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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 7476080"><p>The way I run sandboxes is to make an area with lots of locations, communities, groups, NPCs, etc. I manage player character background material differently depending on the particular campaign (sometimes I just drop PCs in without concern for the background details, sometimes I have the party start out more as a cohesive unit). But most of the action over the course of the campaign emerges from the players trying to do things and pursuing their personal goals, and that interacting with the goals and actions of NPCs and groups. At the end of the day the thing that sustains the sandbox are the characters (both the PCs and the NPCs). If the players try something and I don't have prepared material (for example if they go to a town that is off the map, or ask about a specific kind of location in a town, and I haven't thought about that location, I just try to reasonably conclude what would be there based on what I know, while also trying to make it interesting or have potential for conflict. For me the important thing with the ad libbing side is to try to be consistent in how I form my judgements so the world feels consistent. That may include taking genre elements into consideration. I sometimes call my approach Drama and Sandbox.</p></blockquote><p></p>