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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9669937" data-attributes="member: 2629">Over the past few weeks there have been a few discussions about play styles that have made reference to Sandbox style campaigns.  During the conversations I noted that people approached the idea of a sandbox a bit differently.  I wanted to tease out some of those differences for discussion - and I thought one place to begin is looking at how we construct our sandboxes. For these purposes, a Sandbox game is one in which the PCs do not have a specific path to follow or destination to reach in the adventure.  <s>Published campaign paths are generally more Railroad than Sandbox as they require you to meet certain elements in order to reach the final conclusion of the campaign.  Some make efforts to be less Railroad and more open.  However, the ones that force the PCs to a specific final encounter are for these purposes the definition is that the DM is not requiring a specific path or destination.</s> [Edit: Removing Railroad references as there are concerns that my use of the term was unwise.  It is not necessary.]For reference, I'd break down the two major types of Sandbox campaigns as follows:LEGO SANDBOX: The DM assembles options for the PCs to select from and drops hooks into the game that they can select. Often, these hooks lead into published adventures (that cover up to a few levels of advancement for the PCs), but can also go into previously prepared homebrew materials as well.  The element of import here is that when the PCs are exploring their sandbox there are crafted options from which they select in which the outline for the adventure, or the entire adventure, is already planned.  The planning allows the DM to potentially connect various adventures and better lay seeds for future options - but that provides more structure and tends to push PCs in the direction of the options laid out, instead of allowing them to truly go in any direction.  Lego is a reference to assembling, rather than improvising/crafting, elements in the campaign design. Choose which path.OPEN SANDBOX: The DM improvises with the PCs and lays track in front of whatever direction the PCs take an interest in, regardless of whether introduced by the DM or a player.The DM could generally not predict what the PCs might be doing a few sessions down the road.  If the DM does not have a deep understanding of their setting before the campaign, they define the campaign setting as they go.  If they do have a thorough understanding (for example, if they run in the Forgotten Realms and have read a lot of lore material and intend to use it), they use the lore as part of their improvisation.  This may manifest as ways to add to the direction the PCs seem to go by tying their actions into the lore (if the PCs are seeking out a wizard to cast a spell and the DM knows of the NPC wizard from the published materials that fits the bill) or as a limiter (they decide to search for a wizard to cast a spell but the setting material says there are no wizards of sufficient level within 1000 miles so the DM won't allow one to be found).  The element of import here is that the when the PCs are exploring their sandboxes the options available are not planned out in advance, and might be something introduced/inspired by a player contribution that the DM will then need to craft around. Go with the flow.I think the answer most of us would give is that when we run Sandbox games we don't exactly follow either of these descriptions, but instead do something different, or do a combination of the two.  For example, I'd expect some number of people to say they start with the Lego Sandbox but jump into an Open Sandbox if the players move in that direction organically.  <s>Others might talk about running a Railroad game to start and then transitioning to a Lego Sandbox and then at high level going to an Open Sandbox, or introducing a Railroad at the end of the campaign.</s>How do you run a Sandbox when you run one, and is it more along the lines of a Lego or Open Sandbox?</blockquote>

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