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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Pros and cons of a sandbox game, and what to do about them?
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<blockquote data-quote="BookBarbarian" data-source="post: 7207540" data-attributes="member: 6802553"><p>I haven't run a sandbox game yet, though I've been thinking about it a lot. I tend to run on a "Don't build the world any more than is necessary for the game" approach. I'm not going to tell my players about all the political forces of the game world, unless the adventure actually makes those things relevant, and if I'm not going to tell my players about it, then i'm better off not wasting my limited time thinking about it either.</p><p></p><p>If i were really going to embrace the sandbox, I think I would have to embrace my player character stories. Major plot lines would be present to provide them with decisions to make, then react according to those decisions. To keep it from being too strictly player focused, i think I would set up one overarching Villian or group of villains that are actively trying to achieve their nefarious goals. </p><p></p><p>I think with those two things I could have a game that is plot focused without being railroady, and yet feel like a living world too.</p><p></p><p>So off the top off my head lets say we have a barbarian in the party. The Villain might be subverting the Barbarian's local village council to manipulate them into attacking a nearby town to destabilize the area and allow his agents to seize control. Now we have a big plot hook for the party, that is also a little plot hook for the barbarian character. Even if a the players choose not to swallow the hook the villain will just move on to their next objective, which could affect another player's story.</p><p></p><p>So I guess that's my strategy to handle the Cons. Lots of little plot hooks that take little prep time and can easily be discarded, and an in game intelligence driving and moving the big plot hooks around.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BookBarbarian, post: 7207540, member: 6802553"] I haven't run a sandbox game yet, though I've been thinking about it a lot. I tend to run on a "Don't build the world any more than is necessary for the game" approach. I'm not going to tell my players about all the political forces of the game world, unless the adventure actually makes those things relevant, and if I'm not going to tell my players about it, then i'm better off not wasting my limited time thinking about it either. If i were really going to embrace the sandbox, I think I would have to embrace my player character stories. Major plot lines would be present to provide them with decisions to make, then react according to those decisions. To keep it from being too strictly player focused, i think I would set up one overarching Villian or group of villains that are actively trying to achieve their nefarious goals. I think with those two things I could have a game that is plot focused without being railroady, and yet feel like a living world too. So off the top off my head lets say we have a barbarian in the party. The Villain might be subverting the Barbarian's local village council to manipulate them into attacking a nearby town to destabilize the area and allow his agents to seize control. Now we have a big plot hook for the party, that is also a little plot hook for the barbarian character. Even if a the players choose not to swallow the hook the villain will just move on to their next objective, which could affect another player's story. So I guess that's my strategy to handle the Cons. Lots of little plot hooks that take little prep time and can easily be discarded, and an in game intelligence driving and moving the big plot hooks around. [/QUOTE]
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