Do you run or play in a Sandbox or Linear game

[Snoweel]

I can appreciate that, but if you let your players go off the rail of the AP, making up your own stuff, can you honestly still claim to be running the AP?

I can in the sense that it still 'runs' in the background. Especially a world-shaker like that, it can be fun having the repurcussions get all up in the PCs' business.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I have run both, in the past I ran mostly snadbox but in recent years it has been mostly published stuff. Though my pkayers are likely to go off the rails in the near future.

 

[Jack99]

I can in the sense that it still 'runs' in the background. Especially a world-shaker like that, it can be fun having the repurcussions get all up in the PCs' business.

Fair enough, I understand your point of view. I would never myself say that I "run" an AP if it was merely running in the background, but obviously, YMMV.

 

[Pseudonym]

I picked mostly linear, in reference to our 4E D&D game. At least, that is how it appears to me as a player. Our DM might have a different opinion. I'm pretty sure individual player decisions have taken him by surprise and he's decided to just go for it. It was a while in to the game before we retroactively developed character backstories, so that has taken the game in a bit more of a sandboxy mode.

Our Golden Age M&M game is completely sandbox, in that if our GM had a linear plot it's derailed in the opening scene. I don't know as I can say there are consequences for our actions in the greater campaign, since we play once a month and each session is a mostly self-contained issue.

 

[Cyronax]

Both; there are pre constructed paths but the PCs are free to go where they want.

Brief and well said. A true sandbox set in an area populated by more than a 'West Marches-style' rugged frontier needs well-fleshed out NPCs with their own agendas. The PCs then interact with various individuals and factions.

To make it a sandbox style, the DM merely needs to treat the PCs as just one more faction, which to the minds of the PCs is always in the forefront. To be a fair sandbox, the DM will have to constantly think about the mindsets of all the NPC factions (of all alignments).

As another poster used the term - 'scneario-based,' I tend to DM in a PC/NPC-personality based paradigm.

C.I.D.

 

[Cyronax]

It's a curious phenomenon. My players sometimes joke about "following the plot," clicking on the glowing NPC, etc., but I'm usually prepped for even some less than likely scenarios, just in case they came up. It's no skin off my nose if they choose to join the Dark Side or whatever.

I get that joke too sometimes when I DM. I got accused of throwing some 'Mary Sue' NPCs into the party as DM-PCs. The players were I hope slightly surprised when they said 'Mary Sue' get slaughtered by a mutual enemy.


C.I.D.

 

[ExploderWizard]

The biggest possible weakness in an improvisation heavy game is that the responsibility for the game is heavier than usual on the DM. If you have an amazing GM than the game will probably be amazing. If you have a slightly better than average GM, then the game will probably just be "OK". If you have a slightly below average GM then the game is going to be bad.

I think this is true to some extent and furthermore evidence that the game is working as intended. How does a gamestyle that props up weak DMs help them to improve? The idea that a beginning DM has to run a smoking hot good game from day one baffles me. No system out there is going to provide that. It is not the DM's job to entertain the players. It is the job of everyone at the table to make the game enjoyable for all.

 

[Snoweel]

Fair enough, I understand your point of view. I would never myself say that I "run" an AP if it was merely running in the background, but obviously, YMMV.

The point is, the party came back online and finished the AP.

In Thunderspire Labyrinth they picked up one of the hooks I threw in which led them afterward to the Oasis of the Golden Peacock (from Dungeon magazine) and then on to some zany hijinks in an old colony of Arkhosia.

I ended up steering them back in time for King of the Trollhaunt Warrens after which they ran off after a Far Realms cult. They ended up rejoining the AP at Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress and were kind enough to finish the AP from there.

So I only missed two of the modules and didn't really feel like they missed anything that couldn't be filled in with exposition anyway.

 

[Sadrik]

I think this is true to some extent and furthermore evidence that the game is working as intended. How does a gamestyle that props up weak DMs help them to improve? The idea that a beginning DM has to run a smoking hot good game from day one baffles me. No system out there is going to provide that. It is not the DM's job to entertain the players. It is the job of everyone at the table to make the game enjoyable for all.

Sandbox games need random tables and require the DM to synthesize the table rolls into actual game play in a way that makes sense. I suppose that does require a certain level of understanding of the rules and game world.

There are many types of weak GMs. I don't think that a Sandbox is that much of a stumbling block for all types. If you know the rules and if you know the game world it should not be a problem. Rookie GMs should stick with linear, but if you learn on a stick your driving experience will be that much greater.

Also, I think that running a module as a site in a sandbox game, still makes that a sandbox game. So just because you are running an AP does not necessarily mean that it is not a sandbox game.

 

[Cyronax]

Also, I think that running a module as a site in a sandbox game, still makes that a sandbox game. So just because you are running an AP does not necessarily mean that it is not a sandbox game.

I'd say it really depends on the implementation of the path in general and the specific adventure path in particular.

Savage Tide for instance would be great for a sandbox style, IMO. The Cauldron path, not so much.

I just bought Revenge of the Giants, and I actually think its a great paragon tier (or modified heroic tier) campaign adventure that can easily work in a sandbox type campaign. It even incorporates a more decentralized method for besting the giants' agenda (to release a Primordial on the mortal world).