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<blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 5040664" data-attributes="member: 66434">Ariosto summed it up fairly well. The whole idea of freeform/sandbox play is that the players may end up facing challenges too easy or downright deadly to them. &nbsp;Lesson 1 of sandbox DMing:&nbsp; It is not the DM's job to make sure the PC's only face challenges that they can handle.&nbsp;There may be several situations/encounters that the PC's can get involved with at any time. Being a sandbox situation, lets say out of 8 things potentially happening 2 would be deadly, 4 would be dangerous, and 2 would be fairly easy. &nbsp;The DM does not need to force feed this information to the players but making the information available to the players should they be interested in finding out is part of being a fair DM. &nbsp;Once information has been gathered, it is up to the players to decide how much risk they wish to face. Game balance is maintained by making sure the highest risk challenges provide the greatest rewards. &nbsp;Setbacks:Sandbox play can be very rewarding so long as an epic story and wish fufillment are not the primary objectives of play. If the playing group cannot handle the possibility of frequent character death then sandbox play might not be for them.&nbsp;A sandbox campaign world will have a life and continuity of its own and should be able to withstand frequent PC turnover without much trouble.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ExploderWizard, post: 5040664, member: 66434"] Ariosto summed it up fairly well. The whole idea of freeform/sandbox play is that the players may end up facing challenges too easy or downright deadly to them. Lesson 1 of sandbox DMing: It is not the DM's job to make sure the PC's only face challenges that they can handle. There may be several situations/encounters that the PC's can get involved with at any time. Being a sandbox situation, lets say out of 8 things potentially happening 2 would be deadly, 4 would be dangerous, and 2 would be fairly easy. The DM does not need to force feed this information to the players but making the information available to the players should they be interested in finding out is part of being a fair DM. Once information has been gathered, it is up to the players to decide how much risk they wish to face. Game balance is maintained by making sure the highest risk challenges provide the greatest rewards. Setbacks: Sandbox play can be very rewarding so long as an epic story and wish fufillment are not the primary objectives of play. If the playing group cannot handle the possibility of frequent character death then sandbox play might not be for them. A sandbox campaign world will have a life and continuity of its own and should be able to withstand frequent PC turnover without much trouble. [/QUOTE]

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