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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8440215" data-attributes="member: 42582">I don't really get this.I don't see why there can't be a play report along these lines:The GM described where we (the PCs) were, and filled us in on the gossip that we'd (ie as our PCs, hanging out and resting/recuperating/shopping) picked up since the last session. One bit of gossip was that <whatever> had happened at the temple of Pholtus. So we decided as a group to go and check it out. The GM mentioned that, en route to the temple, we noticed a crowd gathering to listen to an itinerant Cuthbertian preacher. We thought this was interesting, but didn't stop to listen. When we got to the temple, we asked to speak to the high priest. One of the PCs has the Acolyte background, and when the player mentioned that to the GM she decided not to call for a CHA check and agreed that the high priest would see us. The discussion with the high priest took half-an-hour or more of play, and a lot of that was just back-and-forth free roleplaying, but at a few key moments the GM called for CHA checks - when we failed one, the high priest clammed up about one particular line of discussion (relations with the Cuthbertians) and when I said I was paying attention for any hints or clues as to what was going on the GM got me to roll on WIS (Insight) but my total was only 9, and so the GM said I couldn't pick up anything in particular. Etc.I mean, I just made that up as I typed it, so it's not an actual play report. But it's pretty much how I would expect a "living sandbox" play report to look. Maybe I'm wrong?<a href="https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/burning-wheel-first-burning-wheel-session.736425/" target="_blank">Here's an example</a>, from Burning Wheel play:Resolution of the situation established (among other things) that there once was a battle between angels and demons in the Bright Desert; that the feather was Resistant to Fire; and that it was cursed, probably because it came from a tomb in the Bright Desert.And here's an example from 4e D&D play:Framing the situation, in the back-and-forth between players and GM as the PCs explore the mausoleum, establishes backstory: among other things, this includes the role of the tarrasque as a harbinger of the Dusk War; the Raven Queen's aspiration to rule the cosmos (something that had been conjectured in prior sessions, but not before confirmed by her own testimony as demonstrated in her mausoleum); the presence of her name (before it was erased) on the walls of her Mausoleum; a magical Chariot of Sustarre being among her grave goods.Honouring success is normally about a constraint on the manipulation or generation of secret backstory to negate the outcome of a successful action.It can also be relevant to establishing fictional positioning: eg if a success establishes that (say) the PC is at the top of the wall; or recalls that Evard's tower is around here; then that can form the basis for a further declaration (eg I look around from my new vantage point; I head to Evard's tower). Depending on context and system, that further declaration might require a new check, or might be resolved by the GM "saying 'yes'".To me, it seems to have at least three constraints which I have been trying to talk about for many pages now, but it seems very hard to do so:(1) How is it determined what is in the world, and where it is?(2) How do the players learn anything about this world?(3) How are action declarations like I got from A to B resolved?I mean, my Burning Wheel game and Prince Valiant game both satisfy your (a) to (d):Burning Wheel: (a) I chose to have Thurgon and Aramina return to Auxol; (b) I chose what they did when they returned - remonstrate with Rufus, and unburden Xanthippe; (c) I chose what they cared about, including - in Aramina's case - how that changed; (d) the GM wasn't pushing for any particular story/quest - he just played his NPCs (Rufus and Xanthippe) honestly. Prince Valiant: (a) the PC knights chose to travel to Constantinople; (b) they chose to do so to engage in crusading; (c) they chose what their PCs care about (crusading; proselytising more generally; in Sir Morgath's case, remaining faithful to his wife Elizabeth even though he longs for Lorette of Lothian); (d) as GM, I am not pushing for any particular story or quest.But I don't think these games would count as living sandboxes.</blockquote>

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