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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 4721241" data-attributes="member: 3448">I have long believed that the dichotomy between "sandbox" style of play and "campaigns with plots" is, at best, over-emphasized.  The campaign I've played in that I like the most has a strong sandbox element, in that the PCs can go whereever they want and are not forced to follow specific plotlines.  At the same time, there is stuff that is happening in the game world, regardless of whether the PCs engage with it.  So in that sense, it is much like your campaign, with both a sandbox feel and a metaplot.  The more the PCs engage with some of the established conflicts and plots, the more it will feel like a plot-driven campaign.  The more they ignore the signs that the followers of X are trying to do Y, and instead head towards the next dungeon (or keep moving down the road, or concentrate on building their thieves' guild, or whatever), the more it will feel like a sandbox.  (But really, in all but the most static of sandboxes, there are consequences to actions, and NPCs react and pursue their own goals.  So in that sense, it feels like a sandbox either way.) But regardless of how much the PCs engage with the "plot," the campaign retains both aspects.That said, I would be wary of conceiving of this as a "Trojan horse."  In my experience, bait-and-switch experiences-- where the players thought they were getting one thing but instead were given something very different, by the GM's design-- rarely go well.  I would suggest encouraging you to think of it instead as a sandbox that happens to have a series of consequences running through it.  If the PCs choose to respond to the consequences (chasing the metaplot), then it can become an increasing focus of the campaign.  If they ignore it, then they keep playing in a sandbox that happens to change in ways that may seem strange to them but make sense to you.  You may hope they get involved with the metaplot-- and they may regret some things that happen to the gameworld if they don't-- but if they retain that choice and agency, the game runs much less risk of alienating players by starting as one thing and then jarringly changing.Put another way-- you don't want your players thinking, "hey, we liked living in Troy, when suddenly your warriors sacked our city!"   You want them instead thinking "hey, I thought this game was cool already, but the more I pull at this thread and find something there, the cooler it gets!"Obviously, you know your players and I don't-- they may be totally cool with everything you're doing.  I just suggest a little caution.</blockquote>

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