Good Sandbox Products?

[Morlock]

I found an old thread on this that was really helpful but I figured I'd post a fresh thread rather than bump it, since that seems to be the universal netiquette for some reason. Anyhoo, I'm looking for good sandbox products, primarily D&D stuff but I'm willing to convert a good product from another system. I'm not picky about scope, either. I like sandboxes big and small. I do prefer detail, though: places mapped, people & critters fleshed out and statted, etc.

Here's the list of stuff I'm already aware of (comments or corrections welcome):

D&D:

Night's Dark Terror
Kingmaker
Keep on the Borderlands
Blackmarsh
Lost City of Barakus
The Grey Citadel
Vault of Larin Karr
Isle of Dread
Wilderlands of High Fantasy
City State of the Invincible Overlord

Non-D&D:

Griffin Mountain
Frandor's Keep

Periodicals (periodicals I've seen suggested, but I know no further specifics, so comments are especially welcome):

Fight On!
Points of Light
Hexcrawl Chronicles
Nod

Suggested (other stuff that I've seen suggested, but I haven't investigated for sandboxworthiness, so comments are especially welcome):

Ptolus
Kalamar
B4: The Lost City
Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Vault of the Drow
The World of Greyhawk ("esp. 80s box set by Gygax")
Lost City of Gaxmoor
Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh
Isle of the Unknown (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Carcosa (LotFP)
Hidden Kingdoms
Night Below

 

[the Jester]

L1: The Secret of Bone Hill.

The eponymous dungeon is a chunk of the module, but there's also a fully detailed town, multiple other adventure sites, etc. and a primitive but serviceable outdoor map that connects them all. Not too plot-driven, but full of npcs with conflicting agendas, from the evil wizard in Bone Hill to the spy and the priest in town.

It's one of my favorite old school dungeons.

 

[Morlock]

Thanks Jester. Lots of NPCs with conflicting agendas are a good thing.

 

[Libramarian]

The city of Ophir from Nod is a great sandbox city.

It's one of my favorite old school dungeons.

It is excellent. Love that room with the beholderkin and the libram of gainful conjuration.

 

[Shiroiken]

If you like the Realms, I highly recommend Murder in Baldur's Gate. Most of the "adventure" is actually a setting guide for the city, and I think it's well laid out for a sandbox style game. I ran the actual adventure during the Encounter's Season, and I feel the time constraint of the organized play really limited what I could do with it. If I had the option of running it as a true sandbox, I could have ran this single adventure for six months to a year by adding in sub-plots and side-quests from the setting guide, not to mention the online supplemental encounters.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

If you like the Realms, I highly recommend Murder in Baldur's Gate. Most of the "adventure" is actually a setting guide for the city, and I think it's well laid out for a sandbox style game. I ran the actual adventure during the Encounter's Season, and I feel the time constraint of the organized play really limited what I could do with it. If I had the option of running it as a true sandbox, I could have ran this single adventure for six months to a year by adding in sub-plots and side-quests from the setting guide, not to mention the online supplemental encounters.

On a related note, I would also recommend Legacy of the Crystal Shard which I found an even better sandbox (and better adventure) than Murder in Baldur's Gate. Despite the R A Salvatore-influence, there's a tonne of great material and expandable ideas in Legacy.

And neither suited the Encounters format.

 

[heptat]

L1: The Secret of Bone Hill.

The eponymous dungeon is a chunk of the module, but there's also a fully detailed town, multiple other adventure sites, etc. and a primitive but serviceable outdoor map that connects them all. Not too plot-driven, but full of npcs with conflicting agendas, from the evil wizard in Bone Hill to the spy and the priest in town.

It's one of my favorite old school dungeons.

Mine too - great suggestion. Especially when you know about the future history of the island. Great place for some very dark adventures.

 

[Thaumaturge]

I found an old thread on this that was really helpful but I figured I'd post a fresh thread rather than bump it, since that seems to be the universal netiquette for some reason.

I look forward to bumping this thread a year from now.

I will second Murder in Baldur's Gate and Legacy of the Crystal Shard as good sandbox adventures.

And here's another vote for Ptolus. I've wanted to run it since I got it. It is a fully fleshed out city that is very detailed. It's the kind of thing that, upon reading, a DM gets the feeling if the players say "I go into the second shop on the street", the DM can find that specific shop on a map and find that specific shop listed in the book somewhere.

Thaumaturge.

 

[CM]

4e Neverwinter campaign setting. So many competing factions, lots of political intrigue mixed in with dangerous adventuring locations. It does have some crunch for 4e, but the character themes are all associated with different factions and the mechanics are easily ignored.

 

[Morlock]

If you like the Realms

I think it's fair to say I've never really given them a chance.

I highly recommend Murder in Baldur's Gate. Most of the "adventure" is actually a setting guide for the city, and I think it's well laid out for a sandbox style game. I ran the actual adventure during the Encounter's Season, and I feel the time constraint of the organized play really limited what I could do with it. If I had the option of running it as a true sandbox, I could have ran this single adventure for six months to a year by adding in sub-plots and side-quests from the setting guide, not to mention the online supplemental encounters.

But I would never let that stop me from using a good product. The plan is to create a skeletal setting, then plug all the sandboxes I like into it.

On a related note, I would also recommend Legacy of the Crystal Shard which I found an even better sandbox (and better adventure) than Murder in Baldur's Gate. Despite the R A Salvatore-influence, there's a tonne of great material and expandable ideas in Legacy.

And neither suited the Encounters format.

Sounds good, too. By the way, what exactly is the Encounters format?

I look forward to bumping this thread a year from now.

Hehe. I've never seen the point of a lot of board netiquette, but that's precisely why I try to observe a lot of it; otherwise, I wind up pissing people off (e.g., I've always been pretty thick-skinned and combative, so I have a hard time not pissing people off on boards, especially nerd-boards, so I tend to observe a strict "no religion no politics no real world" on RPG boards).

And here's another vote for Ptolus. I've wanted to run it since I got it. It is a fully fleshed out city that is very detailed. It's the kind of thing that, upon reading, a DM gets the feeling if the players say "I go into the second shop on the street", the DM can find that specific shop on a map and find that specific shop listed in the book somewhere.

Thaumaturge.

I've never been into Egyptian stuff, probably part of my prejudice against the whole sandal epoch, but re-skinning that kind of stuff is easy so I'll look at Ptolus too.

4e Neverwinter campaign setting. So many competing factions, lots of political intrigue mixed in with dangerous adventuring locations. It does have some crunch for 4e, but the character themes are all associated with different factions and the mechanics are easily ignored.

I like stats, but given the number of different systems I'm probably going to be pulling from, I don't think I can be too choosy about systems. So 4e is fine. I'll have to check out Neverwinter, too.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks. Keep 'em coming if you got 'em.

Edit: almost forgot, looks like we might have to add the adventure(s) from the upcoming 5e Starter Set, too. It sounds sandboxy.