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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 6793650" data-attributes="member: 6778044">I get #2, but #1 doesn't fit any type of game I've run, although I think you're trying to describe what others would consider a story-driven campaign.I have two basic types of campaigns I run, and what seems to differentiate them at one level is the amount of commitment the players have toward their characters. This is not definitive, and doesn't always happen this way, but it seems to be more common than not.Campaign type #1, which my home campaigns tend to be, have a story arc running through them that's typically on a larger scale. I don't typically have 'save the world' type stories, but something similar and on a smaller scale, such as a region. Sometimes it's not related to a geographical conflict, but it has the same sense of scale.In these campaigns, the 'main' story is sometimes the focus, sometimes not. I play off the backgrounds of the characters, as well as things the players say, to flesh out the story, so the characters have direct and indirect links to the actual story. There are a great many other events going on, because the world as a whole is fleshed out. Some groups, mysteries, and plots are related to the main story, some not. Those that have activities related to the ongoing main plot also have other things that aren't related going on too. The campaigns typically take us years to get through the major stories, and could be compared to the published adventure paths in that it follows a group of people as they increase in power (levels) from novice to hero (1st to 10th+).I would characterize these as 'heroic' stories, and while there will be characters, and players that come and go, the core group typically remains consistent and the characters are integral to the story. So they tend not to die as much, or if they do it's notable, and they may be raised.Campaign type #2, which my public campaigns tend to be, are what I characterize as Gygaxian, or Greenwood Shadowdale types. The players have multiple characters, and the group of players may change from week to week. Most adventurers are short, single-session scenarios in which the PCs leave and return to their home base (usually a town or city) at the end of the session. During the next session it's probably a different group from the pool of characters. The non-active characters are involved in downtime activities and such. These are what I would characterize as more sandbox oriented. I still have all sorts of plots and activities going on, and I still tie the characters into the campaign. But most of them don't have the same investment in their characters. If somebody dies, they aren't often as concerned about raising them. These aren't textbook cases of 'story' vs 'sandbox' play, but I think they are pretty close. And the biggest differentiator in the groups I've played is the investment they make in their characters. Since they might play a different one of their characters each week, and they aren't the protagonists in some heroic or epic quest, they are much less concerned about the death of their characters.We do keep track of stuff like equipment, ammunition, encumbrance, resource management, etc. People who have played in both don't see a meaningful difference in how I handle things. The world is the same, the events happening in the background are the same (in fact they are usually both running at during the same 'game time' and their characters may even be in the same place at the same time. In fact, I currently have three separate ongoing campaign stories going on right now.But the group in the heroic campaign handle encounters a bit differently. They are more cautious, and have the tendency to skip things that they don't think are important to their overall goals. They don't go through a dungeon to clean it out, the look for the fastest route in and out to get what they are looking for. I guess the major difference is the players themselves. In the heroic campaign they've picked up on an interesting hidden agenda by a group or groups and decided that's what they wanted to follow up on. The public campaigns tend not to follow up on the hidden agendas, although it's not uncommon for some of them to be interested in that, in which case they often get spun off into a home campaign.So I don't know, I guess it's a sandbox with elaborate subplots waiting to be discovered and followed?Ilbranteloth</blockquote>

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