Examples of good sandbox campaigns

[howandwhy99]

Diaglo ran an awesome one for several years. They group has moved on to the next campaign, but you can read about the first here:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/92669-one-true-game-according-hoyle-others.html

 

[Mark CMG]

A good link for this thread to include -

ars ludi Grand Experiments: West Marches

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Ruins of Adventure - an adventure for the Forgotten Realms and based on the computer game Pool of Radiance - has some great ideas for a sandbox campaign.

While the dungeon maps and NPC names are, in the main, absolute crap, I rather like the idea of retaking ruined city blocks. There's a safe area in which to start and basically, as you get farther from the safe area, the challenges increase. (With a good DM that doesn't have to be metagame-y.)

There is also an option to explore wilderness areas as the party increases in level plus an unexpected dragon BBEG at the end.

It's worth a look.

 

[jedavis]

Necromancer / Frog God have a line of smallish sandboxes; I don't know if they're any good since I haven't read them, but I've heard mainly good things.

Also Bat in the Attic and Trollsmyth have some pretty good advice on rolling your own; I don't have the link to the Trollsmyth post presently, but BitA's (rather lengthy) main post is here. I've been using ACKS' advice to run mine, and it's going pretty well, but it's hardly worthy of notoriety.

 

[CapnZapp]

[]
A few that I know of and own:

- Wilderlands of High Fantasy
- Lost City of Barakus
- Vor Rukoth
- Kingmaker (Pathfinder)

[]

What else comes to mind? Any edition or level is fine.

Revisiting this thread in the hopes of more suggestions

 

[Umbran]

The best I have seen are, unfortunately, not D&D settings.

1) Classic Deadlands. The books are *loaded* with sandboxy ideads and hooks. As someone who was running the game, but not following the canonical campaign arc (because, while most of the adventures in it are okay, the end of it is a craptastic railroad into a brick wall of an NPC the players cannot beat), the setting material has more adventure hooks and plot ideas than you can shake a dead jackalope at. The players are goig somewhere? Okay, open the book, and read the dozen or so different tthings going on there, and riff on it. Easy as pie.

2) Original Alternity - Dark Matter setting. Possibly the best setting book ever written, in terms of its content of seed ideas. Great if you are running an X-files game, not so hot if you are Thork the Barbarian.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

The Neverwinter Campaign Setting from 4th Edition D&D is one of the best things to come out of that edition, and I say this as a fan of 4e. Ideally, this is what a good sandbox should look like (for D&D, at least). There are so many plot threads and hooks, you won't be able to get touch everything in a single campaign. Lots of different factions and NPCs to work for or against. Complete stats for just a number of the most important or common adversaries, with plenty of room to throw in or create your own individual pieces. Many areas to explore inside the city, outside for scores of miles, and even the Shadowfell side of Neverwinter - Evernight. And there is actually very little that is ready to play. No adventures or maps, or even encounters. More like a toolbox with ready-made parts for a DM to arrange.

I'm really surprised this one hasn't already been mentioned. Even if someone doesn't like 4e or Forgotten Realms (or specifically FR in 4e), it is a really good example of what a sandbox and a campaign book can be.

 

[Eltab]

4e Neverwinter Campaign Setting (see above)
Keep on the Borderlands (especially if you are willing to spread the Caves of Chaos out a bit in some hills)
Lost Mines of Phandelver (just finished this and enjoyed it; could play it again and do nothing the same way twice)
XL sandbox: 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1001 plot hooks disguised as a setting book)

 

[TarionzCousin]

The Neverwinter Campaign Setting from 4th Edition D&D is one of the best things to come out of that edition, and I say this as a fan of 4e.

I own several things by two of those authors, Erik Scott de Bie and Ari Marmell, and recommend works by them. They make good stuff!

P.S. Based on this book, I would say Matt Sernett produces good stuff, too.
[MENTION=1288]Mouseferatu[/MENTION]

 

[hawkeyefan]

Depending on what you want....

Blades in the Dark is designed to be a sandbox styke game, and it’s very good. Thematic, player driven, and moody. The setting and the mechanics really play well together.

Hot Springs Island is a sandbox that can be run with any system. It consists of two books, one is a field guide for the players that is meant to be an actual book the characters can reference in game. The second is the Dark of Hot Springs Island, which is the GM Guide. There are plenty of online resources for stats by system and similar tools. To me, this is the ideal sandbox product.

So if you want a sandbox and tules that go together, Blades is my recommendation. For a system neutral classic location based adventure, Hot Springs Island is ideal.