D&D 5E Which WotC 5E Adventure Makes the Best Sandbox?

[Reynard]

I am curious which 5E adventure by WotC, when taken for all its part (rather than whatever plot is presented in the module) makes for the best sandbox. That is, which one has the most and best individual components that can be be littered around a setting designed for exploration and be treasted as self contained adventures?

For reference, I used Dragon Heist much this way to good success. the only problem is that it is a little limited in level range. I also assumed this is what Rime of the Frostmaiden was. Unfortunately, Rime turned out to be more a tabletop version of a CRPG than a classic tabletop sandbox.

Which 5E adventures have you most mined for parts or turned into open ended sandbox adventures?

 

[Parmandur]

I am curious which 5E adventure by WotC, when taken for all its part (rather than whatever plot is presented in the module) makes for the best sandbox. That is, which one has the most and best individual components that can be be littered around a setting designed for exploration and be treasted as self contained adventures?

For reference, I used Dragon Heist much this way to good success. the only problem is that it is a little limited in level range. I also assumed this is what Rime of the Frostmaiden was. Unfortunately, Rime turned out to be more a tabletop version of a CRPG than a classic tabletop sandbox.

Which 5E adventures have you most mined for parts or turned into open ended sandbox adventures?

Actually some good candidates here.

Princes of the Apocalypse covers a sparsely populated area about the size of Oregon or the United Kingdom, and while a lot of people have bogged down with the Anti-Cult Dungeoncrawling, the area is very well set up for improvisational sandbox shenanigans, with locations and NPCs that can be stretched out and plenty of room to add things or roll some random tables.

Tomb of Annhilation probably works better as a sandbox if you turn off the "timer" the plot puts PCs under, but either way it is a sizeable region full of encounters and Advebture areas. You can run the sandbox section without reference to the Tomb itself, and have tons of play to get out of it.

Curse of Strahd is the consensus best Adventure from WotC to run as-is, but the region of Barovia as described is well setup for sandbox play, with a lot of locations and oddball NPCs.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh is mainly an anthology of classic Modules, but the intro section that details 2 or 3 Hexes of the Greyhawk map around Saltmarsh sets up a fantastic sandbox environment, before even considering the tools for free-form naval gameplay in the Appendix. You could run a pretty sizeable campaign just off the plot hooks in the Saltmarsh area.

But the best fit for what you are asking, in my estimation, is Storm King's Thunder. Dropping the sort of meandering and listless plot, the book has a huge sandbox section thst covers the entire Sword Coast region (slightly larger than Europe), including an awesome flying ship to get around. Tons of location details and plot hooks to develop, random encounter tables galore, and explicit advice on how to tie other Campaigns together. It really provides the material which would all any of the Sword Coast campaigns to be used together in a super sandbox.

 

[Parmandur]

For fun, here are the regional sandbox maps from those books:

The Dessarin River Valley gets a nice.hex map, and is quite large and full of potential.

The play map for Chult, with all of those blank Hexes waiting to be explored...

A lot going on in Barovia, beyond Castle Ravenloft.

I love that this map of the area around Saltmarsh is in classic TSR blues calendar, and that the large Hexes line up with the Darlene map of the Flannaes. The writeup of the area provides a lot of hooks to develop I. The area outside the modules.

So, I forgot that Storm King's Thunder does not cover the e tire Sword Coast, just the Savage Frontier: the Western Heartlands are outside it's scope, so no Baldur's Gate. Still a massive area, and the resources for random encounters and hooks to develop are significant.

 

[Juxtapozbliss]

Agree with Storm King and Strahd.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Rime of the Frostmaiden gets my vote. Each town has a bunch of potential hooks, plus a multitude of wilderness locales. It's a relatively compact region, so you don't spend a ton of time travelling. Even if you remove Auril from the equation, the final location of Ythryn is filled with stuff to do there.

 

[mamba]

Storm Kings Thunder is more sandbox than adventure, so this would get my first vote

Rime of the Frostmaiden and Tomb of Annihilation both cover large regions too, more a matter of whether you want tundra or jungle

Don’t know Princes of the Apocalypse, but it seems to be a decent fit too

 

[Parmandur]

Don’t know Princes of the Apocalypse, but it seems to be a decent fit too

It's a good size, big enough to actually allow for exploration and expansion, but manageable in scope.

 

[Shiroiken]

Of what I've seen, Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Lost Mines of Phandelver are both excellent for sandbox adventures. They provide a home base and various hooks/adventures in the area.

I've read Tomb of Annihilation, and it seems like it's meant to be run in a sandbox style. Having not played or run it, I have no idea how well it works in practice.

 

[pukunui]

Actually some good candidates here.

Princes of the Apocalypse covers a sparsely populated area about the size of Oregon or the United Kingdom, and while a lot of people have bogged down with the Anti-Cult Dungeoncrawling, the area is very well set up for improvisational sandbox shenanigans, with locations and NPCs that can be stretched out and plenty of room to add things or roll some random tables.

Tomb of Annhilation probably works better as a sandbox if you turn off the "timer" the plot puts PCs under, but either way it is a sizeable region full of encounters and Advebture areas. You can run the sandbox section without reference to the Tomb itself, and have tons of play to get out of it.

Curse of Strahd is the consensus best Adventure from WotC to run as-is, but the region of Barovia as described is well setup for sandbox play, with a lot of locations and oddball NPCs.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh is mainly an anthology of classic Modules, but the intro section that details 2 or 3 Hexes of the Greyhawk map around Saltmarsh sets up a fantastic sandbox environment, before even considering the tools for free-form naval gameplay in the Appendix. You could run a pretty sizeable campaign just off the plot hooks in the Saltmarsh area.

But the best fit for what you are asking, in my estimation, is Storm King's Thunder. Dropping the sort of meandering and listless plot, the book has a huge sandbox section thst covers the entire Sword Coast region (slightly larger than Europe), including an awesome flying ship to get around. Tons of location details and plot hooks to develop, random encounter tables galore, and explicit advice on how to tie other Campaigns together. It really provides the material which would all any of the Sword Coast campaigns to be used together in a super sandbox.

I would like to second all of this.

EDIT to add: I first ran Tomb of Annihilation with the timer, and it felt a bit rushed, and we didn't get to explore all of the cool locations, so the second time I ran it, I didn't turn on the timer until after the party had had plenty of time to explore most of Chult.

I also agree with Storm King's Thunder being the best sandbox. I mean, that's essentially what it is: a sandbox covering the entire Sword Coast with a thin veneer of giant-themed plot laid over it. It even includes the sandboxy areas covered by other adventures like Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse, Lost Mine of Phandelver, Rime of the Frostmaiden / Legacy of the Crystal Shard, and Scourge of the Sword Coast. You could easily mash them all together or use bits and pieces from each. You can ignore the giants' melodramas and just go all Skyrim on the Sword Coast.

 

[Juxtapozbliss]

I've played through Tomb of Annihilation--it's fairly sandbox until you get to the megadungeon, then it's all old skool dungeon. Only one way but down. I think the dungeon is probably half of the module as far as detail goes. It was fun though, and we survived.