A sandbox game is one where, to some extent, the party has no goals fixed and required by the DM. A game that is relatively quite light on sandbox-y characteristics would be, for example, one where there is a linear plot, but at every "stop" along the way, there's a lot of freedom and such freedom can have long-term consequences. One that is relatively heavy on sandbox-y characteristics just has a map with stuff the GM knows is on it, and the players entirely decide what to look into, what they care about, etc.
A type of game that has a long heritage in RPGing, although is probably less common now, is one where the GM prepares a dungeon for exploration, with multiple paths etc, and tricks and traps, and treasure that is tricky to obtain, etc. The players' goal is to get beat the dungeon, get the treasure and thus get XP.
Published scenarios to support this sort of play include B2 Keep on the Borderlands, X2 Castle Amber, S2 White Plume Mountain, the original A-series modules, and plenty of others.
These games don't seem to fit your account of a sandbox. And that seems right to me, in that
journeying and
place are not very important to them.
But they are not railroads. They are something like a wargame, but there is more than merely military/combat decision-making to take place: in at least some of them there are NPCs to speak to, perhaps manipulate or makes deals with, etc.
How would
you characterise them?
a relatively simple list of sandbox-y characteristics would include (but isn't limited to):
- No required "plot"/"events", just stuff that happens as the world turns.
- PCs can do things that might be "disruptive" in a linear/railroad game, like killing authority figures or leaving town before the monster attack etc.
- The players themselves decide what things matter to them, and may change their minds about this
- The DM primarily acts as "referee" (in the old-school game sense), rather than as an author or guide
- Players are responsible for seeking out information, leads, and points of interest--the DM won't throw hooks/prompts at them
- Atypical/idiosyncratic goals, like "set up a potion shop" or "sail around the world" etc., are common or even encouraged
- Wandering monsters, infestations, and various other threats that move, grow, or change over time
I think your reference to
PCs can do things that might otherwise be disruptive should be about
players - that is, players are understood to enjoy a type of permission that is absent in a railroad/AP/DL-esque game. Note that this is also true of the dungeon crawl game. Likewise that the DM primarily acts as "referee" (in the old-school game sense), rather than as an author or guide.
In the dungeon crawl game, players are also responsible for seeking out information, leads, and points of interest, although there is a type of guarantee that this stuff is there to be found (ie in the dungeon). A worry about a sandbox-y game as you describe it hear is that a lot of time might be spent at the table with the players trying to find where the actual game is. I'm thinking particularly of a possible interaction between these two:
*The players themselves decide what things matter to them, and may change their minds about this
*Players are responsible for seeking out information, leads, and points of interest--the DM won't throw hooks/prompts at them
The issue might also be exacerbated by
just stuff that happens as the world turns - taken altogether, there's a risk that the GM presents nothing of particular interest to the players, the players decide that what matters to them is stuff which the GM is not showing any signs of, and when they seek out rumours no useful ones are to be had. Of course there are ways of correcting for this risk, and
@Lanefan has mentioned one (namely, GM hooks to stuff deemed to be interesting).
In my own experience, I drifted in a different direction from the sort of starting point that you describe.
I also just wanted to comment on this one: "Atypical/idiosyncratic goals, like "set up a potion shop" or "sail around the world" etc., are common or even encouraged". Notice how these are "external" or "setting-based goals" rather than internal or dramatic goals. I have found players are interested in that second sort of goal, but that can also bump into the problems I mentioned above, about the setting not providing the requisite underpinnings. This is another reason that I personally drifted in a different direction.
Let's assume a hypothetical scenario. The characters are sitting in a tavern. The GM asks them "What for you do?" with no other prompting or information. Assuming the players are proactive they'll chat with people about rumors, look for a job board, perhaps think about what they've been doing recently an discuss if they could pick up some unresolved issue.
That would supposedly be a sandbox, right? Except that's what I'm also providing as hooks. Reminding them that even though they recovered the Cat's Eye gem they hadn't caught the thief, or that there's a rumor or job posting.
My first thought about this would be, how did I (as in, my PC) get here, and why am I here? Presumably I had a reason for coming to the tavern, in which case I act on that reason.
If my PC is a blank slate though, then the same issues arise as I mentioned above in this post. Your hooks seem similar to
@Lanefan's, although I gather you might be providing a shorter menu than him?
