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Message: <blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 8241038" data-attributes="member: 12377"> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I try to steal as much as I can (monsters, encounters, adventures, areas, NPCs, etc.) so that I don't have to spend much time on prep.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I throw as much stuff at the wall as I can, and see what sticks. "Stuff" = plot hooks, NPCs, factions, areas, dungeons, treasures, etc. "Sticks" = gets the PCs' attention and interest. Then I put that sticky stuff front-and-center, embellish it, connect it to other sticky stuff, etc. (Part of my gaming philosophy is: Don't try to make the game fun. Instead, make the game interesting, and then the players will make it fun.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Secrets! I'm always creating secrets. For every stuff, there's something to be discovered about it. But, and this is important, DON'T hoard your secrets -- let the players figure them out at a steady pace. Any action that might reasonbly turn up a secret, should turn up a secret. And it's fine because there are always more secrets to be found. This is actually something I am trying to get better at; I tend to guard my secrets too closely, hoping for a "big reveal," but it usually works out better to just let players in on the secret.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I highly recommend that anyone who wants to level-up as a DM should run a campaign of Apocalypse World. It is a real eye-opener, and you can take techniques learned there and apply them in other games, even much crunchier games (like D&D). But for sandboxes specifically, another great training tool is Mutant: Year Zero. The whole thing is basically a sandbox hexcrawl that you randomly generate as you go. It's kind of brilliant. The game provides you with a lot of cool elements and then you roll them randomly and have to figure out how they all fit together, right at the very moment the PCs step into the hex! (well they use a grid rather than a hex but it's the same idea.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Take good notes. I've used <a href="https://campaign-logger.com/" target="_blank">campaign-logger.com</a> in the past and it has worked very well.</li> </ol></blockquote>

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