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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PeterWeller" data-source="post: 3892782" data-attributes="member: 55795">I think using modules to determine whether or not there was a prevalent or more prevalent sand-box style isn't very effective.  For example, many of the modules that Hussar cited can be slotted into a sand-box style campaign with little or no modification.  After all, sand-box style doesn't preclude the existence of BBEGs or linear, plot driven adventures.  It does mean that the players, for the most part, decide whether or not they want to engage these enemies and stories.  Sometimes, that can be out of their hands.  A sand-box campaign doesn't mean that there aren't other forces at work in the world, forces that may oppose and want to eliminate or ally with and employ the players, but ultimately it is the player's goals that serve as the driving force of the campaign, as opposed to a more singular story driven campaign where there is an ultimate goal (often saving the world, or at least a corner of it) that sets up and drives the majority of adventures.To give a clearer example of what I'm saying, let's compare arguably the two largest and most popular science fiction franchises: Star Trek and Star Wars.  For this comparison, we're going to stick with the "original" material: original cast Star Trek and original trilogy Star Wars.  Trek, in my opinion, exemplifies the sand box style of campaign.  Each adventure is essentially its own story, connected to the others only through a shared cast of characters.  Now, plots may develop that link multiple adventures together ("Space Seed" to Wrath of Khan for instance), but these plots develop out of the initial actions of the characters.  Star Wars, on the other hand, exemplifies the story driven style campaign.  The characters have a quest that they must complete.  There are individual quests woven into this (Luke must become a Jedi, the heroes must rescue Han from Jabba), but these quests feed back into the main plot (Luke must train as a Jedi to defeat Darth and the Emperor; the heroes must rescue Han because they need his abilities and leadership if they are to defeat the Empire).  While the heroes personal goals and motivations may draw them into this major plot (Han Solo needs money, takes Obi-Wan's job), in many cases, they are fated at the start to play a major role (whether they like it or not, Luke and Leia are going to be part of the story).  Another example of comparison may be Fallout 2 vs. Final Fantasy X.  Fallout does start you out on an important quest, but you don't have to try and complete that quest, and it is mostly unrelated to the actual BBEG of the game.  In addition, most of the adventures you go on and areas you explore have nothing to do with the BBEG.  Final Fantasy X, on the other hand, has you setting out on the main quest right from the get go, and just about everything you did feeds into this main plot line, to defeat Sin, the BBEG.Now, I want to point out that I've just been talking about this at the campaign level.  I agree with Hussar that most adventures have included a clear BBEG to fight, and his or her defeat often marks the completion of that adventure, or at least its climax.</blockquote>

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