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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tav_Behemoth" data-source="post: 5041821" data-attributes="member: 18017">In a sandbox where the challenges that the PCs face as they travel are not adjusted to their level (either because they're determined by what's on the map or what the dice generate from a random table), I like to use information as a way to scale the encounter to be appropriate for the PCs & <a href="http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gns&action=display&thread=2800" target="_blank">posted some ideas about this at the OD&D boards</a>.As howandwhy says, information is a valuable tool for both characters and their enemies. Taking this into account can create a realistic mechanism for focusing play on only well-matched fights. Creatures that are too weak for the PCs will seek to scout them out; when they gauge that the party is too tough for them they might either avoid combat altogether or come back with enough allies to give them a hope of victory. Monsters that are too strong for the PCs will also be a source of fear among the similar-level creatures that the PCs mostly interact with. Enemies might seek to lure the PCs towards the lair of the giant; picking up on this tactic will tell the players "what's in there is dangerous". Likewise, friendly or neutral creatures may warn weaker PCs that there's a hill giant in the area, whereas if they thought the PCs could take out that giant they'd try to inspire them to do so.To answer your original question a little more directly, I think there should be just enough information presented at the start for the players to decide whether they're interested enough in a location to want to work on learning more about it. Giving away too much at the start is a problem both because the quest to gain info is a fundamental activity of sandbox play, and because if they're not interested all that info will just overload them.One of the (enjoyable) challenges for me in running a sandbox is that I can't cater to what the players want. Even if I know that the players who are at a particular session like social encounters, if they choose to go down a certain corridor they're going to enter a combat meatgrinder. As a result, for me the essential information to present about a location should be as much hints about "what kind of play are we likely to have if we go there?" as "how deadly is it?"Keeping this in mind will help you make sure that there are hooks for different kinds of play - "this crossroads hosts the annual festival of the gypsies, where a lying contest is held" as well as "this is a mysterious island from which no one ever returns". And it'll inspire you to make sure that the signposts you provide are accurate, so that players won't be disappointed when they go somewhere hoping for social roleplaying and get combat instead. Some inaccuracy is inevitable - the PCs may draw swords at the gypsy festival and turn it into a big brawl - but you can use the back-and-forth during the information-gathering phase to make sure that the players have a fair chance to learn what kinds of play the festival is likely to entail. If they still get it wrong and are mocked by the gypsies for arriving in full plate, well, that then becomes part of the fun and may perhaps teach the players to investigate more carefully before setting out.</blockquote>

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