Post
Perhaps it can be nailed down.
What factors must be present in a game to make it a sandbox campaign?
What makes a Sandbox?
- Thread starter Witty Comeback
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What factors must be present in a game to make it a sandbox campaign?
ExploderWizard
Hero
Meaningful player choice:
The players decide where to go and what to do and thier decision matters.
The DM sets up an encounter with an orc raiding party and asks the party which direction they travel in when they arrive at a crossroads. The players choose a direction and begin travel. The party encounters the raiding party no matter which direction they choose.
This isn't sandbox play. The DM has already proscribed the encounter so the players choice of travel direction was meaningless.
The players decide where to go and what to do and thier decision matters.
The DM sets up an encounter with an orc raiding party and asks the party which direction they travel in when they arrive at a crossroads. The players choose a direction and begin travel. The party encounters the raiding party no matter which direction they choose.
This isn't sandbox play. The DM has already proscribed the encounter so the players choice of travel direction was meaningless.
There's a defined play area - the 'box' - within which the players are free to play around with the "sand" - the content - build things, change or break things, etc.
You can have non-location-based encounters within a sandbox - "The party encounters the raiding party no matter which direction they choose" - I disagree with ExploderWizard that that prevents sandbox play.
You can have non-location-based encounters within a sandbox - "The party encounters the raiding party no matter which direction they choose" - I disagree with ExploderWizard that that prevents sandbox play.
rogueattorney
Adventurer
I find it interesting that the term "sandbox" even needs to be used. Prior to 1984, there was no need for any term beyond "D&D campaign." Basically, with the advent of the Dragonlance series of adventures, it became common practice to create one's campaign based on a pre-planned series of events that would occur over the course of that campaign. Certainly, elements of that style of campaign existed before Dragonlance, but after Dragonlance that became the assumed norm, and with rare exceptions has really been the only form for published adventures for the last 25 years.
Products that I'd say portray sanbox campaigns:
Judges Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord
Judges Guild's Wilderlands series of products
B2 Keep on the Borderland
X1 Isle of Dread
I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City
L1 Secret of Bone Hill
T1 Village of Hommlet
Goodman Game's Points of Light series
I think sandbox campaigns ideally grow in scope with the ambitions and abilities of the players and their characters. But ideally, they begin with a relatively local focus.
The actions in sandbox campaigns are character driven. That is to say, the sandbox campaign assumes proactive and ambitious player characters with goals who will, when left to their own devices, seek out these goals. The "unlikely/unwilling hero" character concept is not a good fit for the sandbax campaign.
Sandbox games are location based and not event based. The DM and his world are more reactive in response to the actions of the pcs than he is proactive in prodding the characters in one direction or another. That isn't to say that the sandbox campaign is a stable environment but for the pcs. Rather, the DM sets up a scenario and then largely stands back and watches what happen.
Products that I'd say portray sanbox campaigns:
Judges Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord
Judges Guild's Wilderlands series of products
B2 Keep on the Borderland
X1 Isle of Dread
I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City
L1 Secret of Bone Hill
T1 Village of Hommlet
Goodman Game's Points of Light series
I think sandbox campaigns ideally grow in scope with the ambitions and abilities of the players and their characters. But ideally, they begin with a relatively local focus.
The actions in sandbox campaigns are character driven. That is to say, the sandbox campaign assumes proactive and ambitious player characters with goals who will, when left to their own devices, seek out these goals. The "unlikely/unwilling hero" character concept is not a good fit for the sandbax campaign.
Sandbox games are location based and not event based. The DM and his world are more reactive in response to the actions of the pcs than he is proactive in prodding the characters in one direction or another. That isn't to say that the sandbox campaign is a stable environment but for the pcs. Rather, the DM sets up a scenario and then largely stands back and watches what happen.
ExploderWizard
Hero
You can easily have event based encounters in sandbox play. I like using a mixture of location and time factors in my campaign. Something will happen at a certain location at a particular time unless the actions of the PC's alter or prevent a given event.
If I decide to run encounter X and no decisions or activities of the PC's will impact encounter X then choice is an illusion.
The Shaman
First Post
"You have given out too much [sic] Experience Points in the last 24 hours, try again later."
Sorry, ra, best I can offer you is a sincere "Quoted for troof."
pawsplay
Hero
A big enough sandbox and some players willing to dig.
The Shaman
First Post
Which is why S'mon's orc raiding party is not a sandbox-style encounter.
In the past, the dichotomy was between "Tailored" and "Status Quo"
In a Tailored game, all encounters and adventures are presented with the PCs in mind. If the PCs run into a rumor that there's a haunted house, and they go to investigate, that haunted house will be things the PCs might be expected to deal with, in terms of power. If they are first level there will be zombies and skeletons. At higher levels, there will be vampires or liches, to suit.
The effect here is kind of like Ye Olden Days, when we'd play modules rather than making up our own adventures. The DM would pick a module that was of appropriate level for our PCs. When we were 10th level, we picked modules for PCs 9-12th level. We no longer ever did modules of 1-3rd level, and we avoided the modules for 18+ level. We played whatever module the DM picked, and if we tried to do otherwise, the game kind of broke, because the DM only had the one module prepped.
Taking the idea a step further, in a very strongly Tailored game, there is a preordained Plot Arc, entirely for the PCs - the world is merely a backdrop, and all events worth looking at are centered on their story. The Plot Arc is the central concept, and the world subordinate to it, so the PCs cannot choose to opt out of the plot arc. The DM has chosen the Adventure Path or series of modules ahead of time, and the players are expected to follow along.
In a Status Quo game, the world is pre-seeded with stuff, independent of the PCs. The world has it's own distribution of things, low to high power, and the PCs are dropped into it and wander around as they see fit, and do what they want.
The effect is rather like the DM has chosen locations for all those modules, and you look around and try to find them. The DM puts out information for the PCs to use to make decisions, but it is entirely possible for a low-level character to wander into a high-level module, and get creamed. The DM does not stop them from doing so, and does not alter the module so the PCs have a chance.
There is no preordained plot arc in a Status Quo game. The only "story" is what you piece together out of the PCs wanderings after the fact. Elements in the world are not sitting around waiting for the PCs, and will move forward on their own accord. If the PCs missed the important bit that means the bad guy ends the world, then that's how it is.
These days on EN World, the term "Status Quo" has largely been replaced with "sandbox".
In a Tailored game, all encounters and adventures are presented with the PCs in mind. If the PCs run into a rumor that there's a haunted house, and they go to investigate, that haunted house will be things the PCs might be expected to deal with, in terms of power. If they are first level there will be zombies and skeletons. At higher levels, there will be vampires or liches, to suit.
The effect here is kind of like Ye Olden Days, when we'd play modules rather than making up our own adventures. The DM would pick a module that was of appropriate level for our PCs. When we were 10th level, we picked modules for PCs 9-12th level. We no longer ever did modules of 1-3rd level, and we avoided the modules for 18+ level. We played whatever module the DM picked, and if we tried to do otherwise, the game kind of broke, because the DM only had the one module prepped.
Taking the idea a step further, in a very strongly Tailored game, there is a preordained Plot Arc, entirely for the PCs - the world is merely a backdrop, and all events worth looking at are centered on their story. The Plot Arc is the central concept, and the world subordinate to it, so the PCs cannot choose to opt out of the plot arc. The DM has chosen the Adventure Path or series of modules ahead of time, and the players are expected to follow along.
In a Status Quo game, the world is pre-seeded with stuff, independent of the PCs. The world has it's own distribution of things, low to high power, and the PCs are dropped into it and wander around as they see fit, and do what they want.
The effect is rather like the DM has chosen locations for all those modules, and you look around and try to find them. The DM puts out information for the PCs to use to make decisions, but it is entirely possible for a low-level character to wander into a high-level module, and get creamed. The DM does not stop them from doing so, and does not alter the module so the PCs have a chance.
There is no preordained plot arc in a Status Quo game. The only "story" is what you piece together out of the PCs wanderings after the fact. Elements in the world are not sitting around waiting for the PCs, and will move forward on their own accord. If the PCs missed the important bit that means the bad guy ends the world, then that's how it is.
These days on EN World, the term "Status Quo" has largely been replaced with "sandbox".
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pawsplay
Hero
Umbran, I think you are conflating the dichotomy between tailored and status quo encounters with linear versus sandbox. A sandbox game does not mean you wander into a CR 18 dragon and get creamed, it means you get to decide whether you want to slay the dragon or serve it or ignore it. It does mean that some things are not there to fight, and hence you should run. But you can run a sandbox game with tailored encounters. By default, Fantasy Craft encounters are 90% tailored because of the sliding NPC difficulty system.
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