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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 5470320" data-attributes="member: 1210">I think your definition of sandbox is far removed from the one that many of us who call ourselves sandbox dms use. I am not sure if you mean to sound dismissive here, but that's how you come across to me. Just FYI.Sandboxes are not all about a dungeon generated by random tables corresponding to the party's level.&nbsp; A sandbox will probably have dungeons in it, but they are probably neither randomly-generated nor always level-appropriate. For instance, the party might start (at 1st level) knowing about the local haunted house, the nearby kobold caves and the ruined keep a few miles away that is ruled over by a tribe of ogres.None of those need have randomly generated content. What makes it a sandbox is that the party doesn't have to go to any of them, but can choose any of them, regardless of &quot;level appropriateness.&quot; A sandbox has no &quot;wrong direction&quot; or &quot;off track&quot; for the campaign, although the pcs can easily get off track in regards to a specific goal.I'm not entirely certain what the thesis of your post is- &quot;all encounters are level appropriate&quot; maybe? Or &quot;level appropriate encounters are a good thing&quot;?Bear in mind that not everyone has the same playstyle. My party encountered a dragon about 10 levels above them last session, because they were traveling through its turf. They knew it; they had purchased an appropriate &quot;tribute&quot; (bribe) to buy safe passage. Even so, it could have easily turned to combat. They thoroughly enjoyed the encounter, even though it wasn't level-appropriate. So while I will agree that &quot;level appropriate encounters are a good thing&quot;, I won't agree that &quot;all encounters are level appropriate&quot;, nor can I buy &quot;only level appropriate encounters are fun.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 5470320, member: 1210"] I think your definition of sandbox is far removed from the one that many of us who call ourselves sandbox dms use. I am not sure if you mean to sound dismissive here, but that's how you come across to me. Just FYI. Sandboxes are[I] not[/I] all about a dungeon generated by random tables corresponding to the party's level. A sandbox will probably have dungeons in it, but they are probably neither randomly-generated nor always level-appropriate. For instance, the party might start (at 1st level) knowing about the local haunted house, the nearby kobold caves and the ruined keep a few miles away that is ruled over by a tribe of ogres. None of those need have randomly generated content. What makes it a sandbox is that the party doesn't [I]have to[/I] go to any of them, but can choose any of them, regardless of "level appropriateness." A sandbox has no "wrong direction" or "off track" for the campaign, although the pcs can easily get off track in regards to a specific goal. I'm not entirely certain what the thesis of your post is- "all encounters are level appropriate" maybe? Or "level appropriate encounters are a good thing"? Bear in mind that not everyone has the same playstyle. My party encountered a dragon about 10 levels above them last session, because they were traveling through its turf. They knew it; they had purchased an appropriate "tribute" (bribe) to buy safe passage. Even so, it could have easily turned to combat. They thoroughly enjoyed the encounter, even though it wasn't level-appropriate. So while I will agree that "level appropriate encounters are a good thing", I won't agree that "all encounters are level appropriate", nor can I buy "only level appropriate encounters are fun." [/QUOTE]

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