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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5584031" data-attributes="member: 54877">It's indirect, but when I run sandbox I generally want:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Easy prep monsters</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Know the system well enough to reskin on the fly</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A power curve that lets the characters get in over their heads and then out again</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Elements that won't throw balance out of whack if found out of order (magic items and rituals in 4E)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An adventuring party that covers all the bases (see 4E skills)</li> </ul>And so forth. I think 4E stacks up pretty well on those points. OTOH, if I'm running a prepared story line, I generally want:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lots of pertinent but off-beat mechanical details without having to make them up myself</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Multiple character-realization paths in the character mechanics</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Customized encounters that push a particular party right to the brink</li> </ul>And so forth. 4E isn't impossible here, but it is not its strength. Those are extremes for illustratin by the way. I'm always running at least a little bit sandbox.  Loosely, you could say that the main thrust of a sandbox is that the party is defined by the challenges they picked, and when they picked them, and what they did when things got hairy. Whereas, the main thrust of a prepared story line is how the characters changed and grew over the course of overcoming the challenges (or failed trying).</blockquote>

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