Tools for sandbox style exploration?

[harpy]

One thing that I've only experience once, and only in limited manner, was to be able to explore a world and have the geography unfold for me in a way that evokes the exploration of computer strategy games, like Civilization.

I've always craved that kind of experience, both to present as a DM, and as a player to be able to stumble about in, but implementing it in a tabletop situation can be pretty difficult. Either it takes a huge amount of time for the DM to set up some kind of system to quickly reveal the world, or it comes down to the DM drawing everything out, which can be pretty slow and cumbersome, along with not allowing lots of details to be fleshed out.

Is there any product out there that has tried to tackle this in some way? Whether it is electronic or analog doesn't matter.http://forum.rpg.net/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=11325872

 

[cattoy]

Carcassone tiles?

 

[NMcCoy]

There's several different things to consider, depending on what you want to achieve. Who creates the area to be explored? Random chance? The DM? The players?

Many people whose RPG experience is limited to D&D find the notion of giving power over the world to the other players somewhat astonishing. There is often a lot of merit in letting the players make powerful declarations about the world - "There's a mountain range just west of the city, that's where my character's from. Oh, and it has active volcanoes!" A world that the players create together is one they have investment in and ties to.
I would recommend making or finding a large table of geographic features to roll randomly on, and then allow each player to contribute a detail to that location when it's "discovered".

 

[James Jacobs]

We're actually going to be attempting something similar to this with the Pathfinder Adventure Path "Kingmaker," the first adventure of which will be out in February or March.

 

[Ariosto]

I would recommend making or finding a large table of geographic features to roll randomly on, and then allow each player to contribute a detail to that location when it's "discovered".

That's great if you want your "discovery" to be in "quotation marks".

 

[fuzzlewump]

That's great if you want your "discovery" to be in "quotation marks".

What?

 

[Mark]

Lists and generators and lots of maps and knowing how to utilize them on the fly -

Ultimate Toolbox - Alderac Entertainment Group | RPGNow.com

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268578-naming-places.html

Thousands of FANTASY NAMES

Green Ronin Online Store: Dungeons of Doom

Art & Map Gallery Archive

PBE Games: NPC Traits

PBE Games: Namer

Encounter Generator « Dingles Games

dnd35 « Dingles Games

D&D 3.5 « Dingles Games

Chaotic Shiny - RPG-Related Generators

 

[S'mon]

Hex paper and random encounter tables!

The Judges' Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy is particularly good, with detailed hex maps and the Wilderlands of High Fantasy box contains ridiculous amounts of detail on what's in them. I believe it's available on rpgnow.

 

[Dausuul]

That's great if you want your "discovery" to be in "quotation marks".

What?

I think his point is that if you want the players to experience the thrill of discovering the unknown, having the players decide what's in the unknown kind of kills the magic.

There's nothing wrong with this kind of collaborative world-building, but it doesn't seem like it's what the OP is looking for.

 

[weem]

I have been considering doing the same thing.

My plan was to use Hexographer (which I highly recommend) to build the area/continent/etc quickly.

Then, I have a battlemat that has grid on one side and hex on the other. The grid side is very worn out (had it for years now) but the hex side is still in great shape. So, I was thinking I would use the hex side for the area/continent map as the PC's know it (and get a new battlemat for grid use).

As they progress, I would simply draw on the hex (with a sharpie... so permanently) what kind of terrain they encountered as well as any other details I felt like (a tower or village for example). To me, the idea that this is a big, tangible map that can be rolled up etc is a cool idea and adds to the feeling of immersion.

But if you don't have the resources (an unused battlemat with hexes) the paper works fine as well.