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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dd.stevenson" data-source="post: 6551064" data-attributes="member: 6683099">The premise is the one part of the game that you (collectively as a table) have complete control over without any implications about railroading or sandboxing. IOW: your hook may be contrived, heavy handed or uninteresting, but it won't dictate whether the campaign is a sandbox or not.Personally, I prefer to start with a published adventure, with everybody at the table agreeing that if they like where they're at at the end, I'll swing it into a sandbox game. Otherwise, I'd advise you to start with very clear character motivations, especially for players who aren't used to this style of play.Up to you. The common approach, I think, is to treat too-high level encounters as exploration/role playing problems, with combat as the penalty if these encounters are not handled well. This is especially true if your players aren't really interested in a game where "unfair" death is a possibility.I normally place several high level potential BBEGs in the sandbox--but really, when the game is over is (as always) a question to be answered on the social (player) level. The most important thing to know about a sandbox is this: plot doesn't exist as part of the game, except in retrospect. If you can describe the plot of the game before you sit down to play, then it isn't a sandbox it's a railroad.Are you talking about decision paralysis or inadequate number of hooks available for the players to follow?Use whatever feels good, and don't feel pressured to use more than you want to bother with. "Hey guys, I know that forgotten realms has its own calendar and week cycle, but I can't be arsed just now." Mostly, don't bother too much with world building unless it's something you enjoy on its own merits, and certainly don't expect players to care one way or the other. EXCEPTION: whenever you show players a map, they will sure as anything ask "what's over here?" Preparing an evocative set of answers to these questions is a high value form of world-building prep. Having published material available to steal from in this case is a huge plus. For example:[CODE]WATERDEEP is a city of tall, red-roofed town houses and white palaces spread at the feet of a lone, high mountain that shelters it from the full wrath of sea storms.SEA WARD-->Stately, haughty noble villas and craggy, mysterious turrets of wizard towers-->talking tavern signs with eyes that wink at passersby; three gilded towers braided together; polite, lightly armed city watch patrols; chant of temple prayersNORTH WARD-->Two story cottages and walled villas with expensive blue slate roofs and tree-lined streets--> wrought iron fences, rooftop spires, gabled roofs, and ornate carving work on statuary and wallwork alike; noticeably quiet streets; city guard patrols in lightly armed in ones and twosCASTLE WARD-->Castle Waterdeep, Peaktop Eyire, and the Mountain Tower looking down on the administrative buildings spread about Mount Waterdeep's knees-->flights of griffon steeds wheeling around the mountain peak; barracks and military warehouses; lofty spires of Piergeiron's Palace; well-kept wattle-and-daub row houses of three to four stories with stone foundations[/CODE]For factions, I use Stars Without Number's faction system--but ask twenty different DMs about this and you'll get twenty different answers.</blockquote>

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