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<blockquote data-quote="Flamestrike" data-source="post: 6861132" data-attributes="member: 6788736">Those bandits to the south. Are they just going to be there forever? What if someone else gets to them first? Have they captured anyone important? What do they do when they discover the PCs are after them?The green dragon thats terrorizing the town. How much more time does that town have left before its razed to the ground? Refugees are already flooding into greyhawk, and people are dying by the day.The cult and the missing farmers. How long until they are sacrificed? What is the cult sacrificing them for? Maybe to summon a demon - how long until it appears and devestates the surrounding area?Whats that cleric up to? Is it part of a nefarious plan with the clock already ticking against the PCs?Those wagons leave in a fortnight, and the merchant is already hiring people. If you dont hurry, he'll find someone else to do the job.Time constraints brother. Theyre a thing. Use them and your sandbox comes alive. Within those time constraints lies the rest meta. No-one anywhere has all the time in the world to do what they want. Yet for some ridiculous reason, its a common thing in RPGs (generally down to lazy DMing). And thats not only unrealistic in the extreme, but incredibly boring. A key part of the dramatic tension in any story is the race against the clock. Youll be hard pressed to find a single adventure story that doesnt contain it as an element.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Flamestrike, post: 6861132, member: 6788736"] Those bandits to the south. Are they just going to be there forever? What if someone else gets to them first? Have they captured anyone important? What do they do when they discover the PCs are after them? The green dragon thats terrorizing the town. How much more time does that town have left before its razed to the ground? Refugees are already flooding into greyhawk, and people are dying by the day. The cult and the missing farmers. How long until they are sacrificed? What is the cult sacrificing them for? Maybe to summon a demon - how long until it appears and devestates the surrounding area? Whats that cleric up to? Is it part of a nefarious plan with the clock already ticking against the PCs? Those wagons leave in a fortnight, and the merchant is already hiring people. If you dont hurry, he'll find someone else to do the job. Time constraints brother. Theyre a thing. Use them and your sandbox comes alive. Within those time constraints lies the rest meta. No-one anywhere has all the time in the world to do what they want. Yet for some ridiculous reason, its a common thing in RPGs (generally down to lazy DMing). And thats not only unrealistic in the extreme, but incredibly boring. A key part of the dramatic tension in any story is the race against the clock. Youll be hard pressed to find a single adventure story that doesnt contain it as an element. [/QUOTE]

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