Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 9644096" data-attributes="member: 85555">My feeling on hooks is they should make sense and not be overly abundant. Sometimes you need them if players are not comfortable taking initiative in a sandbox (or still getting used to taking initiative). But overall, the issue hooks present is they can very much feel like "Here is the adventure for you to go on" and sandboxes, at least in my view, should feel more organic. But hooks can also be part of the world existing around the players. So by all means if it makes sense for someone to reach out the players for aid due to their reputation, that can be a hook. But it should make sense. I've done some PvP sandboxes and the thing they bring that is good is player versus player is its own fuel. The can just sit back and let the players pursue goals related to their conflict. Some of the issues though are:1) Expectation alignment. This is a huge potential issue, and one you sometimes have to drill down for because this is an area where I find players are more reluctant to bring up concerns they might have. So you have to make sure everyone is on the same page 2) Splitting up the party. If it is PvP there is a lot of reason for the players to go in different directions. There is an art I think to managing the split up party. If you are comfortable and the players aren't getting bored by it, this can work. My technique is to use a timer if I am shifting back and forth. I usually switch every 15 minutes, but will let things go an extra five or so if something very important and engaging is going on. 3) Balance and fairness. Normally players are working together so party imbalances are often more about spotlight issues. With PvP, the GM is much more on the hook for making sure things feel fair. This doesn't mean total parity. Part of PvP is players trying to gain advantage over one another, maybe even getting very powerful abilities to do defeat the other players. But you have to be very methodical in a lot of aspects of play so that fairness is part of it</blockquote>

Verification