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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 9074729" data-attributes="member: 85555">Seven more would be totally fine. Again this format strikes me as perfect of sandbox playThat isn't a problem either. That is totally fine as far as I can seeI will need you to define table facing procedures for me.In  a sandbox the mission is whatever the players want to pursue. But it can also arise from things like tables, interactions with NPCs, etc. I think if you could elaborate more on each of these I might have a better handle on the distinction.Without knowing the system specifics it is hard to see whether this would be an issue in the kinds of sandbox games Rob and I are talking about (and if it would be an issue for all sandbox GMs or just some)I would need to see the specifics. I think generally you will find most people are wary of thematic concepts in sandbox but it does depend on what you mean by that. Prologue and post session scheme I am going to need defined as the specifics would also matter. I often incorporate a session zero as a kind of prologue. Not every sandbox GM does this. But I would need to understand what this means in the way you are using itOne area where there probably is division is on this concept of play loop. You don't see a lot of sandbox GMs talking about play loops (though I have seen people refer to the play loops that might exist in them). I tend to avoid this as I am more interested in just the natural flow of things than putting a play loop structure to it. But again it would depend on what you mean.This is a lot and you lay each thing down as a single term so it is a little hard to know what you mean by each of them (keep in mind we may both use these terms but in different ways because of the circles we tend to communicate in and some of the language you use is not familiar to me, even if I have heard it I may not have the specific level of understanding you do around it).Metaplot is somewhat charged in sandbox circles because we tend to see it as being about the metaphor (edit: meant to type "metaplot") of a setting done in a way that is intended to sell new books (I.e. the grand conjunction in Ravenloft). There is a concept of the world in motion in sandbox where history unfolds. But that can be handled any number of ways, and gets different levels of emphasis from different GMsI am not sure what you mean by game orbiting so I would need a definition of that term. I think I can guess at it but I don't want to spend time going down a road that is an incorrect interpretation of it.In terms of continuity what sandbox seeks is a coherent world where things are consistent and make sense. But very few GMs who do sandbox are into breadcrumbs and reveals I think.'Do I know?' definitely happens in sandbox. It isn't the only way things are handled (some just use things like knowledge skill rolls, some have gray areas where the player can decide what they know). But on the whole one important rule of thumb in sandbox is occupy a finite space in the game setting, through your character, and the players don't have narrative control outside that. Which means you sometimes have to ask the GM what you know.Economic modeling and exchange rates those are a matter of taste. Some people get deep into that. I was always a huge history person but not at all into economics. In fact I just use modern prices in most of my games now because that is what I and my players intuitively grasp (I find it easier for inn prices to be the same as a night at a hotel for instance and for meals to cost what they would at a restaurant-----people know what to expect and immerse in the world better in my experience). Now that isn't particularly real to history, but I am done trying to square ancient price lists with the costs of goods. I do often draw on mercantile and trade history books though for important details that come up.Sure, I expect there to be differences. My point is just that the heart of a good sandbox is this riffing that arises as the GM reacts to the players and the players react to the GM. And I would also say system matters a good deal in a sandbox. As do procedures. They are often just not rigid. There is an idea that the reality of the world can trump those things (but again that is a sloppy generalization because many GMs who do sandbox also run them RAW with a strict adherence to procedures). And for all my talk about rulings, which I think are important, I tend to constantly go to the rules and run them as written, rely heavily on tables, procedures, etc. And I am strictly let the dice fall where they may, roll out in the open.</blockquote>

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