D&D 5E Do You Prefer Sandbox or Party Level Areas In Your Game World?

So these are two approaches that campaigns can (and do) use. They have various names, but I'm using these names. I've used both approaches in the past.

Obviously there is more nuance than the definitions below, but these are two possible extreme ends of the poll when voting feel free to choose whichever end you tend towards, or embellish in the comments.

Sandbox -- each area on the world map has a set difficulty, and if you're a low level party and wander into a dangerous area, you're in trouble. The Shire is low level, Moria is high level. Those are 'absolute' values and aren't dependent on who's traveling through.

Party -- adventurers encounter challenges appropriate to their level wherever they are on the map. A low level party in Moria just meets a few goblins. A high level party meets a balrog!

Which do you prefer?

 

[cbwjm]

Not before they get there, but when they get there: before encountering anyone they could notice large circular char marks on the ground here and there, and draw their own conclusions.

That and the fact that you're going to a place called The Fire Temple. Fireball and other fire spells shouldn't be a surprise (at lease not in 5e where most every player knows about the light cleric subclass), the real surprise would be getting hit by cone of cold.

 

[iserith]

Not before they get there, but when they get there: before encountering anyone they could notice large circular char marks on the ground here and there, and draw their own conclusions.

I don't see why I shouldn't do it before they get there. Rumors in town is a very old D&D trope. Easy enough to drop right in there.

 

[Lanefan]

I don't see why I shouldn't do it before they get there. Rumors in town is a very old D&D trope. Easy enough to drop right in there.

True. I was just riffing off of L1 Secret of Bone Hill, which does exactly this - the circular char marks on the ground outside the main castle/dungeon - to warn the PCs that there's a fireball-chuckin' caster in there somewhere.

 

[tetrasodium]

I don't see why I shouldn't do it before they get there. Rumors in town is a very old D&D trope. Easy enough to drop right in there.

The dungeons are connected

You can literally walk from an armory in a dungeon intended for a 5th level party into the jaws of a cr6 chimera in a dungeon intended for a level 6 party

Spoiler

PoTA is a special kind of chaos that targets the sanity of a gm hoping to run it

 

[iserith]

The dungeons are connected
You can literally walk from an armory in a dungeon intended for a 5th level party into the jaws of a cr6 chimera in a dungeon intended for a level 6 party


PoTA is a special kind of chaos that targets the sanity of a gm hoping to run it

"Someone who escaped that awful place told me the dungeons are connected," the quirky, cagey barkeep tells you. "You can wander unwittingly into areas that are certain death! Best be careful if you plan on going to that hellhole..."

Meanwhile as the group approaches the armory, they overhear the ogres grousing about "that stupid dragon-cat-goat" down the tunnel who handily killed one of their friends just days before with its "fire breath."

In other words, no matter what the designers put in their modules, there's a way to telegraph all of it one way or another. Whether the players heed the warning though is another issue.

 

[tetrasodium]

"Someone who escaped that awful place told me the dungeons are connected," the quirky, cagey barkeep tells you. "You can wander unwittingly into areas that are certain death! Best be careful if you plan on going to that hellhole..."

Meanwhile as the group approaches the armory, they overhear the ogres grousing about "that stupid dragon-cat-goat" down the tunnel who handily killed one of their friends just days before with its "fire breath."

In other words, no matter what the designers put in their modules, there's a way to telegraph all of it one way or another. Whether the players heed the warning though is another issue.

They are all connected & as you saw it's not like there's a clear transition. Most groups find out about them via "what's down that next hall"

 

[iserith]

They are all connected & as you saw it's not like there's a clear transition. Most groups find out about them via "what's down that next hall"

The DM can telegraph in one room what's in the next room. And sounds like in this case probably should.

 

[S'mon]

I feel like this is something of a bait and switch. There's a cool place outside the sandbox called the Kurmanur Wilds and every time we go there nothing happens. I'd rather just be transparent and say - before the game even begins - that these are the boundaries of the sandbox and seek player buy-in.

My players can see the maps - they can see the boundaries of the detailed sandbox. Like I said, players don't like hard borders, even if they have nominally bought in to them, but IME are fine with 'the fun is this way'.

 

[S'mon]

As well, in my games, time matters. If the players spend a week on something, that comes with a cost of some kind or at the very least the situation changes in some way which may not be to their benefit.

I use 1 week long rests in 5e, a week is pretty much a standard unit of account IMC.
Anyway you seem to have a much more adversarial table than mine so I guess it wouldn't work for you. I'd recommend it for most people; it's always worked well for me.

 

[iserith]

My players can see the maps - they can see the boundaries of the detailed sandbox. Like I said, players don't like hard borders, even if they have nominally bought in to them, but IME are fine with 'the fun is this way'.

An agreement is an agreement. It's not nominal if it's made in good faith.

I use 1 week long rests in 5e, a week is pretty much a standard unit of account IMC.
Anyway you seem to have a much more adversarial table than mine so I guess it wouldn't work for you. I'd recommend it for most people; it's always worked well for me.

What would make you think that my table is adversarial at all? Because it's not. I use 1-week rests too, depending on the campaign. Time matters. It is therefore a resource like spell slots, hit points, class features, etc. If you're going to spend it, then it's reasonable to expect a shot at a return on that investment, right?