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General Tabletop Discussion
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Pros and cons of a sandbox game, and what to do about them?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ath-kethin" data-source="post: 7207533" data-attributes="member: 6798775"><p>I find "sandbox" to be a term to which many have positive associations but a campaign style for which many have a strong dislike. One of the first questions I was asked when I kicked off my last campaign was how "sandboxy" it would be. I asked the player what he meant by that and he didn't even have an answer.</p><p></p><p>I've played in (and run) campaigns where the PCs basically stood around trying to amuse themselves because there was no obvious story or plot. I've played (and run) campaigns where once they realized that the group was in control of it's adventures and destiny, each of the players became intensely and personally devoted - to courses of action often diametrically opposed to one another.</p><p></p><p>My personal experience suggests little value for "sandbox" style campaign, is the takeaway here.</p><p></p><p>As a result, my compromise is to provide a living world as a background for the characters. I weave subplots and stories that wax and wane in importance but are always present, with recurring NPCs, to give the players a sense of a world that is large and involved. </p><p></p><p>And I run published adventures, which are often glorified (or not so glorified) dungeon crawls.</p><p></p><p>I read ahead and I have a general idea of what I'm going to run in what sequence, and that allows me to introduce important NPCs and organizations and cities well ahead of time, so when they become relevant it seems like a natural occurrence in a living world.</p><p></p><p>My players love it. I find it rewarding. I can tie into their backgrounds and interests and help develop their characters and push forward with their goals without ever having anybody feel like they have no control OR feel like they have no direction. Change a tribe in the adventure to match one the player invented or mentioned in their backgrounds. Change a magic item to have a history closely tied to a character's past. Change an adventure's location to match tales you've told and rumors you've set.</p><p></p><p>That's how I've been running games for over 20 years. It's a nice balance of basically everything my players and I enjoy about fantasy, stories, and RPGs. It's a learning curve for sure: 20 years ago my reach definitely exceeded my grasp. But you can make it work, and it's amazing when it does.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ath-kethin, post: 7207533, member: 6798775"] I find "sandbox" to be a term to which many have positive associations but a campaign style for which many have a strong dislike. One of the first questions I was asked when I kicked off my last campaign was how "sandboxy" it would be. I asked the player what he meant by that and he didn't even have an answer. I've played in (and run) campaigns where the PCs basically stood around trying to amuse themselves because there was no obvious story or plot. I've played (and run) campaigns where once they realized that the group was in control of it's adventures and destiny, each of the players became intensely and personally devoted - to courses of action often diametrically opposed to one another. My personal experience suggests little value for "sandbox" style campaign, is the takeaway here. As a result, my compromise is to provide a living world as a background for the characters. I weave subplots and stories that wax and wane in importance but are always present, with recurring NPCs, to give the players a sense of a world that is large and involved. And I run published adventures, which are often glorified (or not so glorified) dungeon crawls. I read ahead and I have a general idea of what I'm going to run in what sequence, and that allows me to introduce important NPCs and organizations and cities well ahead of time, so when they become relevant it seems like a natural occurrence in a living world. My players love it. I find it rewarding. I can tie into their backgrounds and interests and help develop their characters and push forward with their goals without ever having anybody feel like they have no control OR feel like they have no direction. Change a tribe in the adventure to match one the player invented or mentioned in their backgrounds. Change a magic item to have a history closely tied to a character's past. Change an adventure's location to match tales you've told and rumors you've set. That's how I've been running games for over 20 years. It's a nice balance of basically everything my players and I enjoy about fantasy, stories, and RPGs. It's a learning curve for sure: 20 years ago my reach definitely exceeded my grasp. But you can make it work, and it's amazing when it does. [/QUOTE]
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