Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
True, but having a clear idea what those different things are is a great help sometimes.
D&D (2024) DMG 2024: Is The Sandbox Campaign Dead?
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
The impression I get is that 2024 D&D is more concerned about "telling a story" rather than open, unscripted adventuring.
That said, WotC has done several micro sandboxes - Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation, and Rime of the Frostmaiden off the top of my head. Maybe even Undermountain as a megadungeon could be considered a quasi-sandbox.
So, sandboxing isn't quite dead, they just didn't bother to discuss it in the 2024 DMG. Their more recent (Shadows of the Dragon Queen, Phandelver, Eve of Ruin) seem to utilize a more path-like (though multiple paths) structure than a true sandbox, and I think for the sort of adventure books they are making those are easier as they have a beginning - middle - end structure.
As always, if you want to see more sandbox adventures from WotC, tell them. I'm sure they'd be interested in giving us what we want - it's money in their pockets.
That said, WotC has done several micro sandboxes - Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation, and Rime of the Frostmaiden off the top of my head. Maybe even Undermountain as a megadungeon could be considered a quasi-sandbox.
So, sandboxing isn't quite dead, they just didn't bother to discuss it in the 2024 DMG. Their more recent (Shadows of the Dragon Queen, Phandelver, Eve of Ruin) seem to utilize a more path-like (though multiple paths) structure than a true sandbox, and I think for the sort of adventure books they are making those are easier as they have a beginning - middle - end structure.
As always, if you want to see more sandbox adventures from WotC, tell them. I'm sure they'd be interested in giving us what we want - it's money in their pockets.
I just think you overestimate how much people rely on the DMG when it comes to playing the game. Some people will always stick with linear modules because that's what they're comfortable with. Others will get tired of linear campaigns and, just like I did, just kind of naturally develop a style that works for them. Others will watch popular streams to figure out what they do, find blogs that talk about this stuff, buy old campaign settings or 3PP. There are a ton of options and for the purpose of giving advice to new DMs I think the direction of the DMG is an okay choice. It's not the best direction they could have gone because there is no best direction and you can't let perfection get in the way of good enough.
DarkCrisis
Let her cook.
They want people to buy adventure books. Every single one if they can help it.
If I look at Curse of Strahd as an example, I actually found the sandbox elements of it kind of annoying. You know that eventually you're going to have a big showdown with Mr. Toothyface and at least with the DM that ran it for us the interactions we had didn't really change much. We had X challenges that we had to overcome but it was always going to be the same X challenges no matter what direction we approached them from and there was very little leeway once we triggered a challenge. We never had the option of saying "Gee, it's too bad that this place sucks but nothing we do will really change anything in the long run so let's go over there." It's an inherent limitation of modules and most story based video games for that matter.
Doesn't inherently make them bad modules, I just hesitate to call them sandbox. A sandbox adventure would pretty much just describe the setting the actors and what's going on as a springboard to a campaign. Probably the best example of that I played in would have been the Hoard of the Dragon Queen but the DM had no idea how to make it interesting because there was no linear path option.
WotC is not going to send the Pinkertons to knock on your door if you decide to run something different last time I che...hold on I have to answer the door, it sounds important.
MGibster
Legend
If the restaurant was run by EA Games, they’d monetize the experience by charging you a fee for dishes and silverware. A napkin? Oh, that’s just a small fee. Stop complaining. It’s just an optional and cosmetic. It has no effect on the meal.
Remathilis
Legend
Could you imagine if EA ran an airline? They'd charge you for the seat, your baggage, and the bag of peanuts!
....
Wait...
I take issue with the definition of Rime as a "sandbox". It is more of a CRPG "open world" -- that is, it is a map filled with side quests of varying quality. It does not actually have much in the way of sandbox elements though, especially since it explicitly limits XP based on story reasons.
OB1
Jedi Master
I ran a 2 year, 20 level sandbox using EGTW. I think campaign guides in general through the 5e lifespan are good rules support for sandbox style play, where the PCs pick a direction and go, choosing to engage or not with a variety of challenges the world presents. The Greyhawk setting in the 24DMG is the support for that style of play in 24.
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