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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8543913" data-attributes="member: 6801845">Some thoughts in general about planning and "modules".  Are you writing a module for publication or are you preparing this solely for a home campaign?  Because to me they can be completely different beasts.  I have no desire to write modules for publication, but I also don't really think in terms of linear or sandbox for my home campaign.For the most part, I have a sandbox campaign that grows into a linear campaign based on player decisions and preferences.  I think primarily in terms of factions, relationships and motivations.  I also think in terms of set dressing based on a variety of factors including where I'm setting the campaign (I have an established home brew campaign worlds) or specific to the faction.So in one campaign I decided to place it in a section of the world I hadn't really thought about for a while.  It was on the map, I knew the basic history but that was it.  The region was similar in some ways to the remnants of the Byzantine empire, the eastern provinces of the old Roman empire that survived for centuries after the fall of Rome.  In any case, it was an old empire with a proud history but over the course of the past century it had collapsed into small warring city states and warlords because of a narrowly averted apocalypse from a previous campaign.  So lots of factions.  The PCs were in one of the more prosperous and civilized city states, but there were still threats immediate and long term.  So I had different factions, there were the governing bodies with a handful of politicians that I only sketched out at a high level.  Initially I only put much thought into the local power brokers.  I had what passed as law enforcement, a trade guild, a thieves guild, a couple of groups associated with PC's backgrounds. I also made some quick notes about surrounding regions with thoughts for potential factions and opportunities that existed there.  I had some basic thoughts on a sleeping giant/god stirring and a new ruler from the west claiming to be the emperor reborn that was actually a red dragon.Then I just kind of let the PCs loose.  First few adventures was just the typical "caravan guard" so I could do a quick introduction to the region and have the caravan leader give some info on things as they passed through.  But then at certain break points at the end of a session I would ask what the group wanted to do next.  Pursue that rumor about riches in a destroyed estate?  Follow up on helping a noble house that had fallen on hard times but could possibly get them noticed?  Do something about that thieves' guild that may be responsible for people disappearing?  Something else?By doing that, I let the players give me enough details that I could prep for the next 2-4 sessions.  Meanwhile I would jot down notes, throw in stories and rumors about things happening abroad that didn't have any impact.  Some hooks hit, some did not.  The campaign ended up as a special forces group fighting the dragon emperor, but I would have been just as happy to run a campaign where they decided to try to just be interested in wealth and exploring the nearby mountains the according to legend had been formed when that giant/god that might be waking had crashed after being defeated by Thor.So I had an overall timeline of things that were happening, factions that had conflicting goals.  How the group decided to interface with those was totally up to them.  So sandbox with short linear stretches and an overarching linear structure that may or may not be affected by the PCs.</blockquote>

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