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<blockquote data-quote="AlViking" data-source="post: 9641553" data-attributes="member: 6906980">It's a sandbox if the DM doesn't have a series of steps the players must accomplish in order to achieve their goal.&nbsp; My example was a request for help from a town with multiple NPCs including enemies and allies along with some monsters.&nbsp; I have no expectation that the characters are going to do anything other than presumably talk to the person that was asking for help.&nbsp; After that it's up to them.&nbsp; For that matter, if they get to the town and decide to do something completely different (i.e. the player who decided his character was bored so he just went for a walk) I will start improvising using the existing lore and possible monster groups I had created.They can decide to talk to the goblin king, infiltrate and try to avoid a fight, go in spells blazing.&nbsp; They could get there and decide to set up an ambush or any other of other activities.&nbsp; Admittedly I don't do &quot;dungeons&quot; per se, if they are going to the ruins of Kassth it's because there's some threat or mystery and I'll have the place populated.&nbsp; How the group interacts with that population is up to them.&nbsp; What won't happen is a series of planned encounters that must be accomplished in order for them to succeed.As others have stated, I don't understand the hostility to the concept of a sandbox.&nbsp; I see a clear difference from what I do and linear campaigns.&nbsp; I don't plan encounters or results of encounters, I plan locales and inhabitants.&nbsp; I have no long term plots even if the NPCs and groups have long term plans of their own, how the players interact with those plans is completely up to the players.&nbsp; What the players do is up to them every step of the way.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AlViking, post: 9641553, member: 6906980"] It's a sandbox if the DM doesn't have a series of steps the players must accomplish in order to achieve their goal. My example was a request for help from a town with multiple NPCs including enemies and allies along with some monsters. I have no expectation that the characters are going to do anything other than presumably talk to the person that was asking for help. After that it's up to them. For that matter, if they get to the town and decide to do something completely different (i.e. the player who decided his character was bored so he just went for a walk) I will start improvising using the existing lore and possible monster groups I had created. They can decide to talk to the goblin king, infiltrate and try to avoid a fight, go in spells blazing. They could get there and decide to set up an ambush or any other of other activities. Admittedly I don't do "dungeons" per se, if they are going to the ruins of Kassth it's because there's some threat or mystery and I'll have the place populated. How the group interacts with that population is up to them. What won't happen is a series of planned encounters that must be accomplished in order for them to succeed. As others have stated, I don't understand the hostility to the concept of a sandbox. I see a clear difference from what I do and linear campaigns. I don't plan encounters or results of encounters, I plan locales and inhabitants. I have no long term plots even if the NPCs and groups have long term plans of their own, how the players interact with those plans is completely up to the players. What the players do is up to them every step of the way. [/QUOTE]

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