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<blockquote data-quote="Irda Ranger" data-source="post: 4502359" data-attributes="member: 1003">Real life is a true sandbox, and I don't find it to be insanely frustrating. Do you?Regardless, I think you have a misguided impression of what &quot;simulationist&quot; is supposed to mean.&nbsp; Either it's been communicated poorly here at EN World or you've played with DMs that were &quot;doing it wrong.&quot;&nbsp; Obviously there are lots of things I don't model or roll for.&nbsp; There's a chance some PC will just die in his sleep, or have a heart attack, or be decapitated in a terrible circus accident, but of course I don't do any of those things (even if running Tomb of Horrors is almost indistinguishable from that).&nbsp; By &quot;sandbox&quot; I mean that the world (and the campaign) is open ended; the PCs don't have to follow a script or pre-written adventure. There are no rails to road on. If they want to say &quot;You know what, I don't care about solving this murder mystery, let's go clear some caves.&quot; that's 100% fine. Or vice versa.&nbsp; The only &quot;Simulationist&quot; rule is that effect will follow cause, so if you want to be trusted by Halfling river-gypsy clans, don't get caught stealing from one. Etc.Fair enough. I hate those guys. They would do well to remember that &quot;There are more things in heaven and earth, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.&quot;Anyone who thinks they know everything about their campaign world is fooling themselves.&nbsp; Even Ed Greenwood admits there is much about the Forgotten Realms he is unaware of (and he's the most completest world builder I've ever heard of). FWIW, when a PC asks a question like &quot;Where can I find Sir Perrigan's lost sword?&quot; I don't respond &quot;It doesn't exist&quot; or &quot;Don't bother, you'll never find it.&quot; My job is to say &quot;Ah, now that is a worth quest! But your PC doesn't know where to look. Perhaps you should ask the Sage Pruspuar where to begin?&quot;I don't build worlds. I reveal them. (Often by taking my PCs' best ideas and passing them off as my own).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Irda Ranger, post: 4502359, member: 1003"] Real life is a true sandbox, and I don't find it to be insanely frustrating. Do you? Regardless, I think you have a misguided impression of what "simulationist" is supposed to mean. Either it's been communicated poorly here at EN World or you've played with DMs that were "doing it wrong." Obviously there are lots of things I don't model or roll for. There's a chance some PC will just die in his sleep, or have a heart attack, or be decapitated in a terrible circus accident, but of course I don't do any of those things (even if running [I]Tomb of Horrors[/I] is almost indistinguishable from that). By "sandbox" I mean that the world (and the campaign) is open ended; the PCs don't have to follow a script or pre-written adventure. There are no rails to road on. If they want to say "You know what, I don't care about solving this murder mystery, let's go clear some caves." that's 100% fine. Or vice versa. The only "Simulationist" rule is that effect will follow cause, so if you want to be trusted by Halfling river-gypsy clans, don't get caught stealing from one. Etc. Fair enough. I hate those guys. They would do well to remember that "There are more things in heaven and earth, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Anyone who thinks they know everything about their campaign world is fooling themselves. Even Ed Greenwood admits there is much about the Forgotten Realms he is unaware of (and he's the most completest world builder I've ever heard of). FWIW, when a PC asks a question like "Where can I find Sir Perrigan's lost sword?" I don't respond "It doesn't exist" or "Don't bother, you'll never find it." My job is to say "Ah, now that is a worth quest! But your PC doesn't know where to look. Perhaps you should ask the Sage Pruspuar where to begin?" I don't build worlds. I reveal them. (Often by taking my PCs' best ideas and passing them off as my own). [/QUOTE]

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