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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greg Benage" data-source="post: 6551037" data-attributes="member: 93631">I think the real functional distinction is between location-based and plot-based. I think you can structure an exploration-focused sandbox campaign like an adventure path. Create an outpost on the edge of an unexplored wilderness. Fill the wilderness with major geographic features, terrains and landmarks. Populate those locations with adventure locations that generally get more difficult the farther out the PCs explore.* Give the PCs specific "expedition goals," as opposed to "story" or "plot goals."* Explore the Blackflower Hills.* Map the interior of Aldlight Wood.* Follow that river and find its source.* Scale that mountain peak and a) see what's up there, and b) find out what other features of the wilderness we can see from there.That's more how real exploration occurred, anyway, as opposed to the old-school "Let's go clear Hex 4281."As the last bullet point suggests, create connections between the different expeditions: a map discovered on a Tier 1 location leads to a ruined keep in a Tier 2 location.The players must buy into the exploration theme, but once that's done, the structure of the connected expeditions keeps them on the right "path" for the campaign. And they always have multiple expeditions to choose from, at different levels of difficulty. * You can have tiered expeditions, but throw in level-inappropriate hot spots and lairs and such within each expedition. Environmental clues and recon (in force or otherwise) should let the PCs no they can't handle a particular hot spot yet. It's cool to come back to these after they've gained experience.</blockquote>

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