A Question for Sandbox/Hexcrawl DMs

[Mercurius]

Well, more than one question really, but the main one is this: During game play, what resources do you have with you at the table? That is, what are your favorite props and DM aids that you rely on to keep things going during game play? Do you always have the Ultimate Toolbox lying around, lists of NPCs and wandering monster tables, etc?

Also, to what degree do you have pre-made encounters, locations and such or do you just wing it as you go, perhaps with various tables and such?

Finally, for those running a true sandbox/hexcrawl game, to what degree do you have the setting mapped out? What do you do if, for instance, the party makes a beeline for a region of the world you haven't worked out? Do you slow things down with an encounter or two so that you can map things out between sessions? How do you keep the feeling of immersion with truly free-wheeling adventurers?

I have my own ideas for all of these questions, and approaches I've taken or imagined, but would love to hear what some of the other DMs have done.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

When I ran my sandbox game (Ilse of Dread inspired) I always asked at the end of the session, what the PCs would like to do in the next session. I then prepped for that. Sometimes they deviated from the plan and I had to improvise, but mostly they honored their previous choice.

I had a rough idea of what most of the island was like, I let the specifics evolve as the PCs explored.

 

[the Jester]

Sandboxing is, to a great degree, the art of anticipating what the players will do next time.

I have lots of maps done, lots of campaign setting info written up (and in my head), plenty of evil agendas, cults and forces at work, a good working understanding of the politics in the area; from there, I pretty much let the pcs drive. I don't have a list of premade names for npcs or inns or any of that.

Truth be told, I'm one of those dms who is very good at running off the cuff.

 

[S'mon]

Well, more than one question really, but the main one is this: During game play, what resources do you have with you at the table? That is, what are your favorite props and DM aids that you rely on to keep things going during game play?

I think the most important things are
1) A map. Really need a map.
2) Random encounter tables, for ease of content generation during play. Treasure tables useful but not vital.

For tabletop games:
1) Two blank Paizo flipmats
2) Some wilderness-scene Paizo flipmats, usually forest.
3) A case of minis with a wide variety of characters & monsters, though with slow-combat games like 4e this can sometimes be cut down to 3-4 sample encounter groups at a pinch. Ideally though I have minis for everything on the encounter tables.

Some unkeyed simple dungeon maps also come in very useful, along with a dungeon encounter table.

 

[Lwaxy]

I usually have it all mapped out (unless I'm using M:TG lands as developing map) but the players don't usually know the map beforehand (unless the area is well mapped in the story, too). I have a binder with map printouts including buildings and encounter places handy and need it quite often. Unlikely for me to not have some map or at least image of where they want to go next. Depending on where we play, my flip maps, map backs and tiles and the miniatures are just an armlength away, too.

 

[steenan]

Schemes from Mistborn Adventure Game are a nice tool for player-driven sandbox tool. That's how they work:

1. Players think in advance what they want to do next. It may be done OOG, between sessions, or as roleplayed in-character planning, whatever the group prefers.

2. Players write down (it usually takes 5-10 minutes):
- What they want to achieve
- What are the main methods
- 3-5 steps/stages of the plan
- What resources they want to use
- What main obstacles they expect
- What important pieces of information they don't have
- What, in their opinion, can go wrong, and how

3. The GM takes the plan, adds NPCs, details the challenges (not limited to what players listed - but the list is usually a good guide), puts in a twist or two and the adventure is ready.


Main advantages of this approach are:
- The GM may focus preparation on things the PCs will really do, instead of wasting time on things that will never be used in play.
- Player expectations, assumptions and missed clues are made clear.
- If done in-character, it gives PCs an opportunity to discuss their personal goals, needs and preferred methods. It may be very good for character development.
- Players have a significant input in what problems and challenges their characters will face, but it's still the GM who makes the final decisions.

 

[Jacob Marley]

I make use of the following tools for my games:

• Laptop (I try and keep as much information as I can on my laptop)
  • Excel - this is used to store all my random tables
  • Word - this is used to keep PC/NPC lists as well as notes for the upcoming session
  • PDFs - I have a large collection of PDFs of old modules, Dungeon/Dragon magazines, and [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate] Adventure Paths
  • Hexographer - fantastic tool for making hex maps
  • JPEGs - I keep lots of images of people, places, and things to inspire my creativity or to give the players a better sense of what they are experiencing
  • HeroForge/MonsterForge/SpellForge - Excel-based programs to quickly build NPCs, advance monsters, and create spell lists, respectively.
  • Mythic Gamemaster Emulator - a good, system neutral tool to help me adjudicate NPC decision making, and to help provide context to encounters
• World of Greyhawk Boxed Set - mostly used for the "Darlene" maps and generic encounter tables
• City of Greyhawk Boxed Set
• Living Greyhawk Gazetteer
• D&D Miniatures - our group's combined collection includes nearly every miniature made by WotC
• Dwarven Forge Terrain - our group's combined collection includes dozens of sets
• Other terrain pieces - styrofoam hills, model train trees, Department 56 buildings

 

[howandwhy99]

Well, first and foremost you need your scenario, the calender map of the fantasy world your players are going to explore.

• You also need a firm idea of it in your mind to allow for the players to engage with their imagination and so you can relate it accurately.
• Dice are needed as probability generators for rolling results needed as they come up during a session.
• Extra pens, pencils, paper, and mapping tools as desired are needed. Not just for logging what has happened, but to convey fine details in the moment.
• Miniatures and a grid or at least some means of reasonably conveying spatial position are necessary for DMs who track that.
• Cards to pass private notes, use for quick lists, freehand maps, not to mention declared actions in combat are very useful.
• A DM screen with consolidated rules frequently used is probably DM specific, but also helpful, if only just to hide the scenario materials.

As to scenario generation, my advice is only to ever create as much as the players can reasonably cover in a single session. That's going to depend on your players, the rules you're using, how long the session is scheduled for, how expediate you are in running the game, and stuff like that.

If you didn't build enough, you can simply stop. That's probably the best course. It's easier simply to build those details into the game world though. Tougher sections are harder to get through for most players, so natural borders build themselves duing the generation process. Plus, the players generally let you know in their character design at least what they are interested in, so you can build a little more out in those directions just to cover yourself in case they blast through everything quicker than you thought possible.

How do you keep the feeling of immersion with truly free-wheeling adventurers?
Have a world of adventure to begin with, but don't remove the players from it. Keep them in the 1st person perspective and always relay it through the eyes and ears of their characters.

 

[Argyle King]

Well, more than one question really, but the main one is this: During game play, what resources do you have with you at the table? That is, what are your favorite props and DM aids that you rely on to keep things going during game play? Do you always have the Ultimate Toolbox lying around, lists of NPCs and wandering monster tables, etc?

Also, to what degree do you have pre-made encounters, locations and such or do you just wing it as you go, perhaps with various tables and such?

Finally, for those running a true sandbox/hexcrawl game, to what degree do you have the setting mapped out? What do you do if, for instance, the party makes a beeline for a region of the world you haven't worked out? Do you slow things down with an encounter or two so that you can map things out between sessions? How do you keep the feeling of immersion with truly free-wheeling adventurers?

I have my own ideas for all of these questions, and approaches I've taken or imagined, but would love to hear what some of the other DMs have done.

It depends on the setting and style of game...

I have one setting which is something of a hobby for me to work on in my down time. I have enough information about it that I don't really need to prepare anything. I have enough info about most places that it's pretty easy for me to sort of let the world run itself by simply having the NPCs, monsters, and parts of the world follow their own desires and goals.

On the other hand, I've also run (and am planning to run again soon) a game which I made up as I went. All I started with was a town which I had created. I then asked that each player come up with some amount of back story. I used what they wrote in their back stories to inform me what other things might exist in the world; outside of the town. After that, I just kind of made it up as I went. Players were also capable of earning points which they could use to add something plausible* to a scene. Once something became an established part of the world, I wrote it down.

*As decided by the rest of the group, but -as DM- I had final say concerning what was plausible given the scene.

I should also note that I eventually moved both games into systems which weren't D&D, and I found that my desire to sandbox was better supported.