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<blockquote data-quote="D'karr" data-source="post: 6564458" data-attributes="member: 336">I'm currently playing in the Kingmaker campaign from Paizo converted to 4e, which is a limited sandbox.&nbsp; It works well and we're having a lot of fun, but as you mentioned it is not a true open sandbox.&nbsp; Even in open sandbox play it is better for the DM to telegraph expectations (&quot;Here there be dragons&quot;) rather than surprise the players.&nbsp; However when I was running my campaign I was able to run an open sandbox by using the minion, standard, elite, solo progression of monsters, and that worked rather well.&nbsp; It is an artificiality of the game mechanics that a solo, or any monster role of much higher level is unhittable except on a 20.&nbsp; But there is a sweet spot variance that plays into the minion, standard, elite, solo continuum.&nbsp; So that an encounter 4-5 levels higher than the party is a very tough encounter, and by the same token an encounter 4-5 levels lower than the party is very easy.&nbsp; With that in mind you can adjust the existing encounter in the sandbox and still keep it interesting.&nbsp; I know that goes against the idea of a sandbox but it is a matter of what is going to remain interesting (mechanical illusionism if you will).&nbsp; The Elite Ogre the characters find a tough challenge at level 7 are really not much of a challenge to a 16th level party.&nbsp; So it is easier to make the adjustment from Elite to standard to minion than to do away with the encounter or to go for combat that might last long and still remain unsatisfying.All IMO of course.This is not much different than most sandboxes I've encountered.&nbsp; Even in 1e where most of our play was sandboxy most encounters were arranged in these concentric bands of difficulty.&nbsp; Similar to levels in dungeons, the deeper you went in the ground the more difficult the encounters, in the wilderness the further you strayed from civilization the more difficult the encounters.My limited play experience with 5e is that it follows a similar paradigm to 1e.&nbsp; However, gauging encounter difficulty has been a rather challenging chore.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="D'karr, post: 6564458, member: 336"] I'm currently playing in the Kingmaker campaign from Paizo converted to 4e, which is a limited sandbox. It works well and we're having a lot of fun, but as you mentioned it is not a true open sandbox. Even in open sandbox play it is better for the DM to telegraph expectations ("Here there be dragons") rather than surprise the players. However when I was running my campaign I was able to run an open sandbox by using the minion, standard, elite, solo progression of monsters, and that worked rather well. It is an artificiality of the game mechanics that a solo, or any monster role of much higher level is unhittable except on a 20. But there is a sweet spot variance that plays into the minion, standard, elite, solo continuum. So that an encounter 4-5 levels higher than the party is a very tough encounter, and by the same token an encounter 4-5 levels lower than the party is very easy. With that in mind you can adjust the existing encounter in the sandbox and still keep it interesting. I know that goes against the idea of a sandbox but it is a matter of what is going to remain interesting (mechanical illusionism if you will). The Elite Ogre the characters find a tough challenge at level 7 are really not much of a challenge to a 16th level party. So it is easier to make the adjustment from Elite to standard to minion than to do away with the encounter or to go for combat that might last long and still remain unsatisfying. All IMO of course. This is not much different than most sandboxes I've encountered. Even in 1e where most of our play was sandboxy most encounters were arranged in these concentric bands of difficulty. Similar to levels in dungeons, the deeper you went in the ground the more difficult the encounters, in the wilderness the further you strayed from civilization the more difficult the encounters. My limited play experience with 5e is that it follows a similar paradigm to 1e. However, gauging encounter difficulty has been a rather challenging chore. [/QUOTE]

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