D&D 5E Sandbox Noob Needs DM Advice

[clearstream]

I have a sandbox world that I am running. There are a few adventure sites with hooks and such.

Of course the party just wants to walk in a random direction and explore the area around the village. An area where there is exactly nothing. I'm not really in a position to shift the adventure locations as they are very dependent on already established major land features. Not to mention the land that their village is on is quite literally a barren desert devoid of most everyhthing.

I have random encounters charts so there is that.

Is it dumb to let the party explore and just find NOTHING. Seems boring and weird.

What do you guys do?

Let them explore. One option is to summarise long uninteresting parts in a few rolls and minutes e.g. "Okay, so you carefully explore the surrounds taking a few days - make Survival checks - you turn up a few possible water sources but otherwise this is barren desert."

It can also work well to generate a month of random encounters in advance, and think about how the creatures of this area are connected. What signs do they leave? What are their motives? For example, say you rolled some Displacer Beasts and some Bugbears. Perhaps the players' first signs of the beasts are some mauled Bugbear corpses? Or perhaps the Bugbears have some rite that sends young hunters to claim their first Displacer Beast pelt? Interactions between autochthonous creatures bring the world to life. They open up possible interactions along the social and exploration pillars. For instance, the players might be in position to either kill or help out a group of young Bugbears. They might get curious about where the den of the Displacer Beasts lies (if they have one). The Bugbears might know something useful about the key sites you've created.

While characters are spending time this way, NPCs should be advancing their plans... "Heading back to the village you see smoke in the air and black, circling crows... " Your adventure sites probably contain interesting NPC groups. What are their plans and actions? Maybe the adventure comes to the players...

 

[i_dont_meta]

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but when it comes to Tabletop RPG'S I've often found the "sandbox" to be disproportionately unaffecting. My group is currently Level 7 in a home brew Eberron campaign with at least 6-8 paths open at any time. Basically we just argue for a half hour about which direction to go because they ALL make sense in the overall scheme of things. Long story short I find at the table i don't really mind being railroaded if it means we come to a logical conclusion...



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[Imaculata]

When my players explore, there is always something to discover. Why would you have there be nothing? Isn't the whole point of a sandbox campaign to explore in random directions and find unexpected stuff?

 

[Nagol]

When my players explore, there is always something to discover. Why would you have there be nothing? Isn't the whole point of a sandbox campaign to explore in random directions and find unexpected stuff?

I'd suggest the point of a sandbox is for the players to determine what, if anything, they wish to accomplish and strive for that. It may involve exploring in random directions. It may involve never leaving the first town the PCs find themselves within. That's for the players to determine within the accepted constraints of campaign.

 

[Imaculata]

I'd suggest the point of a sandbox is for the players to determine what, if anything, they wish to accomplish and strive for that. It may involve exploring in random directions. It may involve never leaving the first town the PCs find themselves within. That's for the players to determine within the accepted constraints of campaign.

Agreed, and I think it is the DM's job to make that decision interesting. If the players decide to stay on an island for several sessions and build a base, then that is what the DM should make interesting. And if they decide to wander the desert, then surely there are exciting things you can come up with that they'll encounter in the desert?

I've considered building a whole campaign around a desert setting (ironic for a sandbox). There are tons of things I could come up with.

 

[Nagol]

Agreed, and I think it is the DM's job to make that decision interesting. If the players decide to stay on an island for several sessions and build a base, then that is what the DM should make interesting. And if they decide to wander the desert, then surely there are exciting things you can come up with that they'll encounter in the desert?

I've considered building a whole campaign around a desert setting (ironic for a sandbox). There are tons of things I could come up with.

For me, a sandbox comes with the concept of multiple, possibly mutually exclusive, options to pursue. Part of the choice is weighing cost vs. the expected reward. Finding nothing is a possible result. Should the group take this opportunity or one of the others? If finding nothing isn't really an option (e.g. PCs are effectively trouble/opportunity magnets -- interesting things happen wherever they are) then I think the style of play slides more towards the cinematic. I use this style more frequently in other game genres like pulp action, film noir detectives, and the like.

For D&D I tend to act differently. The decisions tend to be consequential rather than interesting. Sometimes the results may be immediately interesting ("Oh look! We found a ruined temple no one knows about! Let's see what's inside!") other times there is more of a consequence to the world ("OK, he hid out in the desert for a few weeks. The heat is probably off; let's head back to town and.. What do you mean it's gone!").

It comes with player expectation. If the players know not to expect much action in a particular area there is likely little action in that area barring Easter eggs, hidden bases, and so on that have been placed so they might find something on the off-chance they explore there. If they explore anyway they are betting something interesting is there despite appearances. Sometimes they are right. Other times it is a losing bet.

 

[Imaculata]

In my sandbox campaigns, the players are always torn between various choices. While they are free to go anywhere they like, there are often a few pressing matters that limit their choices some what (or you could say they limit their own choices, by having priorities).

-Do we travel to the nearby island of Salt, and find answers to many of our questions?
-Do we travel to the dwarves, and try to form an alliance with them?
-Do we explore this other new island that we've discovered, and rid it of the evil that dwells there?
-Do we go shopping at the nearest city?
-Do we help one of our players get his dragon familiar, by visiting an island where supposedly a dragon lives?
-Do we start building our base?

All of these choices will lead to an exciting adventure. There are no dead ends, where they just find nothing. But occasionally they run into the plot, and the game takes on a more cinematic structure. Right now my players find themselves at the start of a huge naval battle. That is not something they can simply ignore... well they could, but they wouldn't, because it would mean a huge loss. But when that battle is done with, all options are on the table once again. Because even a sandbox does not exclude the possibility for cinematic moments.

 

[i_dont_meta]

This thread has made me realize how much I don't really miss being in a "railroad"-style D&D campaign. I think my opinion is swayed by group size (6-9) because with how much we tend to BS on the side but sort of being forced down a path ain't always that bad...


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[Tony Vargas]

Of course the party just wants to walk in a random direction and explore the area around the village. An area where there is exactly nothing. ... the land that their village is on is quite literally a barren desert devoid of most everyhthing.

If they're from that village you could just tell them that they've explored the surrounding area and there's nothing much of interest.

Or, if they haven't, you could describe what's there. A desert isn't nothing. If it's shifting dunes, it's awfully close, and nothing much is gained from exploring it, but if it's got any features at all - kopjes, hills, caves, oasis, etc - exploring it and knowing the area might come in handy later.

What do you guys do?

I totally magician's-force things like this. The direction they head off in? That's were the adventure is. Oh, yeah, if you'd gone that other way, nothing'd've happened, honest, and that other, other way, you probably couldn't've handled the huge ancient red dragon, but this, way, yeah, that's were stuff was happening...

 

[Quickleaf]

I have a sandbox world that I am running. There are a few adventure sites with hooks and such.

Of course the party just wants to walk in a random direction and explore the area around the village. An area where there is exactly nothing. I'm not really in a position to shift the adventure locations as they are very dependent on already established major land features. Not to mention the land that their village is on is quite literally a barren desert devoid of most everyhthing.

I have random encounters charts so there is that.

Is it dumb to let the party explore and just find NOTHING. Seems boring and weird.

What do you guys do?

Hi dpkress2 Empty areas serve a purpose in a sandbox megadungeon, giving PCs places to rest, set traps, realize that the indentations above that one archway once housed the Gems of Nezhak that they discovered in lower levels & might actually be a portal, etc.

However, when it comes to overland travel, an empty area doesn't merit much attention, doesn't deserve much more than a travel montage "soundbyte" from the DM, and can easily lead to frustrated players if several empty areas are "explored" in a row.

Currently I'm DMing an Al-Qadim game involving the PCs traveling through a hostile desert known as the Badu al-Kabir. It's not a true sandbox, but it's close, more of "bounded sandbox" with a clear overarching quest. There are a few sites of interest scattered about the Badu al-Kabir, but mostly it's crags, windswept wastes, and various sand dunes. In the event of the players exploring empty desert, I have 3 moves as a DM which I've prepped:

1. A 2d10 Random Encounter Table for the Badu al-Kabir. Even the bleakest desert is occupied by some creatures in our real world, and doubly so in a fantasy world. In fact, because I have multiple deserts – each with a distinct character – I've created an encounter table for each. Generally, they have about 9-10 entries in common and 9-10 unique entries. For example, The Weeping Desert is haunted at night, full of undead, black rains, burned tribal camps, and eerie winds that make the sand hiss like it's alive. Whereas the Badu al-Kabir features hidden water features that often have an element of mystery or danger, jann (genies), corpses of travelers, a unique legendary monster called Zu'l Janah, merchants & bandits, and more.

2. I've established three clues which I can place anywhere in the desert regardless of what my map says. This is a pacing technique that should be in every DM's toolbox IMHO. So, if the players are getting antsy for a fight, I can draw on my "Stray Sleepwalker Golems" clue which has a fight and a clue once the PCs resolve it. Or if they take a long rest and seem to lack direction I can draw on my "Mummy Lord's Dreams" to entice them toward adventure. Or I might draw on my "Desiccated Corpses" clue to show to the PCs where the villains dispose of unwanted bodies...giving them an opportunity to learn more or even stage an ambush! Taking time to prep good clues leading toward various adventure hooks is well worth it.

3. There are a few rival groups out there that may track down the PCs within the Badu al-Kabir. There are their enemies the Brotherhood of True Flame. There is also the potential for the hired/"tamed" werehyena rogues to betray them or take foolish action in pursuit of fortune. And there are two warring tribes of genies who might seek to entice the PCs to their side (or learn what the PCs know of their enemies).