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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 6810790" data-attributes="member: 6778044">See, that's why I don't "get" the sandbox style that many describe as the "ideal." I guess my campaigns are somewhat of a sandbox, in that the players can go anyplace they want. But, there are also "plots" or maybe "schemes" going on all the time in the background. They might stumble across one and follow where it leads. They don't have to, but they might. Usually they come across a number of options of that type in addition to many things unrelated.My general concept is that of a TV series. Some episodes end up as self-contained stories (though with the plot written as it happens), others tie into a larger arc, which is also written as it happens, but part of the story is written by the NPCs (DM). Most sessions end up being a bit of both, because once they start digging deeper into what else is happening in the world around them, they are usually investigating some of those intrigues.The last couple of months has been in an ruined temple, with a huge catacombs beneath it. They do actually have an agenda, they are trying to locate a scepter that was rumored to have last been seen here over a century ago. They are attempting to prevent that scepter from being located by the wrong people. Sort of like the Nazi's looking for the Ark of the Covenant. Except the Banites (priests of the evil god Bane) haven't set up a camp like in Raiders just yet. They aren't that far along yet.But the sessions, while searching for that, have also been one of simple exploration. They have found more information related to the scepter, and they decided to follow up on one in particular which is to locate the crypt of the last known owner, largely because it seemed like the easiest starting point. They know that she was buried within the catacombs beneath this temple.To that end, they have explored quite a bit, first finding a level where the Banites used to imprison and torture their enemies. After a brief look and they found some information, they moved on. There wasn't the need to explore every corridor and defeat every monster. They determined that they found what they were looking for, or more specifically, that what they were looking for wouldn't likely be found here.The catacombs have taken a long time simply because I've modeled them after the actual catacombs in Rome and Paris. They are enormous, but they decided it would be easier and ultimately faster to continue to explore, rather than try to research them or find a map somewhere. So it has taken a while. The catacombs themselves I developed randomly, with a few planned rooms central to the concept, but their placement was also random. Encounters and treasures as well, either rolled, or I would just decide that something is here.Once they've succeeded in finding the scepter (if successful), who knows where they will go, or what they'll do. All the while they are looking for it, they know that groups of the Banites are also looking for it. So it's quite possible that they will fail to find it, or fail to find it before the Banites. I know where the scepter is, at least for now. But many other things, like the groups of Banites, monsters, treasures, and to a large degree the map, are determined as we go. And is often based on what the players/PCs do and say.A recent puzzle required them finding a certain key, but the bard recently selected the knock spell. In this case, the door was unique in that it was a blank wall, and an inter-dimensional passage phased in with the use of the key. She wanted to try the knock spell, and I said why not? There's no reason there's not an alternate solution, so I go with it.Some of the background plots and such are more direct, like those that involve family members, others are completely unrelated to them. Many of the plots intertwine, although that's not always evident to begin. The majority of the plots are in part, and often significantly, written by the PCs, but not in the same manner as Dungeon World where they take an active role. Instead, I take and weave what they describe, talk about, theorize, etc, and work those sorts of things into the plots and schemes that are more closely tied to them. They do have a lot of ability to write their personal and local history. If they happen to be in a locale they grew up in, (like Daggerford for the Ranger), then they have almost all of the information that I already have about the location, plus they make up a majority of what's going on there as well. It's their home-town and they know more about it than anybody, including me. But because I'm using locations that have a lot of published material, they can take that home and read whatever they want. So they instantly have a depth of knowledge, and there's a richness to the setting. To the character from Waterdeep, I can say that somebody has recently seen Duragorn in the vicinity of Thentavva's Boots, and she knows where that is. Even if she doesn't she has access to the books so she can look it up because it's local lore that she's privy to.This approach also means that when they are in a location where one or more of them have this familiarity, they feel like they know the location, the people, etc. When they are in a new city or town, they feel like they are out-of-towners. This is what I mean by depth, or perhaps richness of setting. What's even more amazing is when we're in a location that two or more of them know well, because they can just have conversations, just like when I talk to somebody from my town. Ilbranteloth</blockquote>

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